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Home » do

Choice not chance determines our destiny

February 9, 2015 by Matt

Heads or Tails. Legend of the Domino Chief

Destination Tree domino
A domino thought leads to questioning a coin toss

In the wise words of Ice Cube, from the 90s cult classic, Boyz N the Hood, “Domino mutha F*&%-er!!!” Call me crazy, but whenever I hear the word “domino” that line instantly pops in my head. Well, recently I had a “domino” thought. The kind where one thought leads to another and another…until you are mentally fixated on something totally different than what initiated the original thought. While walking back to my truck the other day, I spied a coin on the ground. Despite the germ-aphobe in me, I excitedly bent down to pick it up only to realize it was a 1938 nickel. Yahoo! I gave it a quick lucky flip from my thumb in the air. Maybe not as exciting as finding a twenty dollar bill, but I was still excited to acquire this vintage chieftain collectable.

Finding this coin was the catalyst of my domino thought chain. It made me think of the act of flipping a coin. Which led to my curiosity of how many people had flipped this particular coin in it’s 77 years of service. Which led to wondering how many decisions had been made from those seemingly innocent tosses.  How much history had been cast due to the decision of a nickel? How many of us leave our decision making up to a coin toss?

And this ultimately made me wonder, why do people live their life by chance…rather than by the more difficult process of choice? That’s where I landed on the final thought, ‘why toss the coin in the first place’?

I can only think of two reasons why we flip a coin to come upon an outcome for action. Either number one we really don’t care what the outcome is, which means the decision is really irrelevant and the tosser should put the coin away, decide and move on with their day. Or number two, we don’t want to be held accountable for the outcome and therefore transfer all responsibility to the coin itself. Afterall, if it was a bad call, that led to an unfavorable outcome, no sane person is going to go back and start an argument with a coin…but they might a person. In this event, the person doing the flipping probably isn’t the right person for the task and should hand the coin over to someone else who is strong enough to live with the consequences of the outcome, rather than letting the old chieftain take the blame, or get the credit.

Either way you look at it, a decision should be made by a person, not a coin. So when looking at the mental dominoes scattered all around me, my conclusion was this:  In the end, there is a helluva lot of potential for us to grow more confident when making decisions as we carve a path through the history books, because the person those very books put on that coin is done growing…but you’re not. In the wise words of one of history’s great carvers, Winston Churchill, “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.”

Domino my friends!

Cheers,

Matt

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Matt, Inspiration Tagged With: choices, dare, decisions, do, dream, inspiration, positivity

Liquid Luck…it isn’t just for Harry Potter.

January 15, 2015 by Matt

Question: Is the glass truly half empty or half full?

Answer: It doesn’t matter. Because you’re the brewer!

Brew your own luck. And your own life.
Brew your own luck. And your own life.

After brewing the first successful batch of beer this year, I have elected to name it “Liquid Luck”. Although, in the Harry Potter film, an elixir of the same name was brewed and used by Harry to aid in defeating the Dark Lord, this is not why I chose to give it the name.

As I started bottling the freshly fermented foreign extra stout, I poured myself the first bit into a glass to savor as I prepared to fill the lineup of bottles. Grabbing the glass in hand, I took a big sip when the age old question suddenly dawned on me…Is the glass now half empty, or half full?

Alone in the beer lab (aka the kitchen) and having only myself to ponder the question, it occurred to me that after 30+ years of hearing that question, I finally realized: the glass represents our life; and it’s contents represent everything IN our lives. The beer is merely a metaphor of our physical possessions, physical conditions, our failures, our triumphs, and in other words, our “luck”.

And then BOOM!!! Like a stadium light being turned on, my brain was flooded with the real answer of half empty or half full. It doesn’t matter!!! I just brewed my own luck, and I can always pour more.

Don’t focus on the glass. Focus on the ability to fill it. The ability to create for ourselves a never-empty-glass. Now I’m not the finest brewer, so I can speak from experience when I say anyone, anyone, can do it. It just takes some discipline and dedication. And literally, everyone can brew a better life for themselves, if they’re willing to get their hands wet in creating it.

Here are two questions to ask yourself:
#1) What am I proud of accomplishing this week that was a worthy challenge?
#2) What challenge will I take on next week that will have a positive impact on my life?

The glass of life is never half empty when you keep the keg of your creation full and flowing.

Happy brewing to you this year!

Cheers,

Matt

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Matt, Inspiration Tagged With: dare, destination tree, do, dream, inspiration, positivity

The Dreamers. The Darers. The Doers.

December 31, 2014 by Matt

Dream. Dare. Do.
Dream. Dare. Do.

Here’s to the Inspiration Nation.

The outliers, the one-offs, the rebellious few who plant oaken seed dreams without borders or rivals. For an ever growing alliance awakens each day becoming more aware of a life of inspired doing!

Born from every day origins, these revolutionaries are unaffected by the limitations imposed by others.

Gone are the days of play-it-safe, fall-in-line, and don’t-venture-too-far. These Dreamer-Darer-Doer’s actually take risks and are willing to shun titles and personal financial “security” in pursuit of the real greater good. They work hard and smart, ignoring the mind-numbing, deafeningly loud, Lemming chatter all around them. They are rebels…and rebels won’t rest on past accomplishments.

They have ambition and are honest with themselves and those around them. They know they are imperfect and have mortal limits. For this reason, they plant one foot in reality to ground themselves, and let the rest of their spirit and body venture out in pursuit of all that they can experience and accomplish in their short existence.

Led by their DREAMS and gripped tightly by their DARES, they blaze a trail of DOing, and along the way, inspire others to awaken from their DREAMS and DARE to DO it better.

Not a member of this pack? I DARE you to wake up and join.

Dream. Dare. Do….and Live Inspired,

Matt

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Matt, Inspiration Tagged With: adventure, dare, destination tree, do, dream, inspiration

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