The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

Not Just A Touch (YOURS)

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A      

t           o           u           c           h.             .             .

Oh, it has great shouting power,

doesn’t it;

It bellows what nothing else can even begin to come close;

it   S C R E A M S

what a mouth will never whisper

When’s the last time you heard,

no,

actually evoked,

called forth the

T     H     E           B      E      L      L      O      W  ?

“T   H   E   Y”

.          .          .say that Touch is the highest form of Communication

there is–it’s soundless,

but it’s splash continues to

N   O   T      be      Ripple-less.

Maybe the only question there ever is

not so much how many Ripples have you caused with your Touch,

but when’s the

LAST    TIME    YOU    STARTED    A    NEW    RIPPLE?

How  many  ripples  have  lapped  up  onto  the  shores  of  your  life?

What’s   been   the   most   important?

The most memorable?

When was the First?

When was your last?

R-E-M-E-M-B-E-R?

Was it a parent’s?

A first love?

A trusting child’s?

Was it a friend?

Was it someone you just met?

And you and your RIPPLE?

When?

A parent?

A child?

Your Significant other?

A friend?

Someone you just met?

Pssssssssssssssssssssst:

The   Greatest   touch   you’ll   ever   communicate   is   your   very   next   one!

R I S K      I T!

Because YOUR TOUCH

given/RECEIVED

is one SHOUT

that is ECHO-LESS!

Echo-less because it’s

ENDLESS   and   NEVER
N    E    V    E    R
N        E        V        E        R
needs repeating.      .      .

only boldly spoken

just once

yet FOR AN EVER!

Yeah, speak me THAT, Batman.

S P E A K    M E    T H A T.      .      .

.       .       .over and over and over again and again and.       .        .

YOUR WORD

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WHAT’S YOUR WORD. . .

I’m not asking you to give your Word
I’m asking for something much more valuable. . .

YOUR WORD

Dictionary of Obscure SorrowsPublished on Apr 30, 2015SUBSCRIBE 296KWhile you’re in it, life seems epic. Fiery, tenuous, and unpredictable. But once you have some distance from it, everything seems to shrink, until it’s almost out of focus. So you begin scanning your life looking for something interesting or beautiful. But all you see is ordinary people assembled in their tiny classrooms and workspaces, each of us moving around in little steps, like tokens on a game board. ETYMOLOGY From Greek koinos, “common, ordinary, stripped of specialness” + phobia, “fear”. THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows… The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language-to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. Follow the project, give feedback, suggest an emotion you need a word for, or just tell me about your day.

What is it?

If you could make up a new one like John Koenig did in his
THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS
What is THAT Word


WHAT IS YOUR WORD

Puts just
GIVING YOUR WORD
into a who other universe,
h u h. . .

K O I N O P H O B I A
may be the word
that spells the universal fear
that maybe LIFE has been meaningless. . .
A FEAR
I’ve heard expressed at the bedsides of many of many a dying patient
which in essence
is more false
than the Sun
being a bright candle
with an inextinguishable wick
in a snow globe
that cannot any longer be shaken. . .

Pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
G E T S H A K E N

Forget about
Giving your Word
or
Finding your Word
BE

Be your Word

Explode the Dictionary

BE
undefinably
awesome
l i v i n g
YOUR
Purpose(S)
Reason(S)
Destiny(S)
M E A N I N G ( S )

What Did You SHOW?

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It’s false you know. . .

A   PICTURE   IS   NOT   WORTH   A   THOUSAND   WORDS. . .

It’s   E N D L E S S.           .           .

Not a Thousand words. . .

not a Hundred-Thousand Words. . .

not a Ba-Zillion Words

or even an Infinity amount of Words.        .        .

Go ahead.        .        .

look at the picture again.      .      .

or have you NOT stopped looking?

I usually dress like this when I do a Presentation entitled:

DID YOU HEAR WHAT I DIDN’T SAY

My question to my audiences is now my question to Y O U:

HAVE      YOU      EVER      FELT      LIKE      I      LOOK ?

Seriously,

L O O K        V E R Y        C L O S E L Y

at that picture of me again.

Is there anything that matches?

