impact over interest Archives - Page 2 of 9

Wisdom in the Weeds

June 5, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Why did I start this blog?

Believe me that’s a question I ask myself all too frequently. But I sort of realize that’s just the resistance messing with me.

Because the answer is simple…

I had to!

A while back I heard a soul-stirring BlogcastFM interview with a 50+ year-old lady by the name of Jennifer Boykin. She has a blog called Life After Tampons.

Imagine that!

And how on earth did she have the audacity to start such a blog?

Because she had to!

Check out this quote from this superb Srinivas Rao interview:

A person who insists on making his or her lessons matter…that’s what grows wisdom.

Now get this…here’s a tweetable for you that just might get at the core of my intention…my why…

Fame and fortune are fleeting and fickle, but legacy leaving lingers. Tweet it Out!

or, as I often suggest…prioritize impact over interest.

I hear lots of people saying this (certainly heard it from Jennifer Boykin)…just not exactly like I say it.

The impetus for impact making is not (or should not be) fame and fortune.

It’s like Jennifer said during the interview…not everyone can be a Chris Guillebeau. And truth be told, the world does not need more Chris Guillebeaus.

It needs YOU and the impact that only YOU can make.

Why you?

Well I can only say that in my case, even though the field of my life is strewn with some pretty wicked weeds…wisdom is nevertheless lurking therein.

Even though the field of my life is strewn with some pretty wicked weeds…wisdom is nevertheless lurking therein.

The impact that I alone can make is in large part a product of the weeds.

Oh for sure the weeds can choke the life out of you…if you let them.

Or, you can stoop to the back-breaking task of pulling them up and clearing the pathway for a beautiful garden to grow.

I can’t say my garden is all that stellar, but I’ve certainly done my share of weed pulling…

And making those life lessons in weed pulling matter is what will allow that wisdom gleaned to impact the world in a positive way.

Only I can do that.

You see, there’s good deal of wisdom in the weeds!

As Jennifer alluded, making my life lessons matter should be something that I insist upon…that should be my impetus for impact…not Guillebeau-ish popularity (sorry to pick on Chris so much…he is one of my favorite superstar bloggers).

Shouldn’t you insist on the same?

There has never been a better time in the history of mankind to insist on making your life lessons matter.

photo credit: Levels Nature via Compfight cc

On Being a Worry Wart

May 23, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Of all the debilitating emotions one can experience on a day to day basis, I suggest the most insidious is worry.

Jesus himself even chimed in on the subject once saying, and I paraphrase,

don’t worry…

See those brightly colored birds?…

They don’t worry…

and neither should you!

But, why shouldn’t we worry?

There’s certainly a crap-load of stuff to worry about: like health, relationships, loved ones, hated ones, the competition, global warming, Obama, ISIS, ebola, the coming apocalypse…I could of course go on.

When you step back and think about it, worry is a pretty useless pursuit.

Getting back to Jesus, I believe he also said that no short person ever grew an inch taller by worrying about it…or something to that effect.

And isn’t it so true?

Worry never, repeat, never, accomplishes a thing…except anxiety, depression, or perhaps an early grave.

So why do we do it?

In my case at least, I always seem to worry about me. The focal point of worrying might seem at its surface to be otherwise directed, but it usually all comes back to me.

If I am worried about, say, my marriage…it is about how a potential split-up might affect me.

If I am worried about the health of some person near and dear to me, at the heart of that worry is not them, but how losing them might make me feel.

If I were genuinely concerned, then I would stop worrying and take some type of action that might benefit them. But I don’t because my incessant worrying isn’t about them at all, it’s about me.

You’ll never make an impact by worrying about it.

Worry is self-indulgence.

It’s a state in which we become literally paralyzed with nail-biting self-concern.

Yet it feels a little self-comforting because we rationalize that it’s not about us…it’s about being concerned over something or some person. But again, what makes you think that spending time worrying about them is really about them?

Is it doing them any good?

Will it solve their problem? Will it cure the cancer, help them out of a financial disaster, or help their kid get off of drugs?

No…it won’t do any of those things. All it will do is slightly appease your sense of dutiful concern.

