by Steve Wolf | May 20, 2013 | Business, Lifestyle, Mental
Do you ever think that you were meant for so much more than what you are currently doing?
Throughout my life I have found that most people have a large gap between what they want to be and
A Shit Sandwich
who they are. Most time, these people fall in to one of two categories of why they believe their life isn’t where they want it to be:
1. They make excuses. They are simply unwilling to admit that the reason why they aren’t where they want to be is due to some life circumstance, or some kind of outside force that is preventing them to achieve what they would like to do or accomplish.
2. They have become so ingrained in their daily routine and patterns that they have either forgotten their dreams all together or simply have accepted the fact that they may never come to fruition. Almost as if they missed it, or it wasn’t in the cards for them in this life.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to hang out and learn from some incredible individuals. People whom at one point in my life I thought to be inaccessible by me. I used to be scared when I was in the presence of such greatness and success because I felt so below them, so far away from what they had accomplished in their lives. As time went on and I gained more confidence in myself personally and professionally, interacting with these people became easier. One day it clicked and I realized that no matter how famous or well put together the man or woman standing in front of me was, they, like me were human. They ate, slept, and put clothes on the same way that I did. At times in their careers, they too struggled and failed miserably. They experienced love, loss, sadness, victory and all of the other emotions that I too had felt.
I realized that no one, and I mean no one is untouchable or immune to life. The only difference that I experienced among the haves and have-nots was their reaction to what life threw at them. When life hands you a shit sandwich, some people refuse to eat it, and avoid it at all costs even when it means that by not eating it, they will never realize their dreams. The shit sandwich is a metaphor that I have come to use when trying to explain the hardships of life. Successful people, eat the fucking sandwich, and they eat it quickly because they realize that if you are going to get anywhere in life that has some substantial value, that there is no way to avoid eating some shit sandwiches and the faster you just eat it and get it over with, the closer you are to where your going. Not to mention all the time and energy that is wasted complaining and dreading about doing some hard things one doesn’t like to do. Bottom line is that a shit sandwich already sucks and is disgusting; now imagine waiting days, weeks or months to eat it, and how much more disgusting that sandwich is going to be when you finally come to the inevitable realization that in order to move forward, you must eat it.
Successful people are never victims, they take bad things happening in stride building the muscle of resilience knowing and having faith that no matter how bad things may seem, they will always get better if you are willing to work for it and persevere through bad times.
To win is a choice, to lose is a choice, and the outcome has nothing to do with circumstances, it comes down to who was more willing to set aside their circumstances and excuses to beat the person who chose to be a victim of those things.
To me, I feel like I have gotten so good at dealing with shit happening and tacking it up as just a standard and normal part of life it’s almost as if a shit sandwich doesn’t even phase me. I look at it, I mentally prepare, and then I eat it quickly so I can get back to having fun. I refuse to let it ruin my day or waste any more time than it has too.
Mastering this skill has become one of my greatest strengths, without it, I would not be where I am at today. Anyone can be happy when everything is going well, but the people I respect and want to align myself with are the people who can keep calm and focused with a positive mental attitude when things a falling apart all around them and it’s raining shit sandwiches.
Hope you got something out of this J
-Steve
by Steve Wolf | May 3, 2013 | Lifestyle, Mental, Spiritual & Mental, Travel
Sipping Coconuts under Palm Trees in Thailand
After a little over a month in Bali, I am returning home. The beautiful sunsets, amazing surf, and sipping coconuts under palm trees while meditating about life are going to come to end.
A part of me is toying with the idea of just staying out here. I love it so much and there is everything I need out here to be happy. I know that I will return again and I have been looking in to just buying a place out here so I can just live out here a couple of months out of the year.
The only draw back is that out here is life is so slow and easy-going that I would imagine it would be hard for me to get things done. It is such a quality problem. When you live in paradise and you have everything you need, there is not a lot of motivation to work and strive for new things. It’s like a never-ending vacation for those who live here, and that’s the seduction of this place. Bali has a way of taking you out of your environment, and then slowing you down to the pace and way of life here. It is the only place on the planet that has been able to do that to me. I am an A-Type personality full of passion, motivation and an undying sense of urgency to get things done. After about a week out here, all I am motivated to do is Surf, read, write and meditate. With the occasional outings with friends and hitting a club here and there; a good time to me is sleeping in, surfing, reflecting, and then just enjoying a good conversation with some interesting people, and this place has no shortage of them.
