The Ramblings of the Titanium Don

Why Does Where You Put Your Focus Matter?

If you focus on what you can’t control, you cede your power. Between world news, politics, celebrity gossip, and everything else that the news media and social media tend to share and spread – it’s easy to get caught up in the bullshit. And I do mean bullshit. I’m not saying it’s not good to have a general idea of what is happening in the world at large – but when that’s your primary focus, you shouldn’t be surprised when

Combatting What Steven Pressfield Calls Resistance

Resistance is a force that presents itself as multiple obstacles on a given path. One of the most poignant books I’ve read (listened to) is Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. In it, the author goes through the pitfalls of the creative process – and the ongoing battle to produce your work. I relisten to this book at least once a year, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. The main issue is what he calls “Resistance”. Resistance is a

Knowing You Will Die, Why Won’t You Choose to Live?

Death is inevitable. Why would you neglect to choose to live while you are here? There is a major difference between simply existing and living. Existing is easy and can be done by rote and routine. You go about your days following the same patterns and behaviors, taking little to no joy in life and putting things off for tomorrow, after you lose 50 pounds, after your kids go to college, retirement, or some other forthcoming marker. A marker that

Do You Take/Make Time to Do What/Be With Who You Love?

Life is too short not to do what/be with who you love. Not to be morbid – but you never know how long you have here. Life in the meatsuits we each occupy is finite. These bodies have – ideally – about 80 years of active life. That is, unfortunately, the ideal. The reality is that we might – for numerous reasons outside our control – have far less time. In the past 6 months, I’ve lost 2 friends to

Does Genuine Positivity Help with Overcoming Overwhelm?

A positive approach can help you overcome overwhelm on many levels. You and I live in a world that’s frequently overwhelming. I stopped watching the news and reading news websites in depth because it made me feel awful. So many terrible things happening out there. And worst of all – the vast majority of them I can do little to nothing about. What about the things I do and the people I spend time with? Also tricky, because there are

Self-Care in Action – A Note from Present Me to Future Me

Sharing some mindful self-care by writing a note to my future self. Who you are now is a product of your past thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. Things that you did along the way made you who you are now. This can be hard to fathom. Aren’t you who you are now, now? The answer is yes – but only when you’re actively being mindful and consciously aware. The only time that’s really, truly, real is right now. This moment,

How is the Unusual More the Usual Than the Unusual?

Who decides usual from unusual, anyhow? I have never been called normal. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Being unusual is my usual. As a kid, I was different from those around me on many levels – both physically and emotionally. As a teen, because of where I grew up, I was a good head shorter than most of the other boys my age. Unusual tended to be an apt descriptor for me. Like most teens and twenty-somethings, I

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

How Does Non-Toxic Positivity Better Your Life Experience?

Non-toxic positivity is a creative force for self-care and improvement. The word “positivity” might set your teeth on edge. That’s probably because you’ve been exposed to all the toxic positivity out there. Toxic positivity is the idea that if you think positive – and ONLY positive – your life will be the best it can be. What’s more, toxic positivity rather blatantly disregards, ignores, or turns a blind eye to anything that’s not positive. Positivity in this manner turns anything

Why and How Is It Good For You To Ask for Help Sometimes?

You ask for help because nobody can do everything alone. I’m incredibly self-sufficient. I’ve been this way since my early 20s. Asking for help doesn’t come easily to me. This is due to any number of reasons, ranging from control issues, fear of appearing weak, and fear of rejection, to having my self-respect lost both to myself and others. And of course, there have been outside lessons borne of human nature and lack of reliability in some people. Self-care, self-awareness,