Sometimes Bad Headlines Don’t Matter

Shot by Steve Jurvetson

Sometimes bad headlines don’t matter but that is usually because you have built a relationship with your readers and they have enough faith in your ability to provide entertaining and or educational content to visit regardless of headlines.

Been thinking about this headline business because many of the headlines I have been writing have been focused on my ideas/thoughts about the post and not on trying to encourage new readers to come visit.

Of course if you know me you know I have mixed feelings about headlines and it is not because I have trouble writing them but because so many people spend too much time focusing on the headline and not on the content.

A great sandwich requires more than just great bread.

The Second Part Of My Quest

Been thinking about all that has happened in the last year and trying to figure out if my perception of how it all unfolded is accurate or not. If I look at 2013 I can see that I accomplished every major goal I had on my list of things to do.

Part of me feels pretty good about that but I am not satisfied because it feels like so much of what I did came undone and I wonder about some of the decisions I made.

The beauty of the blog is it enables me to look back and try to gain some insight as to what happened so that I can identify the moments. So I started by grabbing a post from October 30, 2013.

Those things I felt came about, not all, but many and perhaps the most important. Can’t be more specific than that because there are boundaries in blogging that even an unfiltered man like I maintain.

But I recognize that in the midst of much joy there is some anger and frustration there too. So in my cryptic manner let me continue by saying it felt a bit like I managed to steal fire from the gods and then they tried to steal it back/

So now I am in the second part of my quest.

Twelve months later I look back and those feelings haven’t changed. I read further down the post to see if I missed something and I come across this:

I moved heaven and earth to find out whether it was intuition or desire. It was both. Now I have to play out this hand and work through the second part of the quest to see what happens.

Part of me is quite certain because I know things. What happened in 1724 isn’t limited or done. It is just in transition. Time will tell how that all plays out.

I can’t decide if I am inspired, infuriated, motivated or frustrated by this.

Because when you put all you have into forcing something that is upside down and inside out into reverting to its proper shape you cannot not be upset when your work comes undone.

Yet I am not entirely sure it is as messed up as it feels. Maybe I am too close to it all and missing perspective so I go with my gut and flip through some more posts to see what I see.

These are not the write words for the work that needs to be done but soon they shall be. The Right Words

Something about that feels right, might be because I don’t feel like I am expressing myself as clearly as I want and some it is because the reference in the post to being in the on deck circle makes sense too.

The Right Words Written Right Write Their Own Tales

That is a headline from yet another post I read again today. Several of the quotes I used in it jump out at me because they fit now just as they did then.

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” Oscar Wilde

“There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.“ Oscar Wilde

“Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.“ Thomas A. Edison

Maybe I have good reason to be frustrated. Maybe things I worked on came undone and I can shake my head because no one likes feeling like their hard work was for nothing.

But maybe I am missing the bigger picture. I have to deal with a lot of crap, much of it unexpected and it has left a bad taste in my mouth. Some of the people I normally would rely upon let me down and that frustrates me.

It is always good to be part of the pack except the thing is, sometimes I enjoy being the lone wolf and doing my own thing.

If my kids were upset about something I’d tell them to take deep breath and think about it. I’d help them walk through what happened and try to help them gain some perspective and then we’d have a better chance of seeing the truth.

So I am going to take my own advice and take another deep breath and try to figure out if I am missing the forest for the trees here. Not all I accomplished fell apart and not all I have done is lost.

Sometimes perspective makes a big difference.

• Saved: Life