Henri Frederic Amiel once said that, “Everything you need for a better future and success has already been written”. If this is true, then what is left to talk about?
Ever suffer from writer’s block? Well, me too! I’ve been staring at the keyboard for some time now trying to come up with something new and informative to talk about that would capture the attention of my followers. And I’m drawing a blank. So I’ll pose the question to all of you …
What shall we talk about?
Let’s see, we could start with the ‘BIG 3’ … Sports, Politics and Religion.
- Sports. Who do you think will win the World Series this year? My pick = the S.F. Giants. Why? Because it’s an even year and the Giants have won three World Series since 2010 in even years. Which team is your pick to win it all? What about the 2017 Super Bowl? My pick = N.E. Patriots. Why? I think Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are on a mission to stick it to the NFL Commissioner and the other team owners for the Deflategate ruling. Who is your Super Bowl pick?
- Politics. Oh Lord, has this one been talked to death! I don’t know about you, but I am counting the days until the November 8th election. (26 Days, 14 hours, 8 minutes and 12 seconds as of this writing). Have you determined who you will vote for yet, or are you holding out until after the 3rd presidential debate to declare? This is a real dilemma for me because, like many other voters, I don’t feel good about either one of the front-runners. I think much more prayerful consideration is needed here.
- Religion. Speaking of prayer, today is Yom Kippur and it is the holiest day celebrated in the Jewish year. It began Tuesday night and culminates in daily prayer and a 25-hour fast, and ends symbolically when three stars can be seen in the sky. Blessings to my Jewish friends. So, where are you in your faith life today? Or more importantly, where does God rank in your ‘Five F’s’ – Faith, Family, Finances, Fitness and Fun? (Put God at the center of everything and see what happens).
There’s so much more we could talk about – the Middle East crisis, poverty, world hunger, homelessness, climate change, immigration reform, etc. However, these topics, too, have been talked to death, with little progress being made toward meaningful solutions.
So, here’s an idea … let’s talk about nothing!
Let’s take a chapter from the Seinfeld playbook and talk about nothing for the next 100 days. Why 100 days? Because that is the number of days until the new president and other elected officials take office. With the upcoming holidays and the elections looming, we are all going to be too preoccupied with other stuff to talk about anything new of substantive value. In addition, very little progress will be made in Washington D.C., Wall Street, etc. to “move the needle” until the dust settles from the elections. So, let’s do this in the meantime …
To finish off Henri Frederic Amiel’s earlier thought, if you want a better future and success, “All you have to do is go to the library.” So, if we follow Amiel’s advice and want to get a head start on building a better future and success, then we all need to go to the library and start reading up. This should give us a brighter, expanded outlook going into the New Year, and help us have some new things to talk about after January 20, 2017.
See you at the library!
John
COPYRIGHT © 2016 John Carroll