Happy Thanksgiving!!!

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for my Loverly, my family, all my friends and the Convergent Team; these are the people who make life magical for me. Thank you!!!! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ah Magical Fireplace

I've known from the time I could walk that there was something magical about sitting near a fire and becoming immersed in the flickering light.  Time spent in front of a fire is a time of relaxation and a time for reflection.  Ok, so sometimes it is also where we find the makings for Smores.  That just shows the versatility of the magical fire.

I just lit the first fire of the season in our fireplace.  Past years would have shown the cats curled up on the floor in front it and frequently even the dog sharing the coveted spot with them.  We usually dim the lights and enjoy the warmth and the very special view of the burning, crackling logs in the fire.

It's cold outside and the weather certainly warrants having a warm cozy fire in the fireplace.            
This is also the time when many of the channels are showing Christmas movies around the clock. I also have a stack of CDs full of Christmas songs that we could listen to from now until after the New Year.

So I think the evening ahead is fairly well laid out.  A warm cozy fire, a holiday movie that inspires and rekindles our Christmas spirit and a little grog to help ease us into the mood.

Later, after everyone is asleep the fire will  start its gradual decline.  The shadows created by the fire will flicker on the walls.  This is when I will find the time to take advantage of it powers of reflection and examine life and all of it's complexities.  Life takes it's inevitable twists and turns and sometimes we are spot on in our dealings with them; other times not so much.  Pausing to look back on those moments helps to understand life just that little bit better and a fire is the perfect place for such contemplation.

Good night all and may you too find clarity, solace and wisdom in front of your very own fire!

Sadness

I googled sadness to see what the technical definition of the word is.  Of course, Google goes into too many derivations of the word and its meanings to be really helpful.  I was wondering if sadness is considered an acute complication or if it can be a chronic condition.

I gleaned from all the information on Google that sadness is really more of a temporary and situational condition.  If these emotions go further than this it seems that is more indicative of depression than simple sadness.

I did some reading on sadness today and wow what a wealth of information there is on sadness.  I truly believe there are a lot of sad people in this world.  That, in and of itself, is very sad and indicative of our times.

Following is one of the best pieces I found on sadness.  It bears reading a couple of times to really get the full measure if its depth.

“He awoke each morning with the desire to do right, to be a good and meaningful person, to be, as simple as it sounded and as impossible as it actually was, happy. And during the course of each day his heart would descend from his chest into his stomach. By early afternoon he was overcome by the feeling that nothing was right, or nothing was right for him, and by the desire to be alone. By evening he was fulfilled: alone in the magnitude of his grief, alone in his aimless guilt, alone even in his loneliness. I am not sad, he would repeat to himself over and over, I am not sad. As if he might one day convince himself. Or fool himself. Or convince others--the only thing worse than being sad is for others to know that you are sad. I am not sad. I am not sad. Because his life had unlimited potential for happiness, insofar as it was an empty white room. He would fall asleep with his heart at the foot of his bed, like some domesticated animal that was no part of him at all. And each morning he would wake with it again in the cupboard of his rib cage, having become a little heavier, a little weaker, but still pumping. And by the midafternoon he was again overcome with the desire to be somewhere else, someone else, someone else somewhere else. I am not sad.” 
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated

The real question isn't what is sadness, because I believe sadness to be the anomaly rather than the norm.  So, given that everyone at some point in time is prone to bouts of sadness, how do we transform ourselves from a state of sadness into a state of happiness and well being?

Apparently that will require more research because I definitely don't have the answer as of this writing.

Night All!!!!

Total Relaxation

When you think of total relaxation, what comes to mind?  Ok, you could probably ask 100 people and get 100 different answers to that question.  Tonight I found total relaxation with a little music, a glass of wine and a tub full of hot water (well it started out hot).  Ah sweet mystery of life!!!!!