People usually ask me what I miss about my country when I travel, I always have to stop and think about it because I have conditioned myself to live in the moment for so long I usually don’t find myself ever missing a place, instead, I always end missing the people who I have met over the years throughout my adventures. California is my home though. I was born and raised there and it is a part of me. It’s not a bad place to end up and compared to a lot of the places I’ve been to in the world, and I am extremely grateful to come home to San Diego where I reside currently.
The world is getting smaller. Technology allows me to stay connected with all of the people I have met all over the world and when you break it down, I can get anywhere I want to on this planet in about 2 days (unless your going to the middle of Siberia). Everything is a plane flight away. This makes me extremely grateful, because the ability for common people to travel to far corners of the earth has only been around for about 70 years. 100 years ago, if you wanted to go to Europe from America, you were going to have to take a carriage or car to a boat and then embark on a 1-2 month voyage just to get to some place. Only people who were rich were able to afford such a voyage. To be able to scale that amount of time down to just a couple of days and couple thousand bucks to leave for months at a time is fucking amazing to me. I mean I hop on a plane in LA, and 6 movies and 10 cranberry juices later, I am half way around the world immersed in a foreign land where everything is different, and to me that experience alone is one of the most exhilarating and fulfilling things I have ever experienced in this life. If you are a traveler, you know exactly what I am talking about, and if not, maybe it’s high time you spin a globe, pick a destination and get out of your comfort zone.
Paradise is defined as “a place or state of bliss, felicity or delight.” It is not necessarily attached to a location and although it can be, I believe that Paradise is found within ones soul. Buddhists call it Nirvana, Christians call it heaven, Jews call it Shamayim, but to me, it all means the same thing. Like I had mentioned before about living in the moment, I am not terribly concerned with what will happen to me in the after-life or even the future really. I have subscribed to the concept of living as if I were going to die tomorrow and planning as if I am going to live forever. Spending a massive amount of time pontificating about the unknown afterlife and future can be fun an enlightening at times, but the idea of dedicating a continual amount of time to this is both boring and unfulfilling to me.
The truth is that I am alive now. Time is made up, safety is an illusion, and although some humans claim it, I have never been 100% convinced that were going anywhere but 6-Feet under when we die, and we will die, the day will absolutely come so no need to fear that either. The hypothetical clock is ticking and has been for a long time. So, instead of worrying about all that noise, I just live every single day to the fullest seeking to find truth and experiencing every single person, place, thing or idea I can immerse myself in while my soul occupies this body.
My beliefs and principles are negotiable, and as a result of that I have been able to experience and do things that I don’t think most people get to in their lifetime. I studied world religions for years, went to Israel, read the Koran, hung with Pastors and Spiritual Guru’s, traveled throughout South East Asia and was open to the idea of adopting any belief system that got me closer to my understanding of God. The funny thing is that after all that, my underlying spiritual belief remained the same. It was the simple belief in a Higher Power of my own understanding, a principal introduced to me at the age of 16 years old through a 12-Step program I came in to while getting sober from Alcohol and Drugs.
My path to spirituality has been long, vast and downright tedious at times, but I have approached it with the same enthusiasm and tenacity that I have with everything else in my life never getting to caught up on any one thing and being open to it all believing that all religions and people for that matter are basically good and mean well. To deny or discount anyone’s beliefs would make me just like the people who are shut off, or unwilling to be open to a new understanding, and ultimately will not allow their belief system to be questioned or negotiated no matter how much sense logic makes in spite of what they believe. To me, those are some of the scariest people on Earth; they are the type of people who start wars over that kind of shit.
What this all means is that Paradise, to me at least; is being completely ok with everything exactly that way it is in this very moment. The more I realize that I cannot change anyone and the only real control I have over anything is how I react, and the example I set as a human being, the more easier my life gets. I do want to effect change and help those who want it to reach this kind of spiritual enlightenment, but you cannot force those who don’t want it and to judge those people for not wanting it would be hypocritical, because I spent a large part of my life in that same place.
