What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0195

9701.  It is reasonable to do what other people have always done unless we have a very good reason not to;
9702.  It is reasonable to become educated and work and find love and have a family;
9703.  It is necessary to aim at your target, however traditional, with your eyes wide open;
9704.  You have a direction, but it might be wrong.  You have a plan, but it might be ill-formed.  You may have been led astray by your own ignorance and worse by your own unrevealed corruption;
9705.  You must make friends, therefore, with what you don’t know instead of what you know;
9706.  You must remain awake to catch yourself in the act;
9707.  You must remove the beam in your own eye before you concern yourself with the mote in your brother’s;
9708.  You are by no means only what you already know.  You are also all that which you could know if you only would;
9709.  Every bit of learning is a little death.  Every bit of new information challenges a previous conception forcing it to dissolve into chaos before it can be reborn as something better;
9710.  Set your ambitions even if you are uncertain about what they should be;
9711.  The better ambitions have to do with the development of character and ability rather than status and power;
9712.  Status you can lose;
9713.  You carry character with you wherever you go and it allows you to prevail against adversity;
9714.  If you bend everything totally blindly and willfully towards the attainment of a goal and only that goal you will never be able to discover if another goal would serve you and the world better;
9715.  If you allow yourself to be informed by the reality manifesting itself, as you struggle forward, your notions of what is important will change.  You will reorient yourself sometimes gradually and sometimes suddenly and radically;
9716.  Tell the truth.  Or, at least, don’t lie;
9717.  Memory is a tool;
9718.  Memory is the past’s guide to the future;
9719.  If you remember that something bad happened and you can figure out why then you can try to avoid that bad thing happening again.  That’s the purpose of memory.  It’s not “to remember the past.”  It’s to stop the same damn thing from happening over and over;
9720.  Elizabeth likes escargots;
9721.  Charlie (Dog) likes strawberries;
9722.  Making a (New York-style) cheesecake (from scratch) is rather time-consuming. . . . A large part (of it) is letting it cool and set;
9723.  Charlie (Dog) likes cheesecake;
9724.  People think they think, but it’s not true;
9725.  It’s mostly self-criticism that passes for thinking;
9726.  True thinking is rare just like true listening;
9727.  Thinking is listening to yourself;
9728.  To think, you have to be at least two people at the same time.  Then you have to let those people disagree.  Thinking is an internal dialogue between two or more different views of the world.  Viewpoint one is an avatar in a simulated world.  It has its own representations of past, present and future and its own ideas about how to act.  So do viewpoints two, three and four.  Thinking is the process by which these internal avatars imagine and articulate their worlds to one another;
9729.  Training a dog is harder/more complicated than I thought;
9730.  Apparently, you can 3D print (dental) crowns (now);
9731.  Charlie (Dog) likes ricotta cheese;
9732.  Stop the discussion for a moment and institute this rule: Each person can speak up for herself/himself only after s/he has first restated the ideas and feelings of the previous speaker accurately and to that speaker’s satisfaction;
9733.  I think people (and, by extension, society) are more of what have you done for me lately versus what have you done for me in totality/cumulatively . . . we can be very myopic/shortsighted;
9734.  If you blame someone else, there is no end to the blame;
9735.  True words aren’t eloquent; eloquent words aren’t true;
9736.  Wise men don’t need to prove their point; men who need to prove their point aren’t wise;
9737.  Before a problem can be solved it must be formulated precisely;
9738.  Women are often intent on formulating the problem when they are discussing something and they need to be listened to even questioned to help ensure clarity in the formulation;
9739.  Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t;
9740.  The pulled pork at HammerDown Barbeque (HammerDownBbq.com) in Aldie, Virginia, is tasty. . . . The spicy sauce has a residual kick to it;
9741.  There are (red) foxes in (Old Town) Alexandria;
9742.  Escargots can (actually) be tender (in particular the escargots persillade at Bastille Restaurant & Wine Bar in Old Town Alexandria). . . . Who knew?
