Tag Archives: Failure

22

Your Valuable Learning Experiences

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Familiar Territory

Everyone makes mistakes
It’s OK To Make Mistakes

An inevitable part of being human is that we all make mistakes in life. Nobody is perfect, no matter how hard we try to be.

That has always made us wonder: Why are we all so hard on ourselves when we make a mistake? When you analyze things, you see that failure can be a real problem. Nobody would choose an error and the trauma that comes along with it over the easy sailing of success, but that leads back to the point, no matter who you are, no matter how smart, funny, famous or talented, you are going to make mistakes and experience failure at some point in your life.

But I wanted to say that our lives are not the mistakes and failures that define us; how we react to those mistakes and failures determines who we are.

“In school, we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet, we learn by making mistakes when we look at how humans are designed to learn. We learn to walk by falling; if we never fell, we would never walk.”
― Robert T. Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad

How a Mistake can Crush You

mistakes can crush you
Good Quote

When bad things happen in life, you have a choice in how to deal with them. You always have a choice. You can let the wrong something define you or let the unfortunate incident teach you how to be a better person.

Being human, I have made many life mistakes and bad decisions and experienced failure. There have been times when I was discouraged and felt sorry that life wasn’t fair, and it was easy to place all of the blame on others’ actions.

But if I wanted to grow and evolve into the kind of person I wanted to be, I had to look hard in the mirror and understand that if I let the bad things that have happened in my life crush me, then I am allowing my life and my destiny to be determined by someone else.

When you let your whole being be so controlled by not only the mistakes you make but, even more importantly, what you perceive others to think about your setbacks, you will slowly be crushed by your mistakes.

How a Failure can inspire You

Don't let Mistakes Define You
You Are Awesome

All great things have been accomplished for one of two reasons, inspiration or desperation. What may, on the surface, seem like a failure may be viewed as a victory in the broad scope of one’s life.

You may have discovered a talent you would never have found because you were forced to look for it. You may have traveled somewhere you would never have gone because your failure caused you to move. You may have met your soulmate only after a nasty breakup that allowed you to look inside yourself and discover what you need in a relationship. It is easy to quit in life, and it is easy to go into the fetal position and say, “Enough.”

But when you push yourself to continue pursuing a complete and happy life,  you will find that many of the low barriers we face in life are merely hurdles to hop over on our way to the finish line, not impenetrable walls that stop us from achieving greatness. Sometimes, our mistakes, failures, or setbacks can provide the momentum to push us toward making dreams a reality.

Don’t let the Fear of Failure Determine Your Future.

learning from mistakes
A Long Book!

Whatever the case, we can’t let the fear of failure determine how we live our life because we can fail at any time, and it can happen.

Learning how to deal with the loss and disappointment of having things not work out the way we plan may be the most valuable lesson we can learn in life. Life guarantees only one thing you will have experiences; that’s about it.

You are not assured that your life will be non-stop happiness without any sadness or disappointment. Those just come as a part of the package, but true greatness can be achieved by anyone who sees the risk of failure and disappointment but continues to see what happens.

Do not let the fear of what might happen to stop you from doing anything in life. You may fail, you may look foolish, some people may laugh, and you may be misunderstood, but all of that doesn’t matter if you have to courage to look your fear in the eye and try!

You will NEVER accomplish anything worthwhile unless you create a dream and have the courage to try to make it come true. If you make mistakes or fail along the way, understand that it is not a condemnation of your goals and dreams but a needed step to achieving them. Nobody said that doing anything worthwhile would be easy or quick to complete.

In fact, as in most things, the journey to achieving our goals needs to be appreciated as much as reaching the plan itself. You will always cherish the victory when you know it was hard-fought and won, which will have much more value.

Quotes On Mistakes

“Some of the best lessons we ever learn, we learn from our mistakes and failures. The error of the past is the success and wisdom of the future.” – Tyron Edwards.

