Owning My Potential

It's fortunate that life will graciously remind me of previous lessons learned, like this one that I experienced almost four years ago:

Have you ever been in a room full of people and yet felt so completely alone or in complete solitude and still felt the people you love most are right there with you? State of mind, perception, how do I choose to feel about this moment ~ being reminded of these processes made me realize I had almost reverted back to letting what I do as a profession define who I am as a person instead of letting who I am define what I do in any capacity! My path is always there, each day, to make of it whatever I want in that moment and time. That is my purpose...to keep being my best self, to do what I know is good and kind, to believe!

"Whenever you follow your potential, you always become your best. Whenever you go astray from the potential, you remain mediocre. The whole society consists of mediocre people for the simple reason that nobody is what he was destined to be ~ he is something else."

Got Gump(tion)

I was intrigued when I saw this Businessweek article referenced on a Facebook post titled "The Kinds of Employees You Want to Hire: Those who are innately confident and self-directed routinely outperform co-workers, regardless of their backgrounds." But after reading the following supporting opening statement, I was annoyed with the analogy: "There are two kinds of employees. Some believe they can make things happen, and the others believe that things happen to them. The first group believes that the outcome of their life and career is more or less in their own hands, and they wouldn't have it any other way. The other group takes more of a Forrest Gump approach: They sit around and wait for a bus to take them somewhere." 
I understand the attempt to compare the 'other' group to Forrest Gump sitting around waiting for something to happen to him but it was misplaced and in my opinion a "Forrest Gump approach" actually supports the 'first' group. Here's my point of view...

Wash Here Often Or Not Often Enough?

I visited a public restroom facility today that was relatively clean but peaked my awareness of how much of a breeding ground it was for harboring germs responsible for infecting employees and consumers with viral and bacterial illnesses. Even if one followed the recommended steps to prevent contracting and spreading potentially harmful germs, short of a hazmat suit there is no sure way to leave germ free but I believe installing sanitary wipes and/or gel *inside* the stalls could help eliminate the transference.

We all know the steps of using the restroom and washing our hands before we leave; there are even bold red signs posted informing employees that this is a mandatory action. But my thoughts are about what germs we spread between leaving the stall and walking to the sink. It only makes sense that if we washed our hands before entering the stall, then were allowed to sanitize after closing the stall door, place the seat cover on the seat, sit down (or applicable step for men)...I'm assuming we know the drill of what to do next...then before standing or if already standing, use the sanitary product again before touching our clothes to help maintain cleanliness. Once leaving the stall, proceed to the sink to wash hands, hopefully with hands free equipped soap dispensers, faucets and even dryers...oooohhh, even better hands free toilet paper dispenser!

I cannot help but believe this added precautionary measure could reduce the number of food borne, bacterial or viral contracted illnesses we face today. I believe people wash their hands before leaving restrooms, but in my point of view, the germs that spread are the ones lingering on the clothes or personal items carried by individuals, such as purses, shopping bags, or anything else we take into the stall with us.

Washing hands before and after is essential! But we have no protocol to help fight what happens in between those hand washes. Most every successful transaction has a middle man, maybe the same could be true for reducing the spread of germs. Installing sanitizing wipes/gel inside bathroom stalls would act as the middle man and may significantly reduce the number of publicly contracted viral/bacterial illnesses; it definitely wouldn't increase them!

To Tea or Not To Tea...Adding "Sweet" is the Question

I grew up in the south where sweet tea was a staple beverage and requesting or ordering sweet tea always delivered expected results without disappointment: deliciously fresh brewed tea to which the perfect amount of sugar had been added while it was still hot so it completely dissolved and was then poured over a tall glass of ice for completion of the perfect southern summertime beverage! If you wanted tea prepared any other way, e.g., unsweetened iced tea, lemon, hot tea, etc., you would have to ask as it would not be automatically offered.

Innocence At Your Fingertips

I was having a conversation with a friend about a reality dating show that featured identical twins and that I was able to tell them apart because one had a facial mole that the other did not. This made me question if they were actually identical twins or rather fraternal twins that just looked almost exactly alike, or maybe they were identical and one had had the mole removed. I then started questioning if my belief that identical twins meant that they were in fact physically identical since they shared the same dna, but how could that be true if no two people have the same fingerprints, and what about identical twins where one suffered trauma at birth resulting in a birth mark. I needed some answers!

Driving While Interacting

There was a person's photo taken by themselves while driving down a highway posted on a social networking site. It got me thinking about Washington state's 'cell phone usage while driving' laws and what the core reasoning was for the ban. I agree with the 'no texting while driving' ban and understand the ban of using a cell phone to your ear. But the intention of the bans are to decrease distraction of drivers and promote safer driving awareness, right?