If you’ve acknowledged that there’s a problem and you’re sincerely concerned, spend time thinking about what you could actually do, then the rest of the time doing it and not one second of time worrying about it.

You might not be able to solve the problem, but you can do a lot more to make some positive impact by selfless action than you can by selfish worrying.

You can do a lot more to make some positive impact by selfless action than you can by selfish worrying.

To stop being a worry wart and start doing is to prioritize impact over self-interest.

Don’t believe me?…just ask Jesus.

Oh, he also said that worrying implies an absence of faith.

That’s another big problem with being a worry wart.

The Universe won’t conspire with you unless you have faith. And worry is an utterly faithless pursuit.

So, don’t worry about it!

The Spine of Atticus Finch

May 20, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

An old post I wrote back when I was trying to figure out why…

…

In a past life I was a business lawyer, as opposed to a trial lawyer. However, I did go to a respected trial lawyer-oriented school, where we got to “play lawyer” frequently. And I did a bit of courtroom work in my earliest years of practice.

So, I have an appreciation for courtroom theatrics.

The most dramatic part of any trial, generally, is the closing argument. It’s where the lawyer supplies the why for the jury. The arguments that work best are the ones that are more than just a rehashing of the facts. They inspire the jury to come to the conclusion that the lawyer is paid to produce. The guilty or not guilty verdict, in the case of a criminal trial, or the nice fat damage award, in case of a civil one.

Even though fictitious, my favorite jury argument of all time is the one made by Atticus Finch in the classic film, To Kill a Mockingbird. Not only is it great courtroom drama, but it is one of the most inspirational Hollywood moments of all time…in my opinion.

I recently read Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit. One thing that really stood out to me is her insistence that every creative work have a “spine.” What’s that? Well, although it’s hard for me to describe succinctly, I believe it’s sort of like a therapeutic metaphor, or an object, activity, or idea that is used as a symbol for deeper meaning.

I’m not altogether cetain what Harper Lee’s spine was for her Pulitzer Prize winning book, but I would venture to say, perhaps, youthful innocence, contrasted with the evil of prejudicial hate.

Perhaps her spine was a call to innocence.

Tharp clearly states that the creator’s “spine” is not always revealed to the consumer. But it’s always at the forefront of the creator’s mind throughout the creation process.

I was thinking yesterday about what could or should serve as the spine for this creative undertaking upon which I have embarked, the blog Revolutionary Misfit.

First off, I want the content to inspire…to supply the why…much like a trial lawyer in a jury trial closing argument.

Since that’s what Atticus was attempting to do and since his attempt was deeply inspirational to me, perhaps that should be my spine for Revolutionary Misfit.

I want the content delivered within this blog to inspire…to supply the why…much like a trial lawyer in a jury trial closing argument.

It has all the elements I need. His argument pitted the impact of doing the right thing (what Atticus did by taking on the case to begin with) against the prejudicial inclinations of the accusers and of the jury.

It certainly dramatized the mindset of the small us with the attempt by Atticus to inspire Big US thinking…an attempt that failed to achieve its intended result, but was inspirational nonetheless.

Finally, Atticus tried hard to remove the impact blinders the jury was wearing that would prevent them from seeing the path to a positive impact (for Tom Robinson, cetainly, but also for the general idea of racial equality).

The climatic moment was when he delivered the emotionally gripping line, “in the name of God, do your duty…in the name of God, believe Tom Robinson.”

That pretty much sums it up for me. That line supplies the why. The why for impact.

And what is that why?

Our god-given duty to bring good into this world. We do that via our impacts, as varied as they might be.

The why for impact in my opinion is the why for our very existence. We were created for that reason…to bring about the unique good that motivated God to breathe life into us in the first place.

The why for impact in my opinion is the why for our very existence. We were created for that reason…to bring about the unique good that motivated God to breathe life into us in the first place.

So, what does that mean, practically, for Revolutionary Misfit going forward?

It means that the great Atticus Argument meets all requirements for supplying the why of this blog, especially that climactic moment…

in which his powerful words moved me towards the god-given duty for positive impact.

