How much of what I post online is real sentiment or something I’ve pondered? How much is just “me too” posts to fit in and not to feel left out?
I think about the empty parade of happy birthdays courtesy of Facebook or the endless “thank the troops” posts on Memorial Day.
If you’re going to thank the troops then thank someone you know. Thank a family member. Thank a friend. Thank a spouse. Thank a co-worker.
Take a moment and thank someone you know. Thank someone who means something to you.
ISIS does not concern me. I am more concerned about my privacy being given away from poor security. This security extends from our own government and the Office of Personnel Management to retailers like Target and Home Depot.
Just last week, I had my debit card compromised and used to order a pizza from Dominos in New York. Last year, OPM was hacked. and this leaked not only my personal information. But the personal information of people who I listed as family and friends who could verify the information I listed in my investigation forms.
I was reminded of this when I updated the information when I changed jobs. Everything you’d need to steal my identity or my wife’s identity is out there. Everywhere I’ve lived and worked for the past 7 years is out there.
Names, addresses and phone numbers of my past employers, friends who can verify the information and my family, including step parents is out there. All thanks to poor security practices by our own government.
This doesn’t make me mad so much as it saddens me. We can do better. We should do better. There’s no excuse to not protect a database of every government employee and those listed on their forms.
But it wasn’t. And now it’s out there in the world. For who knows who to have access to.
So excuse me when I don’t get riled up when politicians scream about how we all need our guns because ISIS is coming to get us.
It’s not the terrorists I fear. It’s our own incompetence. It’s our own neglect. That is what scares me more than a small, terrorist group half a world away.
An outside perspective is always helpful.
I recently read Meeting in the Middle: Learning from a Luddite and it hit on something I often consider. The author is a digital native and comfortable with computers and the internet. Her husband is not.
A Luddite is someone who is actively opposed to new technology. That’s what my husband was.
She spent time online surfing and checking stats. He detested the world computers had made. But this is not a story of how her husband was wrong and eventually saw the light.
I became a little jealous: after all, his digital footprint was virtually non-existent while mine was a cluttered mess.
So she deleted. Vine. LinkedIn. Facebook served as a reminder of how much junk she had shard in the past. Something I’ve become reminded of as Facebook shows me the stupid pictures or signs or silly products I shared years ago.
There is a balance to find in your life. It’s not going to be the same for everyone. But it’s there. The trick is to find it.
I find a line between computers and mobile devices works for me. When I’m on a computer, I’m working. I’m writing or editing. I’m at work answering calls and fixing problems.
And when I’m mobile. I’m playing. I’m chatting with friends. I’m reading my favorite writers in blog or book or newsletter. But most often I’m listening.
Podcasts. Audiobooks. Music. There’s always something in my ears. I compose a complete soundtrack to my life. And that works for me.
If you’re feeling lost or off-balance I have some advice. Consider an outside perspective.
It’s hard to see your life clearly when you’re living it. I’ve fallen deeply in love with someone who made me a worse person. But I couldn’t see it. I was stuck in my life. I tried to make it work or change. I ignored my friends who told me how unhappy I was and how the relationship was terrible. But I didn’t listen.
Until it ends. And looking back, I can’t believe how miserable I was. I couldn’t believe what I had done to myself for so long.
Another prime example of considering an outside perspective is starting a new job.
I started a new job and went from working primarily alone to being part of an established team. Before, I made up everything as I went along and I had no one to consult. My word was law.
Now, I’m working in an established system with pre-defined habits. There’s the way we have always done it. Which is not always the best way. It made me smile last week when my team lead turned to me and said, if you see places we can improve information or processes, tell us about it.
I have fresh eyes. I don’t know how things are supposed to be done and I can bring that beginner’s mind to the team.
It’s valuable to look outside yourself and your normal. You can’t see the problems when you’re inside of it. But from the outside, the issues are crystal clear.
Today I Learned:
1. Michael Jackson wanted to be Jar Jar Binks but George Lucas wanted to do the work with CG instead of prosthetics.
2. Jar Jar as Lian Neeson’s character from Taken would be terrifying.
The video is episode three from a series called These Are The Actors You’re Looking For where Jamie Strangroom tracks down actors who played lesser Star Wars rolls.
He has also interviewed Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) and Greedo (Paul Blake)
Your job is not your identity. Your job is not your family.
Your job will not be there for you in the bad times.
Your job is a place where you trade time for money.
Nothing more. Your job may use terms like family and try to build work relationships into friendships or beyond. But it’s just work.
At the end of the day, you should be able to leave that job, go home and think about other things. Your job should not follow you around as you lay in bed or walk in the park. Your job isn’t dating you. It’s not going to marry you and make commitments to have and hold to honor and love.
Your job is a place where you trade time for money.
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén