The game of chess is quite fascinating. In it, two players with the exact same pieces battle to either a stalemate (tie) or until one player defeats the other via ‘checkmate’.  If you are interested in learning more about chess, go to this chess guide.  The picture you see here is a ‘pawn’.  In chess, you start with eight of them.  They are the most numerous piece, and they are usually the most quickly to be taken by your opponent.  In addition to that, the pawn is limited in its mobility, moving only forward, and only diagonally to take an opponents piece.  The pawn has the special ability in that if it reaches the end of the chess board to the opponents side, it can turn into a queen (the most powerful chess piece).

That is Why the Pawns Go First

In the movie, ‘X-Men 3′, Magneto, one of the main villains makes a statement towards the end of the movie when his gang of mutants is about to battle a group of soldiers and police with weapons able to remove their mutant powers.  I paraphrase Magneto here, but he says something to the extent of ‘In Chess, the Pawns Go First‘.  This is in reference to the numerous pawns one starts with in chess, and the pawns being used more as a way to open the match and see what your opponent is doing.

What the Bigger Pieces Do

Pawns, while numerous, do not have the capabilities of the other chess pieces.  Rooks can move side to side or forward until a piece is in the way.  Bishops diagonally.  Knights can jump around.  The Queen can move in all directions.  The lone king can move to any adjacent square that does not put it in ‘check’.  Check forces the king to move, or get defended by another chess piece.  The bigger pieces have more capability.

What separates the two?

The distinguishment between pawns and the other chess pieces is obvious, once you learn the game of chess.  One thing that stands out to me is the sheer number of pawns.  Again, there are eight of them.  The next numerous pieces are the rooks, knights, and bishops, of which there are only two each.  The pawns are limited in what they are able to do.  The rest of the chess pieces can do much more.  What separates the two is what they are able to do.

What Are You?

As life moves forward for each of us, a parallel can be seen between individuals and what chess piece they might be.  The reality is that most people are pawns.  This does not mean you are insignificant, expendable, or worthless.  In fact, there are probably a few levels of being a pawn and it just means you are like most other people.  I’d like to categorize what qualifies one to be in this category.

• You live life day to day, but don’t have a real plan for your entire life.
• You see the bad before you see the good.
• You usually have trouble getting motivated to do much of anything.
• You are content as long as you have a place to sleep and food to eat.
• You are quick to criticize and judge other people.
• You have trouble focusing for more than a short period of time.
• You don’t like trying anything new.
• You are generally a selfish person.
• When things get difficult, or results are not seen, you stop trying.
• You don’t spend much time on your emotional, physical, and spiritual health.

Most regular people have many of these traits.  And this does not mean that those people do not possess good qualities.  I highlight these specific ones here to point out what is almost universal amongst the majority of people in the world.  As I said, these things don’t make for a bad person.  If you think of the world as a chess board, then the pawns of the world have these characteristics.  And there will always be many ‘pawns’.  But there are also chess pieces with more.  These are the kings, queens, knights, bishops, and rooks of the world.  Here is a list of some of their qualities.

• You have a clear idea of where your life is going and what your future holds.
• Though you recognize the bad in the world, the good far outweighs it.
• You are motivated to accomplish many things.
• You are not content with just the basics of life.  You want the most out of life that you can get.
• You seek first to understand others before making judgments.
• You prepare well beforehand and have a razor sharp focus.
• You love trying new things and new adventures, regardless if they succeed or not.
• You think of others constantly.
• When things get difficult, you rev up your engine and give even more effort.
• You constantly are refining your emotional, physical, and spiritual health.

While these lists contain many things, I can see almost a ‘smoking gun’, that separates regular people from those who achieve great success in life.  And that is this:

Those who achieve success in life are motivated, driven, and passionate about what they do.  They spend the necessary time trying, tweaking, and moving forward with what they are seeking to do.  They do not give up, and while the average person is watching TV or bored, the successful person is busy creating their legacy in the world.

