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BETTER LISTENING SKILLS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING

If practicing better listening skills isn’t a life goal, it should be.
How hard is it to pay attention?
You did it in the classroom with the encouragement of a teacher.
I still remember Mr. Kraus singing ‘Toot toot tootsie goodbye’ when he tossed little tootsie rolls to students with the right answer in algebra.
Maybe we need more of that? Instead we get more of this:

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RETURNING REVERENCE TO IT’S RIGHTFUL PLACE

There’s a scent of reverence in the air, of returning reverence after a long pause.
It started in my doctor’s office where I’d been called to sit on a panel with others.
One of the others was Roy Pittman, one of my personal heroes.
The next time I saw the doctor he told me he was surprised at the way I acted, that I showed reverence to Coach Pittman.
If I did, I didn’t know it. What I remember is feeling awe-struck. Maybe it’s the same thing?
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NBA CHAMPION CROWNED, AGAIN

Becoming an NBA champion is a lifelong goal for every basketball player in the world.
The best want to play the best, beat the best, to tell themselves they’re good enough.
It’s that along with contracts and money and fame.
All of that goes along the wayside when you stop playing in ninth grade like me, or in high school.
Do I blame the coaches that I didn’t become a star, a substitute, or even a benchwarmer?
Noooooo, but . . .
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CLEAN LIVING FOR A QUIET LIFE

Clean living is an art form, and like all art it takes practice.
Yes, we’re talking about practice.
It takes practice to talk without a particular tone, without too much edge.
Do that and you may have a productive conversation.
Go ahead and save the tone and edge for people you don’t know, who don’t know you.
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I READ THE NEWS TODAY OH BOY

The news today is all about world events.
News organizations deliver it every day with the same hype and urgency.
News hounds consume every detail and load it onto the pile they carry in case someone asks them ‘what’s up?’
That’s when you brace yourself for the headlines as if they’re coming from an anchorman. Or woman.
That’s the big news story you NEED to know.
The small news, the stories that make us step back, come out another way.
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toughen up

VETERAN SOLUTIONS FOR VETERAN PROBLEMS

If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of veteran problems. The biggest veteran problems come when those who served say, “I didn’t sign up for this.” What is the ‘this’ in “I didn’t sign up for this?” The ‘this’ veterans talk about is the hard part for non-veterans to understand. Even veterans of […]

Wellness Luxury: Feeling Good For Doing Good Again

To do good you don’t have to feel good. If you do it’s a wellness luxury, an expression I just made up. Google wellness luxury. This isn’t that sort of post.   Take mental health for example. Nothing makes any difference to you? No one cares about you? Feeling earful about the future? Feeling sad […]

Average American Man = Fat?

This is what it looks like my boomers. Average American from The Atlantic. The artist compares Average American, named Todd, to other countries. Do you agree with this interpretation, or is there something missing?

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boomer years

EXPERIENCE AUTHORITY FIRST HAND

The truth is powerful after you experience authority. From your private life to public life, things change. You can’t always express that unique feeling you need to share. If you talk your talk and nobody listens? If you talk your talk and the wrong people listen? If you’re afraid to talk your talk? That one […]

YAHOO CALLS OUT BABY BOOMER DEBT

Why can’t they get the numbers right. UPDATE: Baby Boomer Birth Years run from 1946-1964. It’s more a reminder than an update, which is important when a Yahoo writer fits boomers age into the 65-74 age bracket. I’ll do the math. The youngest boomers turn fifty this year. Their life span runs from 1964-2014. So […]

BABY BOOMER’S LIFE FLASHES BEFORE HIS EYES

Clearing Out The File Cabinet. The kid on the right is learning the ropes. He’s your gentle BoomerPdx blogger looking like he’s crying in wrestling practice. It just looks that way. Really. If I was crying it was tears of happiness for having such a great teacher like Robin Richards. Later the same year Robin […]

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buckle up

BOOMER TRAVEL: GO IT ALONE?

The Benefits Of Single Boomer Travel Are Many, Even If You’re Married? Good reasons to travel as a couple include shared experience above all. There’s a bond that occurs between a husband and wife traveling together. Pictures and video don’t tell the story. Neither does a diary or a narrative recounting. The glee and spirit […]

PORTLAND ARCHES PORTLAND ALLEYS

Nothing says Christmas like Portland arches Portland alleys.   Christmas in Old Town Portland reminds visitors of a past era. It’s not a jail, just ironwork, and Old Town Portland arches, Portland alleys is full of cast iron architecture. That’s the stuff that falls on your head during an earthquake. Iron arches covered in brick […]

MEXICO TRAVEL: PUERTO VALLARTA PERFECTION, pt2

    First thing you’ll need is a new hat. Pick one, maybe two.   Once you get into the swing of things you can adjust.   Not a hat person? You are now.

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