Why Hasn’t Anyone Caught On Already?

“…. And just before I lay me down to never wake
I look up and I see you
So with everything I am
Thank you…. ” ~ ‘Thank You‘ by Céline Dion (written by S. Smith)

So many of  my friends and colleagues got together for a little video collaboration in celebration of Céline Dion, their idol’s birthday, which was the 30th of March.

People who collaborated in the video also wish her husband well since he’s dealing with cancer yet again and the news came out around the time everyone was making their part of the video.

It was very thoughtful and I am sure very sincere for many of the people who participated in the activity.

I guess it goes to show that there are some truly devoted fans of certain music idols.

There’s nothing wrong with this video. And there’s nothing wrong with what the people said and done on the video as it was basically get well wishes either in spoken word or on hand made signs. And of course wishing Dion a happy birthday. I mean I know a few of the people on the video. So good for them for doing that. People who are fans from one side of the world to the other and back getting together as a collective group.

But there’s a really BAD problem with the song choice. A deep dark desperate problem with the song “Thank You.”

And that is the lines in the song right before the chorus:

And just before I lay me down to never wake
I look up and I see you
So with everything I am
Thank you

Umm… huh? Really? Nobody caught on to this while making the video. Nobody caught on to this when this album was released. Nobody caught on that the lyrics are talking about DEATH………… and possibly a suicide.

Shaffer Smith wrote the song. I’d love to know what Shaffer Smith was thinking.

“Just before I lay me down TO NEVER WAKE I look up and I see you”

She is never going to open her eyes again… she is going to die! And these poor unsuspecting die-hard fans are saying “Thank You” to Dion while using the song “Thank You” to say thank you.

Really bad juju, people. Probably unintended bad juju. But bad juju is bad juju. 

But take a look at the video. Its more than just that. There are a lot of kind hearted people with very very sincere messages that they wanted to get out to their idol by way of collaborating on this video. Its just the wrong song that they used. If they left all of the video content the same and chose a different song, it would be just as excellent.

OOPS.

Great message. Horrible song choice.

Still proud of my friends and colleagues though.

 

500

Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, you just have no idea how impressive this number is for me.

THIS IS MY 500th BLOG POST on Dambreaker.

And to think that it came in less than two and a half years since I started it.

A lot of ups and downs and a lot of posts that didn’t make sense to a bunch of people and a few that remarkably had changed lives, unbeknownst to me at the time that it happened.

I know that I have some people who read this and they have not subscribed to this blog. To those people, I STRONGLY encourage you to do so, so that you do not miss anything.

I am amazed in the fact that in this short amount of time, I nearly 100 people who have subscribed to this blog and receive each post via e-mail every time I write.

For those of you who are silent readers and for those of you who are subscribed. And for those of you who have no problems leaving comments: I send to all of you my love and thankfulness.

Thank you for making Dambreaker what it is today!!!

 

No Thank You

“There are no regrets in life, just lessons.”~ Jennifer Aniston

Its only the third day of November and already I am just shaking my head.

If you are on Facebook or have been in the past few years, you know about this activity in which every day in the month of November you post about something that you are thankful for.

That’s it. One day, one thing.

It seemed harmless and innocent from the first time that I learned about it. And now its becoming a bore and something that is so predictable.

Unfortunately you will find those who are active in this idea, but they tend to forget for a number of days to post what they are thankful for. I honestly think that for a few, its not possible for them to come up with thirty different things. I laugh each and every time when I see that by the middle of the month, someone has given thanks for something that they posted that they were already thankful for. They go into a repetition that is just too laughable.

These things in which people are thankful for become so cluttering, especially when they have simply forgotten for a few days and then they unload in a post of many things at once.

I know that November is the month in which people who live in the United States spend one day of Thanksgiving. And this activity on Facebook was probably started by someone who lives in the United States.

