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Your present verses your future self

10/28/2018

Brian Sunday Posts , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This is mainly for any younger readers out there (although I hope all can get something from it).

I believe YOLO (“You Only Live Once” for you old people) is still a saying.
So… my question is – how are you living? Specifically, how are you living with regard to your future self.
Since YOLO, are you living such that when you are on your death bed, you can look back and appreciate the present you?
The idea of considering your future self is certainly not my concept.
However, I DO have some questions.

Will you be able to look back in 10, 15, 25, 50 years and tell yourself you did everything you could to set yourself up for what you wanted to become. Will you be able to say, “I’m successful” (however you might end up defining success) because of what I did now?
Will you be able to tell yourself you did the best you could in your high school classes? You didn’t just quit because an assignment was hard?
Will you be able to tell yourself you did the best you could in your high school extracurricular activities to ensure a potent job application / resume / college application? Or set yourself up for, and apply for, college scholarships?
Will you be able to tell yourself you did the best you could in college or trade school?
Will you be able to tell yourself you did the best you could in working your way up “the food chain” at work? Did the best you could at every task, every position, ever opportunity? Throughout your career?
Will your future self appreciate the amount of time you spend on your cell phone or social media or watching TV or …?
Are you setting him/her up to be comfortable?

Are you helping to create a better society? Are you helping others in need such that you can look back and say, “I was a pretty good person”?

The one person you will never be able to escape is you. You will, hopefully and if you are smart, move away from your parents. Brothers and sisters may move to other areas of the town, state, country. And if they don’t, you will still be able to avoid them. Friends and coworkers may come and go.  Even your spouse will be avoidable on occasion.
However, you are stuck with you. 365 days each year – 24 hours each day – 60 minutes each hour – 60 seconds each minute. You will be there. Even if you don’t look yourself in the mirror, you will still be there.
You will live in the house you are setting yourself up for now. You will drive the car you are setting yourself up for now. You will eat the food and take the vacations you are setting yourself up for now.
You will live in the comfort, or lack thereof, you are setting yourself up for now.
You will live in the society you are helping to create now.

Will you appreciate what you hear when you get the answer?
Will you have done everything you could to set yourself up for success? However your future self will define success.
Will you have done everything you could to set yourself up to have time for family and friends, leisure activities?

Are you doing all you can to ensure your future self appreciates your current self and what you are doing for you!?
Will you be happy, and specifically happy with yourself, due to what you are doing now?
If not, why not?
Is it time to change something about yourself?

>>> The day is at a close, the night is drawing in and my cigar awaits – ’til next time…

Civility in CyberSpace

11/23/2012

Brian Random Thoughts , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I’ve been trying to think of a good way to enlighten some of the younger generation that what they post on social media sites such as Facebook matters.  Not just photos, but the language they use.  Sometimes vulgar.  Sometimes profane. Sometimes just inconsiderate.  I don’t think I could have found a better means than this article.  The crassness of, mostly younger, Americans is bordering on the absurd.  While I understand blurting out in anger or frustration on the rare occasion of something REALLY appalling, I find it completely incomprehensible that people think it appropriate to use such language in everyday, casual “conversation”.  This though is for a later time.

Regarding what one puts on these social media sites, if you are not concerned about what your family and friends think, ok.  Although I’m curious as to why you wouldn’t be.  However, if you don’t think your employer (or potential employers) will find out, think again.  If you don’t think it will impact your career progression, think again.  If you don’t think it will affect your employability, think again.  And keep in mind,  it’s not like a “slip up” in the office or just whatever language you may use in the bar scene – things of  which there is no record and that will be forgotten over time (presuming they don’t impact you immediately).  I don’t want to suggest such things are ok.  Consider civility in all aspects of your life.  But always remember, what you post now will live in cyberspace forever!  Try and chalk it up to youth.  See how far that gets you.  Always think long-term.  Our 21stCentury technology has given us many advantages.  However, if you want to make the most of them, consider how you use that technology.  This is not the first instance and certainly will not be the last…  Consider the following:

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MSN News (22 Nov 12)

Mass. woman loses job after posting photo on Facebook

A Massachusetts woman who posted a controversial photo on Facebook of herself at Arlington National Cemetery with her middle finger raised has lost her job due to controversy over the picture.

A Plymouth, Mass., woman whose “clowning around” photo at Arlington National Cemetery became the focus of online furor after she posted it on Facebook has resigned her job due to the controversy.
Lindsey Stone, a Plymouth, Mass., resident, posted a photo of herself on Facebook with her middle finger raised and pretending to shout next to a sign asking for “silence and respect” near the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The photo was taken by a co-worker, Jamie Schuh, when the two were on a business trip to Washington, D.C., last month.
The posting ignited an online furor that included a “Fire Lindsey Stone” page on Facebook. Stone apologized through her father, Peter Stone, according to a Washington, D.C., TV station. Her father said she was clowning around and was reacting to the sign and not Arlington Cemetery.
According to the Boston Herald, Stone has resigned from the Cape Cod nonprofit, LIFE Inc., that she worked for and her resignation has been accepted. In a posting on its Facebook page, LIFE Inc., said both Stone and Schuh were no longer employees of the nonprofit.
“We deeply regret any disrespect to members of the military and their families,” the LIFE Inc. post said. “The incident and publicity has been very upsetting to the learning disabled population we serve.”
Both Stone and Schuh had been placed on unpaid leave while LIFE Inc., which helps adults with special needs, investigated.The Boston Herald quoted her father as saying: “She’s not happy at all. She’s just devastated. She had no idea that she was going to hurt anybody. It was never her intention.”
>>> The day is at a close, the night is drawing in and my cigar awaits – ’til next time…