This sums it up.  The truly successful, and I would even say happy, are constantly engaged in a good cause.  There is no wasted time.  There is no boredom.  There is a life with purpose.  There is hard work, smart work, and long hours.  But this is what separates one from being insignificant.  It is what is done with the time you have.  Make a choice to start spending your time doing worthwhile things, and I can promise that you will stop feeling insignificant!

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Today was a memorable commute to my job as a web developer at Ancestry.com.  It’s snowing like mad here in Utah, and I drove about 20 miles per hour the whole way to get here.  During the hour commute to work (which normally takes 20 minutes), I was in admiration at the sight of so much snow and spent time thinking of those things I am thankful for.

Situations vary for everyone.  Some people are enjoying much success at their careers, others have had businesses fail and are struggling to make ends meet.  Some are enjoying healthy relationships, while others struggle to keep things together.  Some enjoy great health and vigor, while others struggle staying healthy and are in constant pain.  And still some struggle with depression and a lack of excitement about life, while others seem to have a constant stream of enthusiasm.

Turn Your Thoughts to the Good

If you feel your situation less than favorable, or you are struggling with finding positives in life, I know how you feel.  Though I strive to be positive, I still have to battle against a depression, which runs in my family.  Fortunately I am able to keep the depression at bay, but it is a foe I have to beat back more often than not.  If you find yourself in a negative state of mind, recognize what is wrong, but then turn your thoughts to thanks.  Thanks that you are alive.  Thanks that you are going through experiences that are helping you learn and grow.  Thanks to be able to take part in life and share in its experiences.

I, like many of you, have dreams of being super successful.  That is being extremely wealthy, having a perfect marriage, being famous, and making an enormous difference in the world where my name will be echoed in the history books long after I have left this earth.  Though you may have these thoughts, realize that life is a series of baby steps.  All this cannot be accomplished right away.  In fact, you will drive yourself crazy if you try and accomplish this all at once.  For me, I have areas of improvement in all these categories.  I am sure many of you have your own challenges and struggles in the areas you wish to find achievement in.  Read this quote that I myself have created and help it bring life into perspective.

If in life you have given all that you have to achieve all that you desire, and even if your efforts end up counting for nothing, know that you are on the path of perfection and no regrets.

This is the path to true happiness.  It takes effort and discomfort often times.  It is doing all that you can to achieve the deepest desires of your heart.  If you spend your time on those things that are worthwhile and never find the success you envision, you can know that you gave your honest best effort, and that the rewards will eventually come, in an abundance that you don’t yet comprehend.

Get Rid of Animosity

I challenge all of you (including myself) to rid yourself of animosity that you have towards one person.  That’s it, just one person.  Animosity is an angry or hostile attitude towards someone, possibly because that person offended you in some way.

We can never truly understand another person fully.  Heck, I have a hard time understanding myself sometimes.  By having an attitude of love and forgiveness, we can recognize when others are out of line, but not harbor ill feelings and resentment towards that person.  By doing this, you will be in better harmony with positive energy and being happy.  Your thoughts will be focused upon better and brighter things.

Final Thanks

I am thankful to be alive.  I am thankful to have two parents who are still married and a family where everyone is alive and well.  I am thankful for my wife and daughter Ellie.  I am thankful for the many struggles and challenges life provides me.  Nothing has come easy in my life and I am thankful to learn and grow.  I am thankful for my health and the ability to run around and play basketball.  I am thankful to have good friends outside of my family who have positive values.  I am thankful for the opportunities I have (including this website) to leave my legacy in the world.

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** EDIT: 7/18/2009 ** As time has gone on, I’ve realized that meeting ‘The Rock’ is no longer a top priority of mine. That’s not to say I don’t want to meet him. It is to say that there are more important tasks at hand for me to accomplish. Nevertheless I want to leave this post here as a reference for those wishing to read about my journey.

Hello everyone, as I am writing, I have a special announcement to make.  I am going to show you that regular folks like you and I can do things that are extraordinary.  And by doing so, we shift from the ordinary to the extraordinary.  I realize I need credibility.  I’ve been open and honest about my life, my feelings, challenges I’ve faced, and who I am on my ‘About Me‘ pages both here on my blog and on my website at drjerm.com.  But that is not enough.  To all of you reading my blog, I have a quest that I am now embarking on.  And that quest is this:

I Am Going to Interview ‘The Rock’ Dwayne Johnson and post the interview on my website for all of you to read and watch!

