The Jackrabbit Factor

I arrived home in time to share dinner with the family and then The Queen and my oldest Prince shipped off to the church for different activities. I remained behind to shepherd the other four through dinner, some playtime, and finally bedtime. They are all in bed. The Queen and Prince aren't home yet.

The youngest sat in his chair and ate peas and carrots while I finished a book.

Today I read an amazing little book called The Jackrabbit Factor, by Leslie Householder. I was already familiar with The Secret, having purchased a copy of the DVD about a year ago. They both expound on a concept known as the Law of Attraction. The nice thing about The Jackrabbit Factor is that it is written from the perspective of a Christian. A lot of people who saw The Secret express concern that it takes God out of the equation (I don't agree with that perspective - I liked it) and so The Jackrabbit Factor can help them to understand the ideas, if they will listen.

For anybody interested, I will just refer to Leslie's website: www.thoughtsalive.com.

Happy reading!

What a Storm

Winter blew in a blizzard today - fortunately it was a holiday for many. Even so, my normal 30-minute commute became almost an hour. The most amazing thing I saw was the guy in the rear-wheel drive Trans Am, spun off on the downward sloping shoulder, one hand holding the cell phone to his ear, and the rear wheels spinning at high RPM, slush flying everywhere. Clearly not much winter driving experience there...

I have already taken my boys to the nearest large parking area to spin around and get the feel of what it takes to control a vehicle when the traction is greatly reduced - I intend to do a lot more of the same as the years go by.

Today was a very busy day at work, but a fairly good day after arriving home. The cold kept the boys from spending much time outside, but they built a clubhouse under the back deck from wood and snow. We enjoyed conversation over dinner, then moved on to Family Home Evening, which we try to remember every Monday night. There Mom shared a lesson on opening our hearts to the Savior, and the boys took time to recount what they had done throughout the day. After a couple of silly games, we enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies and moved into the bedtime routine.

All but the youngest are neatly tucked into their beds, and the house is mostly calm and quiet.

Today I read A Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell, who grew up in my hometown. It's an easy read - sort of a spy thriller mixed up with a story of personal redemption.

I Am A Nerd - How About You?

Etymology
Unknown.

* First used in Dr. Seuss’s book If I Ran the Zoo (1950) as the name of an imaginary animal.

And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Katroo
And bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo,
A Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker too!

* Possibly from Mortimer Snerd, the name of Edgar Bergen’s ventriloquist dummy.
* Possibly from the acronym N.E.R.D. on the pocket protectors of employees of the company Northern Electric Research and Developments; it should be noted, however, that speculative etymologies based on acronyms are almost always false (such as “port out, starboard home” for “posh” and “to insure promptness” for “tip”) and are known as backronyms.
* Possibly a pronunciation of the word “drunk” spelled in reverse (“knurd”), used to mean a person who does not drink at parties; however, this seems somewhat contrived.

Noun
nerd (plural nerds)

1. (slang, derogatory) A person who, although having good technical or scientific skills, is introspective and introverted

Synonyms
* (socially unaccepted person, all are slang and derogatory) dag (Australian), dork, dweeb, geek, loser, twerp

The Five Lessons

I just finished a great little book entitled The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me about Life and Wealth. It fits right in with a lot of other things I am focusing on right now. It was authored by Richard Paul Evans, bestselling author of The Christmas Box. To summarize the book, these principles are the keys for truly wealthy people throughout the ages, and if we follow the five lessons or principles, we will be free to focus on God, family, and relationships.

So, the five lessons are:

1. Lesson One - Decide to Be Wealthy
1. Thoughts become reality
   
2. Lesson Two - Take Responsibility for Your Money
1. Know how much money you have
2. Know where your money comes from
3. Know where your money is going
4. Know what your money is doing
   
3. Lesson Three - Keep a Portion of Everything You Earn
1. Start and Build a Nest Egg
4. Lesson Four - Win in the Margins
1. With Extra Income
2. With Savings
1. Mind-Set One - the Millionaire Mentality Carefully Considers Each Expenditure
1. Is this expenditure really necessary? (Or is it possible to get the same personal effect without using money or using less of it?)
   
2. Is this expenditure contributing to my wealth or taking from it?
3. Is this an impulse purchase or a planned purchase? Am I being pressured to make an expenditure I'm not certain about?
   
2. Mind-Set Two - the Millionaire Mentality Believes That Freedom and Power Are Better Than Momentary Pleasure
3. Mind-Set Three - the Millionaire Mentality Does Not Equate Spending With Happiness
1. The successful nest egger fosters gratitude as a strategy against materialism and unhappiness
   
4. Mind-Set Four - The Millionaire Mentality Protects the Nest Egg
1. Is the person I'm trusting with my wealth sufficiently skilled to handle my money?
   
