AndrewBrunelle.com

If you’re somewhat creative, then you know that following conventional norms is most likely not the best way to go about living your life.  If you conform to all these supposed standard ways of living, then you will be stifling the creative person that you are.  And this will lead to an array of unfulfillment and regrets.  I really can’t state enough that following what you feel you should be doing in life is the best thing you can possibly do, especially if you have a unique approach to doing so.

I realize that sometimes people don’t know what it is they want to do with their lives.  It’s not an easy decision to make.  Sometimes you may feel that there are too many possibilities.  And you feel pressured to make a choice, but I think the common flaw is that most people look to external phenomena when they should be looking inside to determine what it is they should do with their life.  Everything I write comes from within myself.  It doesn’t come from any external conditioning.  I try and create value by looking deep inside me and just letting the thoughts pour out.  That is why I value journaling so much as a problem-solving tool.

 But if you are a creative person, then why not get creative in all facets of your life, regardless of whether or not you have a definite purpose for your life?  If you feel you could make money is a fun and creative way, then go for it.  I’m going to start experimenting with this.  I have some items I’m going to sell on eBay to bring in some extra cash, at least enough to supplement my meager income from the grocery business.  My main goal is to make enough money consistently to not need to have a regular job through multiple income streams.  I’ve been working on a book I’m writing.  You can get the excerpt here.  I’m enjoying creating this person, this entity, that is so different from anything I’ve ever read and inspires me to write more and more about.  I’m also working on improving my drawing skills so that I can start drawing some funny cartoons/comics.  I’m becoming more of who I know I am.

I feel that if I can unleash my creativity to the extent I want to, I will be able to have some amazing ideas that will lead to many endeavors that will unlock everything I could dream of. 

Having the ability to entertain yourself is very valuable.  This way, you never feel bored.  I could not leave my house in over a year and I’d never be bored.  I get more bored when I’m at work because there is no time to think of good ideas.  I can go on vacations without ever going anywhere.  Having a creative mind is so valuable.  If we all could see that, we’d all be off the dreaded drug called TV.  How many of you have taken the time to read a book in the last month?  It’s so much easier to watch the movie, isn’t it?  But there’s no thinking involved when you watch a movie, just passive watching. 

I must credit my creativity from my early reading. I used to read about a 160 page book a day when I was in elementary school.  I read many of the classic books, as well as the Goosebumps series.  I read the Chronicles of Narnia, and other very creativity-centered books.  They allow the mind to wander.  I enjoy stimulating my mind much more than stimulating my body through watching TV.

So if you want to be creative, just start thinking.  Once I decided to be creative again, my dreams became so vivid I could almost touch them.  I remember the most minute details from them.  It’s almost like my mind works 24 hours a day and I am allowed to think of ideas even when I’m unconscious.  It’s a pretty cool feeling.  I have the power, just like you, to become a creative genius.  We all have talents, but most times they go unnoticed because you’re stifled by “real life.”  They say that your creativity shrinks in size as you get older.  Don’t let that happen.   Grab it while you can.  And live the life of non-boredom.

Who here has ever wondered what it would be like to dream constantly?  You constantly have your dreams and aspirations in your mind.  You never let them go.  You are constantly reaffirming where you are headed.  This would be a great way to live, wouldn’t it?

But we don’t live like this in the real world.  We more or less have outside distractions that ultimately take us away from where we want to go.  This is why I am definitely trying harder every day to limit my distractions or enhance my way of dealing with distractions.  This way, I will be able to handle anything that comes my way. We’re all going somewhere.  Some people are going to do something big with their lives, while others leave those decisions up to others, but inevitably you are in control of your life, to some extent.  Sure, there are outside influences, but I think being able to deal with these circumstances that makes you a success.