9743.  Apparently, Muammar Gaddafi had a crush on Condoleezza Rice;
9744.  How you treat yourself is how you treat others;
9745.  If you’re critical of yourself or you demand perfection of yourself, you’ll do the same to others;
9746.  You can’t have good relationships with others until you have a good relationship with yourself;
9747.  The University of Virginia’s men’s basketball team won the last NCAA tournament consolation game against Louisiana State University in 1981;
9748.  It’s (actually) really easy to make “pigs in a blanket;”
9749.  The cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera Bread is (pretty) tasty. . . . It’s more like dessert than (it’s) a bagel;
9750.  Chocolate chip bagels (specifically Panera Bread’s) are tasty, but I’d still rather have a chocolate croissant;

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0194

9651.  People create their worlds with the tools they have directly at hand.  Faulty tools produce faulty results.  Repeated use of the same faulty tools produces the same faulty results.  It is in this manner that those who fail to learn from the past doom themselves to repeat it.  It’s partly fate.  It’s partly inability.  It’s partly unwillingness to learn?  Refusal to learn?  Motivated refusal to learn?
9652.  Not everyone who is failing is a victim and not everyone at the bottom wishes to rise, although many do, and many manage it;
9653.  People will often accept or even amplify their own suffering as well as that of others if they can brandish it as evidence of the world’s injustice;
9654.  The attempt to rescue someone is often fueled by vanity and narcissism;
9655.  Your attachments are the source of all your problems.  The need to be right, to possess someone or something, to win at all costs, to be viewed by others as superior – these are all attachments.  The open mind resists these attachments and consequently experiences inner peace and success;
9656.  To release attachments, you have to make a shift in how you view yourself.  If your primary identification is with your body and your possessions, your ego is the dominant force in your life.  If you can tame your ego sufficiently, you’ll call upon your spirit to be the guiding force in your life.  As a spiritual being, you can observe your body and be a compassionate witness to your existence.  Your spiritual aspect sees the folly of attachments because your spiritual self is an infinite soul.  Nothing can make you happy or successful.  These are inner constructs that you bring to your world, rather than what you receive from it;
9657.  If your life is not going well perhaps it is your current knowledge that insufficient not life itself.  Perhaps your value structure needs some serious retooling.  Perhaps what you want is blinding you to what else could be.  Perhaps you are holding on to your desires, in the present, so tightly that you cannot see anything else even what you truly need;
9658.  To journey happily may well be better than to arrive successfully;
9659.  Compare yourself to who you were yesterday not to who someone else is today;
9660.  The more you like yourself the less you’ll need others to;
9661.  Negative emotions, for all their unpleasantness, protect us.  We feel hurt, scared, ashamed and disgusted so we can avoid damage;
9662.  Pain is more potent than pleasure and anxiety more than hope;
9663.  Children would not have such a lengthy period of natural development, prior to maturity, if their behavior did not have to be shaped;
9664.  If a child has not been taught to behave properly by the age of four, it will forever be difficult for her/him to make friends.  The research literature is quite clear on this.  This matters because peers are the primary source of socialization after the age of four.  Rejected children cease to develop because they are alienated from their peers.  They fall further and further behind as the other children continue to progress.  Thus, the friendless child too often becomes the lonely, antisocial or depressed teenager and adult;
9665.  Parents have a duty to act as proxies for the real world – merciful proxies, caring proxies – but proxies nonetheless.  This obligation supersedes any responsibility to ensure happiness, foster creativity or boost self-esteem.  It is the primary duty of parents to make their children socially desirable.  That will provide the child with opportunity, self-regard and security.  It’s more important even than fostering individual identity;
9666.  A child, who pays attention, instead of drifting, can play, does not whine, is comical, but not annoying and is trustworthy – that child will have friends wherever s/he goes;
9667.  Clear rules make for secure children and calm, rational parents.  Clear principles of discipline and punishment balance mercy and justice so that social development and psychological maturity can be optimally promoted.  Clear rules and proper discipline help the child, the family and society establish, maintain and expand the order that is all that protects us from chaos and the terrors of the underworld, where everything is uncertain, anxiety-providing, hopeless and depressing;
9668.  Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world;