I mean LOOK:

Those glasses are literally the glasses I wore in my Senior Year at High School. They were broken during a basketball practice.

That was way before Duck Tape.      .      .

that’s electrical tape,

because of my dad’s school teacher and coach’s salary there was no Eye Plan.     .     .

wore them my whole Senior Year,

graduation included.

Whoa, Cowboy, it doesn’t stop there, does it.

Check out THAT  vest.

My daughter, Zoey refused that I wear it to one of our Father/Daughter dances,

even though it was a Country-Westhern Theme.     .     .

Imagine that!

The shirt certainly is a one of a kind and those pants.       .       .

THOSE   PANTS–

makes   G Q   keeping my phone ringing 24/7 wanting to replicate them and my ensemble.

The hat?

Well come on, I grew up in Pittsburgh. . .

I’ll always be a Pittsburgh Steeler Fan,

even though I’ve lived in Cleveland, OH since 1987. . . .

Again:  H A V E      Y O U      E V E R      F E L T      L I K E      I      L O O K E D ?

mehrabian-pie1-300x218

Have you ever heard of these statistics:

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IS ONLY 7% VERBAL AND 93% NON-VERBAL (THE NON-VERBAL IS ACTUALLY 55% BODY LANGUAGE AND 38% TONE OF VOICE)

But wait a second.     .     .

maybe you should even take at least a minute or a couple more for this one.      .      .

These stats were actually never based on giving a presentation or a speech,

but information that could be communicated in a

S      I      N      G      L      E             W      O      R      D !

Maybe. . .Maybe Mark Twain was actually right:

“THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF LIES:

LIES,      DAMNED LIES      AND      STATISTICS.”

DID    YOU    HEAR    WHAT    I    DIDN’T    SAY ?

s o m e t i m e s

W H A T ‘ S    N O T    S A I D,    S H O U T S    T H E    L O U D E S T !

L I S T E N

with more than just your eyes,

or you may never HEAR

what needs to be heard

but never quite

S A I D !

L I S T E N. . .

N     O     T        to       r e p l y

but to actually  h e a r

Did you hear what I didn’t say. . . ?

M E d i a ‘ D

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Ever feel like a mere

S           H           A           D           O           W

of   yourself.          .          .

It’s   most   likely

T   H   E   N

we go elsewhere to seek

a truer L I G H T

a Clearer REFLECTION of who we are.          .          .

W H E R E    B E T T E R

than   the

I         N         T         E         R         N         E         T

the massive  MEDIA  Monster

NOW THIS MUST BE TRUE.            .            .

There was this APP on Facebook that Generated

THE  RESULTS

THE  INNER  CRYSTAL BALL

ALL of THIS with an gotta-be-true-color-analysis

WAIT.          .          .WHAT

Uhhhhhhhhhh.          .          .

how does one blush in BLACK & WHITE

SO      SAYETH      THE      FACE      BOOK      SAGES

.          .          .IS  IT  EVEN  DEBATABLE

.          .          .IS   IT  EVEN  THINKABLE

.          .          .IS  IT  EVEN  IMAGINABLE

W     E     L     L.          .          .N O W

There’s always DOUBLING DOWN

and knowing that this would be the TATTOO

on my SOUL and my SIDE

Maybe this can all be DEFINED

Maybe this can all be UNDERSTOOD

Maybe this can all be EXPLAINED

May this can all be LIVED

with a mere sincere:

Isn’t      it      really      just

T  H  I  S      S  I  M  P  L  E

It’s not so much when

FACE COMES TO MIRROR

as when

MIRROR COMES TO FACE.          .          .

when the SOUL is reflected

and not your facial features.          .          .

Life    is    MIRROR

.          .          .Life gives us not what we want.          .          .

LIFE       GIVES       US       WHO      WE       ARE

.     .     .it matters not how you are

M E D I A ‘ D

to The World.          .          .

HOW        DO        YOU

  S  E  E       Y  O  U  R  S  E  L  F

(Be THAT)

Your SHOT

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It wasn’t his best known movie.     .     .

neither Matt Damon or

Will Smith’s.          .          .

