9/20 SPILL Rhymes for the Day

Wrote these today.


9/20
Look around, that's using eyesight.
Look back, that's using hindsight.
Look ahead, that's called foresight.
Look within, that's gaining insight.




Check this out, you got quarters and dimes.
Make up 2 equations, can you solve it on time?
It's easy and it's challenging, you gotta use your mind.
That's how you climb. - It's called an incline.

Rise over run, you should rise and become
A positively-minded person, not one that's dumb.
Yo that wouldn't be right. - So just do right.
If you ask me, then I'll tell you that I do write.

 - But I kick flows, free style of poetry.
I'm the one who knows. Guess that's why y'all blowing me
When You Act Outta Line, and try to avoid ya problems.
That's no real solution, you should really try to solve 'em.

---
The original problem was:
If you have a total of 100 quarters and dimes, with a value of $14.05, how many quarters do you have?

Linear systems, solve 2 equations at once.


Video with music coming soon,  I'm about to update it. But gonna go to session first, get my rock on. Peace!

Positive Thinking Needs Limits!!

 I'm surrounded by positive people, and that's a dangerous trap.


I. The Negative Side of Positivity
I'm a positive person. Most people know me as being very happy and positive-thinking. And I am that, most of the time, but most people don't know that I also love negative thinking, skepticism, criticism, and the Underdog mentality. Embrace both! Positive thinking has to have its limits.  No one wants to border on delusional, but that's what overly positive thoughts/expectations can sometimes do! I think I've made that mistake before.

At the same time, you don't wanna be a Debbie Downer, or a Negative Neddy.  You can use both positive and negative to empower your life. Mis-use both and it can stifle your life.


Just so you know I'm not speaking out of my ass, here's an NYU/Hamburg psychology article on how "Positive Fantasies about idealized futures sap energy."
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/oettingen/Barry%20Kappes,%20H.,%20&%20Oettingen,%20G.%20%282011%29.%20JESP.pdf

Here's a poignant article I found a while back (skimming facebook) on The Powerlessness of Positive Thinking:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/02/the-powerlessness-of-positive-thinking.html

II. Co-Existence of Negative and Positive

Need both

In regards to embracing both, just accept that both positive and negative exist, and also co-exist, meaning one brings the other into existence. You have to know a bad day to appreciate a good day. You can't have success without failure, or at least the risk of failure. You can't have triumph without struggle, since there would be nothing to triumph over. You can't fly without wind resistance. The negative reality not only exists, it is necessary! for us to appreciate the tremendous positivity that is also around.

Need both for a complete picture

I just don't dwell on negativity. I bring it up, it makes for good references, point out potential areas of growth, identify problems, resolve issues and conflicts. Don't dwell, condemn, or complain, basic rules from Dale Carnegie.

III. The Positive Side of Negativity
That feeling of negativity can be good in the long-run, a blessing in disguise, if it pushes you to try harder.  It can also discourage and crush a soul. But you gotta know what it feels like to hit the ground first, before bouncing back.

That's the Earth

As the article from the New Yorker suggests, negative thinking can push people to try harder, over-prepare, and apply themselves more than optimism and over-confidence.

For more on negative space art, do a Google search.

Things You Can Do This Summer 2013

Check it out... this list contains NOTHING that you HAVE to do, just things you CAN do, because it's summer!

jumping off a rock in Hawaii screaming WU-TANG!!! (2007)

1. See something new - Travel!
One great thing about traveling is, you don't have to travel far. And it doesn't have to cost much money. A Google search can give you access to all the info you need. You can go to another side of town and have a local vacation (called a "staycation", look it up). Walk, skate, bike, or drive to an area of town you haven't been, and see something new. Just be safe!

this was on a staycation in Long Beach @the Grand Prix!

And for the more "monetarily-inclined," another great thing about traveling is, you can travel far!

Traveling to different places will help you understand the world in ways that books and videos cannot. Experience new things, see new communities, meet new people, shop/eat at new places! Shopping and eating at new places might sound funny, but don't take it lightly, because you're actually re-routing your money into another local economy! $400 in America can go quickly, but over in another country, it might help a few families! If you have time off from work or school this summer, then you can travel! Vegas doesn't count!

For more on why traveling is great, see Lena Desmond: Date a Boy (or Girl) Who Travels


2. Learn something new - Practice!
The best things are learned outside of school. How many people do you know would agree with that?

Summer Learning is the BEST learning! Practice something. My best summers are ALL about practicing something new. It's when I learned to swim, and when I learned to break. Summer was the time I had AWAY from school that allowed me to focus on something else and learn something new!

This was what I learned one summer!

If you already found a passion, art, sport, or hobby that you like to do, PRACTICE! Get those 10,000 hours of deliberate practice in, you'll be in good shape!

MOST PEOPLE have wasted summers. I've had it too, the summers where you don't learn anything, and just get really bored! Turn your boredom into fascination. Go find a hero, role model, or competitor/enemy to motivate you to practice something! Have a goal or greater vision in mind!

You don't necessarily have to take a class... just be OPEN to learning. Position yourself to grow and get help from others.

I learned this from a gas station!

I learn stuff all the time just by keeping my eyes and ears open.


3. Help someone new - Teach!
This might be the most inexpensive and meaningful thing to do this summer. But don't teach before you get enough practice or experience.

"Approach tests like a warrior,
And ATTACK each problem!"

Knowledge is powerful, and throughout the years of your life, you might LEARN something that other people don't know. Not only is knowledge powerful, it's useful and beneficial to other people's lives. If you're in a position to teach, give advice, or mentor someone... can be a younger sister, brother, FRIEND, or colleague... then not only will you have a positive impact on someone else's life, but you can also build a great relationship. Help someone new.

