Tag: Halloween

Categories
accountability motivation

Stop wasting your life!

How much time do we spend doing wasteful things? We all have time-wasting bad habits that can burn up our time in creative ways. Do any of these sound familiar?

  • Did that one episode turn into a binge-watching bonanza that lasted through the night?
  • Do you find yourself munching down on the Halloween candy that was meant for the trick-or-treaters?
  • How about that one Twitter thread that was a train wreck of ideas, but you just couldn’t stop scrolling?

I won’t say which ones are my bad habits. But lets face it, we all know how to wast time.  An article from Inc. Magazine got my attention. My big takeaway is to consider how much time per hour that bad habit is costing you. Could you be doing something more productive instead of that bad habit? Is it costing you more than you thought?

For the most part, that advice holds up. Unfortunately, I can scarf down candy like it is going out of style. Wait, did I just confess one of my bad habits?

We all need a few moments of diversion and we can’t be productive twenty-four seven. However, the tip from the article reminds me that time is precious and we need to consider what choices affect us in the long run.

Categories
motivation

Costumes and Goals in the Making

Cartoon of a boy and an older man

Some people go to great lengths in order to find the perfect Halloween costume. They may spend weeks perfecting the look, the character, the effect of their fear-producing ensemble tonight.

Others are more like me. When I was little, it didn’t occur to me to think of a trick-or-treat costume until October 30. I knew I was going to get candy no matter what I looked like. I blame Charlie Brown. Everyone in the Halloween special seemed to gravitate towards cutting holes in a bedsheet and going as a ghost. That seemed a perfectly reasonable costume to me.

Drifting into Halloween seems perfectly acceptable to me. Drifting through life is not. It is far better to plan your life than to drift through it. There may be a nice costume awaiting you in the linen closet, or your Grandpa’s attic. But if you want a fulfilling life, it is far better to plan what that looks like and reach for it.

Cartoon of a boy and an older man
Categories
motivation

Fangs of Fear

Cartoon of a man with vampire fangs

I marvel at people who take pride in instilling fear in others. Some have black pickups trucks with skulls and threatening slogans. Others go out of their way to make it clear they are worthy of fear. They may yell, swear and are more than ready for a fight.

While I have yet to see someone have their teeth surgically altered with vampire fangs, I’ve heard such stories over the years of people altering their appearance in order to look threatening. It can be a power play. They may think, “If you fear me, I gain power and respect.”

If that is their thing, so be it. Halloween will give them plenty of options to do that, if even for one evening this week. Instilling fear in others may work for a while, but it isn’t a good long term solution. Fear wears off. It forces the one instilling fear to raise the stakes (poor choice of words for a vampire!). When people call their bluff, they have to be more scarier to get the same result.

It is much better to attain respect by being encouraging and showing kindness. Fear motivation makes everyone feel worse, including the one dishing it out. Motivation through hope, encouragment and faith goes much further and inspires others to greater heights. 

Cartoon of a man with vampire fangs
Categories
motivation

Decisions and Things That go Bump in the Night

Car with a huge jack o lantern in the trunk for Trunk n treat
Trunk -n- Treat

The days are getting shorter and night appears to have the upper hand as we get closer to Halloween. Things appear to be more sinister too. Last weekend, I witnessed the first smashed pumpkin for the year. Was it a ghost? A goblin? A slap-happy teenager on Saturday night with too much time on his hands, in the wee hours of the morning?

Darkness brings confusion and lets the imagination get out of control. Was that a screaming banshee or a territorial house cat? Is that a spook scurrying across the yard or a skunk? Either way, I wouldn’t investigate if I were you.

The times of darkness are not the times to make informed decisions. You don’t know if what you see is really what your mind is telling you. You can make some assumptions that are very inaccurate. Decisions based on fear rely too much on your survival instinct. Panic sets in. You feel it’s time to either fight or flee.

Wait until the morning. Be patient for the time of the light. The time of darkness may seem like it’s eternal, but the day always follows the night. You may discover that the fifty-foot tall monster you saw last night was just the leafless oak tree in the back yard.

Categories
holiday motivation

Fear and Pumpkin Spice

Cartoon of a woman and a trick or treater. The woman says, "Happy Halloween! Here, have a pumpkin spice latte!"

The goblins will be out in a few weeks. They will scurry down well-lit streets for their treats. Adults who don’t want to shell out their life savings for treats will hunker down in coffee shops for some pumpkin spice concoctions. the irony is that those hand-crafted drinks may cost as much as a couple of bags of “fun-sized” treats.

Halloween will be one of those few times people will meet their neighbors. Another irony is that most of those neighbors will wear masks and costumes. Perhaps that is why some may be inclined to vacate their premises and go elsewhere while the little ghosts, goblins and super heroes roam the neighborhoods. It’s an ironic time of year!

We fear what we don’t know. Some of us will respond by stocking their cupboard with treats in order to minimize the tricks. Others will simply abandon their abode for one night. Is one better than the other? I can’t answer that. Personally, I’d prefer to give out the pumpkin-spice lattés. But I’m guessing they would lead to more tricks than treats.

In any case, face your fears and make sure your little goblins will be safe.