What if I don't have anything to Say?

I'll keep this short and sweet...

If there's one thing that I can remember that my dad always told me, it would be this:

In his words, "if you ain't got nothin good to say... don't say nothin at all".

Live by this, and you will save yourself a lot of problems.

Hard Work! Dedication! Dedication! Hard Work!

There is this program that comes on NBC called "The Biggest Loser", that I really like.

One of the trainers on the show has this saying "Hard work! Dedication! Dedication! Hard work!". This saying he drills into their head the whole time they are working out. It is something that motivates them and reminds them that they have to be willing to put in the physical sacrifice of pain in order to change their bodies and change their lives.

By the end of the season, he has all of the contestants in his group chanting this kind of "war cry" whilst they are working out. You see his entire team fighting through the pain of a 2hr workout shouting "HARD WORK! DEDICATION! DEDICATION! HARD WORK!".

It is really very motivating. Every time I watch it, it makes me want to exercise.

So the same rule applies to life. Without these two ingredients (hard work and dedication), there is no success. For you to achieve your dreams you have to be willing to work hard at them. You have to be willing to exhaust yourself fighting for your life, and still not quit. And on top of that, you have to be willing to stay at it, to really stick to it, until they become a reality. Sometimes that will happen quick, but other times it will take a while. But those who really want something, fight for it!

Hard work! Dedication! Dedication! Hard work

The fork in the road

Renato Cardoso's Blog: The fork in the road: Every day you're faced with tens, even hundreds of choices about everything in your life. From the time you get out of bed, to what you ea...

The Road Not Taken- A Life Lesson

The poem below is by a poet named Robert Frost. It is one of my favorite poems, because it talks about making a tough decision. Normally in life, the easy, most clear, most beautiful path is the one with the danger at the end. The path that is right, is the one that is the hardest and happens to be the one that the fewest seem to go down. But it's a path that needs more people to follow it.

Please read, enjoy and think about this poem. Especially the last part that is typed in red. That is the meat of the message of the poem.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

All I Want...

There are always movies and songs around this time of year with titles like "All I want for Christmas" or "All I Want in Life", etc.

But do people really know what they want?

One funny thing that I remember about Christmas as a child, is this. Almost every year, with almost every gift that I received, I pretty much wanted it more than life itself at the moment that I asked for it. But after about a day or so, it was like old news. People weren't excited to hear about it anymore, and it seemed somehow to lose the whole "Aww" factor. Sometimes I would literally toss it in the corner and just leave it for weeks or months after that, in search of the next great toy or game.

The point that I'm trying to make is simple. Many times people think they want something, when really they are just fascinated by the thought of having that something. Sometimes a person can think they want to be with someone, like the high school football jock, but in reality he is a jerk and they would hate being with him. Sometimes a person thinks they would love to work at a certain place, when in reality it would be their worst nightmare. Sometimes a person thinks they will die if they don't go to that concert, but once they get there, it wasn't even worth the hype, or the drunken car accident that followed later that night.

Also, sometimes a person thinks they don't want something, when really they do deep inside.

For example, a young man may hate when the parent tells him that he's wrong and that he's on punishment for the next month. But when he grows up and matures he is so appreciative for that, because now he knows what consequences are, and he ends up disciplining his children the same way.

So the point of all this is, you don't really know what you want until you take emotion and enthusiasm out of the equation and slow down and think. To really identify what you want, you need to use rational over feelings, your head over your heart. That will get you to the truth within yourself quicker than ever.

How to get focus

Renato Cardoso's Blog: How to get focus: I'll cut to the chase: The best way I know to get focus is to learn to say "no" more often, to more things, to more people, and to your...

Watch Out!

I have a word of simple advise for everyone today.

This advise, we all need to take, including myself.

Learn to watch out!

I mean, learn to watch yourself and others.

If you see danger coming, don't ignore it, watch out and avoid it. It's like if I am driving down the highway and I see a car swerving lane from lane, I need to immediately watch out, because he may be dangerous. I can't simply keep driving normal as if nothing will happen. I need to take extra caution.

The same is with life. If you see danger coming, then take extra caution. If you see you are about to make a big mistake or could possibly be heading in the wrong direction, don't just ignore the signs, watch out! If you see someone around you is untrustworthy, don't play it off as if it is not true, watch out!

Learn to keep your eyes open, before it's too late.

It only takes a minute for disaster to strike, so WATCH OUT!