9669.  If the world you are seeing is not the world you want, it’s time to examine your values.  It’s time to rid yourself of your current presuppositions.  It’s time to let go.  It might even be time to sacrifice what you love best so that you can become who you might become instead of staying who you are;
9670.  Bread is of little use to the person who has betrayed her/his soul even is s/he is currently starving;
9671.  It is not only that humans desire power so that they will no longer suffer.  It is not only that they desire power so that they can overcome subjugation to want, disease and death.  Power also means the capacity to take vengeance, ensure submission and crush enemies;
9672.  If you are disciplined and privilege the future over the present you can change the structure of reality in your favor;
9673.  There are many problems that money does not solve and others that it makes worse;
9674.  There are some actions that are so intrinsically terrible that they run counter to the proper nature of human being.  To dehumanize a fellow being, to reduce her/him to the status of a parasite, to torture and to slaughter with no consideration of individual innocence or guilt, to make an art form of paint, that is wrong;
9675.  Suffering is real and the artful infliction of suffering on another, for its own sake, is wrong;
9676.  Aim up.  Pay attention.  Fix what you can fix.  Don’t be arrogant in your knowledge.  Strive for humility because totalitarian pride manifests itself in intolerance, oppression, torture and death.  Become aware of your own insufficiency, your cowardice, malevolence, resentment and hatred.  Consider the murderousness of your own spirit before you dare accuse others and before you attempt to repair the fabric of the world.  Maybe it’s you.  You’ve failed to make the mark.  You’ve missed the target.  You’ve fallen short of the glory of God.  You’ve sinned.  And all of that is your contribution to the insufficiency and evil of the world.  And, above all, don’t lie.  Don’t lie about anything ever.  Lying leads to hell.  It was the great and the small lies of the Nazi and Communist states that produced the deaths of millions of people;
9677.  Consider that the alleviation of unnecessary pain and suffering is a good;
9678.  To place the alleviation of unnecessary pain and suffering at the pinnacle of your hierarchy of value is to work to bring about the kingdom of God on Earth.  That’s a state and a state of mind at the same time;
9679.  To have meaning in your life is better than to have what you want because you may neither know what you want nor what you truly need.  Meaning is something that comes upon you of its own accord.  You can set up the preconditions, you can follow meaning when it manifests itself, but you cannot simply produce it as an act of will.  Meaning signifies that you are in the right place at the right time properly balanced between order and chaos, where everything lines up as best it can at that moment;
9680.  What is expedient works only for the moment.  It’s immediate, impulsive and limited.  What is meaningful by contrast is the organization of what would otherwise merely be expedient into a symphony of being.  Meaning is what is put forth more powerfully than mere words can express by Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” a triumphant bringing forth from the void of pattern after pattern upon beautiful pattern, every instrument playing its part, disciplined voices layered on top of that, spanning the entire breadth of human emotion from despair to exhilaration;
9681.  Meaning is the ultimate balance between, on the one hand, the chaos of transformation and possibility and, on the other, the discipline of pristine order, whose purpose is to produce out of the attendant chaos a new order that will be even more immaculate and capable of bringing forth a still more balanced and productive chaos and order.  Meaning is the way, the path of life more abundant, the place you live when you are guided by love and speaking truth and when nothing you want or could possibly want takes any precedence over precisely that;
9682.  Do what is meaningful not what is expedient;
9683.  Popeyes’s Cajun flounder sandwich is (pretty) tasty;
9684.  A shift into self-acceptance means letting yourself off the hook of perfectionism and not caring what other people think of you.  It means not making your self-acceptance conditional upon achieving a certain goal, looking a certain way or seeking approval from someone else;
9685.  The minute you come into self-acceptance and understand who you truly are, how much you’ve overcome and that you are always doing the best you can, you will feel more confident;
9686.  Self-acceptance doesn’t mean you give up, settle, become content or stop pursuing what you’re called to do.  It means you stop judging yourself and open your heart to where you stand today in this moment;
9687.  Self-acceptance also means that we have to learn to go beyond our feelings and negative thoughts and choose to do what is right and what we strongly believe in even if we feel scared;
9688.  Believe in yourself;
9689.  Train your mind to see the good in every situation;
9690.  Do it for you;
9691.  It’s just a bad day not a bad life;
9692.  Take the risk or lose the chance;
9693.  Be brave enough to suck at something new;
