"If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem, and only five minutes finding the solution."
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Learn to think!
You're not going to make it if you don't, it's that simple.
As Albert Einstein stated, defining the problem is the hard part.
He's a hell of a lot smarter than I am, but I agree!
Where we start is by learning how to think.
What is a real life?
Well, first things first:
All frequencies of everything in the universe must be one of three kinds of energy:
Creative - Destructive - Transformative
Yin - Yang - Young, as I like to say.
We've all heard of the Yin and the Yang; the creative and destructive energies; life and death, or male and female.
However, there is actually more than that, there is that third energy.
Male - Female - Child.
Birth - Death - Life!
Yin - Yang - Young.
And doesn't all of life basically rest on a tripod?
Work - Play - Spiritual?
This is the tripod you must build.
So, we begin to define the problem.
The way you define a problem starts with breaking it down into 'atoms'; single actions that you can perform now, that build towards your goal.
An atom is the smallest whole particle, the piece you can grab in your hand, so to speak.
You find these by breaking it down and by making lists.
Suppose you want to go back to school.
What's it going to take?
You need your HS Diploma.
Do you have it?
Or a GED?
If not, you have to get one.
If you have to get one, where will you get it?
What will it cost?
How will you pay for it?
When can you do it?
Do you know enough now, to pass?
Where can you take a practice test to be sure?
If you don't know enough to pass now, where and when can you study for this?
Is there any cost to this additional study?
If so, how will you pay for this?
Have you started your list yet???
This is actually one of the most important steps of all.
You must make a list.
You must list everything.
You must cross stuff off of the list when it is done.
This organizing is priceless, trust me.
As you start with your list, everything will just be in one place.
Shortly though, you will start to group things.
These all need to be organized by time, "I'm doing this first, then going to get that..."
Other things are grouped by similarity, "...stuff to get while at the grocery..." or "...steps to getting my GED..."
There are going to be dozens of things you need to do to get where you are going.
Let's keep breaking this down, though.
What can I do now?
Now?
That's the important question.
Say it's 10 pm and I'm sitting at home.
Can I take the GED test?
No.
Can I talk to the teacher?
No.
Can I study online?
Well, yeah.
So why ain't I doing it?
If I can do it now, I should.
If there's nothing I can do now, that's different.
I should relax, or do something else.
Then on to the next step.
What do you want to study?
How many classes are there to this?
How many other things do you have to study, also, (or even first)?
How are you going to pay for this?*
More important, do you have everything else in your life at the moment stable enough to focus on this?
A place to live? A way to pay the same? Etc.. through many different subjects, but the thing is, can you make it work?
Sure you can.
You must focus: there is no 'try'.
My first day at Wyo-tech, I went to school knowing that the last bus leaving the area was leaving 15 minutes before I get out of class and I'll have a several mile walk to the BART station. I got up at 6 am this morning for work, I'll be getting out of class at 10 pm this evening, and I have to get up again tomorrow at 6 am for work. Repeat 5 days a week. I went anyway with the intention that it didn't matter, I was going to make it work! I managed to set up a ride for a while and then eventually bought my own ride, but the point is, I wasn't going to let that stop me! And I wasn't going to miss any class, or my job.
You make it work, whether it wants to or not.
You have to define the problem in order to solve it. I didn't need to get out of class earlier, I just needed someone going somewhere that I could connect to BART, or get home. Different problem entirely when you look at it that way.
So, back to the other basic subject: Building your real life.
What the hell is a real life, anyway?
Well, it has to work.
To do that it has to be in balance.
You have to work, play, and have a spiritual connection too, right?
So, work has to pay enough to live on.
Very basic, no frills, but enough.
Play has to be as hard as work!
It also has to be disconnected from work and home chores, etc...
This is play.
And you have to have something spiritual, something that gives deeper meaning to your life.
These are the three legs you need to stand on to balance yourself and create your new life.
Now, I can tell you about my choices; what I thought about, and how I decided, etc... but you have to think out your own choices.
Mine just won't do. They can only inspire you to find your own.
What's on your 'Bucket List'?**
You've got one, don't you?
Written down?
If not, start it NOW!
(Geez! Another List!)
This is many things, including the beginning of your dreams, again, and you've got to have dreams, that's your hope in life!
What were your dreams when you were a kid?
What did you want to do?
