What is the point of an idea?

The second most important lesson any of us can ever learn is that our minds are the playground where any and everything we want to happen can happen. I know that at one time, the people reading this wanted to be spacemen, princesses, firemen, and probably a few of you who wanted to be president. I'm sure that somewhere along the line, you told your ideas and your dreams to someone else, and they said something to the effect of, "That will never work." So in just four simple words, it's possible to crush an idea even before it's attempted. But this raises the bigger question, what is the point of an idea?

Ideas are a construct of our minds & often, the difference between its success or failure depends on if we use that idea or not. Nothing you use or buy has ever or will ever magically appear. The television you watch...started out as an idea, the computer you use...started out as an idea, and even the websites you visit were just ideas in a person's head until they decided to try them. The next big thing that everyone will want is an idea in someone's head right now.

Ideas need plans, and plans need ideas. It's a basic symbiotic relationship. You may have an idea that you decide to share with your friends and family. They may tell you that it's a great idea and you might even share it with people you meet on twitter or facebook. The setback for you now is that unless you come up with a plan of action, the only thing that you have is an idea. From here, there's one of two conclusions: either your idea is wasted and it profits you nothing, or someone else thinks of your idea or steals your idea and uses it. In the last scenario, you become one of the people who inevitably say, "Aww, I had thought of that. If only I had done something with it."

The last thing to bring up is what is the value of an idea? Every idea is both priceless to the person who thought of it, and worthless to everyone else until that idea has a physical breakthrough. So for those of you with ideas running through your heads now, I hope you start a plan for your idea so that you can make it a reality for the rest of us.

How to get ANY man you want

Ladies, I'm no dating or relationship expert, but I just learned something startling and quite possibly earth shattering, that you all need to know. But first, a little disclaimer...

To my fellow brothers in arms...I am not about to break any part of the man code, but what I am doing is revealing truth to bring about understanding. The more understanding there is between men and women, the chance for drama becomes less likely.

With that said, ladies there is but one rule and one rule only that you need to know and use in order to get any and I mean ANY man that you want:

SET STANDARDS AND LIVE BY THEM!

Wait, now sit down...breathe, and take a minute to let that sink in. This is the great "secret" in order to get the man of your dreams. When I say standards, I'm talking about your rules, your principles, and everything you will accept and the things you refuse to live without. Now for the single women who say that they already do this yet are still "man-less", there's one of two reasons why.

The first reason you'd still be "man-less" is because you concede your standards. For the women who want a man to open doors for them, pull out their chair for them, and pay for at least the first real date(and bowling and McDonald's isn't really a date), then you have every right to demand these as standards for yourself. So the first thing you need to do with your standard is tell your girlfriend. Once you do that, tell your men friends, and then tell the next guy you meet, and then the next guy, and tell everyone that you know until you've told everyone your standards. But if you go out with a man that doesn't pay for the date, you've yielded one of your standards. If you go out with a man that walks out in front of you and then lets the door almost hit you because he's not holding it for you, then you're not living up to your own standards. STOP IT!

I'll be honest ladies...I'm writing this for one reason and one reason alone. I called a woman who has a standard that she doesn't accept calls from men after dark, and here's the kicker...I respect her wishes because it's the standard that she set from the beginning. Now I don't expect anything from this woman except conversation and maybe an option for a future date, but she has a personal rule that any man she talks to has to follow or else she doesn't talk to him. Ladies, it's that simple! If you want a man to treat you a certain way, then accept nothing less than that treatment and you will get it! Don't bend, don't give in, and don't break because when you do, you will be treated however the man chooses to treat you. Not only this, but I can honestly say that if you allow a man to break your rules, the man will lose a little bit of respect for you and won't respect any future rules you try to make.

This is the way to get any man that you want ladies, but there's one other reason that you might be "man-less". The more specific you are with your standards, the more unspecified the time will be before you get what you want. In other words, if you want a tall, light skinned man with six pack abs, and a six figure savings account who drives a BMW 745 and has at least one vacation home, you can get this man. The only thing is that you'll have to be willing to take the time for a man like this to be available to come to you. That's the last thing I want to say ladies. Don't chase us, we'll chase you because if you're chasing us and we're not stopping...it's either because we're not interested or you're breaking your standards. Either way, stop hunting and just become the hunted, but be the hunted that keeps standards.