“A failure is an event, never a person.” ~William D. Brown,

“I have learned more from my mistakes than from my successes.” – Sir Humphry Davy

“The only time you don’t fail is the last time you try anything – and it works.” ~William Strong

“Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.” – Henry Ford

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~Thomas Edison

“If you have made mistakes…there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start at any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling, but the staying down.” – Mary Pickford

“When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves.” – Katherine Mansfield

“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” ~Elbert Hubbard

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” ~Samuel Beckett

“We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we WILL do by finding out what we will NOT do.” – Samuel Smiles

“If you’re doing your best, you won’t have time to worry about failure.”

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein.

“You know, by the time you’ve reached my age, you’ve made plenty of mistakes if you’ve lived your life properly.” – Ronald Reagan.

“Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure… it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.” ~Robert Schuller

“One fails forward toward success.”  ~Charles F. Kettering

“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could do so little.” – Edmund Burke

“One must be a god to be able to tell successes from failures without making mistakes.”  ~Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

“A man may fall many times, but he won’t be a failure until he says that someone pushed him.” ~Elmer G. Letterman

“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

“There are defeats more triumphant than victories.” ~Michel de Montaigne

“Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, “I have failed three times,” and what happens when he says, “I am a failure.” “~S.I. Hayakawa

“A failure is a man who has blundered but cannot cash in the experience.” ~Elbert Hubbard

22

Life’s Best Teachers

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Learning From Mistakes Of Life

everyone makes mistakes
Mistakes help you learn.

Life is continually teaching each of us lessons. We need to pay attention to the daily events we experience, our reactions to them, and even others’ experiences in our lives to learn something on any given day.  One of the things that I have noticed about myself and everyone I know is that we don’t like to make mistakes. When we do, we beat ourselves up for them for days, years, and sometimes, for the rest of our lives.  It makes you wonder why we are so afraid to make mistakes.  Are we born perfect knowing everything? Aren’t mistakes an inevitable part of growing and developing as a human being?  If you show me someone who has never made a mistake, I will show you someone who has never tried.  It makes me wonder why we are so afraid to make mistakes as a society.  When you look at our educational system, it is designed to celebrate the achievements of a select few, while the majority of students, who may be the most creative thinkers and eventually the people who would change the world, are held up and discouraged by this unrealistic expectation of our society to conform.  Be perfect, or you are a failure.  Why are we so afraid to fail?

Everyone Does it; what Are they Learning From Mistakes?

mistakes
Even Lincoln had a few hiccups before finding success.

We are afraid of mistakes because we have an unrealistic idea that successful people don’t make them, ever.  When you look into history, you see the accomplishments of our great leaders. You imagine that they never made any mistakes.  Throughout his life, Abraham Lincoln failed miserably at almost everything he tried until he became president. Lincoln’s brilliance was that he didn’t let his previous failures stop him from continuing to try.  He wouldn’t have been the wise and talented leader he became if it wasn’t for the experience of those mistakes he made in his life.  Lincoln was not perfect; he was the ideal leader for that time in history.  Today the media would not allow Lincoln to become President because his mistakes would be broadcast as an indictment of his competence rather than an example of his character and perseverance.

Learning From Mistakes Doesn’t Equal Weakness

Another reason we fear learning from mistakes because they allow others to see our weaknesses.  Most

we all make mistakes
Whiteout can’t cover up some mistakes.

When you make a mistake, you feel like the whole world is watching, even though there may only be a few people aware of your misstep.  We equate these mistakes with being less of a person rather than just a natural part of the learning process.  If you never made a mistake, you have never tried anything new, and if you have never felt angry, upset, and embarrassed about a mistake, then you have never lived.  It is not a weakness to try. The ability to fail, evaluate why it happened, make adjustments, and try anew should be the backbone of any great educational system.  That learning process can carry over into every aspect of your life.  You will never really learn if you don’t look honestly at your mistakes and take the lessons you will give yourself. Learning from mistakes is a talent.