Where did you want to go?
China, and see the great wall?
Egypt, and see the pyramids?
Parachute?
Hang Glide?
Waterski?
Mountain Climb?
What?
Come on, this is your start, right here.
Reawaken those dreams; dispose of the ones you must, and get some new ones!
Its time to wake up and start living again, before it's too late.
That's the meaning of the pic at the top of the page.
What the hell do you really, really want to do now, before you die next week, (or go back to prison, or whatever?)
Pick a dream and JUMP!
You know you want to.
Hiking is a good one!
It costs virtually nothing!
I mean, come on man, you're going walking.
Yeah, yeah, you have to get somewhere decent to hike, so you may have to pay gas, parking, or public transit, but, really, that's nothing.
Start out with something flat.
Eventually, build to something as steep or as rough as you like.
But you're out in the country, I hope.
Not on city streets or something.
Get some nature.
Or, get into photography!
Digital cameras are everywhere nowadays.
You can pick them up at a yard-sale for a couple bucks.
All you need is memory, and batteries, to start taking photo's.
You can take a thousand and throw away 900, it doesn't cost you anything.
If you don't have a computer at home, pretty much any public library has public computers.
You can view, and edit your pics extremely easily.
Never been on a computer?
It's a blast!
Don't worry about it.
Just get on one and get started.
It's easy. You'll learn as you go.***
So, start building your list for a real life.
You want to work.
It needs to pay enough to live on, so you start considering what to do, how to do it, what market will hire you; how can you turn your history into a positive instead of a negative, etc...
You start learning how to use your leisure time properly, like biking, hiking, hang gliding, fishing, doing something; but NOT sitting on a street corner saying hi to your buddies.
And somewhere along the way you start to give back.
Church, if that works for you; some kind of social service, or feeding the homeless, or helping your buddies actually make it when they get out of prison, whatever... you have to give to your higher self or you're going to lose your way.
That reminds me of a story I heard; I don't know if it's true or not, but it's still quite inspirational.
Anyway, here it is:
The guy who started AA was doing pretty well, but over a period of time he noticed that those he helped didn't do as well as he did. He began to wonder why and what he could do about it. Eventually he figured out that the difference was that he was helping people and they weren't; he was making it and they weren't. That's when he made it a part of the idea that each person had to help those below them, and that's why AA has the success rate they do; because they are putting in to their spiritual side.
It's much easier to fail for those above us; they've always been able to make it, and oh so easily, at that.
But we really don't want to disappoint those below us; those who look up to us with the hope that maybe they can make it too, if only we can.
We aren't as willing to let them down.
Well, that gives you something to think about for now.
I'm also including the education story below in hopes that it will help you, too.
It's definitely true: it's me.
Jou Baur
4/9/14
*Higher education... now.
First off, you may have heard all those ridiculous yard-rumors about how you're going to get free schooling, since now you are an ex-inmate and therefore a 'disadvantaged minority', right?
I really hope you aren't stupid enough to believe that shit.
Pipe dreams, they call that.
But... you know what?
You just might be able to pay for that education, after all!
You were in prison so you didn't have any income, so you probably qualify for all kinds of grants!
I did about $40,000 worth of schooling at Wyo-tech for about $7,000 in debt because of that very thing, right there.
But it will take some research on your part to pull it off.
Or go to a very expensive, 'for-profit' college like Wyo-tech.
They want their money so they work hard to make sure you get your grants.
In this particular case it was worth it.
Judge carefully!
You don't want to take on too much debt too soon, but you do want to build a real life.
If taking on debt will give you solid ground to stand on, go for it.
Balance, is the key.
And solid ground.
**'Bucket List' If you haven't seen the movie, do.
Starring Morgan Freeman, and Jack Nicholson, as two guys who meet in a hospital, both dying of cancer.
One has a dream, and the other has money... in fact he owns the very hospital they are dying in.
What would you put on your list of 'To Do' things, if you only had a year to live?
Better think about it.
It's one of the most important questions in life.
***Don't do any kind of financial stuff online until after educating yourself about the dangers and safety precautions.
Educating yourself about these is easy... Just start reading any articles that you stumble across that have to do with these subjects until you have enough knowledge to search out whatever additional that you need. This isn't an overnight cram session... just read what you come across until you understand it. No real biggie. OK?