The High Price of a Free Market

March 21, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

My last post made the point that we are living in a state of rising inequality and a root cause of that is a society that has become increasingly money-driven, and not people and planet driven.

Everything is done in the name of self-interest and very little in the public interest.

And the things proposed to be done in the public interest are decried as being too expensive, or, worse, socialistic.

I did not, however, mention a word that looms large in my argument…

capitalism,

or, better, capitalism run amok.

The reason that our system has become completely “money-driven” as opposed to driven by an interest in the betterment of people and planet, is partly because of our deeply entrenched notions of a “free market” society.

We regard the free market as an indispensable hallmark of our freedom.

But I am here to tell you that a free market, really isn’t free at all.

We all pay the high price of a free market. And the “freer” that market is, the higher the price we pay. Tweet it Out!

And that price is called greed.

Here’s the thing. We have so embraced the notion that capitalism and the free market are inherently sacred in our society that we shun any idea that might tend to regulate them, or apply brakes to their sometimes careless and wreck-less forward motion.

Oh no, that’s socialism, we gasp in unison!

This idea is ingrained into the culture of American thought, as if it was enshrined in the minds of our founders…

When the truth is that our founders were very anxious and worried about just the sort of situation that has now reared its ugly head…

The situation I like to call “capitalism run amok”,

or, a system that has become wholly and completely driven by economic self-interest.

That’s what is feeding this growing inequality that we’re witnessing rise to levels not seen since the roaring 1920’s…the decade just before the advent of two seminal events in our history…

The Great Depression, and

World War II.

History has a way of repeating itself.

Capitalism and the free market are simply economic ideas, and pretty good ones, I might add.

However, they are not religiously inspired notions, as many seem to believe.

They are not God-breathed expressions of how man should govern his affairs.

The sort of capitalism run amok we are now seeing unfold is largely based on the idea, espoused by Milton Friedman, that man is wholly governed by self-interest…

that his economic decisions will always be made in that light.

And that it’s best for government to get out of the way of his doing so…

That’s what will move society onward and upward to greater evolutionary levels.

It’s as if there’s an invisible hand guiding such unregulated self-interest, so that in the end, the common good of all will prevail.

Well, truths are only truthful when based on a solid foundation of observable facts…

And I believe what we have observed, especially as of late, is that a system that is purely subservient to self-interest, will be one in which greed grows to uncontrollable proportions.

So that money is the driving force behind most of what’s done.

We go to wars to make money.

We build jails and incarcerate our citizenry to make money.

We educate our children to make money.

We care for the health of our populace to make money.

We worship according to our faith to make money.

We run for office and exercise our duty as “public servants” to make money.

We basically, to put it harshly, become a system of capitalistic whores.

We sacrifice our national character on the alter of the “free” market.

I propose that it’s high time we dethrone the word capitalism from it’s lofty heights in our political and cultural lexicon.

That we begin to evaluate not only its virtues, but also its vices.

Because, in my humble opinion, when it comes to action that is public interested, rather than self-interested…

or impact over interest, as I am fond of saying…

the relentless pursuit of money in an unbridled free market becomes an imposing barrier, or impact blinder.

Our society becomes corrupt…we lose the capacity to govern ourselves in the name of the public good.

And that seems to be exactly what’s happening.

We pay the high price of a free market…greed…

and our society becomes increasingly vulnerable to ultimate collapse.

God and Mammon

March 6, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon (money).

Matthew 6:24

I went to this meeting last night. No, it wasn’t an AA meeting, or an SA meeting, or any of those…not that they aren’t very valuable…

It was sort of a “money” meeting.

Everyone there was all super excited about the prospect of generating more of that flimsy green paper adorned with dead notable art.

In fact, it seemed, from the looks and likes of them, that money was and is the most important avenue of pursuit one can take in life.

The topic was one of those network marketing schemes. You know the drill. You’ve probably been to one of those meetings yourself.

It is tempting…I’ll have to admit.

And in my current state of severe (OK, maybe not all that severe) economic lack…I was mildly tempted.

But then I came to my senses and got the heck out of there.