Mistakes in Controlled Situations

One of the many reasons that extracurricular activities are so vitally important to society is that they provide a safe place to make mistakes and quickly learn lessons about how to

buckner mistake
Even a big mistake in sports will teach lessons.

Overcome them.  When you play on a sports team, you will make mistakes during a game. It happens you miss a shot, you give up a goal, you get beaten by a player with more excellent skill, but these mistakes each provide you with a learning opportunity, and it is your choice to participate or not.  Sports can teach you to persevere, be unselfish, identify your weaknesses, and work to overcome them.  If embraced and identified, the ability to follow the learning process in a natural workshop will allow all participants to grow.  Even if you get cut from a team after a tryout, valuable lessons are gleaned.  You can quit the sport forever or identify your weaknesses, work to improve them and try again.  You may not make the team, but if you follow the process of trying, failing, identifying weaknesses, working to improve, and then trying again, you are well on your way to success.  This skill can be applied to any aspect of your life.

Living  Your Life vs. Running Out the Clock

As we grow older, many people start believing that they are immune from making mistakes.  The experience will help guide you, and wisdom will help you avoid simple mistakes, but if you make no mistakes, you have stopped trying to learn and have decided to run out of the clock.  When you have a seemingly good lead in basketball, trying to run out the clock is common practice.  Once the clock expires and you are ahead, you win the game.  Teams stop trying to create offense and score new baskets as they are satisfied with their accomplishments and running away the time.  Many people adopt this philosophy in their lives.  They plan out their lives on a plan, high school, college, career, family, retirement, followed inevitably by death.  At some point during this process, you will hit a run-out clock situation, waiting for retirement or death. People seem satisfied and never make mistakes again.  Not knowing something can be scary because if there is something that you don’t know, then what else don’t you know? That can inspire some people but scare the ever-loving crap out of someone else.  Learning and experiencing new things is preferable to running out of the clock.  Try something. If you make a mistake, evaluate why it didn’t work, make adjustments, then try again.  This is the learning process that can lead you to ultimate success. Doing nothing and running the clock will lead you to retirement or death.  Good luck. Time to start learning from mistakes and not being afraid of what might happen.

Life is a Learning Process

Life, as I see it, is a learning process, and mistakes and failure have been given to you as a gift to help you find where you have weaknesses or shortcomings, make adjustments, and achieve success in whatever sphere you want to achieve success in.  Mistakes should not be something you fear, like a monster. They should be embraced, evaluated, learned from, and then discarded into the memory of your experience.  Failure is never final until you stop trying. Hug your mistakes and value the part they play in your learning process. Taking the time to learn from mistakes is a significant part.

“You make mistakes. Mistakes don’t make you.” Maxwell Maltz

“When someone does something wrong, don’t forget everything they did right.” Anonymous

“When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.” Paul Bear Bryant

“Mistakes can turn you into something better than you were before.” Anonymous

“Remember that life’s greatest lessons are usually learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes.” Anonymous

“Don’t mention a person’s past mistakes when trying to change. That’s like throwing rocks at them while they are struggling to climb a mountain.” Anonymous

“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Oscar Wilde

22

Cycles of Growth and Change

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Life is like a game that brings you a varied experience. From the time we are born,  we move through cycles of change, which allow us to grow and become more mature and eventually become a powerful, positive-thinking human beings in the world. Some play this game on a loop. They get to a certain point and then try to stay in that comfortable place where everything is known, and the challenges are few.  The problem with this is that there will be little growth or purpose in life.

To avoid the pendulum of experience that swings from success to failure to gain and lose is impossible.  Our fear of loss and failure stops us from moving forward and risking all we have for the potential reward of becoming better people. We are too comfortable right where we are, even if we are unhappy or unsatisfied.  All life cycles have value and provide an opportunity to become the best version of ourselves. It would help if you had the courage to keep moving forward, regardless of the losses you might seem to leave behind.

