Sunday Story…Manners

It’s amazing what passes as acceptable these days. What we thought would never come to pass now is commonplace and mundane. We don’t even look up or raise our eyebrows at what was once a show-stopping display of boorishness.

 

I’m not sure how this has come to pass. It is as if sometimes we decided that manners didn’t matter anymore, it was okay to swear in public (let alone put it on a record for the world to listen to), and spitting on the sidewalk was smiled upon. Who would have thought we would have presidential candidates telling each other to shut up and interrupting each other to sling names at one another?

 

 

Why did we decide to compromise on these seeming simply displays of courtesy? Why do we not have the same disgust at acts of coarseness that we once had? I still refrain from dropping ‘f” bombs in my mother’s presence. I don’t chew with my mouth open.

 

It is past time to put some of these formerly unacceptable behaviors back in the unacceptable column. Let’s call bad boorish behavior out for what it is…bad and boorish. Bad language doesn’t indicate intelligence. It’s a symptom of laziness not to use a more appropriate word to mean the same thing.

 

Let’s stop allowing the unacceptable to be commonplace. The only way to do that is to call out bad behavior for what it is when it occurs. If we all do it we can make the world a kinder place.

 

In a world where you can be anything…Be Kind.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-story.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…You Gotta Believe!

Every week I talk to someone who tells me they know exactly what they need to do in order to lose weight or get into shape, or whatever. And more often than not, they are exactly right.

 

And they are not doing it.

  

These are smart people. There is no rational reason for them not to participate in self-defeating or nonsensical behavior.  Yet there they are…not doing what they tell me (and themselves) they know they need to do. So...why?

In a word...Belief. If I don’t believe what I am saying, somewhere in the back of my mind, I will tell myself” it doesn’t matter. I don’t really care about (whatever the win is by changing the behavior) or the reward isn’t worth the effort it’s going to take to do it. You have to believe.

Once you believe and subsequently, find that your “Why” inspires you you will find doing the work much easier. At that point, your belief has been transformed to knowing.

And once you know...You do.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Back on track

We often say “I need to get back on track.” I hear this often. What we mean by this is that somehow we have fallen off doing what we know we should, or what we really want to be doing. I have to be honest; when I hear this I am uninspired. It sounds like drudgery. We also say” I need to get back to work.”  Yuck, just yuck. I feel like I need to run screaming from that one.

 

Getting back on track screams boring. Getting back on track means getting back to the day to day, mind-numbing activities most of us run from.

 

Don’t get back on track. Don’t return to the day to day, mundane routine that was so easy to get away from.

 

Find the magic that put you on the path in the first place. Find the inspiration and creativity you got on the journey and put it back in play. Find the fire, find your why. Then forge ahead.

 

Get back to what inspires you. Get back to creating what needs to be created, what you need to make appear in the world. That’s your track.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com    

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Setbacks

         

 Are a part of life. If you are striving, if you are reaching for the next milestone, if you are growing then you will experience setbacks, failures, and challenges. It is part of the growth process. Grow, plateau, and make room to grow some more.

 

This is the natural path. It is the way the world works. If you aren’t growing you are dying but sometimes you need to take two steps back to make a giant leap forward.

 

Don’t let a setback keep you back.  Don’t let a temporary problem become a permanent solution. A plateau is a place to reset not a final destination.

 

Use your challenges to get stronger, to reassess your progress and your mission. Plan a new way forward, set your intention, and tackle the obstacles.

 

Setbacks are nature’s way of making you stronger. Without them, we become complacent and indolent. 

 

It isn’t what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.

 

Now go forth and conquer.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412