I’ve written often in the past about money…you can view those posts…

here…

and here…

and even here…

just to link a few.

My thoughts about this issue are fairly consistent and well documented.

So, why write about it again, Costa Rica Guy?

Well, this post perhaps is more aimed at me than it is at you.

Because my repatriation to the States has brought a renewed realization regarding the vaulted position that money holds in our intensely capitalistic society.

I saw it during my time in LA County Jail.

And I’ve seen it in countless other ways from the moment I was shackled to a bench at my celebrated re-entry.

And now, as I try to figure out how to actually thrive in the good ole U.S. of A., it’s smacking me upside my titanium steel-like hard head.

You’d better get out there and generate some more greenery inside your “billatera” Mr. Utopian Society wannabe, or you’re gonna find yourself out in the streets, or back in a cell.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…I hear you.

But that don’t mean I have to like it.

Or, succumb wholeheartedly to the notion.

Or, become a money seeking caricature of an actual human being.

One that get’s all hot and bothered when some guy with a horribly tacky tie gets up and tries to convince me that I too can drive a new white turbo-charged BMW that floats down the road like a motor-propelled feather in the wind.

You see, in Costa Rica, all that stuff didn’t matter all that much.

So, why should I let it matter here?

You know, I’m thinking of applying for a job in a steel mill. A guy told me they were hiring and paying decent Union wages.

I’ve never worked like that in my life.

But the way I’m thinking, maybe it would be good for me.

To see how real people, the ones on whose shoulders this country was built…

to see how they make ends meet.

Oh, I know, but what with my education and all…

I could do better.

Ya think?

Do better in what way?

By being one of “those guys”…the hipsters that walk past high class establishments with their noses cocked slightly northward to reveal their majestic importance relative to the rest of the world?

Nah, not really my cup of tea.

image credit: Pimento Of Doom via Compfight cc

Life Has a Funny Way of Going On

March 5, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

The last month of the life of one Costa Rica Guy has been, to put it mildly, impactful.

But life has a funny way of going on.

Traumatic events can lead us down diverse paths.

They can close us down…creating phobias.

I appear to have developed one triggered by airports.

Or, they can open us up.

We can retreat into our own private worlds of fear and loathing.

Or, we can be released from the expectation of the worst possible outcomes (called pessimism) and expect and embrace the best ones (the better optimistic outlook).

It’s funny how the worst ones…that is, the worst scenarios our creative brains can muster…never seem to materialize.

They say what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.

Well, I ain’t dead yet!

So, I want this post to mark a new beginning. One that was supposed to have “begun” on February 2nd.

But fate wouldn’t have it that way.

Nope, I just had to have my little detour…now didn’t I?

That’s all fine and good.

I’ve done some living over the last 31 days.

And some learning.

And now I feel ready, perhaps more than I’ve been in the last, say, 54 years…

to start loving…

and, perhaps, leaving a legacy.

Making my mark.

What will it look like?

Well, I’m not altogether sure, but it will be different…

I’m certain of it.

It might not appear to be true…and sometimes I joke around about being “snake bit” and all…

But, fact is I’m a pretty lucky guy.

Despite my foibles, I’m still deeply loved.

Despite having “blown it” about a billion times, I always seem to get another chance.

Despite having been down so goddamn low, that it seems like up to me…

I always find a way to move forward.

And that’s exactly what I’m doing…right now…with these words…on this hopeful morning.

So, I encourage you this morning to stop beating yourself up for your mistakes, or letting others do that for you…

Learn from them. They have the capacity for the deepest of life’s lessons.

Colossal fuck-ups make great instructors…approaching guru-like levels.

And once you’ve learned “the lesson”, get off your ass, or knees, shake off the ashes, and step out of that uncomfortable sackcloth…

Get back into the fight.

The Universe needs you.

And expects you to do no less.

And for anyone out there expecting a different attitude from me…

here’s the thing…

According to my worldview, the Universe doesn’t shine on morosity…

but upon generosity.

Which is marked by the quality of being kind and generous, plentiful and large.

Life’s hard lessons can lead us to a state of being larger than them.

Connect with RM