Second life

My name is Garrett Rogers, and I've already died once. I have lied, cheated, and misused people. I've burned almost as many bridges as I've made, and some of those bridges will never be under construction again. I was told by my doctor that I have a big heart, and in this case, I'm not talking about the giving kind of heart. My doctor told me I had an enlarged heart, but it wasn't because of genetics; it was because I ate cake, burgers, pizza, and drank Dr. Pepper like the government was going to ban junk food the next day. Yet, in spite of giving in to my vices, my fears, and my prejudices...I still live.

I don't live because of my sin or bad habits, but I live in spite of them for two reasons...grace and choices. I'm saying that God has been graceful to give me a chance to see the sun rise for 33 years, and even if you don't share my belief, you have to know that your alarm clock isn't the only reason you wake up. My choices also keep me alive because rather than live the same life I have lived, I've chosen to change all that was negative and wrong with me. So that meant cutting out the Dr. Pepper, and eating a salad every now and then, but I didn't give up all of my junk food though. I also had to walk away from the people or things from my past life of wrong. It's not that they were wrong and everything I used to do wasn't bad, but I make the choices I make to make sure that I don't go back to a life that would entice me to do wrong or is wrong for me.

I don't write these words for condemnation, sympathy or even understanding, but I write these words to be an example and a voice. I want others to see the life that I used to live and then see the consequences I faced for living that life, and once you see the before, pay attention to the after. I'll tell you what I did and then you can see what I'm doing. Every day I strive to find a way to improve my life and to improve the lives of others because I am given a second life and I want to live this life for good.

The bottom line is that if you are alive to read this right now, do right by your self and do right by others. Trust me when I say that the rewards will be 1,000 times better than if you chose to do wrong.

Your self-image is all you have

OTHERS CAN ONLY SEE YOU AS YOU SEE YOURSELF

That's the main point of this blog and I want you to think about it for a minute. Our "self-image" is how we see ourselves and it's this idea of ourselves that other people base their opinions of us on. Some of you may say that other people will base their opinions of us based on their friend's opinion or from gossip. Even then, their friends are judging us by our self-image above anything else. Plus, no matter what rumors are spread about us, if we aren't doing the things or acting in the way that we're rumored to, then the rumors cease to exist as the truth comes out.

I'd like to explain this in the simplest terms possible. If you see yourself as a smart person then you will act the way smart people do, you will do the things smart people do, and you will say the things smart people would say. When other people see you, observe you, and listen to what you say, they will feel you are a smart person. It's not about just "thinking" you're a certain type of person, but once you think on it, you will say you're this type, you will act like this type and you will live like the type of person you think you are. If I sound like I'm repeating myself, I am. I'm repeating myself because we have to keep repeating the same behavior, first to ourselves, and then to others and that's the only way we are who we think we are.

I remember my mom saying, "You are what you answer to." and mom couldn't be any more right. So think carefully about who you want to be and then be that person no matter who says otherwise because the proof of who you really are is in your self-image and your actions.

Just because you think it's right doesn't mean it is

I finally saw Law Abiding Citizen and it's my new favorite movie. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but the movie makes a great point on the subject of right and wrong. Just because we think something is right doesn't mean that we are doing the right thing.

To put this in the simplest and easiest perspective to understand...a little "white" lie is still a lie. We try to tell ourselves that by telling this lie, we are "helping" someone else by not admitting the truth(and the truth does not have to be brutal). Then there are times we feel justified by what we do because we are somehow "owed" something so it's o.k. if we "use"(steal) a few things from work(since we do work a thankless job for a miserable boss). Here's the kicker...if these two events were the "right" thing to do then the people that we call "terrorists" would be justified for their violent actions because many of them believe that they are doing the work of Allah.

For the record, I think any lie is wrong just like any theft is wrong, and God or any higher power anyone chooses to serve would not condone the killing of innocent people. I also think that whatever you or I choose to believe is right then we should not only believe it internally or in certain company, but everyone should know our personal code of ethics. In other words, if a person is a racist among members of their own race, then they should spit their racial epithets to any race. Will this sort of free speech make someone a hated individual or possibly beat up...yes, but it comes down to...consequences.

If we think it, and act on our thoughts, then we should be willing to face the consequences for our actions. This is the problem for some of us who choose to be hypocritical and not live up to the thoughts that we actually have and instead, choose to act on what is considered publicly to be the right thing. I'm not writing all of this to tell you what is right and what is wrong, but I am saying that if we think what we do and how we act is right and justified, then we should face the consequences for our thoughts and actions. For a better example, see the actions of those involved in the Montgomery bus boycott.

"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." - Proverbs 16:25