But why is it that people are so in tuned for many things that they are thankful for in the month of November? Is it because of the American holiday of Thanksgiving which makes this activity come into play? My point is why can’t there be a sharing of things in which we are thankful for THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE YEAR?? Why is it just focused in on the month of November.

So yeah, in this year of 2012 I have seen some people tackle it. But they didn’t even bother to start off on the right foot. Yesterday being the second day of November, people who engaged in this were double posting what they were thankful for.

It may or may not be interesting to watch to see just how long it takes for people to repeat themselves for their thankful posts, whether accidental, forgetful, or whatever. It usually happens after the 16th or 17th of the month before someone goofs up and repeats themselves.

And this is never to say that I am not thankful for anything. I think that if you have been paying attention to this blog for any length of time, you know how appreciative and thankful I am for a lot of things. I just don’t think its necessary to narcissistically go on and on on a daily basis throughout one month of the year.

Rant over.

 

 

Where Your Credit Is Due

“I just open doors…you take the journey my friend.”~ Dr. Froth

 

That one small sentence that was told to me actually spoke volumes.

 

We were discussing how my blog has evolved and how it had came into existence. I humbly had thanked him for making me think and that was his response.

 

I do believe in the saying of giving credit where it is due, but he is also right in what he had said.

 

The influences of others around us are very powerful. We can either give credit (or give blame) towards others in our lives in whatever changes may come from those influences. However, whether we give credit or blame, we must also give ourselves the same. Because we are solely responsible for our own decisions.

 

I could tell you not to buy a certain product and give you reasons why I am telling you why not. And your life could be so much easier for it. Because you took my advice, you probably are grateful and most likely would tell me how thankful you are. But you also need to thank yourself because you made the decision on your own not to buy that product.

 

Most certainly, many doors open to us in life on a daily basis. Others may call it a crossroads. It is that point in life, in that very moment where we make a decision of where to go. Do we go through the doors or not? Do we turn left instead of right or stay straight ahead? Whatever we do, we have chosen to do that on our own. A lot of life changing decisions may come through influence of others but it is not the others who make that decision for us. We did it ourselves!

 

Do not take what I am saying wrong. I am not saying that you are allowed to walk around with a swollen ego because you are thankful towards yourself. I am saying understand it is you alone who made the decision in the first place.

 

I probably won’t be sending Dr. Froth flowers as a gesture of thankfulness. He would probably kick my ass for that! And I definitely wouldn’t be so vain as to send some to myself. But I will be very clear that I actually made the decision to start a blog on my own.

 

Thanking or blaming others is just what comes natural after a decision has been made and the consequences have been rendered and dealt with.

 

All of that aside, I still believe it to be a shame that the simple two words of “thank you” are not spoken enough in this world. I recall when I was a teenager that my step-mother would ‘force’ me and my brother to sit down at the table and write out “Thank you notes” after the beginning of each January. They were thank you notes to everyone who had given us gifts for Christmas. It really wasn’t a very long list. But what it did do was cut out the fun time in life because “we HAD” to do it. It is most certainly one of the things that I am grateful for having her do, was to learn the power of “thank you”. It most certainly was an important lesson in life I had learned.

 

From that point on, the transaction is complete. I received a gift, I thanked them, and now that person feels happy and blessed because I did stop to tell them thank you.

 

Not to say thank you during certain times just makes you come off greedy, selfish, and very undeserving. That is why I don’t understand why people won’t stop for a fraction of a second to say it. Go ahead, try saying it to yourself…. “thank you”. Didn’t take long did it??

 

Giving credit probably needs to happen a lot more in this day and age. I just don’t see it happening. Or maybe I am just blind to it.

 

Of course we all have our own ways of communicating and expressing ourselves. Some people write thank you notes, other people give gifts in return, and so on. But I feel that it is a very important thing to learn to say to others.

 

Then we must thank ourselves for making that decision to go through that door. If we did, and we came out clean on the other side? Then it is a fantastic feeling.

 

So remember, when you thank someone for something. You also have yourself to thank.