Cartalk

It is funny; one can call in with car questions; they’ve mastered the punch-line delivery and they know their stuff. On the rare occasion I remember to tune-in, I catch them on the radio, and I make up for my disloyal fandom by following them on Facebook.

 

Rumored to be the winner of NPR’s “Most Likely to be Canceled Show” for 25 years, straight, I’m talking about Cartalk - known as an interactive radio talk show where dynamic brother duo Tom and Ray Magliozzi - the voice and DNA of the show - discuss all that is vehicular and peculiar.

 

More recently I experienced my own version of car talk.

 

What do you get when one stages an event that sticks two introverts in a car, seatbelts them in (remember – click it, or ticket!) and sends them downtown?

 

Well; we encountered a few mechanical difficulties, that even extroverts would be inexperienced with; had some coughing that mimicked barking dogs; came to complete stops around cops; listened to some fist pumping music; outsmarted construction crews, but more importantly we had a breakthrough: We didn’t just small talk, “So how is work?” and we explored more than the weather and what we would be eating for supper.

 

We were introverts who spent a lot of time around people and on the ride to and fro we learned how important it is to surround one’s self with positive people. Because over and over I learn that sometimes my own company is like stale, moldy pizza. The all-American food gone bad; a total mood killer.

But, you know, these truths are always more enlightening when someone points it out while simultaneously a light bulb (or dashboard light) flashes above your head.

 

Ask anyone who has been anywhere. If they have lived a little, it doesn’t take long to learn a lot and this is something you learn fast: Whom you spend time with… You become.

  

Who are you hanging out with? Who have you made plans with this weekend? Tonight? Tomorrow? Heck, do you work commute with, work with or, even, with whom do you putt-putt golf? Because, that’s you*.

*Okay, by You, I mean me. I made plans tonight. I made plans this weekend. Heck, I have co-workers and a boss who give me questionable looks when I open my mouth and start pacing and practicing my lunges mid-day.

And this is not the “In-ten-years-version-you.” No. This is the live edition: unfiltered, streaming up-to-date you.

 

Now, what if those same people are asking those same questions? Are *you the type of person they want to hang around? Do they want to rub shoulders with you? Will that chip on your shoulders fall from yours to theirs?

 

Be a person worth becoming: Exercise kindness, sweetness, morality, ethics, courage, honesty, faithfulness, peacefulness and you will have many strengths. Give them your shoulders, lift them up you will create giants.

A Bulging & Brawny Brain

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: The prequel to the New Year’s ball dropping, it’s the much anticipated revealing of how many urban dictionary words have made it to the big leagues: The Oxford Dictionary.

And, yet, even the picture-perfect new word of the year Selfie doesn’t adjust the wise words of football coach Vince Lombardi, “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Oh Vine, what great timing to appear as a Pinterest quote full of sassy wisdom. Just in time to be on a waiting list for our resolution list.

I suppose Lombardi understood and experienced the glorious after effects of an intense, successful workout. When muscles acknowledge that you put in the work and effort.

Try to workout your brain; challenge yourself daily and stretch the boundaries with a curiosity of whom you can grow into. Embrace the new tasks that find their way in your to-do file. Not only does it signify the promise that your employer or your client has newfound trust in your capabilities, but it’s a great way for you to elevate a job into a career you are passionate about. Set yourself time related goals, track your progress on your smart phone and then beat your record.

Just as the 20 curling reps can tone your body, so can reps of mental exercise at work tone your outlook, creating a driven mindset to better yourself and the lives around you.  And so, Vine, we accept the underlying challenge, to workout our mind. We’ll stretch and we’ll push one more paper into a complete file. We’ll stick to our mental exercise regime to buff up, to achieve a bulging and brawny brain. Through this we’ll find glorious success in the repetitions of work.

And who knows, maybe we can capture a flexing Selfie of the moment, too!