Tag Archives: self-help books

SOAPBOX of the week: read between the lines

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“The advertisement is the most truthful part of the newspaper.”     – Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President

You  heard me correctly.  Businesses openly tell us:  Yup, we plunked down a bunch of cash for a flashy ad to sell you something.  Yes, there might be some strings attached…but at least we’ve included it in the fine print.  See, not too complicated, because we know WHO’S talking, WHAT’S on the table, and WHAT decisions we can make.  Now, the news of the paper isn’t nearly as simple nor straightforward, and the behind-the-scenes is something the public is rarely revealed.  Competition yields sensationalism and selectivity, pitting ratings over research while the politics of placement breeds angles and agendas and skews headlines. Readers are left oftentimes confused about WHO’S talking, WHAT’S on the table, and WHAT choices we might need to make.  Funny how centuries-old sarcasm still holds truth today: news is a business, and they’re called “stories” for a reason.  So check your filtering system, listen to your gut, and don’t believe everything you read.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)

SOAPBOX of the week: be a little curious, folks!

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“The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him.”     – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

It absolutely baffles me when a one-word answer is supposed to suffice an intricate, open-ended question.  Infuriates me when my further soul-searching queries elicit merely an “I don’t know” or “I don’t care.”  Do we live on the same planet, folks??  ‘Cause here’s the newsflash: Outer space is still uncharted, cancer still uncured, man’s evolution still controversial, prayer miraculously healing, jazz still indefinable, and love indescribably infinite.  And yet countless people numbingly walk the earth, unabashedly unfazed with this journey through time and space we call “life”.  The dimensions of their reality equals a monotonous grey amidst an endless Crayola-ed potential.  But with all this stated in truth, may we not mock the colorblind, though we might pity them.  Instead may we each task ourselves to seed their curiosity to explore; cultivate their excitement to experience more; nurture their hearts and souls with drive to find their own purpose.  For as their minds grow, so does your own mysteriously, glorious existence.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)

SOAPBOX of the week: inertia’s affliction

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“Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”     – Susan Ertz, novelist

Ironic, huh?  We complain that life’s too short –yet we piddle away days with pointless distractions.  “If only I had more time…” we whine, allowing our real priorities to fall victim to procrastination.  And when forced to sit still for patience’s sake, or quiet for purposeful listening, we witness real time echoing its deliberate second hand… and cry boredom!  With further insult to the gift of days, we convince ourselves that melodrama and minutia, micro-relationships and mindless activities are acceptable time consumers.  So, what do you really want to stick around for? If you can’t produce a list AT LEAST the size of your holiday wish catalog…then there’s a problem!  Folks, I earnestly suggest you create an inventory of passions and pursuits, puzzles to figure, and hard-core reasons to yearn for immortality.  Adopt a pet, become a Big Sister, go to church, launch a business, start a family, run a marathon…shall I go on?  Saturate your being with purpose and you’ll deplete those presumptuous pangs of boredom.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)

SOAPBOX of the week: open sesame!

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“A thick head can do as much damage as a hard heart.”     – H.W.  Dodds, former Ivy League President

Ever notice how, with age, some folks mellow out –revealing a welcoming softness to their once ego-driven, impenetrable personalities.  Something shifts inside, and an Aquarian flow brings malleability to their attitude and actions.  As their hearts warm and their minds open up, relationships are reconstructed, ancient wrongdoings are patched, and futures are mapped out with joyful participation.  Oh, but then there are the finger-pointing polar opposites whose minds and bodies harden with the years, and whose acidic spirits strip the delight from all lifelines.  The weight of their unyielding judgment and fear creates chasms that grow uncrossable, and they themselves- unapproachable and unlovable. If we’re to learn from others’ worn paths, mind this dichotomy with piercing attention.  Countless people will cross your path yearning to connect with your head and experience your heart.  Choose to let them in, and they’ll help gloriously shape your life.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)

SOAPBOX of the week: production value

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“The best computer is a man, and it’s the only one that can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.”     – Wernher von Braun, rocket physicist and astronautics engineer

Now, this one’s got a bit of a bite to it…and I make no apologies.  For the message should be drilled into our little noggins from childhood-on.  From our cars to appliances, medical equipment to mass communications, we micromanage, meticulously design, and materialize billions of “things” every year.  Regardless of their components, value, or lifespan, many of them are considered works of art…even “the best things since sliced bread”!  Furthermore we assign some of our “greatest thinkers” to their “creation”!  Indeed, the brilliance behind the mere ideas for these productions is MANKIND …THE SAME MANKIND that has led itself into a shameful state of valuing itself leagues below the damn products!  Populations of unwanted, un-cared-for off-spring are proof, because of this unhealthy situation of an uncapped carefree and careless mentality!  And we all pay for it!  In our schools, streets, jobs, healthcare, personal lifestyle, legal systems, and overall opportunities in life.  Folks, it’s not rocket science!  Make what you want, but want what you make!  And remember that life is priceless.  Computers are a dime a dozen.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)

SOAPBOX of the week: decision dilemmas

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“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.”     – Leon Carr, songwriter and composer

Yes, folks, it can be that simple.  Yes, I know that every darn morning your brain is assaulted with a barrage of decisions  –some tedious, some time-sensitive-  but all begging your attention.  And, with society’s bigger-better-faster demands and endless opportunities, things ain’t going to change any time soon.  But too many times, you morph this molehill of line items into a mountain of challenge-filled chores.  An elementary choice of “A” or “B” becomes buried beneath self-obligation to research options, check trend forecasts, reference social circles and even  (dare I say?!)  ask Mom!  And when you step back to note that all this nonsensical nerve-wracking is over things as unimportant as cereal selections and suitcase packing… it’s painfully funny, right?   Well, folks, don’t make things more complicated than they intrinsically are!  Ask yourself what sounds good, feels right, or just suits your mood.  Trust your gut, check off the list, and get on with the REAL business at hand… actually enjoying the life you are choosing.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.   

 SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG.

COMING in late ‘09-’10: Network TV talk show  and SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)