P.S. Protect your email address most of all, because eventually it will give access to all of your most important stuff!
As Albert Einstein stated, defining the problem is the hard part.
He's a hell of a lot smarter than I am, but I agree!
Where we start is by learning how to think.
What is a real life?
Well, first things first:
All frequencies of everything in the universe must be one of three kinds of energy:
Creative - Destructive - Transformative
Yin - Yang - Young, as I like to say.
We've all heard of the Yin and the Yang; the creative and destructive energies; life and death, or male and female.
However, there is actually more than that, there is that third energy.
Male - Female - Child.
Birth - Death - Life!
Yin - Yang - Young.
And doesn't all of life basically rest on a tripod?
Work - Play - Spiritual?
This is the tripod you must build.
So, we begin to define the problem.
The way you define a problem starts with breaking it down into 'atoms'; single actions that you can perform now, that build towards your goal.
An atom is the smallest whole particle, the piece you can grab in your hand, so to speak.
You find these by breaking it down and by making lists.
Suppose you want to go back to school.
What's it going to take?
You need your HS Diploma.
Do you have it?
Or a GED?
If not, you have to get one.
If you have to get one, where will you get it?
What will it cost?
How will you pay for it?
When can you do it?
Do you know enough now, to pass?
Where can you take a practice test to be sure?
If you don't know enough to pass now, where and when can you study for this?
Is there any cost to this additional study?
If so, how will you pay for this?
Have you started your list yet???
This is actually one of the most important steps of all.
You must make a list.
You must list everything.
You must cross stuff off of the list when it is done.
This organizing is priceless, trust me.
As you start with your list, everything will just be in one place.
Shortly though, you will start to group things.
These all need to be organized by time, "I'm doing this first, then going to get that..."
Other things are grouped by similarity, "...stuff to get while at the grocery..." or "...steps to getting my GED..."
There are going to be dozens of things you need to do to get where you are going.
Let's keep breaking this down, though.
What can I do now?
Now?
That's the important question.
Say it's 10 pm and I'm sitting at home.
Can I take the GED test?
No.
Can I talk to the teacher?
No.
Can I study online?
Well, yeah.
So why ain't I doing it?
If I can do it now, I should.
If there's nothing I can do now, that's different.
I should relax, or do something else.
Then on to the next step.
What do you want to study?
How many classes are there to this?
How many other things do you have to study, also, (or even first)?
How are you going to pay for this?*
More important, do you have everything else in your life at the moment stable enough to focus on this?
A place to live? A way to pay the same? Etc.. through many different subjects, but the thing is, can you make it work?
Sure you can.
You must focus: there is no 'try'.
My first day at Wyo-tech, I went to school knowing that the last bus leaving the area was leaving 15 minutes before I get out of class and I'll have a several mile walk to the BART station. I got up at 6 am this morning for work, I'll be getting out of class at 10 pm this evening, and I have to get up again tomorrow at 6 am for work. Repeat 5 days a week. I went anyway with the intention that it didn't matter, I was going to make it work! I managed to set up a ride for a while and then eventually bought my own ride, but the point is, I wasn't going to let that stop me! And I wasn't going to miss any class, or my job.
You make it work, whether it wants to or not.
You have to define the problem in order to solve it. I didn't need to get out of class earlier, I just needed someone going somewhere that I could connect to BART, or get home. Different problem entirely when you look at it that way.
So, back to the other basic subject: Building your real life.
What the hell is a real life, anyway?
Well, it has to work.
To do that it has to be in balance.
You have to work, play, and have a spiritual connection too, right?
So, work has to pay enough to live on.
Very basic, no frills, but enough.
Play has to be as hard as work!
It also has to be disconnected from work and home chores, etc...
This is play.
And you have to have something spiritual, something that gives deeper meaning to your life.
These are the three legs you need to stand on to balance yourself and create your new life.
Now, I can tell you about my choices; what I thought about, and how I decided, etc... but you have to think out your own choices.
Mine just won't do. They can only inspire you to find your own.
What's on your 'Bucket List'?**
You've got one, don't you?
Written down?
If not, start it NOW!
(Geez! Another List!)
This is many things, including the beginning of your dreams, again, and you've got to have dreams, that's your hope in life!
What were your dreams when you were a kid?
What did you want to do?
Where did you want to go?
China, and see the great wall?
