You used to beg me to take care of things. And smile at the thought of me failing. But long before having hurt, I'd send the pain below...much like suffocating. --Chevelle

Cruising through my morning emails I found a couple of though provoking gems.

The first was an amazing quote from John Gardner: "We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure - all your life."

Can't add much to that other than it's absolutely true. I'm finally starting to grow up (at nearly 32 years old). I want to try everything I can and learn. It took a long time for me to learn it's okay to try and fail. What is not okay, is to live life unlived. To never attempt. It's amazing what we learn when we immerse our in new projects. For example, looks like I'm terrible at HTML and web design, etc. However, I've learned enough of it to keep and maintain this nice looking BLOG. I can add and change my own links and messages on it. Post pictures here. That kind of thing. I've also come to understand search engines and how they rank as well. I learned all this through starting a journal that was really an outlet for my creativity and my writing. But so much more I have learned from it.

The second gem that I found was from my daily CNN news email: Ben Stein has held many titles in his career from trial lawyer to White House speech writer to game show host. Recently he has turned his talents to writing, penning a self-help series. The latest book is called "How to Ruin Your Financial Life." Stein uses reverse psychology to give financial advice to readers. Stein told CNN's "American Morning" he does not completely buy the theory that money does not buy happiness. "I've known an awful lot of poor people, and I've know an awful lot of rich people," Stein says. "And the rich people generally are happier."

Ben is right. Being wealthy will not make you a better person or more satisfied necessarily. However, only a fool thinks that having enough money is not important. We live in a society ruled by the greenback and having good financial skills is important. And let's be totally honest, who wouldn't want to never have to worry about money again.

Had another thought this morning about a friend of mine. He's a great guy and one of my best friends. I'll call him George. George finished his programming degree with spectacular grades while working 50 hours a week, being married, and raising two beautiful kids. I am so impressed by him. And like most new programmers with degrees he can't find a job right now.

George has a stellar idea for a human resources software package. He has the brains and skill to produce it I'm quite sure. He's even imagined it all the way to the packaging. He wants to produce it as a resume to show people what he can do. And if he can sell it along the way that's an added benefit. Even better idea. But he hasn't done it. I'm not sure why. And that thought brings me to this: All the good ideas and intentions in the world mean nothing if we don't act on them. Besides inspiration one must have motivation and then determination to carry it through. I hope George does carry it through he deserves all the success in the world.

"I should not write so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well." Henry David Thoreau said it. And it's something that I now take to heart as I write. I've had a hard time writing fiction of late but I do know how to write about myself. I can tell the world, my story, in my own words. And perhaps through writing about myself I can bring new life to all the characters in my head. Put all the ideas I have into real stories--something substantial. And prove to myself exactly what kind of writer I can be.

It's almost lunch time and I've still got FEEDSTER to test, kids to feed, and to get ready for work amongst other things. I did get a good workout in this morning too. It was only 75 minutes but included a lot of calisthenics and some basic weight training.

I'm gone.

-N-