Climate is always changing, regardless of what man is doing. It is not a simple issue that can be resolved by political posturing, passing laws, or ignoring longer term natural cycles that have nothing to do with human activities.

For a long time I have had problems with the popular notion that “global warming” will lead to disaster in the near future. A lot of the public discussion ignores significant cycles that predate the modern industrialized era. Try going to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age to see that we have been through many ice ages and warming periods and are still here. I remember while growing up on a farm in southern Indiana that we learned about ice covering much of the state and being responsible for many of the hills and valleys.

Today another software developer friend posted two links to recorded broadcasts with scientists that not only discuss many of the scientific findings, but do it in a way that listeners without a scientific background can begin to understand what is really going on.

Check: A True Inquiry Into Climate & Weather (1/2): A Hot Potato

Check: A True Inquiry Into Climate & Weather (2/2): The Plot Thickens

Obviously, we need to be good stewards of our environment. But to pass laws and impose impossible burdens on citizens without regard to the normal climate cycles that have prevailed for millions of years is asking for trouble.

Over a period of 5 months I lost 30-35 lbs after I finally got tired of a protruding belly and clothes not fitting. Prospects of getting into my ski suit this winter were getting more questionable. Although I never kept a record of my weight, I do know that about 30 years ago I was around 175, which is very good for my 6 ft height. But over the years my weight started creeping up until it was around 210 or more.

So what did I do? How about eating less? I always must have a good breakfast to start the day. During the week it is a granola mixture with rice milk from a local organic food store. Regular milk no longer agrees with me. On the weekends, my wife usually makes a good egg omelet for breakfast on Saturday and pancakes with applesauce for Sunday, which we kept up. The hardest part was learning how to skip a full mid-day meal and dealing with the resulting hunger pangs. I started eating a good apple and/or those little carrots, which have nutritional value in their own right. In the evening we usually have a mixed salad with either boiled eggs or tuna for protein. Later in the evening I will sometimes have yogurt. It is important to maintain a balanced diet for good health.

That is it! No fancy diets or special exercises. I still work behind computers most of the day, but now I am much slimmer and feel better. My weight now fluctuates between 175-180 and that is a good place for me. I have received many great comments from friends and people at the gym. Unfortunately, I don’t have before & after photos to show you. I even had to get some extra notches in some of my belts.

Is there a lesson in this? Probably several. Obviously, once I got tired of my increasing weight and was willing to do something about it, the solution was quite simple. Basically, I just had to eat less of the right types of food. So if I can do it, you also can.

November 2010 update: It has been almost a year and a half since I got serious about loosing weight. I was about 210 when I started and now I am consistently 170 when I weigh myself in the morning for a 40 pound reduction. To help tone the stomach muscles I lie on my back and now do at least 80 leg lifts which has also noticeably strengthened my lower back.

There are many beautiful flowers in our neighborhood. Here is a sampling captured during some of my walks recently in different parts of our neighborhood. I am not sure of the names of some of these flowers, so just enjoy their beauty. If you want to leave a comment and identify the names, that would be appreciated.

Notice the rocks around this flower. Keep in mind that Albuquerque is in a desert region and we generally have to water plants if we want them to grow.

Lavender

Grape Myrtle

A lot of people have prickly pears similar to what you see above. They are native to this area. Below we see a closeup of some its flowers and the fruits that develop after the flowers bloom. You can see some of the bigger thorns, but what is much harder to see are the fine hair-like needles that will penetrate your skin if you get too close and brush up against this cactus. While photographing this cactus I got too close and paid the price. Later I had to spend quite a bit of time finding and pulling those fine needles out. I couldn’t see them, so had to feel where they were and then grab them between two fingers, which meant that I  sometimes got them stuck in my fingers.

This magnolia tree is from the back yard of a neighbor’s house several blocks away. I was photographing some flowers in her front yard when she and her helper came over from across the street and we started talking about the beautiful flowers and plants in the neighborhood. She was very mobile  in her moterized wheelchair and wanted to show me this magnolia tree. If you look  closely about a quarter of the way down from the top and just a little to  the right you can see two magnolia flowers.

Here is a closer look at those two flowers. During prime time the magnolia tree has many larger flowers.

This is what forms after the flower is finished.

Recently a friend who grew up in West Virginia and now lives here asked me if I had ever seen Catalpa trees. They were a familiar site where he grew up. Yes, we had some on the dairy farm where I grew up in southern Indiana. And yes, I had seen some in Albuquerque recently. When I go out for a walk I like to take my camera with me and found this Catalpa tree recently in our neighborhood.