Egypt, and see the pyramids?
Parachute?
Hang Glide?
Waterski?
Mountain Climb?
What?
Come on, this is your start, right here.
Reawaken those dreams; dispose of the ones you must, and get some new ones!
Its time to wake up and start living again, before it's too late.
That's the meaning of the pic at the top of the page.
What the hell do you really, really want to do now, before you die next week, (or go back to prison, or whatever?)
Pick a dream and JUMP!
You know you want to.
Hiking is a good one!
It costs virtually nothing!
I mean, come on man, you're going walking.
Yeah, yeah, you have to get somewhere decent to hike, so you may have to pay gas, parking, or public transit, but, really, that's nothing.
Start out with something flat.
Eventually, build to something as steep or as rough as you like.
But you're out in the country, I hope.
Not on city streets or something.
Get some nature.
Or, get into photography!
Digital cameras are everywhere nowadays.
You can pick them up at a yard-sale for a couple bucks.
All you need is memory, and batteries, to start taking photo's.
You can take a thousand and throw away 900, it doesn't cost you anything.
If you don't have a computer at home, pretty much any public library has public computers.
You can view, and edit your pics extremely easily.
Never been on a computer?
It's a blast!
Don't worry about it.
Just get on one and get started.
It's easy. You'll learn as you go.***
So, start building your list for a real life.
You want to work.
It needs to pay enough to live on, so you start considering what to do, how to do it, what market will hire you; how can you turn your history into a positive instead of a negative, etc...
You start learning how to use your leisure time properly, like biking, hiking, hang gliding, fishing, doing something; but NOT sitting on a street corner saying hi to your buddies.
And somewhere along the way you start to give back.
Church, if that works for you; some kind of social service, or feeding the homeless, or helping your buddies actually make it when they get out of prison, whatever... you have to give to your higher self or you're going to lose your way.
That reminds me of a story I heard; I don't know if it's true or not, but it's still quite inspirational.
Anyway, here it is:
The guy who started AA was doing pretty well, but over a period of time he noticed that those he helped didn't do as well as he did. He began to wonder why and what he could do about it. Eventually he figured out that the difference was that he was helping people and they weren't; he was making it and they weren't. That's when he made it a part of the idea that each person had to help those below them, and that's why AA has the success rate they do; because they are putting in to their spiritual side.
It's much easier to fail for those above us; they've always been able to make it, and oh so easily, at that.
But we really don't want to disappoint those below us; those who look up to us with the hope that maybe they can make it too, if only we can.
We aren't as willing to let them down.
Well, that gives you something to think about for now.
I'm also including the education story below in hopes that it will help you, too.
It's definitely true: it's me.
Jou Baur
4/9/14
*Higher education... now.
First off, you may have heard all those ridiculous yard-rumors about how you're going to get free schooling, since now you are an ex-inmate and therefore a 'disadvantaged minority', right?
I really hope you aren't stupid enough to believe that shit.
Pipe dreams, they call that.
But... you know what?
You just might be able to pay for that education, after all!
You were in prison so you didn't have any income, so you probably qualify for all kinds of grants!
I did about $40,000 worth of schooling at Wyo-tech for about $7,000 in debt because of that very thing, right there.
But it will take some research on your part to pull it off.
Or go to a very expensive, 'for-profit' college like Wyo-tech.
They want their money so they work hard to make sure you get your grants.
In this particular case it was worth it.
Judge carefully!
You don't want to take on too much debt too soon, but you do want to build a real life.
If taking on debt will give you solid ground to stand on, go for it.
Balance, is the key.
And solid ground.
**'Bucket List' If you haven't seen the movie, do.
Starring Morgan Freeman, and Jack Nicholson, as two guys who meet in a hospital, both dying of cancer.
One has a dream, and the other has money... in fact he owns the very hospital they are dying in.
What would you put on your list of 'To Do' things, if you only had a year to live?
Better think about it.
It's one of the most important questions in life.
***Don't do any kind of financial stuff online until after educating yourself about the dangers and safety precautions.
Educating yourself about these is easy... Just start reading any articles that you stumble across that have to do with these subjects until you have enough knowledge to search out whatever additional that you need. This isn't an overnight cram session... just read what you come across until you understand it. No real biggie. OK?
P.S. Protect your email address most of all, because eventually it will give access to all of your most important stuff!