Some people combine traveling WITH teaching, as I know a few friends who are on English-Teaching and Mission Trips abroad, doing excellent work that I highly commend! And AT THE SAME TIME, by traveling, they are spending money locally and circulating it back into another country's local economy!


4. Do/Feel/Try something new - Experience!
Hey, if your idea of having fun is climbing a mountain, or going camping, or anything else experimental (but safe), then go for it! I know technically, everything's an experience, but I mean experience something NEW. TRY something new. Step out of your comfort zone.

You might make a mistake... Turn it into a learning experience. You can do something adventurous. Or do something awesome. Just DO something. And enjoy it! Live in the now, take in each precious and unique moment. Appreciate this temporary life.

5. Make something new - Create!
Go do something that no one else can do.
Everything you make will be unique to you.

We all have a unique fingerprint, but no one will see it unless we make a mark. Once you make something, it's yourself forever. Write, sing, record, put something together that you want to be remembered for. Think of the future, you can make something for your kids and grandkids. Think of the present, you can make something for your friends and family.

Current example: This blog post.

A thought I just had!

Do things for the good of the people, not to be popular, and you'll be popular anyway. 

Cuz whats the population populated with? People. The words share the same root.

It's that JFK shit, except instead of saying "country," it's replaced with people. 

Don't ask what OTHER people can do for you... ask what you can do for other people.

I was told one time, "The key of living is giving."

That's pretty good, the idea of making a difference.

It's more than having success, it's having significance.

Being a good influence.

Every interaction is energy exchange – what are you doing with yours?

Remember when I wrote...

"I'm trynna be the potent quotient,

Answer to the system's divisions.

Wisdom can be given through visions,

beats, or rhythms, if you can tell the difference.

Listen,

Greater than the Sum of all my rhymes,

I'm just a Product of Mother Earth and Father Time.

When it comes to heart and spirit, I'll give you all of mine"

-2009

Who Is Really In Charge? (by Jim Rohn)

Sharing an e-mail I received from my Jim Rohn Newsletter today. Copied and pasted completely, I claim no credit for the gems dropped by Jim. I bolded some of the words. All the insights are his own. You can sign up for his newsletter for FREE, at http://jimrohn.com/.

Who Is Really In Charge? by Jim Rohn

Finally, the elections are over. Some of you are certainly very happy and some are probably unhappy with the outcome and that is to be expected. Every four years we Americans participate in this grand experiment called America and we elect a President to lead us. That of course spurs lots of different opinions and positions and people can become emotionally involved with the outcome.

One thing that I always find fascinating in all elections, but especially the presidential elections, are the many promises that candidates make to the electorate. They promise to make the economy better and to make health care more affordable for the masses. They promise to make the taxes better and to create jobs.

As I think about this, I want to challenge you to consider that while a President may have a general effect on your circumstances, they do not have a specific effect on your circumstances. Let me explain: While they may play a role in what direction the stock market goes, they do not have an effect in how an individual stock goes, or in whether or not you can make money in the stock market. So, while we certainly should vote and participate in the process, we must understand that no single person –other than you – will have an effect on what your individual life outcome is.

Let me give you some more examples:

A President may promise a better economy but you determine your economy. They may affect whether the dollar gains strength or loses it, but you determine what your financial position is going to be. The fact is that even in the worst economies, including recessions and depressions, there are those who will continue to thrive and even become extremely wealthy. In the great depression, there were countless people who, because of their individual efforts, became millionaires. So, no matter what the economy is nationally, you can become wealthy in the next four years. You don’t have to wait for anyone.

A President may promise to create jobs, but the only person who is going to create YOUR job is you! You determine whether or not you have a job. The President doesn’t, the economy doesn’t, and the industry doesn’t. No matter how bad things get, there are always those who have good paying jobs. You choose what kind of person you will be, and how valuable you will make yourself to the marketplace and thus, what kind of job you will have. So, no matter what the job situation is nationally, you can have any job you want in the next four years. You don’t have to wait for anyone.

A President may promise to do something about taxes, but no matter what the tax rate is, you can still build your personal wealth. Much of my wealth came to me when we still had extremely exorbitant tax rates. I have often said that if you want to be a millionaire and the tax rate is 50%, then just make two million. You determine how much you will have left after taxes, not the government. If you don’t like what you have left, make more. Now, am I saying we shouldn’t work to lower tax rates? No, but I am saying that we can be in control of our own lives regardless of the tax rate. So, no matter what the tax rate is, you can earn more money in the next four years. You don’t have to wait for anyone.

A President may promise to make your health care available to you but you can make health care available to yourself! It isn’t that people can’t afford it; it is that you can’t afford it. What is the answer to that? The empowering answer is to do what it takes to put yourself in a financial and career situation wherein it doesn’t matter what the cost is, because you can afford it. Again, I am not saying that we shouldn’t work to make health care affordable for people, but when you leave it in the hands of someone else, then you make yourself dependent upon them, rather than becoming independent.

The fact is that you control your life. You control your destiny. You chart your course. Those we elect are not the givers of our financial lives. I sometimes think that many people think that if we can just get the “right” person elected, then their lives will suddenly take a turn for the better. Not true. You determine the outcome of your life.

 

"Uncle Sam points"

Fortunes will be made in the next four years, no matter what. Some people will join the ranks of millionaires. That is amazing. The only question you have to ask is whether or not you will be one of them. People with high skills will always be in demand for high paying jobs. People who have a superb product or service to offer will always be in demand.

Did you vote? That’s great – we should as our civic duty. But the most important thing is not whether your candidate won or lost, but what kind of decision you will make about your own life, your own career, and your own financial situation, no matter who is in office.

Do that, and the world is yours for the taking.

(and I got the picture from this education article http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2008/08/a_few_good_test_experts.html )