You hear stories about people who triumph over adversity.  We here them all the time.  And there was usually one driving force in all of these people.  They refused to give up, even after a major setback.  They had a vision in their mind of what should be and they knew it was impossible to fail, eventually. And this is the mindset that is desirable.  We want to have a mindset of inevitable success, but sometimes fear or other internal or external influences hold us back.  But if we take personal responsibility for our lives, then we can work from there. 

If you’re at an unfulfilling job, it’s because you put yourself there.  If you hate your boss, it’s because of your attitude towards him/her.  There are two ways to look at the world.  There’s the optimistic way and the pessimistic way.  There’s the people who will quit after one failure and then there ar ethe people who keep pressing on, even after dozens of failures.  It’s not because they’re already successful, but it’s because they have the mindset of already being successful.  I think that’s the key.

One of my goals for the next five to ten years is to make one million dollars.  It’s definitely attainable and if I really focus on it and not the opposite, I know I can do it.  Many other people have, so why not me?  And I’m not doing it for greed.  I’m doing it for freedom and to be able to express myself in different ways, regardless the amount of money it generates.  I want to try interesting projects and different schools of thought.  I want to work very extensively with my creativity and see where the limits are.  There are so many things I want to do, and I’m doing some of them now, but eventually, I hope to have enough money where I can pursue all of these things all the time without having to worry about covering my survival needs.

No matter how much money I have, I don’t think my lifestyle will improve with respect to material possessions.  I will be much more giving, I suppose, to causes I care about and to people in my family.  I will be able to take the people I care about out to dinner and be able to talk about what I’m doing with all this “free time.”  But it won’t be free time.  It will be time I fill with many rigorous activities that will allow me to be even more of who I am.  So, let me state my goal in bold italics at the bottom of this post so they really stand out:

 I intend to be a millionaire so that I can give more to causes I support and also my family, to explore my creativity and pursue projects that fulfill me, and also to have the freedom of not having a regular job. (I know I’m not normal.  So having a normal job doesn’t seem like an option, now does it?)

I’d like to get right down to the point.  People who have a sense of humor have a better life.  Especially if they can laugh in the most awful circumstances imaginable.  Just a thought… 

Maybe it’s because you’re allowing yourself to make light of any situation.  You’re allowing outside things not to influence your inner state of being.  I don’t know, I’m not you.  But for me, having a sense of humor through tough times has definitely given me an edge when it comes to laughing at things that most people would stress over.  I realize that in a proper perspective, the things that stress you out so much are not that bad.  If you look at how you’ll think of this in ten years or what someone in another country thinks of your problem, you’ll most likely laugh at the fact that you’re stressed out about it.  This is what people don’t do anymore.  They don’t realize that even if the world were to explode today, through the universe’s eyes, it’s not a big deal.  So maybe your little problem at work isn’t going to bring an end to the universe.  Even if you’re unemployed and feeling depressed, laugh at the fact that you don’t have a job and enjoy the time you have off, even if you don’t have money to spend.  LIfe is too short to not laugh.

I make it a habit to laugh a bit every day.  I don’t watch TV anymore, but I get my laughter from other people, stories they tell, and whenever I get stressed out, I look to my perspectives and I just laugh about whatever it is I’m stressed about.  I look at the world one way.  And it’s certainly superior to looking at the world as a dangerous place where you could die at any second.  Even if that is true, you can laugh about it.  It’s not that big a deal anyway in the proper perspective. 

And no, I’m not insane, even though at times I may appear to be.  Laughing at things that other people would get pissed off about is not something that irrational.  Laughter is tension relief and it’s worked for me and it’s made me feel good.  So I’m not going to say it’s bad to laugh when you almost die, which most people do.  I remember hearing a story about how three women smashed into a guardrail in their car and spun 180 degrees around and was facing another car, but they never hit each other.  Two seconds ater it happened, the women in that car just started laughing hysterically.  You see, laughter is something that people do when they feel stressed or scared.  It helps quite a bit.