9694.  If you will not reveal yourself others, you cannot reveal yourself to yourself.  That does not only mean that you suppress who you are, although it also means that, it means that so much of what you could be will never be forced by necessity to come forward;
9695.  If you betray yourself, if you say untrue things, if you act out a lie, you weaken your character.  If you have a weak character then adversity will mow you down when it appears as it will inevitably.  You will hide, but there will be no place left to hide.  And then you will find yourself doing terrible things;
9696.  Error necessitates sacrifice to correct it and serious error necessitates serious sacrifice;
9697.  Lies warp the structure of being.  Untruth corrupts the soul and the state alike and one form of corruption feeds the other;
9698.  Milton believed that stubborn refusal to change in the face of error not only meant ejection from heave and subsequent degeneration into an ever-deepening hell, but the rejection of redemption itself;
9699.  We must make decisions, here and now, even though the best means and the best goals can never be discerned with certainty.  An aim, an ambition, provides the structure necessary for action.  An aim provides a destination, a point of contrast against the present and a framework within which all things can be evaluated.  An aim defines progress and makes such progress exciting.  AN aim reduces anxiety because if you have no aim everything can mean anything or nothing and neither of those two options makes for a tranquil spirt.  Thus, we have to think, plan, limit and posit in order to live at all;
9700.  Some reliance on tradition can help us establish aims;

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0193

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What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0192

9551.  Bidets have some (serious) power;
9552.  The Maldives is 10 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time;
9553.  The ocean/water is turquoise blue in the Maldives;
9554.  Watch your head; seaplane doors are rather low;
9555.  I can say I’ve flown in a seaplane;
9556.  “Eating out” in an overwater villa (on Fesdu Island) in the Maldives . . . check . . . in an overwater villa . . . (double) check;
9557.  Apparently, the average income in the Maldives fell from $10,000.00 USD to $6,000.00 USD because of covid-19;
9558.  Tipping isn’t necessary in the Maldives. . . . A 10% service charge is added to everything, but, given the low salaries and the excellent service, it is a nice gesture to help the resort staff earn some extra money;
9559.  Islam is the predominant religion in the Maldives and, although dress is casual to very casual on the islands, beachwear is not acceptable in restaurants;
9560.  In the Maldives, alcohol is only available to foreigners in resorts;
9561.  Alcohol is expensive in the Maldives;
9562.  The nasi goreng at the Kitchen at the W Maldives is really tasty;
9563.  The sand in the Maldives is so fine . . . it’s like flour;
9564.  I can say I saw a swift-footed rock crab in the Maldives;
9565.  I can say I’ve been snorkeling in the Maldives;
9566.  I can say I’ve seen a pufferfish (while) snorkeling;
9567.  There are sea cucumbers in the Maldives;
9568.  I can say I’ve seen a giant clam (while) snorkeling;
9569.  The customer service at the W Maldives is outstanding;
9570.  A tablet of “Avomine 25” will knock me out;
9571.  In a (hotel) tub in the Maldives . . . check;
9572.  Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often deadly to fish;
9573.  Tetrodotoxin is up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide;
9574.  There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans;
9575.  There is no antidote to tetrodotoxin;
9576.  On a glass floor (window) . . . check;
9577.  On a sun lounger . . . check . . . in a cabana . . . (double) check;
9578.  Sambar is a vegetarian curry;
9579.  Apparently, the key to snorkeling is getting a good seal with your mask. . . . It should stick to your face;
9580.  I can say I’ve seen a conch (while) snorkeling;
9581.  Watch out for shell fragments in your swim shorts/trunks after snorkeling;
9582.  The percentage of our lives human beings spend thinking about, planning, having and remembering sex is incomparably greater than that of any other creature on the planet;
9583.  On a pool float(y) . . . check . . . in a private overwater plunge pool . . . (double) check;
9584.  “Eating out” on a sun lounger (facing the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean) . . . check;
9585.  Even on the remote islands, there are bats in the Maldives;
9586.  I can get motion sick looking through a clear bottom kayak;
9587.  (Eating) mint helps with motion sickness;
9588.  (Deep fried chicken) wings battered with cereal and (sliced) almonds are (rather) tasty . . . who knew?
9589.  Apparently, fish eat peanuts;
9590.  Masroshi (i.e., grilled chapati stuffed with smoked tuna and coconut) is tasty;
9591.  Elizabeth likes gulab jamun;
9592.  As Alfred Kinsey noted back in the 1950s, “Even in cultures which most rigorously attempt to control the female’s extramarital coitus, it is perfectly clear that such activity does occur and in many instances it occurs with considerable regularity;”
9593.  No group-living nonhuman primate is monogamous and adultery has been documents in every human culture studied including those in which fornicators are routinely stoned to death;
