The Ramblings of the Titanium Don

How Can Negativity Possibly Be Empowering?

Negativity is an unexpected teacher. Positivity, the opposite of negativity, is empowering. In a fear-based society, overloaded with fake lack, scarcity, and insufficiency, positivity is necessary. There is, however, a catch. You can’t have positivity without negativity. The mistake that toxic positivity makes is its utter denial of negativity. Toxic positivity tells you to blot out negativity, ignore it, put blinders on to it, avoid it, and disregard it. That is, however, impossible. Shit happens. No matter who you are,

Can Gratitude for What You Have Get You What You Desire?

Yes. But it also alters what you genuinely desire in important, positive ways. Overall, I have an amazing life. I’m deeply grateful for all that I have. This begins with the basic necessities. This includes ample food, more than adequate shelter, and enough clothing that I need to donate things I seldom or never wear to a worthwhile charity. Beyond the basic necessities of life – food, clothing, shelter – I am incredibly grateful for the other “needs” that are

What Is a Cost Analysis of Life Choices?

Every choice you make has a cost. This is highly variable and subjective. Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This is applicable, however, beyond the laws of motion. For anything and everything that you do – literal or figurative – there will be a reaction. Some approach this from the notion that actions have consequences. I look at it as every choice you make is an action you

How Is Empowerment So Easy/Why is It All So Hard?

Creating and/or finding empowerment can be so easy…but why is it also so hard? One of my all-time favorite books is Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. If you have not read this book – I can’t recommend it enough. I don’t know that it matters what genres you typically read – this book is just amazing. The central premise is the idea of living every day with purpose – and finding your way even when the way is blocked. This is

Why Is Knowledge as Empowerment Important to You and Me?

Because only via empowerment do you and I have genuine, positive control. I’m always learning something new. And I revel in that. I learn in different ways from different resources. That includes other people, books, experiences, places, and sometimes combinations of all the above. The lessons are equally as variable. You probably know of Sir Francis Bacon’s statement, “knowledge itself is power” as “knowledge is power.” But I think that missed the mark because “power” is an obscure, often abused

Is Your Morning Routine Exhausting or Empowering? The Choice is Yours

You get to decide if every new day will be exhausting or empowering. During the workweek, when you wake up, do you begin your day feeling exhausted? Do you struggle to get out of bed, get going, and face all that lies before you today? Or do you begin your day feeling empowered? Do you get out of bed, get going, and face all that lies before you today ready to experience potential and possibilities? Odds are, neither is the

Why and How Does Genuine, Real Positivity Build Things and Empower?

Because genuine positivity is a creative force that will build things and empower us. Positivity is not a permanent state of being. That’s because, realistically, there is no single state of being for anyone. That’s just the way it works. We all go through various states of being depending on any number of circumstances both in and out of our control. Toxic positivity tends to postulate that always being positive in mind, body, and spirit is the end-all-be-all. But that’s

Are You Just Spinning Your Wheels or Are You Going Somewhere?

Feeling like you’re just spinning your wheels can be frustrating and infuriating. Ever have that feeling that you’re in motion, but not going anywhere? It’s akin to a car being stuck in the mud, on sand, or on ice. Your tires spin and spin and spin – but you don’t move. Sometimes, you do move – just really, really, slowly. Too slowly to feel like any movement is occurring. That’s a feeling I think many of us deal with from

How Does Gratitude Help Extinguish the Fires of the World?

It’s too easy to see the world as being on fire. But gratitude can extinguish the flames. The last two years have been insane. Not for me, per se – but on the scale of the Big Picture of the world. Between Trump, COVID-19, ugly social injustices, discrimination, surreal entitlement, blatant lies from many of our so-called leaders and “news” networks, and the seemingly never-ending stream of awfulness – it sure as hell looks like the world is on fire.

Can Making Choices and Doing What’s Best for You Harm Others?

Doing what’s best for you might harm others – but that’s likely beyond your control. When I was younger, I crowned myself the King of Indecision. I lived perpetually at a crossroads between two points. So that I wouldn’t make the wrong decision, I frequently made no decision. No decision, no harm, right? Wrong. By not making choices and deciding for myself how my life should be – I was the plaything of the Universe. Life lived me – save