What ever you believe is totally cool. You don’t have to conform to anyone or any religion’s or societies’ belief system if you don’t want to. You are free to do what you want; after all it is your life. If you are an atheist, agnostic, spiritually conflicted Catholic, or you simply don’t know where you stand, I would urge to seek truth in places you never thought to look before. That’s where I found my faith, and my faith is in no way shape or form affiliated to any one religion, if anything I have taken the teachings and traditions from many religions and use what I like leaving the rest behind. This is how I have found my paradise, my state of Nirvana. I don’t need to be in Bali, or some incredibly beautiful place to reach it either, it is in my soul. Besides, it has been my experience that in the darkest of times when I really needed to tap in to this place and ask my higher power for direction, I’m usually not on vacation or in a place like Bali, I’m in life, dealing with real shit, real problems that need solution. That’s when my faith has counted the most.
One final note, when I do die, which could be tomorrow or in 100 years, I have no fear going to where it is I will go next. To me, that is the ultimate adventure, the one true great unknown besides space. I have lived each and every day to the fullest, I have no beef with my fellow-men, there is no wreckage from my past that has not been cleaned up, there is nothing that I haven’t done that I have wanted to do to this point. Everything I dream up I attempt it no matter how crazy it sounds, I never live with regret or say some bullshit like: “someday I will” or “Ill try,” I only dream and them get to turning that shit in to a reality for me as quickly as possible. This has allowed me to see and experience things I never could have imagined to be possible, and for that I am extremely grateful.
Never let fear dictate your life, if you can dream it, than it’s possible, so never give up hope and continue seeking truth.
See you back on the other side of the World ☺
-Steve
Me at Angkor Wat in Cambodia
by Steve Wolf | Apr 18, 2013 | Giving Back, Lifestyle
What happened to our great country? This is the question that I am continuously asking myself these days. Every time I get a bit of hope that we are turning things around we are set back by a catastrophic public event or by the people who have been elected to make decisions in our best interest who continuously fail to do so.
It would sound politically correct for me to say something like “I don’t want to get controversial,” but that my friends would be a total lie. The truth is that I do want to get controversial. I’m sick and tired of how things are in our country and I would love to see some real change.
In this blog, I am going to talk about the 2013 year in review so far and all the crazy shit that America has gotten itself in to, what it means, and most importantly what you and I can do about it, that is if you actually want to do something about it. If you don’t care at all, just stop reading, because this is going to make you feel like shit.
For more than 8 years now (since about 20 years old) I have in some way shape or form been involved in the political process above and beyond just voting. I have worked on more than 3 campaigns, started political clubs in college, participated in activism, protests and spreading awareness about things I believed to be important. During the last election in 2012, I was a very strong Ron Paul supporter and worked on his campaign like I had done before in 2008. After that defeat, I checked out of politics for good. I did this because I realized something that changed the way I look at America. Ron Paul probably came to this same realization after suffering a massive defeat and lack of support from his own party, the media, his enemies and the Zombies (my nickname for the ignorant masses) who simply did not get behind him and what he was trying to do. We realized that people who don’t want to help themselves cannot be helped, and that in order to install a want, need or desire into people to change their belief system, things were and are going to have to get a lot worse before people get pissed off enough to want to do something about it.
Unfortunately my generation, and the 2 generations behind me are the most narcissistic, entitled group of unmotivated zombies that America or the world has ever seen and as long as they have enough money to pay their rent, get an iPhone, have some cable TV and a little extra money to get drunk a couple nights a week, they will not do a fucking thing to get involved in the political process or fight for any change. I am not proud to say that about my generation, but it’s true, statistically, empirically and emotionally. If you want to see a revolution happen within my generation, ban some apple products and cancel reality TV, people will fight to keep that shit, but in a country where more people watch the super bowl than vote for president, the outcome looks dismal at best for those generations to get involved in Policy making. If you don’t believe me, here is the test: Answer these questions to yourself….
- Who is married to Brad Pitt
- Name 2 current supreme court judge
When I asked this same question in a survey to college kids 4 years ago, 100% knew who Brad Pitt was married to and less than 9% could name 2 supreme court judges.
Seriously? Knowing who Brad Pit is married to will not help you, knowing who is the end all be all interpreters of the Constitution of the United States of America and more importantly those who will determine what “freedom” and “democracy” is may be some good information to know? Wouldn’t you agree?