I want people to laugh more.  That is one of my life’s goals.  I also want them to think more as well.  And if we can combine that laughing and the thinking for themselves, then we will have a race of amazing people.  So, please don’t stifle your laughter, it’s what makes you unique and will help you live a better life.  And it’s from the bad things that you should derive the most laughter from.  After all, that’s where you need it the most.

As you may or may not know, I am currently writing a book about a man who goes into complete solitude in order to escape the pressures of society and he envisions the way the world is supposed to work in the following passage:

“I’m just having trouble overcoming this fear of society. Sure, it’s nice to live in solitude and I’ve made a lot of progress in many areas, but it’s becoming integrated in a society that is so preoccupied with material wealth and superficiality that stifles me from doing so. I’m not of material gain. I care more about the inside of a person than the outside. But society conditions us to look on the outside and take possessions over knowledge. That’s one reason I got away. There is no more value in truth. The value is in creating a life that others would envy, whether or not the life is true. It’s all about ego. Ego and the gratification of that ego. But when you live alone for as long as I have, the go pretty much disappears. You no longer are your birth name. You just become an entity. You don’t really have a specific ego because you are no longer trying to impress people. There is no drive to do so, especially by telling falsehoods. You learn to get by from being an honest and loving person, even if the only person you love is yourself. It’s not that I fear society, I fear the fact that if I were to become part of it once again, I’d be considered the weird one, the one who doesn’t conform to conventional normalities. People will wonder if I’m completely insane or if I’m some sort of serial killer. The things I do will be suspicious in a world bombarded with fear. Even if I were doing activities that resembled Jesus, people would pass me off as a crazy man because no one acts like that anymore.

And it’s a shame no one does. We’ve isolated ourselves anyway. Most people get up, go to work, and then go back home in their safe little house. So it’s not like I’m doing anything that radical. Most people spend the majority of their time in isolation or with very few people. Maybe I’m not that different. Maybe I need to lead a revolution about slowing down and relaxing and thinking, for Christ’s sake! The whole world is almost devoid of thinking. People have so many things to occupy their time that thinking has become of a low priority. Very few individuals think on a regular basis. This is why most of them can’t have nice things. And by nice things, I mean a sense of inner peace, a feeling of connectedness with nature, and an overall good feeling about where their lives are headed. But it’s not really their fault. It’s society’s fault. The media has conditioned them to believe that in order to be happy, you must buy things that will ultimately not make you happy. It’s because the things you’re after aren’t material, but internal. The internal part of yourself can never go away. The materials will come and go. There is not permanence in material wealth, but there is permanence in spiritual and intrinsic wealth. This is why most Zen Buddhist monks own hardly anything. They don’t feel bound by the impulse to always get more things because they have such a good inner self-image and peace that they don’t need external substance to ground them.

I think that’s what we all crave, though, isn’t it? To be able to be content with the things that nature gave us, the food we were intended to eat, and the peace we were intended to have. I feel that if we could all do this, then there would be no more wars, no more famine, no more greed, lust, and the other deadly sins and catastrophes. There would be no more need for entertainment because we would get that from experiencing our daily lives. There would be no need for processed foods as we would be grateful to eat the foods nature intended for us. These are the things that I wonder about. Could we actually go to a place like this, where everyone lives in complete harmony? A place where people help each other out of compassion and not for a reciprocal gain? That we all give, but by giving we also receive, but without actually receiving anything physical? A place where judgments are left at the door and never picked up again. That’s the kind of place I would like to live in. Maybe if I imagine it clearly enough, it will come true. I can see it so vividly in my mind’s eye. There are only peace, harmony, and unconditional love for one another because we all know we’re all pretty much the same. And we embrace that fact by working together to better the world and erase the terrible state that it’s in now. But we don’t organize anything. Whenever an organization forms, there becomes a need for greed and fear-based conformity. Take Christianity for example. They prey on the fact that they believe if you don’t follow a specific book written over 2000 years ago, you will go to a place that’s so bad it’s beyond your imagination.

