streaks.

To walk the line of encouragement and challenge is usually difficult, whether it's for ourselves or for others. 

How do we remember we are amazing, without getting lazy, and how do we challenge ourselves to do more, without becoming exhausted. Throw in religion and it's a tricky recipe. 

The universe is full of black energy and matter - that is still very mysterious - that contains and propels us. It tells us we're okay and moves us to do more. It's in the DNA of the universe. 

I think that's the power of streaks. Of any kind. Winning streak, writing streak, sober streak. We remember what we've done and we celebrate it. Wow, I've written 500 words a day for 40 days. Wow! And it is that celebration and gratitude that moves us to do more.

We're moved to do more because we realize what we've done.

So, think about your streaks. You've got them. And remember you're amazing. And remember there's more to do. 

death bed.

I've never heard a story of someone lying on their death bed and asking about whether or not their critics were happy with the way they lived. Honestly, I doubt anyone has ever been on their death bed and even asked whether or not their friends were happy with the way they lived. 

It's you. Just you who will determine that. So start. 

dear social media users.

No one is listening anymore... not in the way we think they are. 

I believe this to be true because if we knew how they were listening, we wouldn't be posting most of what is posted.

But there are people who want to listen to you. In person. Face to face. And they want you to listen to them. In person. Face to face.

Find them instead.

(Am I being hypocritical posting this on a blog? Maybe. But I think everything about the blog medium is different than the Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram mediums. That's important. To quote Marshall McLuhan, "the medium is the message".)

10.

I was recently with someone who was nervous that they were too young and knew too much. At first, this could sound arrogant and conceited (I'm sure there was some immaturity there) but I don't think it was. 

It was a scarce worldview. There isn't that much blow-your-mind-information-especially-about-God out there and what if I know most of it already? What then?

We just discovered the Universe has 10 times more galaxies than we thought. We're now estimating 2 trillion galaxies. 

1 million seconds is about 11.5 days,
1 billion seconds is about 32 years
1 trillion seconds is equal to 32,000 years.

If you spent 1 million dollars every day since the day Jesus was born you still wouldn't have spent 1 trillion dollars. 

There are 2 trillion galaxies. If you could explore a galaxy every second it would take 64,000 years. We live in a Solar System that we've only just begun to explore. Barely. 

There is no room for scarcity in this universe, except for the realization that we can scarcely know anything at all. 

tests.

It seems like mosts artists don't like school. There are probably all kinds of reasons but artists are generally creative and school is generally tests and tests are not creative. 

Tests are memorization. They are predictable, certain, standardized, and judgmental by their very nature. They produce hierarchy and obedience.   

Creating is not and does not.  

If you want to be an artist, you don't have to take the tests anymore, but it's like we become addicted to them. 

a match.

First there is a strike. 
Then there is friction.
Then there is heat.
There is conversion. 
There is decomposition. 

It takes a lot to liberate oxygen and bring light to darkness. 

go to the grocery store.

For the 18th straight month, restaurant sales were more than grocery store sales in the U.S., despite the success of cooking shows of just about every kind. 

Probably about way more than food. We often like to watch others or live through them as they work. 

My favorite analogy of the Bible is that it's a menu... you aren't supposed to memorize the menu you are supposed to read it and order the food to taste for yourself. 

I now think the analogy should change a little. The Bible is a recipe. It tells you what ingredients to go into the world to look for, how to find them, and how to mix them together for something that will satisfy not only basic needs of hunger but of finer tastes of goodness and life. 

Of course this takes work, time, effort, mystery, risk, vulnerability, and humility... 

tri.

Malcom Gladwell was recently talking about triathletes and the line they have to walk. They can't specialize too much in one event at the risk of costing themselves in another event. They have to be "good enough" in multiple endeavors. 

There are cyclists and swimmers and there are runners and basketball players... in creativity and business too. 

If you're trying to be a decathlete don't become discouraged that you aren't the best runner in the world. If you want to be the best runner in the world, don't put time into learning to throw the javelin. 

Art. Writing. Leadership.

You can't have it all - at least know what race you want to compete in. 

leal.

Have you ever heard of John Leal? He's basically why we have clean drinking water. He, almost single-handedly eradicated typhoid fever and waterborne sickness in the U.S. 

Even better, he started with a major risk: he didn't tell any authorities and, in almost complete secrecy, started experimenting with chlorine in water supplies. It easily could have ruined him. 