Charlize Theron’s, either;

Directed by Robert Redford

it came out in 2000.          .          .

It’s an adaptation of a novel by Steven Pressfield

that uses golf as a metaphor for one man’s spiritual and philosophical journeys;

Damon’s character, Junuh goes to World War I

and doesn’t come back the same

as a man

or a golfer.          .          .

when things seem hopeless

a mysterious gentleman named Bagger Vance (WILL SMITH)

volunteers to serve as Damon’s caddy/coach

using a mixture of ancient wisdom

and past-life knowledge to help Junuh

R  E  M  E  M  B  E  R

the swing

errrrh, the LIFE

he’s lost.           .          .

It all comes to a Perfect Storm

in the Woods where Damon’s ball has gone askew

and he’s ready to

CASH      IT      IN

on all levels.          .          .

and then the

QUESTIONS

are asked of him

a   n   d         u   s

with the lush SOUNDTRACK

of Rachel Portman accompanying us note for note

as much as word for word:

ARE    WE    IN    A    GAME    THAT    CAN’T    BE    WON,

ONLY    PLAYED.          .          ?

Do  we  walk  towards

WHERE    WE    HAVE    ALWAYS    BEEN.          .          .?

Y O U.        .        .

Your HISTORY

YOUR   ONCE   UPON   A   TIME

IS  NOW

AS MUCH AS IT EVER WAS

IT  IS  NOW

ALL OF IT

in BLINK-OF-THE-EYE-QUICKNESS

It’s all just a moment ago

as much as it is your next breath.          .          .

It’s time to come out of the Shadows;

TO  KNOW

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

and that

YOU NEVER HAVE BEEN ALONE;

PLAY THE GAME.          .          .

PLAY YOUR GAME.          .          .

The ONE you were meant to PLAY

The ONE given to you to PLAY

when you came into this World.          .          .

TAKE   YOUR   SHOT

Strike YOUR BALL

DON’T  HOLD  NOTHING BACK

LET YOURSELF REMEMBER

NOW IS THE TIME!

Swing Freely

and   B E

the Miracle of YOU

instead of just

PLAYING      A       PART

(Now.     .    .that’s living

not existing

not sustaining

not surviving

L       I       V       I       N       G

in vivid, brilliant,
C O L O R)

QUIET   ON  THE  SET

Ready

and

A              C              T              I              O              N

(no cameras necessary)

S O N D E R

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Are you?

Are you a people watcher?

Are you more of a STORY-TELLER
than a
S T O R Y – H E A R E R. . .

I certainly wasn’t looking for this video

THE DICTIONARY OF OBSCURE SORROWS

so I don’t know if it
FOUND ME
or I discovered it
after having my
A T T E N T I O N
averted to it
but now it’s one of my most favorite sites:

S O N D E R

was the first one I saw
but it’s far from the last
and they are now
o n g o i n g

S O N D E R:
“n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own–populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness–an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.”

I love watching people
at the beach
at the store
at the bank
at the casino
at the restaurant
at the postoffice
at any intersection that brings
my path
to theirs

and as it does countless times over
every single day. . .

I wonder:

WHAT’S THEIR STORY

and then I hope that I don’t so much become a part of it

as to simply
N E V E R
mess it up–
affect it negatively. . .

What’s INTOXICATING:

Awaiting
Coming to the next guaranteed
I N T E R S E C T I O N

Everyone has a story. . .
but not everyone has a
H E A R E R
of the Story that not so much desperately
needs to be told
AS HEARD

Pay Attention, Class:

SCHOOL IS ALWAYS IN SESSION
(and EVERYONE is your Professor)

W O R D S

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Sometimes the best
W O R D S
I’ve ever said
are the ones
I’ve never spoken. . .

Sometimes the Heart Shouts
what a mouth can’t Whisper. . .

SOMETIME WORDS
AREN’T THE RIGHT WORDS TO SAY. . .

Sometimes if you just use WORDS
to communicate you’ll never quite say
the right thing. . .

Sometimes if you just use Words
no one will ever know exactly what
you’re saying. . .

S O M E T I M E S

Power QUOTED

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“YOU GET THE JOB DONE, OR YOU DON’T.”