9594.  In the Maldives, you can get the reef fish to come to you by throwing (tiny) bits/pieces of bread in the water;
9595.  I might be allergic to outdoor furniture oil sealer/protectant;
9596.  Wear socks with your snorkel/swim fins; it’ll protect your feet from sand and chafing;
9597.  Cachaca is (basically) Brazilian rum;
9598.  Tuna on pizza is (actually) pretty good . . . who knew?
9599.  Rihaakuru is a sauce made as a by-product of processing tuna;
9600.  All of the bartending, cleaning/janitorial and serving staff at the W Maldives are male except for the hostesses;

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0191

9501.  (Wayne) Gretzky led the league in assists in each of his first 13 seasons and 16 times overall (i.e., 80% of his seasons);
9502.  If you only counted (Wayne) Gretzky’s seasons after turning 30, he’d still rank 4^th all-time in points per game;
9503.  (Wayne) Gretzky could’ve ended his career with a 1,370-game pointless streak and still would’ve been a point-per-game player (i.e., he could go more than 16 years without a point and still average a point per game in his career);
9504.  Don’t store your fresh carrots, mushrooms and potatoes in the freezer. . . . The freezing (and thawing) make(s) them mushy;
9505.  For every obstacle there is a solution.  Persistence is the key.  The greatest mistake is giving up;
9506.  Charlie (Dog) loves (the) snow (especially eating it);
9507.  Apparently, (raw) pineapple (in small amounts) is an excellent dog snack;
9508.  If you’ve ordered a dessert for carryout/takeout, check to see if there’s ice cream with it . . . so it isn’t all melted by the time you (actually) eat it;
9509.  Sam Calagione (the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery) sounds like a hippie stoner (to me);
9510.  The honey chipotle (chicken) wings at Whole Foods (Market) are tasty;
9511.  The “Johnny Seafood” oven-ready, breaded shrimp are the closest to restaurant quality fried shrimp I’ve ever had/made at home;
9512.  Charlie (Dog) likes white chocolate;
9513.  Charlie (Dog) (really) likes beer (in particularly Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA);
9514.  Greatness exists on the other side of pain and fear.  It exists on the other side of failure;
9515.  It’s okay to get beaten, but it’s not okay to beat yourself;
9516.  The way we act determines how we feel way more often than the way we feel determines how we act;
9517.  Do what you love is for amateurs.  Love what you do is the mantra for professionals;
9518.  Anxiety is experiencing failure in advance;
9519.  Reassurance is futile because you never have enough of it;
9520.  Forgiving does not mean condoning or making it okay that something happens.  It means that you are for giving up trying to change the past and that you are for giving up experiencing the pain of the memory over and over again;
9521.  All dates can change and so can you;
9522.  Most social stress is really anxiety about the future held in the body as tension;
9523.  Would you rather have a bad day doing something you love than a good day doing something you don’t love?
9524.  The jerk chicken sandwich at the Executive Diner (TheExecutiveDiner.com) in (Old Town) Alexandria is (pretty) tasty. . . . Their (French) fries are good too. . . . They have a nice flavor/seasoning;
9525.  Alaska was bought from Russia for about $.02/acre;
9526.  Don’t compare your actual self to a hypothetical self.  Don’t drown in a sea of “what if’s.”  Don’t clutter you mind by imagining other versions of you, in parallel universes, where you made different decisions;
9527.  The internet age encourages choice and comparison, but don’t do this to yourself.  Comparison is the thief of joy;
9528.  You are you.  The past is the past.  The only way to make a better life is from inside the present.  To focus on regret does nothing, but turn that very present into another thing you will wish you did differently;
9529.  Accept your own reality.  Be human enough not to dread the future.  Be human enough to be enough;
9530.  Accepting where you are in life makes it so much easier to be happy for other people without feeling terrible about yourself;
9531.  The Fuji apple salad with chicken at Panera Bread is tasty . . . and so is the toasted steak sandwich;
9532.  (Adding) basil on a sandwich is pretty good;
9533.  Everyone is playing the game of life according to an internal set of rules.  Just like a board game, those rules determine the game play and they determine whether the game is easy or hard, fun or frustrating;
9534.  For most people, their internal set of rules says things like: 1.  I have to work hard for my money; 2.  I have to do something to “deserve” success.  But what?  Often that is not clear; 3.  Money is easy come, easy go; 4.  More money, more problems; 5.  If I have more than I need that means I’m selfish or greedy; 6.  Money won’t make me happy; and 7.  In fact, money might even corrupt my soul;
