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The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

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Archives for July 2014

Don’t Be A Second Rate Murderer

July 2, 2014 by Jack Steiner 4 Comments

Murder's weapon on the table

The answer to the question is You Put The Bullet In Your Dreams or maybe it is How 3,000 Sycophants Made One Man A Better Blogger.

Maybe both of those are correct or maybe neither. Hell it could be a combination 0f the two but the end result doesn’t really matter now does it.

The issue isn’t about who did what to whom or how someone else got in the way of your personal success. It is not about the girl you didn’t get, the one you couldn’t have or who you should have.

It is about doing the work to figure out what you want and what you need because they aren’t the same thing.

Don’t Be A Second Rate Murderer

We spend time telling our children they can be whatever they want to be and do whatever they want to but only if they want it badly. We tell them that if they put all their effort into chasing their dreams they can turn that dream into reality.

And just in case they can’t we tell remind them that if they are going to do a job they might as well focus on doing the best they can. Don’t just be a murderer, be the best you can.

Why settle for terrorizing one or two people when you can terrorize a city, county, state or country.

Hell, go big or go home. Why not become a dictator and terrorize the world because someone somewhere has weapons of mass destruction they will sell you.

Someone or some people will look at these words and wonder what the hell is wrong with me and some will wonder why those others don’t get it. They’ll say I am using metaphors for life and the challenges we face and suggest that some literary agent sign me to a life long sentence to produce content people will love.

And me, well I’ll make comments that make you wonder if I am an eccentric genius or simply brilliant and while you toast me I’ll shake my head and wonder why you don’t understand this isn’t brilliant.

It is just crap I spew out while clearing the cobwebs from inside my head.

It is what I do when I decide I need to revisit my book and start working on it again.

A Thick Head and A Thick Skin

It has been a rough week or so because shit is flying and I wasn’t ready to deal with it yet. Can’t say that I am truly surprised nor can I say life owes me a warning shot or head’s up about things getting ready to change.

That is ‘cuz the world is a dynamic environment and change isn’t waiting it is always happening and you just have to learn how to move with it.

“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.”― Theodore Roosevelt

I am tired of the battles and done with some of the foolish fights I have been engaged in. That is not a declaration of war or surrender.

It is just a statement and recognition I don’t have to live as I have and I won’t.

I am making changes and some of them may be big. These things are based upon what I want and what I need. I am pushing hard to move life so that some of these battles don’t come up any more or at least so that they are more manageable.

Part of me is excited about it. Part of me is chomping at the bit because I sense opportunity and I see good things coming.

When it comes to my writing I remind myself that sometimes you need a thick skin. And when it comes to life in general, well some of the crap I have had to deal with is because of my thick head.

And so it goes.

How To Live Your Dreams

I tell my children I want them to live their dreams and not dream their lives away. When they ask me how to do that I tell them that sometimes the most important skill you can have is to get back up when you get knocked down.

It is about understanding that you are going to get punched in the mouth and that when you do you wipe off your lip and keep going.

Life doesn’t always give itself to those who are the smartest, luckiest or most deserving but the toughest and most determined, well sometimes they do get what they go looking for.

What do you think?

Filed Under: Life

The Secret To Life Is Not In This Post Or Is it…

July 1, 2014 by Jack Steiner 2 Comments

Sunset
The secret to life is not in this post but you might see it in that photograph. Can’t say you’d recognize it but I would argue until eternity that someone who saw it with me knows the answer to that secret.

Can’t say for certain if we really would argue about it, they might agree with everything I had to say. Wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they did but if they didn’t I’d say I know things and that sometimes you have to just submit and believe.

Sometimes that restless feeling that makes me want to hop in the car and just drive makes me want to change things here at the blog. I stumbled across this theme and I really like the clean look.

Can’t say I’ll make any changes here or do anything to try and make this joint look more like it, but I might.

I came across a post I wrote to my son on his 11th birthday and read it a couple of times. Mostly because I needed to remind myself about a few things that I passed along there.

Of course I stumbled onto two other posts that had messages that were relevant so I read them too and reminded myself to pay attention to the things I said there too.

Grown Ups Learn As We Go

When I was a kid I was certain grown ups had all the answers and that frustrated me because I thought it was unfair that kids weren’t given the keys to that particular kingdom of knowledge too.

It wasn’t until I became a grown up that I sat down and thought, ‘Fuck! They were telling the truth!”

In case you are wondering that is probably damn close to being verbatim.

Don’t really know why I was shocked but the more I think about being in my early twenties the more I recognize how little I knew. Naive and ignorant I just stumbled through things and figured it out as I went.

Sometimes I look back at those days in frustration because I see how I could have done things differently and prevented some of my current frustration but then again maybe it is good that I didn’t.

Maybe I wouldn’t  be able to write as I do if I never suffered or felt pain. Maybe I wouldn’t have been able to relate to people the same way and pull upon their heart strings.

Or maybe I would have.

Maybe I would have figured it all out. Maybe it would all be different. Maybe I am full of it now.

What I am certain of is that life is better when you can spend it with people who care about you and who you care about.

My son swears he won’t ever get married and says he is certain girls are nothing but trouble. I tell him not to base his decisions upon little sisters but that is not really getting through right now and that is ok too.

Questions Some Bloggers Ask

Some bloggers try to figure out what their most popular posts are so they can write more that are like them.

I understand that. It makes sense to try to capitalize upon past success.  Why reinvent the wheel when you don’t have to. Better to work smarter and not harder.

Can’t speak for other bloggers here but I always want to try to figure out what my best posts are in my eyes as well as the readers. I want to know which ones I think are the best examples of my writing and then I want to study what I did well and try to do it again.

Sometimes I wonder if I am doing a good job of showing my kids how hard I work on some of my writing so that they I practice what I preach. I don’t want them to ignore my words because they hear me telling them what to do.

I want them to see me do it because it will be more powerful and more influential that way.

The Secret To Life Is Not In This Post Or Is it…

Sit down with me and ask me to speak honestly about the secret to life and I’ll repeat much of what I have said here. The depth may vary depending on how well I know you.

I share  quite a bit here but there are some things that are kept for myself or for a very small circle.

What I will repeat again is that I look at that picture as a symbol of a confirmation of beliefs. I see it as where I proved a few things that needed more than a “trust the gut” sort of ending.

And part of the reason I am frustrated is that I feel like I took ten steps forward and then 15 backwards.

Maybe it was necessary. Maybe it was a requirement for being able to take the next steps in my life but damn, it was painful.

Filed Under: Life

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