Realizing a Dream

Posted on February 10, 2013 by MarleneMB

There are many things I want to experience, accomplish and/or learn in life. I wanted to learn more about Emerson’s and Thoreau’s works, I got that in my Masters program. I wanted to live near the water; I got that when I moved by the Bay. I wanted to learn to ballroom dance; I did last year, thanks to my friends, Anita Fain Taylor and Miguel Seca. There was one thing that was a desire from a long time, one time that seemed far from my reach. This was to learn how to paint. I have painted rooms, chairs, etc., but I wanted to paint a picture.

My father painted when he was alive. My brothers know how to paint. They seem to acquire the talent naturally. My sister and I were not that fortunate to have this talent. Like a lot of people, I thought I could only draw stick men or do painting by number for the rest of my life. Then, appeared Conni Gordon. This almost ninety-year-young woman conducted a painting class that I was fortunate to be one of the students. The other participants and I had lots of doubts about our ability to paint anything, much less the ones we created. This painting included in this article is now one of my proudest possessions. Thank you Conni Gordon for fulfilling one of my life’s dreams.

Now to learn how to scuba dive, play the piano, a guitar and the drums; travel around the world; learn to speak French, Mandarin, and so on and so on!

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Plight of Poverty

Posted on January 26, 2013 by MarleneMB

You sit under your umbrella

Of green and white

Hiding from the scorching

Rays of Sunlight

Not hidden from view

Is your Plight

Of Poverty

Shone brightly

In plain sight

Emotions burst in

Feelings not right

Of Shame, Guilt, Blame

Try as I might

To keep them at bay

They squeezed so tight

Suddenly

The green of man’s light

I turn left to go

Out of your sight

But you linger in my mind

As day turns to night

Marlene M. Bryan

1-26-13

Ditch The Blinders

Posted on January 25, 2013 by MarleneMB

I enjoy speaking with folks who have more life experiences than I do, because I learn so much from them. One of those folks is Herman. He and I are fellow Toastmasters and members of the same club. I related to Herman that I find my 98-year old grandfather so resourceful, smart and funny; he is this way despite the fact that he only completed the first grade.

Herman turned to me and said getting an education doesn’t equate to intelligence. He jokingly said he has an engineering degree and it didn’t make him more intelligent. In fact, it taught him how to block things out. We chuckled at this statement, but he certainly got me thinking about this. How many of us suffer from the blinders that come when we get a formal education that forces us to color in the box? This happens everyday. We tell our kids “that is not the way” to do a particular project instead of providing guidance to them for the development of their creative thinking skills. We train them to stay in the line.

I remember struggling with my son to teach him a different way to solve his mathematics homework. He would get upset and say that is not the way the teacher taught the lesson. Being one who likes the subject, I thought the method the teachers were using was so long and didn’t make it easier for the students to grasp the concept. For most of his education my son struggled with math, I didn’t push him in order to maintain my sanity.

It wasn’t until his freshman year that he requested my help. I sat down and showed him different ways of solving the problem than was in the book. He was excited that he finally knows how to solve these problems quickly and in a manner he comprehends. You could say that the blinders had come off for him.

So many of us rob ourselves of experiencing life’s gifts and resources because we have been taught to keep the blinders on. We are programmed with tunnel vision. Like my grandfather, we need to think outside the box and continue from various angles. Ditch the blinders! Let’s give ourselves the freedom to color outside the box and beyond our usual boundaries. I bet we will find some nice surprises that we can share with our future grandchildren and others!

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Cool Gadgets and Apps for Lil’ Ole Me!

Posted on January 17, 2013 by MarleneMB

If you are like me, working with too many wires can be dangerous to your health. Eventually, you will get tangled up and perhaps injure yourself and possibly break whatever is attached to the other end of those wires. As a speaker, one sometimes has images of tripping over microphone or speaker wires. This past Holiday Season, I treated myself to a couple of gadgets and downloaded a software application (App) that help me in my speaking, seminar and Webinar presentation events.

The first one is the LG (HBS-730) wireless headset that I got at the Sprint store. I know, I could have both it on Amazon, but they had a buy one get one free deal going (I can admit that I’m a sucker for BOGO deals… ask Publix Supermarket). This headset connects via Bluetooth to my droid phone, iPad and Mac laptop. I can speak hands and wire-free to someone on the phone or the computer. Folks on the other end of the call, generally say that the call comes across with great clarity (the call quality, not necessarily my conversation, ha). I also use it to listen to my music and audio files. The charge life, from my experience, has been about three days of heavy use and up to five or six days of light use! Hallelujah!!!

As I tested the headset out while at the Sprint store, I heard music coming from this small round, oblong shaped box. It was a wireless speaker and the output was amazing to me. Have you ever gone to speak or play a video, as part of your presentation, and the speaker was poor or none existent? Guess what my friends, this little gadget is a very powerful tool. JBL makes this neat, portable speaker (JBL Flip) that pumps out sounds that can fill an 850 sq. ft. room, easily. Again it connects via Bluetooth to any device that requires speakers and has the Bluetooth capability. It also has a built in Mic for hands-free calls on Skype, etc. Did I mention that is rechargeable and does not require you to plug it for it to work? Once charged (about 3 hours to fully charge) this little speaker, which fits effortlessly into my business case, works without having to plug it into an outlet! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

After paying for my affordable gadgets, I took them home and played with them. As I fiddled with the JBL Flip on my iPad, I wonder if there is an app that turns the iPad into a microphone. I found that, yes; there are a few out there. The one I selected is Megaphone that you can find in the Apple App Store. It works in that you can use it as a microphone, but I get painful feedback when the volume button on the iPad is set to high. With the volume button turned lower, it is not loud enough for use in a large area. I also wish it would connect with my JBL Flip speaker to project over a greater distance; alas, it doesn’t. Good news, it was free! I don’t feel to bad about its performance.

What gadget or App do you find to be useful to you? Please share it with us!

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Ain’t Nobody Got Time For This

Posted on January 10, 2013 by MarleneMB

My son showed me a YouTube video of a woman being interviewed by a news reporter about surviving a house fire. The woman was very animated in her recounting of the event. She told the reporter that she had to put clothes on before getting out of the house. During the excitement of the moment, she began to experience an episode of asthma. She said she told herself: ” Ain’t nobody got time for this.” Then she rushed out to safety.

Her animated recollection of the event was amusing to me at the moment as I watched the video. As I reflected on her words, which I now say to myself often, I realize that is what I, no we, need to do. We need to recognize what is important at every given moment. We should not let the “small stuff” get in the way of accomplishing the greater things.

Sometimes, we allow small things distract us from doing the things that will make us successful in life. Or we let trivial disagreements break up or prevent us from developing relationships with others. We spend too much time stressing over things that truly don’t matter in the overall scheme of living productive and happy lives. Next time you find you are in such a situation or mindset, change it. Say to yourself: “Ain’t nobody got time for this!”

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

Please click to like my fan pages: MarleneMBryanLLC and HigherRoadConsultingCorporation

Please visit our websites: www.marlenembryan.com and www.higherroadconsulting.com