9535.  A lot of people are playing the game of life by rules very similar to these.  And they’re not “winning.”  It’s really hard and frustrating for them.  They feel like losers.  So they have this experience of feeling like they’re failing at the game and they say to themselves: “I’m the problem.  I’m no good at this game of life.  I suck at it.  I should either try a lot harder even though I’m already so tired or I should give up and accept that I will never succeed at this game;”
9536.  They make the mistake of looking at other people who have wealth, success, freedom and ease in their lives and they say to themselves: “See, they’ve worked out how to win this game, so it must be possible.  It’s just me who sucks.”  That comparison makes them judge themselves as less than and a failure;
9537.  That’s not the problem at all.  No one could win at the game using the rules they’ve been playing by.  They don’t suck.  It’s the rules that suck;
9538.  The people, who they’re comparing themselves to, the ones who are “successful,” those people are not playing by the same set of rules;
9539.  The “winners” have an internal set of rules that are more like this: 1.  Success and wealth comes easily to me; 2.  My wealth grows and grows; 3.  Wealth and success help me to have freedom, choice, fun and ease in my life; 4.  Wealth and success facilitates my happiness; 5.  My money makes me more money without me having to do much more effort; and 6.  I’m okay and I’m worthy of love and happiness, no matter what my wealth and success status because my worth is not determined by that;
9540.  If you ever feel like the game of life is just too hard, too tiring or so frustrating that you want to scream then listen to me when I tell you: You do not suck at the game.  You are not the problem.  You have a unique gift inside of you, one that the world is waiting for and that only you can give.  You are amazing;
9541.  It’s time to change the rulebook you’re playing by so that the game can become easier, much more fun, you can stop feeling frustrated and constrained and you can finally shine to your full potential;
9542.  Apparently, a woman’s tears can reduce a man’s testosterone levels;
9543.  The toughest pill to swallow is accepting that people’s effort with you is a reflection of their interest;
9544.  The food on Qatar Airways is pretty good. . . . It’s the best airline food I’ve ever had;
9545.  Hamad International Airport (in Doha, Qatar) is the nicest airport I’ve (ever) been in;
9546.  Apparently, Hamad International Airport is (rated) the 3^rd best airport in the world;
9547.  Kombucha is (really) expensive (i.e., 30.00 QAR/$8.25 USD) in Doha, Qatar (at least in the Hamad International Airport);
9548.  They have Starbucks in Qatar;
9549.  I can say I’ve had a drink (specifically a “Million Dollar Baby” made with gin, rum, vodka, Cointreau, pineapple juice, rose syrup & lemon) in Doha, Qatar;
9550.  The boneless Buffalo chicken (wings) at Soprafino (Italian Fine Dining) in Doha, Qatar are really tasty;

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0190

9451.  Try to set a goal that you can reasonably achieve within one year.  If it’s something that will be difficult to achieve in that timeframe, you might become overwhelmed and give up.  If your goal is something that will take more than one year to achieve, try to set a benchmark for what you’d like to accomplish in this first year and then build from there;
9452.  Focus on what you want not what you don’t want;
9453.  People often identify what they don’t want instead of what they do want because of fear.  Try to reframe your mindset so you’re not being guided by fear, but rather facing it head on;
9454.  Most achievers are afraid of living a life falling short of who they are, what they stand for and what they want to give to their kids or their wife or the universe.  Because of that, they’ll overcome their fears.  You can turn fear on itself;
9455.  Don’t stop after you’ve achieved your goal;
9456.  You should never stop setting goals;
9457.  You’ll feel a burst of pride and an uptick in energy right when you hit your goal.  But then what?  Without another goal to pursue and a daily sense of meaning, you will feel lost;
9458.  Without something to pursue or to look forward to, you run the risk of your life feeling stagnant;
9459.  We all need a compelling future.  We all need something that we’re going for that makes us feel alive.  If you don’t, you’re going to feel frustrated, bored and pissed off and you’re going to start looking at other things to blame;
9460.  Don’t worry about not achieving your goals;
9461.  What matters isn’t that the goal is achieved, but rather that you grow as a person on the path to achieving it;
9462.  What makes us feel alive is progress.  It’s growth.  It’s aliveness.  We grow or we die.  That’s what life is;
9463.  Remember: Growth takes different forms for different people.  Try to figure out what form of growth is most valuable to you and go from there;
9464.  You don’t just want to grow.  You want to grow so you can have an extraordinary life on your terms, a life that’s fulfilling to you;
9465.  If you have intense moments of pain in your life, look out for the window of opportunity that gets created (too) . . . and use it to your full advantage;
9466.  I (kind of) like the “beef, bean and green chile” burrito at 7-Eleven. . . . It’s not bad for a microwave burrito;