So how did you answer the questions? Are my survey results still the same? If you fall in to that 9%, I admire you, if you’re a part of the 91%, don’t worry; educated poli-sci majors couldn’t even get it right most of the time. (by the way, there are 9 S.C. Justices). All that I want you to do is to ask yourself why common knowledge of the people who will determine the future of America is only known by 9% and shit that doesn’t matter, everyone knows. Sounds a little backwards right? Well keep reading.
Aside from what you and I believe politically, here is the most important reason I supported Ron Paul… He tells the truth like it is plain and simple. 
When I looked at the candidates running, it was very clear to me that the only one up they’re speaking the truth was Paul. It was comical, because the lies, and the flipping and back door deals that all the other candidates had been caught in the middle of still didn’t seem to matter when it came to public opinion. It was as if people wanted to be lied to. That they would rather have a president that is going to tell people what they want to hear knowing full well that he was not going to actually follow through on any of the things that he said he was going to do.
When did telling the truth become less important in a presidential election then making you feel good?? What the fuck is that about??
When debating people about who I thought should be president, my biggest defense for Ron Paul was this: My guy tells the truth and has a track record of doing so, and your guy has a track record of lying which makes anything that he says a moot point. People would say the craziest shit back to me like “Isn’t Ron Paul a Communist,” or “That guy will never win because he is to truthful.” WHAT???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Further more, if you really want to know the truth, follow the money. That’s always seems to give the most evidence to whom you are dealing with. Citi Bank and Goldman Sachs were among two of the biggest financial contributors to both the Obama and Romney campaign. The big banks are smart; they play both sides and control all outcomes. As for Paul, his biggest campaign contributors were active and non-active duty military, and the grass-roots campaign to elect Ron Paul, basically, the middle class and the military.
Ok enough with the political rant. Why is it like this? Plain and simple fear. Americans are scared little children these days. My generation as I mentioned before is so entitled that they are sitting around waiting for the government to fix shit and asking for free stuff as so eloquently displayed in the Occupy movements which by the way did absolutely nothing when it was all said and done. As soon as the police showed up and beat the shit out of a couple of activists, the movement died and they all retreated in fear.
But isn’t that America for you these days. Not looking at the actual problem, and trying to put Band-Aids on epic failures like the economy, war in the Middle East, lack of jobs available for graduating college students? Are we done trying to save face acting like it’s all going to be ok? Are we done living in a delusional world where we continue to believe that America is still the best and that we can never do wrong? Isn’t it about time we attempt to solve the root of the problems instead of pointing fingers and blaming everyone else but ourselves?
If you are a part of the masses that thinks that “everything is ok,” or “that things are not as bad as they seem,” and that somehow, by osmosis, everything is going to work itself out, then I feel sorry for you. You don’t even know how bad this is going to get, and by continuing to stay ignorant to the fact is distancing yourself farther and farther away from the truth. Weather you like it or not, you are directly responsible for sealing our fate however it plays out.
When you become an American citizen, meaning if you are born in America or become a citizen, you enter in to a contract. The contract is the Constitution and Bill or Rights. Weather you choose to participate in the political process or abstain from it completely you are no less responsible for the decisions that we make as a country regardless how you voted or didn’t vote for that matter. You see, that is how a democracy works, were all in this together, regardless of race, religion, political affiliation or beliefs. If America goes to war and kills people, and I was vehemently opposed to that happening, I don’t get out of the responsibility of having to accept the consequences of my oppositions actions. In fact, I am just as responsible as much as the soldier who was doing the actual killing, and the politicians that sent him or her to war. The blood is on all of our hands, that’s how a democracy works, if you don’t like, then change it, you have the right and the power to do so.
So how about the attacks happening at home? The shooting in the Colorado theatre and elementary school on the east coast, Boston Marathon
Bombings, Christopher Dorner going rouge and shooting LAPD cops, 2013 has been a pretty rough year so far. The best we could do so far was to come up with a stricter gun law bill that just got defeated this week, another Band-Aid. By the way California, my home state has some of the strictest gun laws in the entire US and had the most gun deaths in 2012. FAIL. The topic of conversation of why these things even happened has never even entered that national media and that makes me furious!
