First Blog

  As social people, we love to give advice. “You should do this.” “You shouldn’t do that.” “The prof’s an easy grader. Just study the worksheet.” “You should buy that car.” But do you ever know all the facts? Do you see only a simplified situation with essential facts removed? Is your friend asking for advice or asking for hope? There’s a difference.   Hope is the meta-fuel of well-being, giving comfort and peace in times of distress. Is your friend asking for the advice they want to hear? For something they’ve considered but needs confirmation? For a go-sign? We, the advice-givers, all too often venture into homespun psychology. Not good, mostly because we don’t know any. Among the biggest advice-givers are friends, parents, pastors, and teachers. For younger persons, parental advice is often rejected, but the other three are on the spot.   Because, if they give advice, they must accept some responsibility if it is accepted. The pastor hopefully limits advice to simple homilies o

 Your diet works even when it doesn't. How can that be? In fact, if you're on a diet, you do limit your intake, but alas it seems not to be working. No weight loss. Dang!   Take heart. You're diet is working, for if you quit dieting, your intake would go way up without restriction, and you would definitely gain weight.  To actually lose those kilos will take a greater effort. But your effort does indeed help. Keep it up! Don't quit.

Often I get questions about math. Some tell me they like math but just can't solve the problems. What I always say is this. Life is solving problems. If you can’t solve problems, your life will be one speed bump after another, one crisis after another, one brick wall after another. Learn how to solve problems. First you learn at home from toys and your parents. However, school is the first place you learn this formally. Others are experience, reading, management, parenting, teaching, hunting, sports, carpentry, and many more. All teach applicable lessons for life's problem solving. As John Daly on What's My Line , would say about everyone. "My line is problem solving." Now a word about math... All that said, you may like math, but you cannot say you’ve learned it unless you can solve related problems. Otherwise, it would be self-deception.