Opportunity for Growth Everywhere

To become our best selves, we have to embrace growth opportunities. This can mean a new job, relationship, or trying something new for the first time. Growth is generally a positive experience that makes us more confident and provides joy in life. It will lead to change, and change brings an initial feeling of discomfort with it. Many people return to uncomfortable and harmful situations to avoid this awkward feeling of growth.  Even good change requires you to say goodbye to things, people, and places you enjoy and are comfortable with.  To grow, you need to dissolve a part of the past. Like a snake shedding its skin to become more mature, you must leave to get something.

Nothing can grow forever, but growth symbolizes life, and when you are reaching the end of the grand cycle of life and growth is no longer possible, it is time to move on.  Learning is the key to growth. All people can learn something new and become better at something in their lives. You always know what you want to learn because it is drawn to you like a magnet. Follow your interests in whatever paths they lead you. Don’t let age or the limiting expectations of others stop you. Modern society wonders that all information is located right at your fingertips. Search, learn, and grow. Develop and maintain a growth mindset throughout life.

Don’t Fear The Down Cycles

There are a time and a purpose for all things that happen. Sometimes it isn’t easy to see the positives in a situation, but we only have our perspective to look at things. We can’t see the landscape around us when we sit in the forest ourselves.  In general terms, down cycles are necessary for spiritual realizations to occur. The power of loss and pain draws a person to look for the meaning behind it all. If we move from success to success and never have time requiring character, we will never want change. Life is too comfortable.

Life never stays comfortable for most people. For some, it takes a significant life shake-up to force change and an investigation of things that are new and wonderful for you.  The hard times are not fun but are needed. People have experienced many deep losses, which have pushed them in new directions of development.  A new career, a new hobby, an activity that brings you peace, or even an appreciation of who you are and what a joy it can be to be a living human living on this great Earth.  All because you experienced a time of challenge in your life.  Be grateful for the challenge because it made you a better person.  Perhaps the version of yourself you were meant to be all along.

Final Analysis

So before you jump out and label one thing bad and another good, remember that the event is only the catalyst. The streams of reaction results also need to be analyzed. Often you never see your shortcomings until life points them out to you.  How can you improve something when you have no idea it exists?  It is that way when you look at failure and success. Often we get so wrapped up in perceptions we don’t understand what opportunity life has given us.  “Failure lies concealed in every success and success in every failure.”

Look for the lesson, not the perceived result, and seek ways to improve yourself.

“The perfect orchestration of the symphony of life is one of the Creator’s greatest and most beautiful miracles.” ― Suzy Kassem

“ Dharma or Ethics and Morals are the Fundamental Set of Rules created for those who want to play the Game, by those who are Inside the Game.” ― Vineet Raj Kapoor

21

Your Fear

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fear of failureWe have all dreamed and attempted to achieve those dreams. We have tried to become something or create something at one point in our lives, and we have failed. Failure is a part of life, a consistent factor in achievement, and how quickly that achievement will depend on how you react to the crash you face. It hurts to fail, and the quicker you can overcome that fear of failure, you can move forward sooner.

Lie Down or Run Forward, Fear of Failure

I think in my experiences, there are two reactions to failure. Lie down and give up or learn the lesson and try again, realizing that you now have one of 6252359-Young-Asian-businessman-in-suit-hanging-himself-by-his-necktie-as-a-final-extreme-reaction-to-failur-Stock-Photothe critical pieces of information that will lead you to where you are destined to go. So running forward makes sense because your success will quickly come to you.

Now we have all experienced failure. We have tried as hard as we can, but all of our hopes and dreams behind a goal and wanted it with all that we have inside, and it all came crashing down in failure. When that happens, your brain remembers the pain of that situation, and a fear of failure is created. So the next time we start to put our hopes and dreams into something, our brain starts to remind us of that previous situation and wants us to be wary. That is where the thoughts of doubt, worry, and fear come from. If you allow them, they will derail your project before it gets going. Fear of failure will keep you standing still.