When You're Devastated...

Life is not always a bed of roses.

Sometimes it doesn't seem fair. You don't get what you give, you don't get the reward, you don't get recognized for something you worked hard for. You lose someone you loved with all your heart. You mess up so bad, that it seems impossible to recover from. Life can be great, but sometimes it is devastating.

So what do you do when you are devastated by something? When you just got that horrible news, or you just felt the sting of your mistake or you finally have to come to grips with your loss. What do you do then?

Most people have no idea what so ever. They fall into a depression and close themselves off from the world, or they turn bitter and feel that they have been cheated by life or God, or they give up all hope. But rarely do we find people who know how to deal with devastation.

I'm not just talking about small problems here, I'm talking about life changing situations...

It is hard!

Well, in my opinion, sometimes there is absolutely nothing that you can do in your own strength. No matter what advice you are given or who tries to comfort you, it just doesn't work. In those moments, only faith can get you through. In those moments, you need to believe that no matter how bad it looks, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If you can't hold onto that belief, then you will lose your sanity. It won't hurt to just bow your head and say, "God, if you are there, I can't deal with this on my own. This is too big for me. Please help me".

Those words may make all the difference.

Truth- It hurts going down, but is better than a lie

Would you rather be lied to, if it would make you feel better? Or would you rather hear the truth, no matter how much it hurt?

That one is a toughie for many of us.

Why?

Because on one hand, no one likes to hear bad news, or correction. But on the other hand, just because someone lies to you in order to spare you for the moment, doesn't mean that you will not have to feel the pain later.

It is much better to feel the pain now, than deal with an even bigger and far worst sting later. I know I am no different from any of you, and I hate to hear harsh words as well. But the fact is, I would much rather hear the truth than the lie. Tell me what you feel. Tell me if you don't like something. Tell me if I offended you. Tell me if you did something I won't like. Heck, tell me you don't care what I think! But please, please, don't lie to me. I hate being lied to, because the truth is so much easier in the end.

So if any of you are anything like me, you will share this with someone else who needs to be reminded that the truth is always better than the lie.

Don't Sugar-Coat it...

I don't know about all of you who read this, but I know about me...

When someone has something to say to me, I would rather they say it straight, just like it is, than to beat around the bush. I know it doesn't feel good to hear things raw and uncut, but it is far better than someone trying to smile in your face, whilst feeling something in their heart.

That just doesn't make sense.

And worst than holding it in, is to sugar-coat it so that it sounds softer or easier to swallow. I can't stand that! If you have a problem, just say it already. Don't act like it is smaller than what it really felt like to you. I may not like or agree with what you are saying, but I want to know that that is how you feel.

And a real man or woman is like this; they don't look for the softest way out. They are strong enough to take the punch and keep their head up. I believe this is the best type of person to deal with. The one that will give you the truth, even when it hurts, and mean the absolute best by doing it.

You just need to be tough enough to take it. So you who are reading this, should stop being soft and sensitive and grow some thicker skin. Take what is dished out and deal with it. You will become stronger and better by doing that.

You may live to regret it...

I read this statement not too long ago which said, "never regret anything, because an one point, that was exactly what you wanted".

The second part is true, whatever you end up regretting later, is something that at one point you choose to do. Or else you choose to do something else that lead to what happened. So we can't blame anyone for the bad things that happen, because we knew the risks involved, before getting involved.

But that's not the point of this blog post. I was thinking, so many times we make poor decisions and then regret them later. But it's as if in the moment it seems to make so much sense to do. In the moment, we are blind to everything we will lose if we make that choice. In the moment it's like there is this evil voice in our head saying "do it, do it, do it"! And we tend to listen to that voice and not think about the consequences.

Then you know what happens later? We feel like crap, and we totally regret what we did.

It happens to the girl who slept with a guy on the first date. It happens to the guy who got so drunk at the party that he took his clothes off or did something else that totally made him look like an idiot. It happens to the youth that yells back at the mom and ends up grounded. It happens to the person who lies and then realizes that there is no way that that lie will stay secret. It happens to the person who was going down the right track in life and slowly starts to drift and follow bad examples, until the point where he or she does something irreparable. And the list goes on and on and on.

Thousands of people are living with regrets. And why? Because they don't take enough time to think about the consequences of there actions. They are living in the here and now, instead of thinking about the morning after. So, they ruin their life.

You and I both need to learn to think first, then act second.

If we don't...

We may live to regret it.