You can click the link to The Rock above to find out who he is.  You can also see examples of him on the Drjerm website for ‘positive energy‘ and ‘staying healthy‘.  The Rock is a terrific example of someone who has the qualities to achieve success in this life.

Take a moment and read what I have written here a few times.  Let it sink in.  This is not some random thing I am doing.  I’ve talked about ‘The Rock’ on drjerm.com on several occasions.  He shows many of the characteristics that I seek to instill in my readers, such as confidence, charisma, enthusiasm, and success in life.  Because of that, I am going to make an interview with him happen.

So you may be asking, how in the blue [expletive] am I going to make this happen?  I am glad if you are asking this, because I am asking this.  I have done no research yet on how to meet The Rock.  But to show that I am smart and understanding enough of the magnitude of the situation, I am able to compile a list of facts, challenges, and questions to tackle this bold undertaking:

• I am smart, intelligent, confident, and focused.
• When do you plan on making this whole meet The Rock thing happen?
• I am not some fan making a website with dreams and wishes of meeting The Rock.  I am someone who is resourceful and smart enough to make it happen.
• Meeting The Rock will be very challenging and difficult, but very worth it.
• The Rock is very busy, it is likely even getting a few hours with him will require a well in advance warning.
• Why would The Rock want to spend his time meeting and talking with me?  He can probably get paid thousands of dollars to meet with those who have money to pay him.
• The Rock likely has agents or public relations people that are the first line of contact for him.
• Where will I interview The Rock?  How will it all get setup and arranged?
• What will be the costs to interview The Rock?  Travel, filming, for his time, food, etc…
• What will I talk to The Rock about when I meet him?
• How will I get the attention of The Rock and get him so he WANTS me to interview him?
• How will I deal with the many challenges and obstacles that will be involved in interviewing The Rock?
• What about fear of not being able to make it happen? (I can already tell you the answer to this one – I am not afraid of failing.  I know I’m talented and smart.  I know I’ve got a good shot at this).
• How will interviewing The Rock make a difference?

So we have a list of things here off the top of my head, and there is likely much more to it.  I know that for my goal of using Drjerm.com as resource for me to be a life coach, to inspire and uplift people, and to help people see that they can make their dreams happen, that I need to really start making some things happen for evidence for all of you!

And it is with great excitement, challenge, and intruige, that I announce my undertaking to meet The Rock.  I know that there will be many obstacles.  I have to figure quite a few things out.  It will likely take some time before I make the progress I want to.  I will continue to write and inspire while I work on meeting The Rock.  As I get more details and work through it, I will document every last detail so that you can see from start to finish that I was able to make it happen.

Wish me luck.  As a life coach seeking to help people who are discouraged, not confident, or otherwise depressed, I will show you that with persistence and determination, that you can make your dreams come true!

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As things have settled down and I’ve been able to gather emotions, I had a long talk with one of the owners of the company I was let go from.  Since he and I started one of the sub companies, I’ve been given significant stake in that company.  So we’ll see about getting it all legalized.  I’ve decided to give it another shot and turn this all into a positive.  I am done ranting and am glad I can look back and see the various emotions I’ve had through all of this.

I look back and I was really angry about all of this.  And that anger was justified.  However, it’s important not to be too extreme one way or the other.  And as such I realized that being too angry or too fine with it was too far in one direction.  So I’ve decided to get back to middle ground, be reasonable, and make something happen with a choice.

So what do you do, once you’ve had time to reflect on hard times?  I say, keep your head up.  Listen to this song by 2 Pac and stay positive.  Like or hate 2 Pac, he was a talented musician.  I am a big fan of recognizing people of all talents, regardless of what their talent is in.  2 Pac gives a different perspective in this video in troubles he saw in his sphere of the world.

So if you are having a hard time in your life with something, keep your head up.  Recognize what the difficult and challenging things are.  Then take the steps to move forward and make progress in your life.  With a little effort and faith, you will be able to keep moving forward and progressing.

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