Mistakes are Directions

A wise man is thankful for mistakes because he tries to change the outcome and accomplish goals. Secondly, a mistake tells you clearly what will not fear of failurework, so you will find the method that will be successful. Learning comes in many ways through books, from mentors, but the most potent teacher we ever have is our experience with mistakes and failure. It is a delicate dance to allow yourself to fail and not take it personally and let the fear of failure destroy you and your ability to take action.

These lessons your mistakes give you are success directions, and those who take a moment to decipher the experience without fear will achieve their dream and reach all their goals. As long as you learn the lesson and don’t continually repeat the same mistake, success will come from the errors you experience, and you have to learn to evaluate them helpfully.

fear of failureBe Great Go Against the Fear of Failure

Do not let a mistake destroy your confidence or make you tentative in your actions. As you think, so shall you be. Think about what you want to accomplish. You are a divine and unique person with unlimited potential, and only you and your attitude can stop you from being great. Taking action is the cure for all fear. Overcome that nasty fear of failure once and for all.

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” -Helen Keller

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” -William Shakespeare

“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”-Dale Carnegie

“Do not be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” -John Rockefeller

“Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. “-Benjamin Franklin

 

21

Focus

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“Focus on where you want to go, not what you fear.”

4e267__8722913709_47950e8ae3_zSociety teaches we should avoid failure that failure at all costs. We observe failure as a fate that is so egregious that it might just permanently mark you for life. It is such a problem that people go to great lengths to make sure they are never associated with failure. Yet failure persists because there is value in the experience of falling short. Those who learn to deal with the specter of it will be able to rise to their highest heights. Those who fear it will never accomplish much.  Where there is an excellent reward, there is always a considerable risk. You can’t have one without the other.

 A Teacher

When you are looking for the right method to achieve, there will be a period of trial and error naturally as we learn what works and what needs to be improved. Each failure offers the opportunity to learn and increase 9b461e09ab43c1a33575b983af7d3f36our talent level.  If you run from failure, there will be no risks taken. If you take no chances and get out of your comfort zone, you will not grow, and without growth, death occurs.

Being great is not going to happen overnight, and it isn’t going to come pain-free. The pain comes from falling short, trying something, and having it not work right. Then the glory comes from picking up the pieces, honestly evaluating the process, and making changes so that the next time you WILL NOT fail.  Failure is the teacher to the wise and the master of fools.

Schools Are Bland Factories

The education system today discourages failure in any way. Society designs the evaluation to reward those who follow the directions and rarely think for themselves. There are precious few possibilities where real critical thinking is encouraged. If students attempt to think for themselvesOur-Education-System, society informs them they are wrong and given a poor grade. Failure is not encouraged in any way.

All people are students in life, and obtaining knowledge in life’s classroom will involve a certain amount of failure. That is life. These challenges will come to you no matter if you are rich or poor, old or young, married or single. There will be times when your plans won’t work out the way you hoped, which is the bedrock of greatness. These are valuable life lessons that can guide you through any adversity. Great people rise above the challenges to try again and again until they find the missing ingredients of prosperity.  Our schools should teach students to experience the process of failure and enjoy the flavor of achievement.

Sweet Taste of Accomplishment

In conclusion, it is a fact that when you are seeking to become successful, there is a risk that you might fail. You cannot success comes to the one who dares, even after failure, to think positively and look forward confidently.have the real potential to be your best without the risk of failure. That is what makes the game exciting and
allows for life to be an experience of growth. If you have never failed, then you have no idea how valuable success is. Success tastes way better after you are forced a meal of your dreams dashed or destroyed.