The real motive is to decouple the fear mentality from the doing good to others mentality. I want people to help each other because they inherently want to, not because they feel that they have to or something bad will happen. I want people to live to their full potential while also making the world a better place. I want them to become a vibrational match for peace, love, and forgiveness. I want to us rely solely on each other and place trust in one another. I don’t want people out for their own selfish causes. I want people to only exist to help each other and do what inspires them. No more need for people do do jobs they hate just to make money. There will be no need because money will eventually become obsolete as everyone’s basic needs will be met and the rest will take care of itself through people living their passions. It will be a form of mutual connectivity that will most likely never divert back to the way the world is now.

The problem with the world is that we were born into it. We weren’t born before it was created, so we’re not really wholly responsible for the way it is. But we’ve become so accustomed to it that we just take it for what it is. We don’t really know where to begin to start correcting it, so we place those thoughts in the back of our minds in a filing cabinet with a lock on it. And when we go to retrieve the information, we realize we don’t have the key for the lock on the filing cabinet, so we decide to accept the world as it is and not make significant steps to change it. And then the cycle perpetuates to the point of utter materialism and gluttony as a society, which leads to the depletion of our natural resources, which leads to the extinction of mankind. And we will never see it coming. Even if we do see it coming, we’ll be too late to stop the disaster that will ensue. ”

There, I hoped you enjoyed the little snipet from my book.  I’m really enjoying writing it, as it is simply a “continued journal,” as the man in the book was completely given up using dates and times to run his life.  It’s kind of like reding someone’s organized thoughts continuously.  It’s a very itneresting book to write, that means it will be fun to read for whoever ends up pulishing it.

Working is taking a toll on me.  Working at my job that is.  Every day it’s the same damn thing and it never changes.  It’s so damn boring sometimes.  There’s nothing interesting happening there.  It’s like the theme for the store is monotony.  So I have some options I can consider, but I’m not sure which will allow for the best experience:

1. Going back to college:  This is a definite option that I am considering very heavily and will most likely do to further enhance my capabilities.  But it’s such a stretch financially, but a degree is so important in today’s world.  The pro’s are that I’ll be able to get a good job and be able to make a good living doing something.  The con’s are that I’ll be in heavy debt, more than 15,000 dollars by the time I get out, and I’ll most likely make less working because I’ll have to be in school.  But in five to ten years, my potential will increase substantially to the point of being able to have enough money to support myself independently.  That’s not a bad thing.  But it has to be doing something I like to do.
2. I could also become a freelance writer/comedian and go all over the country and travel.  This will take a toll on me in many ways, but it will be an interesting journey, I’m sure.  It would be nice to do that, and once I’m able to in the near future, I intend to go around the country and see what there is to see.  I want to experience the world eventually as well.  It will be a lot of fun, but I don’t have the financial means to do so right now.
3. Become a full-time comedian.  I don’t know if this is completely what I want to do all the time, but it would be very fun, I’m sure.  I feel like if I pursue this goal whole-heartedly, I’ll be limiting my capabilities to only one facet of my talents.  So if I go to do this, I will be only doing one thing I’m good at.  And that might lead to an eventual imbalance in my life.  And I know that people say it’s hard work, but it’s not work if you love to do it.  So it’s something I could definitely do, but it’s something that may be too narrowly focused.
4. Become a comedy writer.  This is probably the most attractive of all the goals here, mostly because I can definitely write well and I also have the capabilities of creating characters and using my creativity to develop a plot and storyline.  I enjoy freewriting and I love to expand thinking and awareness through journaling.  So, it’s a question of how often I want to do this that will determine whether or not I choose this.

It’s just a multitude of possibilities.  I’m looking for some sort of clarity of where my life should go.  I’m almost 21 years old and I know I shouldn’t rush myself, but I still want to get things moving.  Revitalizing myself and rejuvenation are key points for me to get on the right track.  I need to rediscover my passion for laughter and comedy, as well as writing creatively.  Those are the things I need to work on.  That and developing unique experiences in my life to perfectly put myself in places I want to be.  These are my intentions for the next few years.