“IF THERE’S SOMETHING THAT’S YOUR PASSION, DO IT. LET EVERYTHING ELSE TAKE CARE OF ITSELF. DON’T PICK A CAREER FOR MONEY, OR SOME OTHER REASON. DO WHAT YOU LOVE, BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER FEEL LIKE WORK.”

“IT’S NOT ABOUT TALENT. IT’S ABOUT DEPENDABILITY, CONSISTENCY, BEING COACHABLE, AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU NEED TO IMPROVE.”

“TALENT SETS THE FLOOR, CHARACTER SETS THE CEILING.”

“THE LESS VERSATILE YOU ARE, THE BETTER YOU HAVE TO BE AT WHAT YOU DO WELL.”

“I THINK EVERYONE IS A CASE BY CASE BASIS. WHATEVER THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE THAT COME WITH ANY INDIVIDUAL, THEY EXIST AND YOU HAVE TO MAKE A DETERMINATION AS TO WHAT YOUR COMFORT LEVEL IS WITH THAT PERSON AND THE CHARACTERISTICS THEY BRING.”

“IF YOU SIT BACK AND SPEND TOO MUCH TIME FEELING GOOD ABOUT WHAT YOU DID IN THE PAST, YOU’RE GOING TO COME UP SHORT THE NEXT TIME.”

“TO LIVE IN THE PAST IS TO DIE IN THE PRESENT.”

Not bad quotes, huh?

Any guess wh said them?

Would it be easier if I gave you a clue?

Each quote comes from the same person who’s famous but not very popular although highly successful?

Any idea?

S U R P R I S E D ?

Does it make a difference if great quotes come from a highly successful but not an overly popular person

I F

the quotes come
NOT
from a place of
“I THINK”
but
I KNOW

. . .a place of
M A Y B E
or a Continent of
D E F I N I T E L Y. . .

R E S U L T S
t h e y say
are the only things
that matter. . .

what say you?

Before you get power quoted
answer the question:

ARE WORDS MORE POWERFUL THAN ACTIONS. . . ?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm of Day:
Maybe the greatest words said
are the ones
L I V E D
(c o n s i s t e n t l y)

More Stupid or Less LOVING

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Are we becoming more Stupid

o r

L e s s L o v i n g

or

DO WE EVEN CARE. . .

INC Magazine’s Jessica Stillman recently asked the same question with some interesting
or not so interesting answers to follow. . .

Whatever incredibly dumb things humanity got up to in the 20th century (and there were, as you know, some doozies), we all had at least one thing to crow about: as measured by IQ tests humans were at least steadily getting smarter.

The steady uptick in average IQ scores is known as the Flynn effect, and it lasted for decades. Basically wherever scientists looked they found a rise of intelligence of about three IQ points per decade.

But recent research has worrying news: this trend appears to be reversing.

Humanity is now officially getting dumber.

It probably shouldn’t worry us if some pocket of the population saw a decline in IQ as things like education and diet affect IQ and these factors can vary from one group or time to another. But according to this new study it doesn’t appear to be some small segment of the population whose IQ is going down. It appears to be the entire nation of Norway.

When scientists from the Norway’s Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research analyzed some 730,000 IQ tests given to Norwegian men before their compulsory military service from 1970 to 2009, they found that average IQ scores were actually sinking. And not just by some miniscule amount. Each generation of Norwegian men appear to be getting around seven IQ points dumber.  

And as PsyBlog points out, this isn’t even the first study to find that the Flynn Effect has reversed, though it may be the most convincing to date.

The million dollar question:
w h y ?

That’s pretty horrifying news for fans of progress, but it also begs one incredibly important question: Why? What’s causing IQ scores to start heading in the wrong direction?

You might first wonder if it’s genetic. Maybe some change in the makeup of a particular group being studied has caused the decline (crudely, you could call this the ‘dumb people have more babies’ hypothesis). But that seems to be ruled out by the new research, which shows that even within single families IQ has declined. Marginal Revolution blogger economist Tyler Cowen sums up what that means: “In other words, we have started building a more stupidity-inducing environment.”