Remember this when someone has failed and fell short, that they dared to try, and they are one step closer to finding success, while you on the sidelines of life are no closer. You are moving away from it by standing still. Take action, support others in their dreams, and run your own goal forward with your actions. Those who judge the failures of others harshly are secretly happy they failed because it justifies their inaction.

Be brave in the pursuit of your goals and dreams and accept the risk of failure. It is the only way to enjoy the best of life. Be Brave in your attempts, and forces will come to your aid.

Failure Is the Condiment That Gives Success Its Flavor – Truman Capote

 

Questions

Worst Question Yet

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 Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

by Jonathan Hilton  Day 40

37When I read this question I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. My answer is neither  but not because I have anything against genius or even anything against a simpleton, (whatever that means).

 I assume the question is designed to make you feel like genius comes with worry and if you are a simpler person you will experience joy. I reject the question as biased and borderline offensive.  Here are my thoughts.

Worry is a Choice

First lets look at the word worried. This is always a choice, you don’t have to do this.  This question seems to assume that only intelligent people worry and only people with no 923246_642439195781583_1059462715_nintellect are happy. This if offensive to me as a human being who strives to find a way to be happy, am I merely a simpleton looking for my natural state or am I a genius doomed to failure?

Worry has never made anyone more successful in anything.  No matter how much you work something over in your mind, dread it or want to avoid it, you still can’t stop it from occurring.

Any random, run of the mill genius should realize this, so if you are spending your life as a worried genius then you are, in my opinion only half right.  There are choices every day that people of all intellectual levels have to make which directly reflect on the experience they will have.  Just like kindness is a choice and what thoughts about life you pay attention to are choices as well.  I do not know much but I do know that  an intelligent person would be able to choose a better recourse than to waste their time worrying.

Why Judge?

There is a judgment in this question that should be ignored and pointed out. Who am I to differentiate between a genius and a simpleton. Suppose I am a member of the latter

I like these guys. Am I a simpleton? Or just a fan of comedic genius?
I like these guys. Am I a simpleton? Or just a fan of comedic genius?

group, I assume I would lack the skills to understand the question.

If I were in the former I suppose I would be too worried to function and display my genius appropriately.  I guess I don’t know why anyone would ask such a question.  These distinctions are all relative anyway to the intellect of others.

 I may be a genius to some and a simpleton to others, that distinction has absolutely nothing to do with what type of person I am, or how much I worry or am happy.  Not one bit.  We spend too much time in life labeling others and placing them in categories to feign some sort of understanding.

 I may be a simpleton which means I would be a little slow on the uptake but I know that we are all connected and the more time we spend dividing us the unhappier we are going to be in the end, no matter if we think mighty thoughts or nothing more significant than the batting average of a baseball player.

I have been fortunate to know many great people in my time, and intellectual ability has never been a factor in how I felt about them.  It was the kindness, the giving,  and the value they provided.  I have enjoyed conversations with people all of my life there is no intellectual entrance level of intellect.

The Worst Question in The World

Just reading this question I think makes the world just a little more of a difficult place.  I

I can't bear to listen.
I can’t bear to listen.

apologize to anyone reading it, because I feel like just considering the labels of genius or simpleton makes us all a bit more narrow-minded.

 I hope to embrace all of my fellow human beings, not just some endowed with high levels of intellectual capacity, but all of them.  The phrase joyful simpleton is along the lines of ignorance is bliss.

 They are designed to demean portions of the population. Who are these simpletons? Where do they live? All of us have parts that are intellectual and others that enjoy the simpler things in life.  There is no reason to intellectually slander anyone for this.

Accept all people regardless of their intellectual capabilities,  if you think yourself a genius then start hanging around with smarter people.

Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

We Are All Awesome!

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Things I Don't Like

Why I Don’t Like Black Friday

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Why Black Friday Sucks

Black Friday Sucks
Yes it certainly does.