I want to understand what the point of everything is as well.  It’s almost as we all just run around on this planet with our heads in the ground (it’s possible, believe me).  And most people don’t ever make a real choice of what to do with their lives.  They let someone else do it for them.  Or they’re stuck with other people’s leftover choices.  An example of this is a child whose mother pushes her to become a child actress.  The child does so only because he/she is being pushed to do so.  But I don’t want to spend my whole life wondering what I should do.  I have to take action soon and when the time is right, I will.  There’s something holding me back, probably the thought of not having enough money to get by if I go out on my own, or maybe I’m doubting myself too much.  I don’t know.  I have trouble sticking to things sometimes.  I get distracted.  But it’s temporary.  I have to rerout my thinking so that I’m full of focus, but at the same time being relaxed.  It’s a hard balance to follow, but I’m working on it.

I’m coming closer and closer to fully understanding myself, so that’s good.  I know what I am capable of and I know what I want to do, but the main problem is to incorporate all the things I want to do into one way of life.  It shouldn’t be that if I pursue one thing, I have to put all the others on hold.  It should be all simultaneous.  it should be coexisting.  And that’s my main goal.  Make everything synergistic.  Allow everything to come together, along with making a decent income at this.  I’ll post an update soon.  Wish me luck.

Okay, so I took a nap today.  Not to mention I kind of liked it.  And I’ll probably be up all night now.  Is that necessarily a good thing?  I like to think so.  Here’s what I’m thinking:  If I sleep maybe six hours a night, wake up earlly, and nap right before I go to work around 2 PM for maybe a fifteen minute span, I can effectively increase my awake time by more than two hours.  That’s not a bad idea at all if I think about it.  It’s a form of biphasic sleep I think, but I feel like if I start waking up earlier, I can go for a jog/walk, eat a big breakfast, which is always beneficial, and work on my array of projects I’m currently creating.  If I spend maybe fifteen to twenty minutes napping around 1 PM, I can effectively get my sleep requirements by sleeping less.

But I have to have a reason for doing so.  I’m considering working out again.  Just to increase my strength somewhat and be able to do things easier.  I want to meet my physical body again, as we’ve lost touch, except when I’m at work.  Tomorrow I plan to wake up around 7 AM or so, go to the health club in my development, which opens tomorrow, do some weight lifting and cardio work, then come home, eat a big breakfast, work on some comedy, mostly scriipts and then get working on developing the book I have this idea for.  It’s a book based on creativity and allowing ideas to come to you when they do and not rushing them.  It will also have to do with relaxation and stuff like that, which will allow more creative ideas to flow to you.  I really don’t know how much I can say about this, but it will relate to all different kinds of situations.  It will be a book about living a more creative life in all aspects possible. 

I’m really looking forward to writing a book about this and I feel if I can wake up a bit earlier and get working on myself extensively as well as writing this book, which I hope to finish by the end of the year or so, I will be able to be more productive while essentially not stressing to get things done in what will seem like a scarcity of time.  I want to increase the amount of time I have in each day so I can spend it in a variety of ways.  I feel if I can incorporate some sort of routine into my life that starts early, I’ll be setting a positive pattern for the rest of my life.  Also, I want to start getting to bed earlier, maybe 10-11 PM.  It’s not that I’m tired at that time, it’s just there’s really nothing to do during those hours.  Before I stopped watching TV, I used to watch TV.  Now I spend it doing mindless activities online that I don’t even remember the next morning, so what’s the point of doing them?  I feel that if I can change the waking/sleeping hours, I’ll be able to really focus on comedy at decent hours and not have to feel stressed and trying to get things done so fast, because stress and a feeling of time scarcity leads to an inhibition in creativity, as I’m sure we all know.  I’m searching for a title for the book as well, so I’ll brainstorm some ideas.  I’m not going to rush anyting, though.  If one day I don’t feel like writing or don’t feel like working out or whatever, I won’t.  I just can’t let it become a pattern.  I don’t think it will be a big problem anyway.

