Pressing Puzzles

This month May of 2014, will set a milestone for Jaimee and I; our last two daughters will be graduating high school. There are so many levels on which I could address this topic because there are several side stories to their rise of finishing high school. If you have read some of my previous posts, Christen and Sarah are both autistic so graduating high school is a great accomplishment in itself, but there's much more than that. They are both going to be heading off to an university and Jaimee and I couldn't be more proud. I think what you have to realize is that the four years my daughters have been in high school have not been easy sailing. They both have had their challenges. The biggest challenge for both of them was the adjustments they had to make when it came to high school. The school is larger, the times are earlier, and student population is higher and the expectations are greater. Christen had her hurdles to face due to the activities she was involved in like ...

I love the line "The smartest man in the room." because whenever I have to join a group of people (whether a Sunday school class, a teacher's meeting, a simple gathering of friends and/or family) I never like to lead on that I really am a very bright person. Please don't misunderstand; I'm not thumping my chest and claiming myself as king. I'm just simply saying that I know I'm no dummy. One of the things I try to avoid is being wrong. If I ever am incorrect I'm usually honest enough to admit it, but I think I've had to learn over time to be careful in what I say so I can get my facts straight first. I definitely hearken back to my youth when I had the bad habit of opening my mouth too fast and when I was wrong in my response, that's when it gave other kids the chance to poke fun at me. You have to understand that other kids were like the lions and I was the antelope, if I stepped forward and make a fool of myself without the other lions havin...

Here's an area of where I'm not sure most of the misunderstanding falls, because of my Asperger's or because I'm just a guy. I'm not really big on fashion, even in movies premiers or runaways; although I did like fashion movies like " The Devil Wears Prada " and " Zoolander ". Dr. Temple Grandin wears cowgirl outfits and she looks great! When I was younger, I always   thought   I had a fashion sense, but I think I might have been sorely wrong. I always thought I was so well dressed that many of the other kids in school were just jealous; or so I thought. I did have second thoughts when all the girls just wanted to "be my friend" so I wasn't sure if it was the clothes or the person. As the art major that I was, I wanted to make sure I dressed for the part - especially in college. I mean, I was the president of the art club and I felt like I had to dress like I was the president...of course, later that next year I met a young beautif...

One thing I've openly observed about human nature is the struggle of opening up of issues or beliefs that lie within us. Conviction is a tough thing to get out of people and worse, to take a stand on. I've always seen conviction as a two way street. Either we are felt guilty about not doing something we should have, or others should have been there for us; whether or not the people felt convicted or not we may never know, but to us we always assume that they’re in 'the wrong'. Having Asperger's, there have been countless times when I should have felt convicted because I didn't do something when I should have...the trouble is I may never have been aware of the error I made. I've discussed this on many occasions in dealing with memory, but adding that sense of conviction into my conscientiousness is not always going to be there. I know I've offended people in the past due to my lack of conviction, but when I'm unaware of their feelings; it means nothi...

This topic is a great combination of several previous posting I have written, everything from #12 Temper, #18 Money, #20 Stress, #30 Failure, and #52 The Blues. So how is this different than the rest? Frustration is the catalyst of all of these problems. I got to thinking about what ties these all together because if I am ever to overcome these issues, I really have to get a handle on the frustration I get when it comes to all of these problems. I don't usually use dictionary terms to define my topic for the blog but, here's the Merriam-Webster definition:   a deep chronic sense or state of insecurity and dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs . As you notice from the postings that I mentioned a minute ago, all of these can be filled right into that definition. I think the word that bothers me the most in the definition has to be "chronic". I never would have thought that 'frustration' would be a chronic condition. The definitio...

This by far will be the most difficult entry that I have ever had to ever write. It deals with the one thing that almost every person with Asperger's has to deal with...suicide. {I make this disclaimer: suicide is NEVER the answer to any of your problems!!!} Making that claim and following through are very difficult to manage. I never even like to talk about it because it makes me feel uncomfortable. I've noticed that those kind of thoughts seem to rear their ugly heads when I get under serious distress or panicky. In my mind, it always seems easier to take my life rather than facing the issues that are troubling me. I feel like it's a curse, but I'm never going to let it win and I need to share my thoughts with you about the difficult subject. I see the whole suicide thing like the Hulk or a Mr. Hyde, that persona that wants to come out and do whatever destructive things that I'm not willing to achieve. I believe every person with this problem envisions how th...

If you’re thinking of the organization then you are correct! I have to admit that I have found this organization rather fascinating. This is a statement that comes from their website: "I am Second is a movement meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others. Actors. Athletes. Musicians. Business leaders. Drug addicts. Your next-door neighbor. People like you. The authentic stories on   iamsecond.com   provide insight into dealing with typical struggles of everyday living. These are stories that give hope to the lonely and the hurting, help from destructive lifestyles, and inspiration to the unfulfilled. You’ll discover people who've tried to go it alone and have failed. Find the hope, peace, and fulfillment they found. Be Second." I'm not a member of this organization, but when they first started having celebrities like football quarterback Kurt Warner and others on huge billboards so I was rather curious about who they were. I know that ...