Monthly Archives: March 2013

More Social

Many of you know that my usage of Twitter has declined dramatically. In fact, up until a couple of months ago I was on an extended sabbatical from it. There were a iety of reasons for this, as there also were for my return. That said, if you’ve followed me on Twitter you may have noticed that my posting on it is sparse and tends to be mostly for promotional purposes.

Another big reason for that is that I have largely switched to App.net for my more sociable pursuits. I appreciate the fact that it is a paid service supported directly by it’s users. I find the community that I’m building there to be smart and strong. I also appreciate the larger character limit as it allows for more complex expression. There is where I post ideas, quotes, interesting links, and the other things those that used to follow me on Twitter used to see from me there.

I really like it. I think you will like it too. I have 50 invites to give away on a first come, first serve, basis. All you need to do is click here and, if you are among the first 50, you will be in and automatically following me.

See you there.

Giving Up, Giving In

People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in. — Rosa Parks, My Story

Rosa Parks didn’t give up her seat, because she was tired of giving in.

When we don’t give up, we don’t give in.

When we give up, we give in.

Don’t give up. Don’t give in. 1

I post daily here. I stand this ground. If these words changed your day, please let me know by contributing here.

  1. One of life’s great paradoxes is that, often, the most powerful change comes from those that stand their ground. ↩

The Thing About Success

There are people so depressed that, for them, success is defined as simply being able to get out of bed in the morning and face another day.

There is a homeless man downtown for whom success is cashing in enough cans to be able to buy a small bottle of hooch that evening. And, in the rare but most successful of cases, still have enough change to get a cup of coffee in the morning.

My little girl defines success by being able to convince her parents to give her anything she wants (and she has more success than she reasonably should).

My point being that success is not something that can be objectively measured. How others count it does not matter. It is not linear. There is no recipe. And, in fact, there is no real definition or standard other than that which we define and set for ourselves.

Our days are made up of many minor (and sometimes large) successes and minor (and sometimes large) failures. And each day, each moment in fact, we get a clean slate to start anew. We could choose to celebrate the big victories by barely acknowledging them and the small ones with a full-blown parade. How we define it, how we measure it, and how we celebrate it, is up to us.

Success for me is publishing something that makes your day better, every day. If this connected with you, please consider a free will donation of any amount.