bigMonkey

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Umair Haque at HBR wrote an article titled “The Value Every Business Needs to Create Now.” In it he defines the terms thick and thin value, but also reveals a pretty interesting consideration of the voice mail intro message, and puts it into a light that I never considered. It’s a quick read, and its right here.

when I crashed my motorcycle. First off, I have a name. You know how in the movies, when some guy dies, he doesn’t have a name. And in the credits he is listed as “Guy In Car #3″. And nothing was in slow motion and there was no music. So right away I knew that I would be ok. But I also knew that this was gonna hurt. And it did. It was noisy, and it hurt like hell.

So by now those of you who know me know that some douchebag pulled out in front of me on a back road. My dad and I were riding together, and we got split because I was a new rider, and lagged a bit on the previous stop, and left turn. So that left some space in between us. So the guy in the truck pull out in between us, never looking back to his left, and lets me make a choice of either T-boning his truck, or ditching it to the right, off the roadway and into the brush. Which is what I did, or tried to do, but the front tire hopped and almost made it back onto the road.

I laid the bike down on its side, headed over the handlebars and skidded across the pavement. Fast. Loud. And with a thud. The bike was structurally fine, just a lot of cosmetic damage. And I was fine as well, just shaken up, grateful I had on my body armor, even though I didn’t like as cool as Jax Teller in my short sleeves and a cut.

Later I was told that any crash you can walk away from is a good crash. But it sure as hell wasnt like I have seen in the movies, which I guess is a good. Slow motion and a Vangelis soundtrack might make for good cinema, but it sure doesn’t make for good living.

I have always been interested in game mechanics, so when this was brought to my attention from the folks at TechCrunch, of course I read it.