I’m working on some creative comedy as well.  I want to create a show that will be very absurd, but it will also be very funny.  I may pitch it to someone and see what they think and eventually pitch it to some network once I get the groundwork done.  I’ve got what I want it to be, so I just need to build a foundation underneath it.  A good foundation is key because without one, it will be hard for the show to stand on its own.  I’m going all out into this, although it will be in a relaxing way. 

A sidenote:  I’ve been intending for more money to come into my life, so I’m sure you’re familiar with the Deal or No Deal lucky case game.  I don’t really watch the show, but I enter ten times online in the lucky case game every time the show airs with a shot at winning $10000 dollars, which would certainly have me on my way to getting enough to live independently without having to get a job.  This will also allow me to do what I love, whether or not it makes me money.  That will be a fine day.  So that’s what’s going on.  I’ll be going to bed around 1 AM tonight as I took a nap, but tomorrow starts the new sleep schedule.  I’ll see how it works and fill everyone in!

I seem to be waking up earlier lately.  I guess this means it leaves me time to really write.  I’ve been waking up around 9 or so and I usually et to bed around 1-2 AM.  So, the way I see it, I might be adapting to having a healthier diet or something.  There is a truth about how waking up earlier is definitely conducive to productivity.  I know that anything I do late at night is never very productive, yet I tend to stay up if I’m on my computer, for maybe hours doing really nothing.  I’m on the verge of falling asleep with the only thing keeping me awake is the background noise from my computer.  But I’m going to make a radical shift here.  I’m going to try to start going to bed earlier, maybe 11 or so, so that way I can possible wake up around 6-7 AM and go to the gym in the morning or something.  There’s  a free gym I go to in my development about half a mile away and it’s a good walk to get there, but it’s worth it because now they have new equipment.  It’s opeining on Friday, so that might not be a bad day to get down there and check it out, although they’re having a grand opening cocktail party at like 5, so I don’t know if it will be officially open at 7 AM on Friday or if it’s open only after that party.  But I feel like getting up earlier will allow me to do more things that involve time-bound events.  Like I can’t go to that gym at midnight because it’s closed, but if I use the extra hours I spend awake on my computer doing essentially nothing except reading and wasting time to use the gym or go for long walks, it will inevitably affect my health. 

It’s a thought definitely taking into consideration.  For some reason or another, I’m putting the comedy on hold a tad.  I’m looking into discovering my true passion right now, and comedy is a facet of this passion, but writing seems to be the main passion I see right now.  Not just organized articles and reserach papers.  I enjoy creative writing and journaling.  Journaling is one of my favorite things to do, especially when I do what I like to call an “unedited rant,” which means I just write directly from my subeconscious and my thoughts flow so fast I can hardly catch up.  there are usually many typos, but the ideas are usually really profound.  I usually gain great clarity when I do something like this. 

But being early to rise will allow me to get these sort of things done before I get started on my day.  I like to wake up, write down any dreams I might have had, then move to searching different blogs, then eating some breakfast, then I don’t know what I do because it’s varied.  But in the varied area, I would like to add some sort of workout routine, whether it be running, walking, working out, or a combination of the three.  I’m sure it will be a good way to pass the time.  The biggest problem that I have with exercise is the fact that there’s no real reason to do it.  Here’s my philosophy.  Years ago, exercise was a necessity becausse we needed to do these tasks in order to survive.  We needed to catch our meals, we needed to run from dangerous animals if we lived in a forest.  Now we have no real need to move fast, except to tone our bodies, which is good, but there’s no intrinsic motivation besides energy boosts, but having an energy boost won’t really do too much for me, as I’m not a driven person.  I’m all about relaxation.  So it’s a weird contradiciton.

I’m not sure what I should definitely allot this time to.  I noticed when I was in college, whenever I was forced to wake up early, I definitely got a lot more done and it wasn’t rushed.  So maybe waking up earlier will allow me to do things that promote relaxation.  Like maybe I couldwork on my goals and intentions and work on manifesting them in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in its own perfect time, for the highest good of all.  I could definitely work on that and kind of put a structure into my days, well most days.  I like to take little mini-retreats every once in awhile.  Like today, I doubt I’ll accompish much as I have to heal my mind, body, and spirit.  I’ve worked five days straight and it’s not that it takes a toll on me because I’ve been relaxing at work as well, but it’s good to wake up every once in awhile and have nothing to do.  It really makes me feel better.

 Today I’m most likely going to go for an extended walk on the golf course near my house.  It will be a nice, trail-guided walk where I can just observe the sights and sounds of the course and just take some mental time off.  I need this kind of thing every once in awhile.  I’m even making significant mental breakthroughs at work when I’m a bagger because there is so much alone time (getting carts, cleanups, go-backs, etc.).  So I’ve been making breakthroughs on a regular basis and I feel like I’m really getting up there. 

I think the best use of the time is to get back to my true nature.  I’ve been moving towards this and been having creative sparks of genuis.  If I’ve written any comedy jokes, they’re much more creative and Steven Wright-esque, but they’re even more outlandish.  I’ve always been creative, but I think I stifled it for awhile because the world says you have to grow up and forget about this stuff.  My next creative enterprise is to try to find unique and fun ways to make money.  The object is to make maybe $100 dollars a month this way.  If I can do that, I can definnitely expand this figure and eventually make enough money to support myself.  We shall see how that works, but I’m defnitely optimistic about it. 

But these are all good things to undertake and I have the time.  It’s not like I don’t have spare time.  I just have to take away the mindless activities I do now, like watching TV at all, which I’ve reduced to the point of less than 2 hours a week.  There’s nothing on there for me, except South Park, which is the only show that still inspires me to watch it.  You can read about that here.  So that will definitely do something for me. 

But I remember coming home and my mom and brother were watching the elections.  It was funny because there was a bottom line of who won and lost, much like the thing on ESPN, so it was almost like they were looking for game scores or something.  “Oh, Sanford won!  Good.”  It was just funny to me.  Just thought I’d bring that up as well.  Good day.

Yesterday I had an extremely enlightening conversation with a fellow brain tumor survivor.  He works at the same store I do and is the most positive guy I have ever met.  He is constantly in a good mood and is always trying to get the customers to smile.  Sure, he can be quite annoying to those who don’t share the same feeling of sure joy, but it holds true because I’m one of the only people who reallly talks to him in a complex way.  So yesterday, we started talking and, seeing as we have similar experiences, he told me this: “I now have an enlightened perspective on life.  I am bursting with joy every minute of my existence.” Then he went on to tell me a story about how his surgeon was not sure whether or not my coworker was going to survive the operation.  It was an extensively intrusive surgery, much like mine was (with 64 stitches in the back of my head).  But supposedly the doctor came out to my coworker’s parents and said the following, “I do not know how I performed this surgery.  It did not even feel like it was me.  It felt like I was an outside observer and something was guiding my hands into the correct positions to carry out this surgery in an effective manner.  It was nothing short of a miracle that he survived and I know that something divine was at work.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.  I really don’t.  Sure, his tumor was worse than mine and he told me he had eight brain surgeries.  Eight.  I had three, but one was an emergency one and another was simply poking a hole in a ventricle.  But Mr. R, as I’ll call him, was a real trooper.  He just has this insane positive outlook on everything. and it’s similar to the feeling I had when I first got over my tumor.  But now I’m getting back to that feeling.  To think that I could be dead had I been born in a different time period where there were no neurosurgeons, makes me feel so lucky.  But he is a stunning example of who we all strive to be.  Someone in total joy, at total peace with themselves, someone that I honestly can say I’m proud to have met. I don’t know if you believe that everything happens for a reason, because I sure do.  The fact that I had a brain tumor is something I see as a definite blessing.  I asked my coworker the same thing and he responded with, “Absolutely.”  As you can see, he feels the same way.  And I thank the universe for showing me someone like this because it totally revamps my passion and motivation.  It gives me a reason for still being here.  It’s like the universe said, “I’m going to let you live, now let’s see what you can do with it.”  I’m up to the challenge.  I hope you have  a peace-filled day.