Catalpa is a genus of flowering plants in the trumpet vine family native to warm temperate regions of North America, the Caribbean, and east Asia. They are mostly deciduous trees that grow 39 to 59 feet tall and 20 to 39 feet wide. In the autumn their 7.9 to 20 inch long fruits resemble a slender bean pod, containing numerous small flat seeds, each seed having two thin wings to aid wind dispersal. The two North American species have been widely planted outside their natural ranges as ornamental trees for their showy flowers and attractive shape and growing habit. This Catalpa tree was obviously planted here by the home owner.

The Catalpa bean pod dries out in the fall. When I was growing up on the dairy farm, some of us would try to lite the pods and smoke them, but we could never get them to stay lit, nor could we ever puff any smoke. So that experiment never worked.

This classic inspirational book is very relevant in today’s economic climate! Dr. Schwartz gives you useful methods, not empty promises. He presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don’t need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction — but you do need to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behaving in ways that will get you there. This book gives you those secrets!

You can purchase this practical book from Amazon by clicking on this link: “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David J. Schwartz.

I have read this book a few times over the years and keep coming back to it for additional inspiration and guidance. It is one  of those books that I wish I had found and paid attention to earlier in my career.

First let me quote from the Preface about a sales person who was making 5 times as much money as the other sales people, as related by a sales vice-president at a sales meeting. “I want you to take a good look at Harry. Look at him! Now what’s Harry got that the rest of you haven’t? Harry earned five times the average but is Harry five times smarter? No, not according to our personnel tests. I checked. They show that he’s  about average in that department. And did Harry work five times harder than you fellows? No — not according to the reports. In fact he  took more time off than most of  you. Did Harry have a better territory? Again I’ve got to  say no.  The accounts averaged about the same. Did Harry have more education? Better health? Again, no. Harry is about as average as an average guy could be except for one thing. The difference between Harry and the  rest of you, the difference is that Harry thought five times bigger.”

Apparently what the Bible relates from the prophet David, “As one thinketh in his heart, so is he”, remains true today in very practical terms.

Wouldn’t you like to know how to do this? Dr. Schwartz uses the following chapters to show each of us what it takes to turn big thinking into practical results. Notice that he doesn’t advocate sitting in our easy chair and only thinking about what we are going to do, but there are very definite steps that must be taken to turn big thinking into reality. Why not achieve big results in your life with the right approach instead of meandering through in a haphazard way without the right playbook?

1. Believe You Can Succeed and You Will
2. Cure Yourself of Excusitis, The Failure Disease
3. Build Confidence and Destroy Fear
4. How to Think Big
5. How to Think and Dream Creatively
6. You Are What You Think You Are
7. Manage Your Environment: Go First Class
8. Make Your Attitudes Your Allies
9. Think Right Toward People
10. Get the Action Habit
11. How to Turn Defeat Into Victory
12. Use Goals to Help You Grow
13. How to Think Like A Leader

In the first chapter, Dr. Schwartz drives home the necessity of believing in yourself no matter where you are starting from today. By truly believing in yourself and taking action you will find that other people will notice and have confidence in you. Think success. Good things start happening. In this chapter and throughout the book he provides practical methods on how to turn these concepts into reality for anyone. Since big ideas and plans are often no more difficult to achieve than smaller ones, why not reach higher?

Making excuses for all the things that have happened to us and feeling sorry for ourselves will certainly sabotage our progress. This seems to be a favorite pastime for many, especially in the areas of health, intelligence, age, & luck. Not only does he point out how important it is to stop making excuses, but he shows how to turn the tables. He relates a story of a golfer friend who had one arm amputated, yet had near-perfect style with just one arm. His friend said, “Well, it’s my experience that the right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong attitude and two arms every time.” Many people will think they are too young and don’t have enough experience, while others will think they are too old, yet both attitudes result in lost opportunities. He provides many steps and examples of how to overcome the common excuses relating to health, intelligence, age, & luck.

We all must take action in the right direction to achieve our life potential and enjoy the fruits thereof. Why not join Dr. Schwartz and learn how a succession of right thinking and right actions can greatly improve your situation? Throughout this book he presents many stories of how ordinary people have achieved superior results by thinking and acting with big ideas, even in the face of big challenges. You can too!

Get started today. You can purchase this book from Amazon by clicking on the following link: “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David J. Schwartz. To your success in life.