NOW you tell me!

Sometimes it's good to be reminded of some simple things over which we have control that might improve our chances of success. Below is an article excerpt with the full link at the bottom if you want to read more. For now at least for myself I am going to ponder their term--"conserve willpower".

FINAL PARAGRAPHS OF ARTICLE

“Good decision making is not a trait of the person, in the sense that it’s always there,” Baumeister says. “It’s a state that fluctuates.” His studies show that people with the best
self-control are the ones who structure their lives so as to conserve willpower. They don’t schedule endless back-to-back meetings. They avoid temptations like all-you-can-eat buffets, and they establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices. Instead of deciding every morning whether or not to force themselves to exercise, they set up
regular appointments to work out with a friend. Instead of counting on willpower to remain robust all day, they conserve it so that it’s available for emergencies and important decisions.

H2Oklahoma

Interesting factoids—

•  Water in Oklahoma—the OWRB comprehensive water plan (not final yet) shows 18 years of adequate water for the Oklahoma City area assuming average conditions, consumption and population growth.
•  It takes 34 Five gallon jugs of water to produce a loaf of bread.
• 15% of the water used to irrigate crops in Texas was used to fracture wells in Texas.  Subsurface aquifers (essentially underground lakes) are considered “private property” where surface water is considered “public property”. 
•  I was only able to float the sailboat at Hefner for one month this year due to lack of water. 

Truckful of Life Lessons

18 months ago the son of a friend borrowed the money from me to get his first truck.  His family did not have the resources to help him and he did not yet have a job.  He had to save the first months payment and have a job to qualify.  Along the way 18 months for a 16 year old seemed VERY long.

Man's Search for Meaning

Written by Summer Intern--Rosie Atkinson

A Quote from Victor Frankl from his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”—a classic.

We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct, Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment.

We Don't Even Know Our Neighbors

Written by Summer Intern Rosie Atkinson-- A few days ago, my dad and I were asked to attend a very special get together at a friend’s house. Moses, a Hispanic man who does remodeling work at our house and the few rental properties that my dad owns, invited us to come over for authentic Mexican enchiladas. So we drove down to south Oklahoma City, a predominately Hispanic part of town, where Moses lives with his wife, Viviana and their three children. Their house is a quaint two bedroom residence that my dad loaned Moses the money to buy, a priceless investment that has provided us with endless gratitude and an unlimited amount of delicious homemade tamales.

Lean Beef

Can a cow go on the Atkins Diet?  Well in money and complexity terms--YES.  Jeff in our office knows a guy in Mustang who raises some cattle.  Jeff asked if anyone at the office would like to go in on a BEEF raised down the road by someone we know and butchered just the way you want.  We don't know
for sure whether it is going to save money but we do know ALL the money is going to people here in our community and we know where the hooved beast has been along the way. Compare that with Wal Mart. Lots of value in that for Oklahoma.
With the new Outlet Mall opened up lately how can we get in the habit of asking if there is a LOCALLY owned store or restaurant we could try first?