Of Trump and his 'Trumpisms'......

Donald Trump walked up to the podium, with that familiar smug smile, for his Inaugural address to the American people, on the steps of the Capitol. It was a cold, wet January morning. And for some strange reason, I was there, among throngs of people. And they were all silent, there was no cheering. My hand went to my forehead, to wipe off the rain drops. And then I woke up....
In one long, groggy second, I realized it was a dream. Let me correct myself - a nightmare, not a dream.  My forehead was wet, not from the rain, but from the cold sweat at the possibility of a Trump Presidency.

These days Donald Trump dominates the news cycle. There is wall to wall coverage on TV of this larger than life figure. And to be honest, the mainstream media has a lot to do with his meteoric rise. Yesterday, CNN had an uninterrupted coverage of Trump's vehicle convoy, headed to a campaign event in Arizona, for 5 minutes! The news outlet was apparently fascinated even by the vehicle the 'Donald' was traveling in.

I'll be the first one to admit that I never imagined things would be where they are. I believed Donald Trump and his bombastic campaign would implode long before now. And there is more than just the extensive media coverage fueling his ascent in the polls. Although to be fair, his poll numbers are within the GOP. But still, his poll numbers and Primary wins have left most of the so called "Experts" & "Pundits" looking clueless and scratching their heads. 

We all have a darker side within ourselves. It can be varying degrees of our total personality. We all know it, and of course, we don't admit to that side existing within us. Our dark side is kept under wraps by our overwhelming good side. And here is another fact of life -- even if we wanted to, we can't afford to start spewing out what we really thought of some people and our immediate world, because we are civilized. And moreover, we want to keep our social fabric intact. We overlook shortcomings in ourselves and of some folks around us for a greater good. So among us, there might be many "mini- Trumps", itching to come out!  

Mr. Trump has let loose that darker side. He has let go of the inhibitions.  Apparently he does not care, because unlike most of us, he can afford not to care. Nobody is going to "Fire" him! He is worth billions and as a result, he does not have to worry about consequences of his often inflammatory remarks. He goes way beyond being "Politically Incorrect." I know he is 'business smart' and 'rich', as he reminds us so eloquently every time he opens his mouth. But these two qualities do not automatically qualify a person to be the President of the United States of America. The President is for 'all' citizens of our country, not just a faction that he panders to. But after all is said and done, everybody needs to give him due credit for the following he has created for himself. 

To his supporters -- here's some food for thought....

"Talent is God-given, be humble. Fame is man-given, be grateful. Conceit is self-given, be careful." ~ John Wooden

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So how are the 2016 resolutions doing ?!

A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend of mine at the gym.
"So you are still sticking to your resolution? Working out and all," he said.
I raised my hands, as my eyebrows arched. "Hey, it's just the 5th of January today...I'm going to stick to my resolutions this year."

Well, that was about 3 weeks ago. That's 21 long days. Now we are almost at the end of January. I had a long list this year. And a lot of the words on that list are hazy already. What are resolutions after all? A promise to make ourselves or some aspect of our lives better. And we do this every New Year's eve. We don't really have to, but it's a tradition now.

According to a research study, 30 percent of New Year resolutions are broken in the first week and 85 percent before the end of January. Ninety three percent of New Year resolutions involve losing weight.

So why not make easy resolutions for a year and then go on to the more tricky ones. Here are a few suggestions (for 2017) of the easy ones....!

*Want to look thin and fit? -- Find new, heavier (read-'plump') friends. Or fatten up current friends. As one of my friends once said, it's all relative...!

*Want to drink less alcohol? -- Hang out with people who drink more than you do.

*Don't want to think too much of the past? -- Just worry about the future.

*Want to save Mother Earth and conserve water? -- Shower once, twice or thrice.... a week, depending on how much you love Mother Earth.

*Want to be socially popular? -- Stop telling the same jokes over and over and over......

On a serious note, we all wish to improve ourselves and our lives, hence the resolutions. But to stick to a resolution, or any objective we want to accomplish, we have to be disciplined. Discipline to stay on course, to stick to your plan, and that eventually becomes the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

"Every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag attached to it. The question is always whether you are willing to pay the price to attain it -- in hard work, sacrifice, patience, faith and endurance." ~ John C Maxwell
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