There are few things which clearly demonstrate the failure of our modern society more than Black Friday.  Traditionally this day after Thanksgiving has become the largest shopping day of the year.  I have nothing against shopping or the ability to businesses to make money, in fact I am all for capitalism and the right of individuals to run their businesses.  I believe that the problem is the ever increasing commercialization of Christmas and the inability of some people to put their family above saving a few dollars.

The Greed Factor

greed over family
This about says it all. Enjoy your crumbs.

To see this greed factor in action, you don’t have to look any further than the fact that all of the big businesses have extended their Black Friday sales into Thanksgiving day.  If you show up at Walmart at 8 PM on Thanksgiving night, you will get a great deal on a great flat screen.  This is the price of integrity and family time, an inexpensive television.  Sad that there isn’t just one day that you can ignore all of the corporate chatter and pursue some sort of family time and interpersonal connections that don’t cost a thing.

Shoppers or Sheep?

It seems that all people today are just like sheep, being herded to the stores by the herders that run the big stores.  Once one store does it, all of them feel

shoppers are sheep
What Black Friday crowds look like to Chain Stores.

the need to open up, because they might miss out on some sales.  Forget the fact that the people who are working for you have to be there regardless of whether or not anyone shows up.  I can’t imagine the money that is going to be made in those short hours of Thanksgiving night are going to make or break Walmart’s bottom line, and you and I both know they won’t.  The additional sales, might help increase their take for the season, but that will be a surplus on top of what they would have made anyway.  In fact, I would wager this is a very small percentage of their holiday marketing deluge.  It is not Walmart’s, or Kmarts, or Sears’ fault for this, it is the consumer who is willing to show up to spend money.

Please Leave Christmas Alone

leave christmas alone black friday
How much commercialization is too much? Enjoy your sales.

This extension of the marketing of Christmas and the attack on the little family time we have left can be stopped really easily by simply not showing up.  If there is nobody there, then the corporations that run Christmas will not pursue it, their advertising schemes will find a more natural outlet.  Maybe they will see that there is money to be made in common sense, but that will never happen as long as the sheep, that is the American consumer continues to participate in this foolishness.  Everyone seems to forget that this should be a season about love and not about buying more crap that nobody really needs. What is the point? What do you need?

A Dark Forecast for Christmas

Scrooge isn’t the only one in trouble

The future looks dark for those who participate in this type of marketing, because before long the sales will creep up through the week, Black Friday will begin on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  There will be promotions that give you savings for visiting their stores on consecutive days during the week.  Or the inevitable heavy barrage of the commercialism of Christmas will move into October, because some marketer realizes that all consumers do exactly what the advertisers tell them to. Sad. But what can we expect when the message people get every day is that more is better and even more stuff is better than that.

Boycott Black Friday

Boycott Black Friday
I would add, all corporate retail outlets to this boycott, stay home spend time with your family, or read a book.

The only way to end this foolishness is to stop participation and boycott the whole mess. Stay away from the stores and ignore the marketing.  The argument that you will never get that kind of deal again is foolishness, they will still give you the deals later in the season. I am not sure you know, but stores are still competing for your money right up until Christmas, there will be other sales.  This will not hurt the bottom line of any business, because you will still shop and buy whatever you were going to buy anyway.  The corporate world would have you believe that the entire economy is coming unpinned if the sales on Black Friday aren’t up to expectation.  Don’t believe it, that is all media driven foolishness, designed to get you to buy, buy, and buy some more.

Use Your Brain and Think, Make your own Decision 

If you have a brain in your head, and you can make your own decisions, then don’t participate in Black Friday in any form or fashion.  For the many who will sell their integrity and in effect their soul for a cheap television at Walmart, there is really no hope for you at this time.  Stuff doesn’t make you happy, it only gives you more stuff.  No matter how much stuff you accumulate, it will not fill the void and emptiness you have inside.

I hope you all experience safe travel and have a happy day eating turkey, watching football and spending time with your family, I think that is what this time of year should be all about.

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