"It Should be Impossible For Me to Get Back Up..."

Watch this video the next time things seem impossible for you. Keep trying to get back up... even if it seems impossible.

3-D!!

So you know those 3-D glasses you've been seeing everywhere lately?
They're being distributed so people watching the SuperBowl can enjoy a 3-D trailer for the new animated movie, "Monsters Vs. Aliens", followed by a Sobe Lifewater commercial, also in 3-D. Then on February 9th there will be an episode of the NBC series "Chuck" in 3-D. All very cool, but you can enjoy your 3-D glasses right now, from your PC. Just go here...
http://www.colorcode3d.com/gallery/index.htm
There are a number of links to some 3-D images you can enjoy. This is my favorite...
http://dogfeathers.com/java/hyperstar.html
Have fun!

Injustice

"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained"
Marie Curie, Chemist

Some time ago a friend of mine went to a fortune teller who told her that she would face a lot of "injustice" in her life.
Well, duh.
We will all face injustice throughout our lives, of different kinds and to varying degrees. That's a given, just as we will all get unexpected bounties in different ways. The point, however, is not whether we will face these things but how we face them. Will we let life's latest smackdown break us and turn us into something less than we should be? Will we go the opposite route and become stronger, better and maybe learn a lesson from what's transpired? This is the proverbial fork in the road... this is a chance to learn what we're made of.
I can't make that choice for you, obviously, it's completely up to you. Just remember what you just read the next time life throws you an unexpected curveball that knocks the wind out of you.

The Choice, Part One

“The last of human freedoms - the ability to chose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.”

The above quote is from Victor Frankl, who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp and subsequently wrote the the classic book, "Man's Search For Meaning".
Please understand that I by no means compare myself to someone who spent time in Aushwitz. I will say that I've had my share of challenges of late, something that I've been pretty open about. I could sit here and be angry and bitter and probably be justified in doing so. I could wallow in self-pity and let you pat me on the back and say, "there, there Jim, that's okay."
Thanks, but no thanks.
I choose the better alternative, the high road if you will. I choose to be positive. I choose to forge ahead rather than live in the past.
You can too.
I've seen too many people who choose to be consumed by bitterness and self-pity, and I've seen what it does to them. I've seen how people live in the past and how it darkens the spirit. Rather than that, use the negatives, learn from them and become stronger because of them (not in spite of them, because of them).
Think of it this way... if Victor Frankl can choose his attitude while in a concentration camp, there's absolutely no reason that you and I can't.

The Choice, Part Two

"I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already; too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! Captain Jean-Luc Picard, "Star Trek: First Contact"

Yesterday I addressed the fact that we all have the ability to choose our attitude (and by extension, our outcome). I could choose to be angry and bitter about a few thngs, but I'm taking the alternative. Easier said than done, I know. You might have those days where your frustration threatens to overwhelm you, those days when it's very, very hard to maintain that positve attitude.
What then?
You could take a page from the Captain Picard playbook and draw a line in the sand. Use that anger and frustration, do a little mental aikido and turn it on its head. Turn it into determination that you won't take anymore crap, that this is the baseline moment where things turn around.
That little moment right there, that's a big victory for you. When you control your attitude you control your life... that's when you start to win and that's when the people and situations that are trying to get you down lose.
Simple as that.

Literal Videos

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!
Okay, that out of the way, allow me to present to you three of the funniest things I've seen on the internet of late...

Take on Me: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos

Then there's this...

Head Over Heels: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos

Oh,and...

Under The Bridge: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos