Happy Holidays To All

I will be out of touch with much of BFU for the next few weeks - a winter holiday. I plan to be back to the BFU Journal in early January.

I will be in touch with family and friends - and I'm looking forward to it.

"Approach each new problem not with a view of finding what you hope will be there, but to get the truth, the realities that must be grappled with. You may not like what you find. In that case you are entitled to try to change it. But do not deceive yourself as to what you do find to be the facts of the situation." - Bernard M. Baruch

May you find your best in life.

Sincerely,

Allan


Allan Wallace, Rector
Bastiat Free University

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Focus On The Attainable In Three Steps

Dwelling on what you can't control is futile.

You may not be able to ignore the packaged angst of public media; but you can apply your thoughts only to those subjects where you can make a difference.

There are three questions to ask yourself as you consider your thoughts.

• Relevancy: Is what you are considering in any way relevant to where you want to go and what you want to do. If not it is just consuming time and delaying your chance to bring about a significant advancement.

• Importance: There may be something to do, it may even have some value. But will it make powerful accomplishments possible, or just add a pebble to a small stack of insignificance? Your life has great value, if you will direct it toward possibilities of major consequence.

• Actionable: It may be important, but can you see any way at this time, with tools currently available, you can change things for the better? Much of what is reported is so far away from our influence that we might as well dream fantasy as spend time considering it.
  

I am reminded of the couple where the man bragged that he made all the important decisions in his family - such as should the US try to land on Mars, or should the UN be disbanded. His spouse made the unimportant ones, what is for dinner, where the kids will go to school, if they should move to a different country.

What is important to you? If it is easier for you to remember the negative:

Ignore everything that is irrelevant, unimportant, or un-actionable.

If it fails any of those tests there is only one reason to continue - perhaps your futile efforts will inspire someone else to do better.

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The Door Closes, A Window Opens

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." - Alexander Graham Bell

We are all like that, and our life also seems to have a fractal dimension. In simple terms, as you look at smaller or larger pieces of life they have a rough similarity.

In nature a three foot stretch of a tidal pool's seaward edge will bare a resemblance to the view of the coastline from an airplane - and similarities persist within the views between.

Interactions between individuals, groups, and nations also have similarities. There are flirtations, unions, misunderstandings and wars. There is also an element of constant change.

This is one reason for the pursuit of wisdom, knowledge gained is frequently applicable to many fractal relationships. The multiplication of understanding engendered allows a much broader view of life.

A door that just closed has provided experience that may apply at many levels. Perhaps an opportunity now exists to apply your knowledge in larger or smaller arenas.

The trick, as someone once said, is to distill all the wisdom out of your experience you reasonably can, but no more.

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