So we know that the culprit is nurture rather than nature (or, sorry xenophobes, migration), but scientists are still baffled as to what exact aspect of modern life is driving the decline. Some have proposed that our tech obsession might be to blame, but as the decline started in the 1970s, well before everyone spent their days staring at screens, that can’t be the whole story.

Other proposed explanations are unhealthy modern diets, increasingly trashy media, or a decline in the quality of schooling or the prevalence of reading.

The issue could even be down to a technical detail of IQ tests. Scientists make a distinction between crystallized intelligence (all the stuff you’ve been taught and remember) and fluid intelligence (your ability to learn new stuff). IQ tests generally measure crystallized intelligence more, so changes in schooling that de-emphasize memorization might be driving a decline in scores. If this explanation is true, students remain as smart as ever (just way more reliant on Google).

The bottom line, however, is that the cause of the decline remains a mystery. Whatever it turns out to be, however, we should all probably start worrying about what our sedentary, screen addicted, junk food-munching lifestyles might be doing to our brains.

And what does that really say about how we go about treating each other
or even ourselves. . . ?

Is our intelligence directly related to our Caring
our Loving
our Accepting
our Forgiving
our Sharing

The Answer might well do with

The Stupidest thing we’ve ever done. . .

The Smartest thing we’re doing. . .

or the most
L O V I N G E S T
we can ever be. . .

Place your bets: what do you think is behind the recent mental decline of humanity?

Pssssssssssssssssssssssst:
It doesn’t matter if you carry around a bucket of lights
if you don’t share it
to chase
D A R K N E S S. . .
T H A T ‘ S
not only
s t u p i d. . .

It’s UN-enlightening

Woodcutter’s Wisdom

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It’d be great to know. . .

wouldn’t it?

It’d be great to know what’s, literally,

D O W N T H E T R A C K. . .

W O U L D I T
D O E S I T
M A T T E R.          .          .          ?

The story has been blamed on many. . .
I’ve heard it
I’ve preached it
I’ve told it
I’ve taught it
and now, now
I’ll blog it:

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he
was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king
coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before—such
was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. “This horse is not a horse to me,” he would tell them. “It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a
friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?” The man was poor
and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.One morning he
found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. “You old fool,” they scoffed, “we told you that someone would steal your
horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How
could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve
been cursed with misfortune.”The old man responded, “Don’t speak too
quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you know? How can
you judge?”The people contested, “Don’t make us out to be fools! We may
not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact
that your horse is gone is a curse.”The old man spoke again. “All I know is
that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know.
Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?”The people of the village laughed. They
thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn’t, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of
poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.After fifteen days,
the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him.
Once again the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. “Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.”The man responded, “Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses
returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can
you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole
book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire
phrase?”Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t.””Maybe
the old man is right,” they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild
horses had returned with one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.The old man had a
son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a
few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.
 
“You were right,” they said. “You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer
than ever.”The old man spoke again. “You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a
blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.”It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in
war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were
required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded,
because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old
man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was
little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war
would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.”You
were right, old man,” they wept. “God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son’s accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he
is with you. Our sons are gone forever.”The old man spoke again. “It is
impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows.
Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows
if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God
knows.”The old man was right. We only have a fragment. Life’s mishaps
and horrors are only a page out of a grand book. We must be slow about
drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgment on life’s storms until
we know the whole story. 

 

We don’t know,
do we. . .
Is it a blessing
Is it a curse
this track
this road
this path
this way
we are on. . .


The one sure thing
maybe the only thing
is that while on the road
we travel not alone. . .

. , ,We are all on the same track. . .
just different sections of it;
so reach out and grab
H O L D
a Hand. . .
and make the
J O U R N E Y
a little easier,
a lot more enjoyable
and t h e n,
then notice
R E C O G O N I Z E
The HAND
that extends
and holds our own


Is the only hand
is the only path
is the only good and bad
is the only the happy and sad
is the only woodcutter’s wisdom
we ever need to get us down
the-not-so-easily-seen-ahead-track
that’s before us all. . .
It’s the only story that matters
and it’s not so much told
as LIVED. . .
and it’s
O U R ‘ S






Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man