Good is the enemy of great

I started listening to the book "Good to Great" on audio again, for the 3rd time. Its written by Jim Collins and I highly recommend it. Chapter one starts out explaining why good is the enemy of great.

We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government , principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good - and that is their main problem.

So as I was trying and find ways to move from being mediocre to something better I had a conversation with a brother who though my difficulty in finding things to be great at crazy. He said you need to find what you can be best at and do it. i.e. "no one can love Holly better than you can, you can be the best in the world at it". Point well taken.

So here I am, listening to this book again, trying to make it stick and I find myself in the same rut I find myself in when I learn something new or think its a good idea. I file it away so I can refer to it sometime in the future and portray myself as knowledgeable. As the guy with the sound bite. the good quote or neat idea. I don't actually do it. I find this same thing happening with the gospel as well. I can quote a great scripture, prophet, or scholar, but in practice I'm severely lacking.

I'm writing this to throw it out there, to see what others have done to incorporate it. not in the way we typically pray "help us to incorporate these things in our daily lives" but to actually do it. Here is another quote which I try and remember every day and I am actually somewhat consistent with doing

Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain - Mark Twain

So I take out the trash, I empty the dishwasher, I clean the bedroom, I exercise, call a long lost friend but its not consistent.

I'm not really looking for the end all answer because I think I already know it. President Kimball said "do it" to which he later expanded to "do it now".

I think that is the key.

Kevin Trudeau and Vaccinations

A few weeks back Holly ordered a book, unbeknown to me, written by Kevin Trudeau entitled "Natural cures They Don't Want You to Know". It all sounds well and fine, until you read the title, or the name of the author, or watch an infomercial this guy has produced. He is a new version of the old school con artists. Only now instead of putting up his tent on the side of the road and curing everything w/ one bottle of magic juice, he is able to record a 30 minute spot and anyone who is up past 12:00am is able to hear all about his magical cures and testimonials- of which 0% have been substantiated.

(side note: While in high school my brother and I could name and quote from many infomercials. They are so great, we would always get a kick out of them. We would make huge mugs of either grape drink or hot chocolate and stay up till 2-3 mocking and quoting the best testimonials and the surprise and wonderment the hosts would express. Those were good times. Not to long ago Holly couldn't sleep being heavy w/ child and I had nothing better to do so I introduced her to the wonderful world of infomercials...ah, I digress.)

So I think to myself, maybe Mr. Trudeau is on to something. Maybe I should give it a chance. I crack the book open and find no citations. Not a good start. Then I start reading about government lobbyists and how they are "hidden" and "secretive", when in fact we (anyone who has taken a course in American government) have known about these "hidden and secret" lobbyists since we were in middle school. In chapter 2 Trudeau goes on to say that "modern medicine has absolutely and 100% failed" he also says they haven't cured anything. Sorry to burst a little bubble w/ my vast knowledge of of medical history, but when was the last black plague outbreak? Or polio? On top of this, he is a convicted felon for credit card fraud and larceny. I wonder, could this book also be a fraud?

In Kevin Trudeau's defense I have only read a little more than a chapter of his book. I fully plan on reading the rest of it w/ a lot of towels so that when the blood shoots out of my eyes it doesn't get the pages too moist (say moist 3 times really slow) and duct tape so my head doesn't explode.

As for natural cures and eating health I think it is fantastic. Yay for natural cures, yay for homeopathic alternatives. Yay for real research.

Now to a bigger beast. Vaccinations. I can not for the life of me find a non biased article/study/review/comment that is not fueled by emotion and misinformation. My kid is now 7 weeks old and hasn't been vaccinated. And right now most likely won't be. So if anyone comes across an article that isn't s cued please let me know.

My Chuck Norris Top 10

In no particular order

1. Chuck Norris has never won an Academy Award for acting... because he's not acting
2. Chuck Norris crossed the road. No one has ever dared question his motives.
3. Chuck Norris doesn't say "who's your daddy", because he knows the answer.
4. Chuck Norris is widely predicted to be first black president. If you're thinking to yourself, "But Chuck Norris isn't black", then you are dead wrong. And stop being a racist.
5. The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.
6. Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on a true story: Chuck Norris once swallowed a turtle whole, and when he crapped it out, the turtle was six feet tall and had learned karate.
8. Chuck Norris Does not sleep. He waits.
9. Chuck Norris Counted to infinity - Twice.
10. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door
11. There is no such thing as global warming. Chuck Norris was cold, so he turned the sun up.

Moving Forward

I've been avoiding blogging for quite some time now. Several different events have moved me in this direction of which I will list just a few.
First and foremost is the idea that, in the words of Tony Robbins, "a life worth living is a life worth writing down". And up until now my life will only be remembered in memories and a few journal entries.
My life is not only worth living, it is also worth remembering. Sounds pretentious and all but I truly believe I have something to give to current and future generations.
Another reason that this blogging thing has been on my mind is a talk given by Elder Henry B. Eyring, member of the first presidency, in the Sunday morning session of the October 2007 Conference entitled "O Remember, Remember". This is a quote from that talk:

When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I believe I have read this talk in its entirety over 20 times since it was given and now, finally I am beginning to act. This isn't going to be a preachy blog though to sensor or neglect this aspect of my life would leave a huge hole in the endeavor.