9467.  Our brains can move a million miles per hour and we can get so wrapped up in our thoughts that they become our reality, but the truth is our thoughts are not facts;
9468.  Be gentle with yourself;
9469.  You don’t need to carry all of the burdens.  You’re not responsible for other people’s emotions; you don’t need to carry all that with you;
9470.  We cannot control other people’s thoughts.  You cannot control what others think and you shouldn’t stress yourself so much about doing so;
9471.  Sit with grief and allow yourself to feel it.  Grief isn’t relegated to the loss of a loved one.  The loss of life as we knew it also brings on the grieving process.  Sit with the discomfort; face it.  Stop trying to be fine; and start being real;
9472.  Take care of yourself first.  You’re the battery to the car; if you’re not taken care of, the care won’t work;
9473.  There’s never a perfect moment to have hard conversations.  You won’t always be prepared; you don’t need to stress yourself over waiting for the perfect time to initiate thoughtful discussions about important topics;
9474.  It’s healthy to set boundaries with others.  It’s okay to say “no.”  It’s okay to speak up for yourself.  It’s okay to ask for help;
9475.  It can be instinctive to approach potentially heated conversations from a place of anger or frustration, but, instead, be calm and helpful with your words;
9476.  Even if you don’t think you’re the smartest person in the room, your voice still matters;
9477.  Listen to yourself; connect with your body.  You are your best and most intuitive healer.  Your body holds great wisdom; take time to listen and get to know him/her better.  You are the expert of you;
9478.  Give yourself the empathy you freely give to others;
9479.  Don’t get so lost dwelling on past “should’ve” and “could’ve” moments that you forget about your current choices;
9480.  We may not always like our options, but they do exist;
9481.  Every day we have the choice to either be our best friend or our worst enemy.  Choose to be your best friend not your enemy;
9482.  The time is always right to do what is right;
9483.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that;
9484.  Apparently, Dave Matthew’s former manager’s (i.e., Ross Hoffman) daughter (i.e., Lauren) stole Elizabeth’s (high school) boyfriend;
9485.  We are doomed to blindness if we look to find ourselves in the eyes of others;
9486.  Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter;
9487.  You have power over your mind not outside events.  Realize this and you will find strength;
9488.  Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961;
9489.  (Wayne) Gretzky won the scoring title by more than 70 points 6 times. . . . The past 6 NHL scoring races were decided by a combined 60 points;
9490.  Only 1 non-Gretzky player has even won the scoring race by more than 30 points. . . . That was Mario Lemieux by 31 points in 1988-89;
9491.  If (Wayne) Gretzky never scored a goal, he still would’ve recorded 11 straight 100-point seasons and won 4 scoring titles;
9492.  A no-goal (Wayne) Gretzky would still have the most 100-point seasons of all-time and he’d be tied for the fifth-most scoring titles;
9493.  (Wayne) Gretzky won 8 consecutive MVPs at one point.  In the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB, no other player has won more than 4 consecutive MVPs;
9494.  If you chopped (Wayne) Gretzky’s entire career numbers in half, he’d still be 17^th all-time in points;
9495.  If you halved (Wayne) Gretzky’s stats, he’d still be a first-ballot Hall of Famer;
9496.  Only 5 players have recorded 150 or more points in a season.  (Wayne) Gretzky did it 9 times (i.e., in 45% of his seasons);
9497.  Only (Wayne) Gretzky and (Mario) Lemieux have even topped 155 points in a season;
9498.  (Wayne) Gretzky is the only player to record a 200-point season and he did it 4 times;
9499.  In a 2-season stretch from 1983-84 to 1984-85, (Wayne) Gretzky scored 23 shorthanded goals;
9500.  Only 52 players have more than 23 career shorthanded goals and (Wayne) Gretzky has 73 in total, the most all-time;

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0189

9401.  Everybody ends up someplace in life.  A few people end up somewhere on purpose;
9402.  The traits we don’t want to acknowledge in ourselves, we project onto others;
9403.  Notice what you see in others and how you speak about them.  The things you see the most in others are parts of you waiting to be witnessed waiting to be integrated;
9404.  When you see something “positive” in someone that you “wish” you had, you already do.  That’s why you can see it.  Say to yourself, “That’s in me too;”
9405.  When you see something “negative” in someone you attempt to judge, see this part of yourself too that’s waiting to be loved.  Say to yourself, “That’s in me too.”  The ego will put up a fight.  The soul will take a deep breath as you release self-judgment;
9406.  Money won’t solve all of your problems.  Money will solve your money problems;
9407.  All self-improvement (in 1 post): 1.  Breathe and be in the moment; 2.  Always respond with love and compassion; 3.  When you fail at 1 or 2, reflect on what pulled you off course; 4.  If it’s about someone or something else and not about you, repeat step 3; and 5.  Work on that part of you;
