An Entire Universe that Doesn’t Really Exist

When I first sat down to write about Permac Sudé, the universe of Tokorel did not exist. In fact, none of it existed until that very day that I turned on my brain and gave this strange character a name. It was interesting creating someone. I realized that I could make this person whomever I wanted him to be, and that he, in the absence of the laws that govern us, could do anything including things outside of our realm of thought and understanding. Phew! That was a mouthful. Subsequently, I made Permac and his entire race, have an ability that I only wish that I had. He has the ability to sense and influence emotions. Can you imagine?

We, as human beings, are very complex creatures when it comes to emotions and emotional responses to the actions of others. Sometimes we don’t even know why we feel what we feel. What if you could walk into any situation? Any situation at all!  What if you could immediately know what the person facing you was feeling. What if you could tell, in a crowded room, what each and every person was feeling? Further more, what if you could, with a thought, change what any of them were feeling into whatever you wanted them to feel? You could make a person trust you. Make them love you. Make them hate someone else. Make them trust you. Make them feel pleasure when they saw you. How many emotions do we have? I started to write a list, but it became too long and took up too much time. So, let’s just suffice it to say that there are a lot of emotions! Now, let’s move on to the next part of this equation. 

What if everyone had this ability? Well, maybe not everyone, just everyone on your planet. There would have to be certain social rules in place to make sure that people acted in a respectable manner. After all, we can’t just go around influencing everyone to like us, trust us and fall in love with us. So, certain rules need to be established and there needs to be some way to recognize when someone is invading your privacy. We’ll call it a “brain buzz” and use that to give someone a general idea that someone else is trying to influence them. You know that someone is trying, which is rude, but you don’t know who, but you’ve learned as you were growing up, that you could block others from doing this if you felt it was necessary. It takes concentration and probably isn’t that fun to do, but when someone is being rude, you need to take the time and energy, to show them that you are not someone to be trifled with. No sir.

So, there we have the ground rules. And obviously, no one plays poker where Permac comes from. But, what if you were to leave your planet, like Permac did. Poker might be an interesting game to be involved with. Your next question, however, might be, “What does Permac’s race look like?” and that would be an excellent question. They look pretty normal, really, except for their clawed fingers. That does make them look like another species though, and I’ll talk about that in my next blog. In the meantime, keep your feelings private and make certain that you know who’s controlling them. Let’s hope it’s you!

White Knuckling to our Goals

The other day, I drove sixty miles to do a job. It was a very straightforward job and I enjoyed doing it. It ended at a little past nine that evening and it was then time for me to drive home.

At the time, we were in the middle of a spring snowstorm. I have a good car with good tires, but the visibility was poor and cars driving on the freeway were splashing copious amounts of slush up and onto my windshield. There was enough slush on the road to make it difficult to see the lanes. It quickly became a white-knuckle drive.

The road and visibility remained consistent for about 40 miles. After that, the falling snow became more rain and the road became clearer so the drive became more pleasant as well as allowing me to drive faster. Home was a welcome sight.

I realized that this drive was a lot like reaching goals. I guess that in a way, I had set a goal of reaching home safely. In life, and in business, we set goals and create action plans to reach those goals. There are times, however, when life throws slush in the road, hiding those markers that will guide us safely to our intended goal. What do we do when that happens?

I could have chosen the safe route by pulling over and waiting for the storm to end. Unfortunately, the storm was forecast to continue throughout the night. It would have been a long night. Instead, I chose to drive carefully, looking for whatever guide markers I could find. When life throws things in the way of reaching my goals, I continue on by looking for markers that I have set in front of me and slow down a little. Sometimes, life has a way of telling us when it’s time to slow down, look around and possibly re-evaluate the direction that we’re going, or the way that we’re going. Perhaps it’s time to take a slightly different path. Whatever the reason, it’s up to us to stick with reaching the goal if it’s something that we really believe in and something that we truly want to reach.

So, the next time you’re feeling frustrated and ready to give up on that goal, slow down and take a look around. It might be that the storm will be over by the following day, and the roads will clear, giving you a straight shot at your goal, possibly faster than you ever imagined. Think of it as a snow day and let the rest energize you, propelling you on to greater heights! 

Drew

GPS

This past weekend, I had to drive from my home in Fort Collins, to a hotel in south Denver. It wasn’t a long drive. It only took an hour and a half. I feel like I know Denver pretty well, but I don’t know every street, and even though I used to have to work down there, it’s grown a great deal since I was down in that area, and so trying to find a specific address can be tedious. Thank goodness we have GPS systems!

I rented a car as I was going to be running down there over a period of three different days. I was filming a pageant for the contestants and their families. When I rented the car, I made sure to rent a GPS so that I could find my way to the hotel. I got the car all packed up, started it and plugged in the GPS. I typed in the address and received a message that, “maps are not available”. I really had to wonder about this, since that, as far as I knew, was the only thing a GPS did. It displayed a map and showed you how to get from here to there. Undaunted, I continued to try. After struggling with the device for a short time, I saw another sign appear. This time the sign read, “Low battery. Connect to external power source.” I looked at the back of the device and verified that it was plugged in, following the cord down to the 12v plug in the car. Yup. It was hooked up. I wriggled the cord at both ends, just to make sure that they were secure. Yup. They were.

Maybe a reset would help. So, I turned the GPS off and back on again. This time, before anything else, it told me that it had a low battery and to connect it to an outside power source. What the heck!  I thought. This was not going to be easy. Then, the GPS shut down and refused to turn back on. Dang it!

Okay, realizing that there was a USB port in the car, I took my cheap little Android phone, plugged it in, pulled up maps and asked for directions. It worked amazingly well and got me to my destination without any issues. It even helped me find my way home that evening.

The weekend went well, and it turns out that I didn’t even need the GPS because of my phone. Sadly, I still paid for it even though it was useless to me. That, however, is another blog for another time! The point is that I knew where I wanted to go, knew generally how to get there, but also knew that for the last mile or so, I would have been clueless. I realized that this same scenario applies to life. Many times we set goals. We know where we want to go and how to get there for the most part, but when we get down to that last little bit, we get lost and off track. Ever wish that there was a GPS for life? Well, there might be a device that will show us where to go all the way to our goals, but we have two things that will help. Knowledge and persistence. Whether it’s knowledge by learning for ourselves, or knowledge that we gain from asking others, it’s that knowledge that will see us safely through to the very end and help us avoid getting lost that last little bit. Persistence is essential in reaching your goal. You might get lost, but keeping at it will always keep you moving forward. You might hit road blocks, but keeping the rewards at the end, in mind, can keep you on track. Don’t let a little hiccup in the plan stop you from getting to where you need to go. Keep moving and find another way if necessary!

Always research the trip from where you are now to the goal you wish to reach. Ask for help and direction, and don’t let anything stand in your way and before you know it, you’ll have successfully arrived and be ready to plan the next trip to a great new goal!

Drew