At least when Al Qaeda plans some attacks, they are doing it because they are willing to die for what they believe in and no matter how crazy we Americans think that is, can you really ask yourself if called upon in the same way you would be willing to die for what you believe? Unlike Al Qaeda, the shootings in Colorado and Connecticut carried out by middle-aged white men who were both on Psychotropic medications were deaths were truly senseless, and if were going to call terrorism what it is we should stop being afraid of Al Qaeda, and be extremely afraid of EVERYONE who has ever 
had a psychological disorder or is currently on psychotropic medications which is now more than 15 million Americans last year according to the FDA. That means there are more than 15 million people who at the drop of a hat can have a psychotic snap, dress up like a comic book character and murder innocent people then blame it on mental illness and childhood trauma. Meanwhile our veterans coming back from 3 tours in Iraq who actually do have severe PTSD and cannot get the help they need because the VA is so understaffed and under funded manage to not open fire on innocent Americans.
As for Christopher Dorner, the LAPD cop who went on a rampage killing cops. Talk about a descent dude who was trying to do the right thing and just snapped one day. I will never try justifying the killing of innocent Americans, but when you back a man in to a corner and take away everything that meant anything to him to cover up some police corruption, I can’t say that I myself wouldn’t have done the same thing.
Meanwhile, bombs are going off at Public events and people are sending letters to the President and Senators with Ricin Poison, but despite all that, the Big Bang Theory has the top TV ratings in the country followed by NCAA Basketball Tournament and the Academy awards with over 17 million viewers. People are dying, the country is falling apart, and most people are more likely to eat McDonalds and watch the fucking Big Bang Theory than do something of any significance to help America out what so ever.
So How Can We Fix It?
If we can step away from all the events and the situations that are actually occurring, we can begin to look at the bigger picture. Instead of asking “how these things happened” lets started asking “why” did they happen, and more importantly how did get to be that way.
For Example.
-Why would a decorated LAPD cop and US Military reserve man go rogue and start killing fellow officers?
-Why would a U.S. Citizen send letters with poison trying to inflict harm on politicians?
-Why would a highly educated white man dress up as a joker and open fire in a movie theatre?
-Why would a mother knowingly leave access to a handgun to her middle-aged son who has a known psychological disorder?
We can go even deeper in to this line of questioning if you dare. Here are some of my favorite questions I like to ponder.
-If we have a military strong hold 10 times the size of the biggest militaries in the world, with bases all over the planet, and the best intelligence money can by, why can’t we protect Americans from attack back home in America?
-When we bailed out the big banks that were “to big to fail” how is that any different then giving welfare check to a mother with 4 illegitimate children?
-Why would Islamic people hate us and want to kill Americans anyway? Is it possible that we may have provoked this some how?
I can guarantee you that if you start looking for answers to these questions that your whole perspective will change. Turn off the news; it’s bullshit, not just FOX, or CNN, all of it. Watching the news is no different then watching Will and Grace, it’s a sitcom for your entertainment, not hard-hitting journalism. There are plenty of places that you can find information and below I am going to provide a list of topics, websites and alternative media sites that will help you get a good understanding of the real state of America and assist you in becoming knowledgeable on what’s really going on and more importantly how it got that way because you cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that got you there. Lets stop acting like scared children that are easily influenced and take some ownership in our country and the decisions we make. Lets do this starting right at home in our own communities. We are NOT victims unless we choose to become them.
If you like what I have said in this post, please spread the information around. If you hate what I have said and think I am a communist or something, then please re-post it all over and let people know how crazy you think I am 😉
Alternative Media Sites, here are a couple of my favorite:
http://truth-out.org
http://vice.com
http://www.projectcensored.org
http://www.socialjusticejournal.org
http://www.aljazeera.com
http://www.amnesty.org
Great Google Search Terms that will leave you being like WTF??? Just enter these keywords in to Google:
Mark Dice, Gulf of Tonkin, 9/11 Truth, The Tri Lateral Commission, Amero, Sirius Disclosure Project, False Flag, Ron Paul, Bilderberg Group, bin laden + cia, The Bohemian Grove, Illuminati….. That should be plenty to start your journey
Incredible Political Philosophers that helped shape how I think. Just google them and read the Wikipedia for cliff notes J
Jürgen Habermas
Michael Foucault
Dr. Michael Huspek
Noam Chomsky
Hannah Arendt
Herbert Marcuse
Thanks for your support, please repost and follow my BLOG 🙂
Heres one more link to check out http://lawlessamericaflorida.posterous.com/guns-or-do-psychotropic-drugs-kill-10397
-Steve