9408.  If hard work is the answer to wealth, we’d have a lot more rich people in the world;
9409.  You may not be responsible for your past, but you are responsible for your future;
9410.  You don’t get paid for hard work.  You get paid for the value you provide;
9411.  Easy money and hard money are worth the exact same amount;
9412.  Time and money are not related;
9413.  Hard work is not sustainable (long-term).  Even if it works for a while, it will likely stop working because you’ll burn out;
9414.  Hard work is one way to make good money, but it’s not the only way;
9415.  Become efficient in the effective;
9416.  I am not my past.  I am not my mistakes.  I am not my failures.  I am who I decide to become.  I am who I commit to become.  I commit to become the best I can be.  I forgive.  I move on.  I look forward to the new me.  My best is yet to come;
9417.  Don’t let dogs eat any of the salt or the snow (especially the slushy snow) that has been treated with an ice melt.  It can upset their stomachs causing vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration;
9418.  Check your carryout order before you leave;
9419.  I think the lobster rolls at Hank’s Oyster Bar are better than the ones at Vola’s Dockside Grill (VolasDockside.com).  I still think they have the best lobster rolls in the D.C. (metropolitan) area;
9420.  Self-sabotage looks like: 1.  Rejecting praise and compliments; 2.  Not asking for help; 3.  Pushing people away when they start to get close; 4.  Opening up and attaching others prematurely; 5.  Refusing to do something unless you can do it perfectly; 6.  Procrastinating on important projects; 7.  Putting everyone else’s needs before your own; 8.  Constantly criticizing yourself; and 9.  Isolating when you are hurting;
9421.  Perfection is the death of all progress;
9422.  Perfection doesn’t exist . . . not in writing . . . not in business . . . not even in nature;
9423.  Understand that good enough is good enough.  Put your work into the world and make it better later.  Let the world tell you what needs to be improved instead of trying to get it all right on the first try;
9424.  My parents are people too.  They aren’t perfect.  They have their own problems/traumas that they’re dealing with (too);
9425.  Armin van Buuren is a Christmas baby;
9426.  Stop waiting for Friday . . . for summer . . . for someone to do something for you . . . for life.  Happiness is achieved when you stop waiting for it and make the most of the moment you are in now;
9427.  You need to wait a month before testing for post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”);
9428.  There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving.  And that’s your own self;
9429.  When someone tells you you’re making a terrible mistake, a lot of times what they really mean is, “That’s not what I’d choose for my life;”
9430.  It’s not a good sign when the baggage scanner takes your backpack and/or carryon out of the conveyor belt line. . . . You (probably) forgot something at the bottom of your bag and/or pocket;
9431.  Before packing for a flight, check your backpack and/or carryon for corkscrews and/or pocket knives.  You’ll either have to toss it/them or (pay to) check your backpack and/or carryon;
9432.  Apparently, airlines will stop checking bags before a flight . . . for American (Airlines) it’s about a ½ hour before (the flight);
9433.  If it’s mentionable then it’s manageable;
9434.  Cock squatting . . . check;
9435.  Elizabeth likes getting spanked with a (leather) belt;
9436.  Getting a blowjob after blowing your load in her . . . check;
9437.  Havana 1957 (Havana1957.com) has a (pretty) good Cubano/Cuban sandwich. . . . It’s huge;
9438.  Whoever invented the Cubano/Cuban sandwich was a genius;
9439.  The best Cubano/Cuban sandwich I’ve had in Miami is at the Colada Cuban Café & Grill (ColadaCubanCafe.com) (in the lobby of YVE Hotel Miami). . . . The (roasted) pork is succulent . . . and the sandwich is huge;
9440.  Elizabeth likes her clit sucked;
9441.  I can say I’ve had (Florida) stone crab. . . . It’s all right . . . , but I (still) like (Chesapeake) blue crab better/more.  (I think) it has better flavor;
9442.  Some women Facetune the shit out of their photos;
9443.  (According to Richard Biegel,) the deepest, most meaningful and long-lasting happiness comes from relationships.  These relationships are almost universally from family and based on empathy and compassion;
9444.  (According to Richard Biegel,) comparison is the thief of happiness;
9445.  (According to Richard Biegel,) fulfillment comes from following your bliss not the almighty dollar;
9446.  The pursuit matters just as much as the goal;
9447.  The purpose of a goal is not to get it.  The purpose of a goal is who you become in pursuit of it;
9448.  If you grow in the process of achieving your goal then that is success;
9449.  Set a goal with the right scope in mind;
9450.  Most people overestimate what they’re going to do in a year and they underestimate what they can do in a decade or two or three or four;