5. Lesson Five - Give Back
1. Share what you have and what you know with others - it will come back to you multiplied
   

I'll post some links later for those who might be interested in more information along this line of conversation.

Time With the Boys

I am at home with the boys, having a great time, while our Queen is at a board meeting for an organization that directly impacts our boys. She is there in an attempt to influence a change in the organizational bylaws.

Meanwhile, our youngest little Prince (almost 10 months old) is playing at my feet, jabbering a lot, looking up at me for my reaction as he grabs some new item, masticates on it a bit, studies it, etc. He is delightful to be around. He was quite sick on our recent vacation, and then his voice almost completely went away for a couple of days here at home, but he seems to be feeling a lot better.

The other four boys have two of their young friends over to play, and they are all downstairs. I can hear my oldest officiating and setting down the rules for some make-believe scenario from Harry Potter.

I spent a few hours today in the neighborhood garage. My friend Tiny has a great shop at his house where we often gather to do man stuff (work on cars, make repairs to some piece of machinery, create a new invention, watch a movie on the surround sound theater, make something that goes boom, etc.) Two other friends had lined up to make quick repairs to their vehicles. The first repair went rather quickly - it was done shortly after I arrived. The second repair took longer - we replaced the master brake cylinder and bled it, pulled the rear wheels and replaced the rear bearings, and I had to return back home to hang out with my boys before we were finished.

The Queen and I discussed my efforts and thoughts about change last night. My plan is beginning to come together. I will work hard on having positive interactions with my boys every day, avoiding (as much as possible) anger and other negative emotions. And I will make an accounting for these interactions frequently in this forum, thereby making myself accountable for my progress to all who follow this thread. Furthermore, I am going to encourage the older two boys to post occasionally to the blog. As the project continues, I anticipate that we will write a book about our journey (maybe 1-2 years down the road.)

I fully expect this to be a phenomenal journey, and I expect that we will learn many things that will benefit other people if they are willing to listen.

Resonant Leadership and Presence

My latest reads have been "Resonant Leadership" and "Presence." My observation is that they run in a similar vein with the materials I have read from the Arbinger Institute (Bonds That Make Us Free, Leadership and Self-Deception, etc.).

The first step in making important changes is always to recognize the need for a change. That is where I am at. I am not a bad person, but I recognize the need for change - I just have to make the change. It is important to clarify that I have had this realization - from the stories and examples I read, apparently few people reach that realization. The next step is to envision clearly where I want and need to go and what steps are needed to get there. Accountability is key in the process - I have to identify others to whom I can be accountable and make sure they hold me responsible for commitments I make.

Here is what is at stake: I believe we are all destined for greatness, but unfortunately the system in which we live tends to mold us into mediocrity. What mission is in the destiny of Rex Vallis? Unless I take the steps I am outlining above, I will never know, because I will live a life of mediocrity.

The Search for Patience

Vacation Day Seven:

Vacations - these are the times that try mens' souls. Today was day seven of a family vacation.

(The "try mens' souls" comment was taken wrong by my Queen - it was merely meant as a humorous attempt to convey the difficulty that I allude to a few paragraphs below - I love to vacation with my family.)

This one did not involve flying - we loaded everybody up into the family chariot (minivan) and made the journey of less than 300 miles. We are owners in Worldmark, a timeshare of sorts, and we booked a 3-bdrm condo many months in advance. It's a good way to travel, because it provides you with a sort of home away from home, rather than cramming everybody into hotel rooms.

Anyway, we have made the best of this one, in spite of some rather acute colds, coughs, etc. We have spent time in State and National Parks, and really spent a great deal of time outdoors enjoying the relatively warm weather (it was single digits at night at home, whereas the nighttime low here at the condo wasn't quite freezing, and the daytime high today was over 60 degrees.)

My biggest challenges come with the chemistry between myself and my two oldest sons, who are 9 and 7 years old. It is a constant rivalry, never letting up for more than a few hours at a time. This becomes more apparent to me since I spend more constant time with them on vacation, and since even a large condo like this is tighter quarters than our home. I realize that it is completely natural, and will most likely find a good outcome in the way of boys growing and learning, but the constant at-each-others-throats just gets under my skin so badly that I can't let it go - I am constantly intervening and probably not helping. The intervention is probably needed - just not in the form that I usually employ. I get angry, often yell, take away privileges, etc, etc. I am convinced that I will get this figured out - just haven't found my touch yet.

Tomorrow is the journey home. Thank goodness for DVD players.

(An editorial comment after arriving home - the rivalry continued in the backseat of the van - and the DVD player was cut off for periods of time in an attempt to control behavior - I'm not sure who suffered more, the boys or the parents!)