Stop and smell the roses

It has been said that most people cannot enjoy the present because they are always dwelling on the past or looking to the future. I think that I can be counted in that category most of my life but as I have aged I have slowly learned to not take anything for granted and to enjoy the present as much as I can.

An often heard phrase is “stop and smell the roses”. To me, this means to take the time out of your day to realize where you are, what you are doing, who you are doing it with and most importantly why you are doing what you do.

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Healthy Lifestyle

Why I love drinking green tea

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018 by Bruce Gilbert

Green Tea

I love green tea. I drink a lot of tea in general, but by far my favorite is the green variety. I will drink it hot in the Winter and cold in the Summer. Besides the refreshing taste, there are many other benefits to drinking green tea that might not be well known to most people.

First off, there isn't just one type of green tea, there are many varieties. Among the different varieties are Sencha, Tencha, Matcha, and Gyokuro. The most popular variety is Sencha. These are all teas grown in Japan, the capital of green tea. Read more about the various varieties of green tea.

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Philosophy

Evolution via Agile

January 18, 2018 by Bruce Gilbert

Technologies evolve, processes evolve, businesses evolve and even people evolve (some more than others). Of those, I think that technology evolves quicker than anything else. It seems like overnight technologies can change.

With technology changes, there is a need to constantly be updating and evolving digital communications as well. When I say digital communications, I am referencing websites, web applications, blogs, email newsletters.

I have worked on several development teams that have adopted the Agile approach and I have learned a lot and adopted many of the Agile processes to my development process on freelance projects. Some staples of agile development are Sprints, Epics, SCRUM, Stand-Ups, and Feature Driven Development. I won’t go into detail for each one, but a good article can be found here.

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Determination

2018 New Year – New Resolutions

January 9, 2018January 9, 2018 by Bruce Gilbert

Many people in a new year make New Year’s resolutions, and I am no different. Some people write down their resolutions on paper, some just make them mentally and nerds like me blog them out!

Without further ado, here are my 2018 New Years resolutions, at least some of them.

Exercise regularly, drink more water and meditate often.

Eat healthy meals.

Practice gratitude and take walks of gratitude.

Reflections of 2017

December 31, 2017January 4, 2018 by Bruce Gilbert

It is December 30th as I write this. 2017 is almost over and as with a lot of people, the last few days are a time to reflect on the year that has been, and to make resolutions for the year to come. In this blog post, I will write my thoughts as well as share some of my New Years resolutions.

I’m going to come out and say it, 2017 has been brutal. I thought 2016 was a down year, but 2017 said to 2016 “hold my beer”. I mean this year has been challenging to say the least. I truly believe that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and this has been truly been put to the test this year.

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Current Events

Sorry, but I won’t be joining you in your protest or boycott

October 19, 2017September 8, 2018 by Bruce Gilbert

It seems everywhere you turn your head these days there is a protest of one sort or another. Let’s see… there are the NFL players protesting the National Anthem, there are people protesting the NFL because of those NFL player protest. There are people protesting the Confederate statues and also people who are protesting the people protesting the statues (pro-Confederate/Old South values). Additionally, there are many businesses that people boycott for one belief or another.

I am not the most political person in the world, but I definitely have my opinions. I have always considered myself pretty moderate politically, not leaning extremely left or right. Yes, I have tended to vote Democrat most of the time, but when you have people like this bozo running for office it is an easy choice. In my opinion, the Democrats usually have the better of the two candidates.

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Determination

The dreaded “C” word and the inspiring “C” word

February 11, 2017December 30, 2017 by Bruce Gilbert

“Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. ”
-Jim Valvano

Cancer Cancer is often a death sentence. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Many do survive and defeat cancer, so a diagnosis doesn’t mean a 100% death sentence.

Those who do eventually succumb to the dreaded disease often have to face tremendous adversity, and I have been reading and learning about their stories and the battles they go through for many years.

People who are fighting cancer can be branded with another “C” word and that word is courage. It takes tremendous courage be given X amount of months or years to live by medical professionals, and to have to face day after day this diagnosis while continuing to be a wife/husband/father/mother/best friend and co-worker.

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Category: Philosophy

Enjoy the present because tomorrow is not promised

Why I love drinking green tea

Evolution via Agile

2018 New Year – New Resolutions

Reflections of 2017

Sorry, but I won’t be joining you in your protest or boycott

The dreaded “C” word and the inspiring “C” word