I know, it sounds like heaven; and it really was quite nice.  Remember though that I am 6'1" and 225 pounds.  I displace a lot of water!  Additionally, our bath tub is not an 8 person hot tub.  It more closely resembles my dogs water bowl.  Choices have to be made.  Do I sit fairly upright and only my legs are in the water or do I scooch down in the tub and get my chest in the water.  Of course, if I do that then my legs are high and dry.  I chose to alternate between the two positions not realizing that the wet part of your body that is now out of the water gets cold real fast!!!!  Needless to say, I changed positions quickly.

Then there is the matter of an empty wine glass.  Crap, I knew I should've brought the bottle!  What was I thinking???  Even I can't picture me getting out of the tub and running dripping wet to the kitchen for a refill.  I did the only logical thing, I called the dog.  Is my dog the only dog in America that does not understand the command, "fetch the wine bottle"?

Oh well, I waited out the warm water refilling a couple of times, checked Facebook and sent a couple of emails all without dropping my iPad into the bath water.  Finally I climbed out and toweled off having enjoyed a nice relaxing bath. You should try it.

Entreprenuership

So you want to own your own business?  You can read all the books and take all the classes on starting and owning a business.  You can learn how to work the financials and manage the business and maybe you too will start a business and make it successful.  Truthfully there is only one secret to starting and owning a successful business; hire people who will make the business a success.

Serendipity is the term I use when describing the success of our firm.  Call it dumb luck but it really is about the fact that I got lucky and have been joined by people who are self motivated and require very little management.  That is what makes us what we are today; a successful consulting firm with a high level of integrity and a staff that our clients can rely on to make decisions that are in their best interest.  I couldn't ask for more and I think our clients would say the same about the team on whom they rely.

You can't thank the people who make the business a success often enough or loudly enough.  Sometimes you can't even compensate them appropriately, especially in the face of increasing taxes and  government dictated programs.  However, I can always say thank you for being the best team ever and bringing to our clients the best possible consulting service in the industry!  Thank you Convergent Technology Partners!!!!

Drunk Blogging

I will admit that, on occasion, I have been known to text people after a few single malt scotches.  I will go further and admit that I have even posted to Facebook after a few drams.  Tonight however is a first.  Tonight I am drunk blogging!

What should we talk about in this blog?  Politics??  Oh hell no!  Not only is that a subject that I am far too passionate about to drunk blog on, but my rantings would likely bore the hell out of most of you anyway.

How about work? No, let’s not.  That’s what started me drinking tonight in the first place.

I know, let’s discuss women.  That seems to be a topic for the ages.  Of course, unless I want to sleep on the couch for the next year, I had better watch what I put in writing on that subject!!!

Pets???  No, my dog is sitting in front of me with that “I really love you and wish I could jump up on your lap” look on her face.  That won’t work.

I am scraping the bottom of the barrel here.  The Wolverines and the Spartans both won in embarrassing fashion and the Lions and Tigers lost.

This really sucks! I can’t even drunk blog without censoring myself.  How pathetic is that???

Oh well, check back after a few more sips and see if my censor goes to sleep before I push the post key!!!!!

A Day of Remembrance

9/11 will always be a day of remembrance for all the world due to the atrocities that took place on that day in 2001.  I remember that we had just started our new company barely a week earlier and the whole group was excited and everything seemed full of promise.  Then on that day I was walking past the conference room and everyone was gathered around the television watching the first tower burn when suddenly on live TV the second tower was hit.  Then everyone realized that it wasn't a freak accident, this was an intentional act.  No one could figure out who would do such a horrendous  thing!

Needless to say, many lives were changed that day; maybe all of our lives were changed.

9/11 is also the birthday of a dear friend of mine. Marty was my business partner and friend.  He was always a bit bothered by the fact that 9/11 represented not only his birthday but also one of the darkest days in America's history.  Marty passed in 2011 but he is still in our hearts.

Today we acknowledge his birthday as one of the brighter moments occurring on 9/11.  Happy Birthday Marty!