Does Circumstance Decide?

"I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all." - James A. Baldwin

At different points in your life time, how you respond to a situation will determine much about the direction of your life. The circumstances that occur around you can have an impact upon your attitude and beliefs. It may even seem that life in general is 'out' to get you.

I have seen people let those circumstances get the better of them.

These people fall deeper into depression, some have turned angry and one or two took their own life. All of these options are difficult and can have a devastating outcome. But you have to find a way to push through and know inside you are important.

Only you can make the decision to change your life.

Do not think that I am saying that depression and suicidal tendencies are fixed by smiling and 'being positive'. Both of these are serious and you should seek professional help. What I am saying is that you can slip towards these conditions by allowing events in your life to take over. And you have to battle against those circumstances.

A lost job promotion, injury from an accident, divorce or whatever it might be. Each of these events can mark a turn in your life. How you decide to emerge from these events will determine your life in the short term and many time the long term.

A radio story on National Public Radio gave a good example of turning your circumstance into something positive. It is the story of Ricardo Pitts, a man that had his life changed in the late sixties. As Ricardo puts it, "And what could have been a crushing moment in my life really was just something different. I said 'No, I’m not going to give in."

He was not going to let circumstance hold him back.

As for all of us, circumstances which occur around and through your life will always be there. It is how to you respond to them that matters. Turn your life around, use life experience in a positive way to make that life of yours better.

And stay inspired my friends.

Fooling Yourself

Norman Rockwell - Saturday Evening Post

“I have great faith in fools - self-confidence my friends will call it.” ― Edgar Allan Poe, Marginalia

So how did it start, the tradition of fooling or performing pranks upon others?

One popular belief says that back in the 1500s, France changed its calendar so the new year would start in January. This was done to align to the Roman calendar instead of spring. But word of this change took quite a bit of time to find its way into the rural areas. Country dwellers continued to celebrate the New Year in April so they became known as "April fools," or so the story goes.

There are many serious and of course, non-serious attempts to explain the origins of this hilarious holiday.

One of the more amusing April Fool pranks was the 2008 BBC news story indicating that camera crews had captured video of Adélie penguins flying. There was even a video clip of these magnificent creatures migrating to the rainforests of South America where they "spend the winter basking in the tropical sun."

One thing all of us tend to do as well, not only during this day but many days of the year, is to fool ourselves. And what I mean by that is fooling ourselves into believing we are incapable of accomplishing great things. From an early age, others teach us about our limits.

Truth is, we are our own limit.

Enjoy this day, April 1st as a day of pranks. Tomorrow, drop the self defeat and be convinced that you can do more in your life. Your imagination, your dreams, your goals can send you to greater heights. Stop fooling yourself and start believing.

Stay inspired my friends.

Retired But Not From Life

“There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.” ~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

After nearly 35 years, my good friend and brother-in-law (and father-in-law, inside joke) is retiring from work at EMC Corporation. Roy Carter started his career back in 1968 with a “might-as-well join the Navy” as opposed to being drafted. It is in the military that he crafted his wit and humor and a few computer skills which would serve him well. It was upon leaving the Navy, even though you never really leave the Navy, he joined the Data General Corporation and the next thirty-five years.

His ability to troubleshoot, to teach and to temper a customer when things were broke became his hallmark. From upper Louisiana to the lower swamps of the Mississippi delta, reaching out into places west and places east, his reputation grew. From Nova minicomputers with a cycle time of 300 nanoseconds, making it the fastest minicomputer on the market for several years to the Eclipse and MV systems (the subject of Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer prize winning book “The Soul of a New Machine” in 1981), his skills were widely known.

Computer geeks will enjoy this, the rest can remain bored for a moment or two.

There were reel-to-reel vacuum driven tape drives, 10MB removable-head disk drives, dot-matrix printers and even newer technologies to emerge during his time. The first laptop ever seen by the world technology community called the DG-One. While you needed a flashlight to read the screen and battery life that was measured in minutes, the DG-One defined the look and style of all future laptop computers.

The AViiON Unix-based computers became the mainstream “open system” of choice and a new and innovative disk storage device called a CLARiiON emerged. And Roy’s talents preceded him as he transferred into technical support. From the bayou of Louisiana to the southern comforts of Atlanta, this Chicago city boy became an integral part of supporting these products. As part of the National Systems Support “fly” team, he traveled to the farthest places on the globe to repair both equipment and customers.

His reputation as “the” fix anything guy grew even larger.

Through the 1990s, despite releasing several UNIX-based systems, Data General evolved to specialize in disk storage systems. But financial difficulties resulted in the company being purchased by EMC Corporation, a supplier of disk storage systems, in 1999. Disk storage would become Roy’s sole purpose of support and he did not miss a beat. The remaining fifteen years would see him rise in respect within the engineering community as he had previously.

Roy has been fond of stating when it comes to troubleshooting, “The first thing you do in fixing anything is the most important. Do not let a wrong decision become your legacy.” Most of us understand that as simply meaning to think before you act. And Roy has always been humble enough to know he was not infallible but more times than not, he was always correct. In this business, there are many opportunities to fail but you will never succeed if you do not push the limits.

And push the limits for the better good is what Roy did.

There will be others retiring in time and the wheel of time continues to turn. Eight o’clock on Monday morning will chime the start of another work week. It will be a little quieter around the office from that point forward. And yes, the company will survive his departure as companies always do. For a short while though, he will be missed for what he brought to the table.

Other, younger men and women will step into leadership roles and raise their reputation greatness. New persons will fill the role vacated by Roy. They will prove their own might, their own greatness while serving the job, the position, and the company. Folks are always there, ready or not to fill that void.

Roy Carter has proven himself, has given of himself and now it is time for himself.

He will devote more time to his wife Mary. He will devote more time to other things, non-job things that is. It might be fishing, it might be travel, it might be a host of other things. But be certain, it will not be a job. They have both earned it and the time to do all the nothing that they want.

Congratulations Roy and Mary Carter!

Now get the heck out of this office and into life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Where Your Heart Goes

"Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow." ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Once upon a time, there was a large mountainside, where an eagle's nest rested and it contained four large eagle eggs.

One day an earthquake rocked the mountain causing one of the eggs to roll down the mountain, to a chicken farm, located in the valley below. The chickens knew that they must protect and care for the eagle's egg, so an old hen volunteered to nurture and raise the large egg.

One day, the egg hatched and a beautiful eagle was born. Sadly, however, the eagle was raised to be a chicken. Soon, the eagle believed he was nothing more than a chicken. The eagle loved his home and family, but his spirit cried out for more.

While playing a game on the farm one day, the eagle looked to the skies above and noticed a group of mighty eagles soaring in the skies.

"Oh," the eagle cried, "I wish I could soar like those birds."

The chickens roared with laughter, "You cannot soar with those birds. You are a chicken and chickens do not soar."

The eagle continued staring, at his real family up above, dreaming that he could be with them. Each time the eagle would let his dreams be known, he was told it couldn't be done.

That is what the eagle learned to believe.

The eagle, after time, stopped dreaming and continued to live his life like a chicken. Finally, after a long life as a chicken, the eagle passed away.

Each of us has dreams and goals that our heart wants to lead us to. But many times we let ourselves be dictated by those around us. We allow others to determine our destiny.

Eventually we allow it to destroy our dream by quieting our heart.

Yet if you dream to become an eagle, follow the dream and not the words of a chicken. Send your heart after your dreams and your body will have no choice but to come along as well.

Stay inspired my friends.