Are you getting everything you can out of this life?
A self-less, feel-good blog about love, life, and work by career coach and existential adventurer, Cliff Flamer
Old people tend to tell young people they’re too idealistic.
And young people tend to disregard their elders as burned out.
There’s some truth here.
Old people (and I include myself in this wisdom-rich population) are, indeed, pretty burned out. How can we not be?
Life i… Read more...
It was Christmas morning and a thought was forming
inside my little-boy brain,
as I lay in a heap of wrapping so deep
my heart felt a little pain.
“Mama, I’m sorry” my voice was quite jarring.
“With presents I’ve come up short.
“You gave me a ton and … Read more...
The problem with Self Help is that it presupposes there is something wrong with the way you are now.
But fully embracing your current state, whatever that may be, can prevent meaningful growth and change.
Take the simple example of lying on the couch. When you resent yourself for l… Read more...
I thought I didn’t have a religion, but then I realized I’m wrong about that.
I realized it when I was having a bad morning and pulled a chair out into the sun and picked up a book of short stories by a guy who’s long gone and then I started reading one of the st… Read more...
I’ve always felt that someone is watching me, particularly in times of great decisions, not necessarily life decisions, just those little moments of personal risk when the ego is worried about its edges.
Jumping off a cliff
Dancing at a wedding
Playing on a playground
Speaking … Read more...
The headline in my news feed today read: “Best & Worst Moments of the 2020 Music Awards.”
I admit, I was tempted to click on it, but then I had a realization that this headline is what is destroying us.
Sadly, this is all we get now: the best and the worst of everyt… Read more...
You’ve been diving in the same place for a while now.
With time, you’ve collected the prettiest of all the rocks. You keep them underwater because you don’t like how they look above the surface.
Your rock pile.
Each day, when you submerge, you notice (and have come… Read more...
My friend, Paul, complimented me the other day. It was hot. I had my shirt off.
“Cliff, your body is looking GOOD!”
He said it just like that, too: big emphasis on the “good” part.
And it definitely sunk in because, after that, I started eating salads again a… Read more...
Bukowski, one of the most widely read poets in the world, a craftsman of language, left behind only two words on his tombstone: “Don’t try.”
I got this same advice from my creative writing teacher (who has also passed): “Stop trying so hard, Cliff!”
I … Read more...
My daughter is picking her high school – 2 good options – and she’s tormented by it.
We all are.
I’ve made a career out of helping people make decisions. I know the exercises, I have the tactics, the methods, the rubrics.
That doesn’t make the actual de… Read more...