The risk of being ruined is how we often defeat the resistance to change. 

they just might not listen.

Reginald Fessenden invented early sonar. He tried to pitch it to England during WWI but they weren't interested. The Americans basically ignored him too. Thousands of lives were lost to German U-Boats that could have been "seen" if someone had listened to Fessenden and his invention. 

Change is really, really hard.

the radio.

The "Father of Radio" Lee De Forest once wrote this: 

What have you done with my child, the radio broadcast? You have debased this child, dressed him in rags of ragtime, tatters of jive and boogie-woogie.

Yes, change is, and always has been, really hard. 

we were wrong.

Some of my favorite articles begin with "we were wrong..." 

One of my more recent favorites was about the moon, and where it came from. 

We were wrong. 

It wasn't a surface collision from a Mars-sized body and Earth it was more like a massive collision that nearly vaporized Earth some akin to "a sledgehammer and a watermelon". 

Two things:

1. We are still wrong about all kinds of things. I am wrong and so are you.

Tread lightly. 

2. That big beautiful orb in the sky at night came from great destruction. 

Beauty finds a way. 

(Bonus recent wrong: Giraffes are actually four different species.) 

it's getting real.

The idea of humans going to live on Mars is getting real. 

I don't mean real as in "that would be cool" I mean real as in actual human beings are coming up with actual plans that actually work to get humans to Mars.

8 years from now. 8 years. 8 years ago Obama was running for President. 8 years from now there is a very real possibility that a group of humans will be on a rocket to live on Mars. 

That is one of the most amazing things I've heard lately. 

If you want to read more, you should. If you think it's all crazy, that's alright. Lots of people do. At least one man doesn't. Elon Musk started multiple companies with multiple ideas and all with the intention of getting to Mars. He's looking a little less crazy all the time. 

But this isn't just about Mars. 

What are you doing today?

Don't feel guilty about not doing enough. That's just an excuse to not be inspired to dream big and an excuse to not start doing some work. 

different than. part V.

Being content is different than being lazy is different than stopping. 

You have to start in order to stop. In order to stop you have to celebrate what's been done. 

different than. part II.

Not caring what they think is different than not worrying what they think. 

Heart them, hear the critiques, hear the praises, and even, let them influence you. 

But don't spend one second worrying about any of it and what it means to you. 

different than. part I.

Right work is different than work right. 

One may or may not happen, depending on circumstances beyond your control. 

The other can happen today if you want it to. 

4 people

There are two people in a room.

One is sitting at a table. Very nice napkins. Tablecloth. Beautiful knives and forks made of silver and gold.  And porcelain plates. Crystal wine glasses. Waiting. 

One is sitting at a table. No napkins or silverware or china. Just food. Eating.

Which one are you?

Two more people enter the room.

One is selling some very nice silver, even better than what was already there. Gorgeous stuff. Looks incredible. Turns heads. Makes you smile. 

One is selling food. Just food.

Which one are you? 

To quote Childish Gambino: Yeah, you got some silverware - But really are you eating though?

sacrifice.

Maybe the only thing worth sacrificing at the altar is the very idea of sacrifice. 

zero feedback.

Whenever your working on something big, the temptation is to get feedback as soon as possible.
I've done it and I see it constantly. 

Hey, everyone, I started a diet! 
I'm off Facebook! 
I'm writing a book! 
I'm meditating every day! 
I'm starting a new business!

In fact, doing anything without feedback is really hard. And so we ask for the feedback first, before it's due. 

But, I'm learning, slowly, spend energy on the diet, off Facebook, writing the book, meditating, or starting the business and you'll eventually get the feedback you crave, for all the right reasons. 

Work for the feedback, not from it.

Using feedback as fuel will rarely end up well. 

seeds.

We have some friends with a massive avocado tree that supplies them with more avocados then they can eat every year. 

I love avocados. I want that tree.

What I rarely think about is what it took to get that tree. 

A seed. A nursery. Water. Fertilizer. Energy from the sun. Dirt.
Patience. More energy. More time. More investment.  More resources. Years and years.  

And eventually someone says...

What an amazing community. 
What an amazing company. 
What an amazing marriage. 
What an amazing job. 
What an amazing person. 

It's the most simplest of metaphors and the universe is always reminding us, but we forget it constantly.