I have been reading a lot of different websites about a lazy way to success and it really inspired me to think about how I look at success and how we view work vs. fun. Here is what I came up with, but it’s not complete yet:

People think that they only way to success is through hard work. Hard work. That doesn’t sound very good, does it? Hard work is not something anyone looks forward to, I’m sure. All of these things I’ve been reading have said that it’s not working hard that grants success, but working from your passion, your strengths. And enjoying every step of the way. Enjoy the process. Don’t set your happiness off in the distant future. Enjoy the path itself. This is why people have so much trouble grasping success. Success isn’t some external validation of your talents, success is inside of yourself. If you are happy, healthy, and comfortable and you do what you enjoy every day and you avoid doing the things you hate to do, you are successful in your own right.

The whole thinking about success is usually given to someone who makes a lot of money and it’s true to some extent if the person who has the money isn’t miserable and didn’t have to step over a hundred people to achieve that success. If you want true success, you have to harmonize yourself with the world and you don’t want to step over anyone to become successful. A truly successful person will try to make it so everyone can achieve the same level of success. People who are successful are not taken aback by external circumstances very much because e their level of inner peace is so grand that it rivals anything that will come in its path.

Here’s a side note on the nature of this blog: I know this blog hasn’t been “funny” very much lately, but it’s only because I’m going through some major life shifts mentally and physically and I’m coming into myself much more than I even have before. I’m learning constantly about various subjects and I’m enjoying myself so much in self-exploration that the joy I have is better than any joke I could tell right now. So, if you come to this website for a cheap laugh, you will most likely be disappointed. But if you want to get a look inside someone who is very funny, but also very insightful and intuitive, you will enjoy this blog. My previous blog tried to start out as a comedy blog as well, but it eventually became the same kind of philosophical, purpose-driven blog. If you want to read it, the link is here.

My next step for this blog is the arduous task of linking blog posts together at the bottom of each entry. I don’t know how long this will take me, but I’ve got an entire life to do this. It’s one of those things where I wish I would have done it as I go, but I just didn’t. So now I have to go through over 100 posts or so and link them to other posts synonymously and it will probably take months. But “the time is going to pass anyway.” That’s one of my favorite quotes from Steve Pavlina. It’s so true it almost begs for you to get off your ass and do something.

But I’m feeling good, feeling great, about the way the blog is progressing. I like how I usually can come up with at least five or so a week and it only takes me maybe a half-hour to forty-five minutes to write a post of this length or more. I’m writing for both myself and the people who read it. This blog is definitely a tool for expression of self and sharing new ideas, or old ones with a different spin on them, to the world.

But I’m not going to do anything overkill. I’ve got plenty of time to get this all done. There are no deadlines. I don’t have to rush. I may even buy a hammock, as I mentioned in a previous post. So, if this blog ever does become successful, it will have done so in a lazy way. And I appreciate that. Being a Type-Z personality, which leades to more relaxations,  is quite a great way to go through life. Now all I have to do is find a lazy way to support myself financially. Maybe I’ll become a freelance journalist/writer. It’s definitely what I love to do. Why would I be writing this right now if I didn’t enjoy it? It’s not like I have to meet a quota or anything.

I know that often my posts don’t have a narrow focus, but you know, neither do I. So I want to share with you a story about a fruit I bought yesterday. Think of it as a post within a post. You’ve seen picture within picture on TV and if you’re familiar with programming, your familiar with nested loops, so here we go:

I’m scared as hell. I’ve heard so much about the health benefits of pomegranates, so