Tom Heston

This is the first Ramadan that I have spent living in the Middle East, in the UAE. Prior to now, to me, Ramadan was a vague word, a concept I knew nothing about. Now, my friends are fasting and I’m joining in. My initial efforts were half-hearted because I didn’t know why people fasted, and didn’t know the spiritual meaning of the daily fast. But now I do, and it is a remarkable thing.

The fist thing I noticed was seeing signs all over saying “Ramadan Kareem.”  What? I was confused. So I asked my buddy, born and raised Muslim, what it meant. He told me that it indicates generosity. During Ramadan, we fast during the day to symbolize that we are giving up something in our life in order to help others. Then at night, when the daily fast is broken, we eat a light meal together with some friends (an Iftar) and discuss how we can help the less fortunate.

What is pretty amazing to someone who grew up on the other side of the planet, in a completely different culture, is that the entire country fasts during the day during Ramadan. In fact, if you are an apparently healthy adult and are seen eating or drinking during the day, someone could complain and call the police. I haven’t heard of the consequences of such a thing, but it is clearly the respectful and courteous thing to do to not eat or drink during the day in front of others, even if you happen to be a Christian or an atheist or follow some other religion.

During Christmas time, a common sermon I’ve heard over and over is how we all need to get the spirit back into Christmas, and it’s got me thinking about the spirit of Ramadan. It isn’t so much about the fast, but that we focus on doing something for the less fortunate (not just thinking about it, doing it). And during the Iftars, it isn’t just about a pleasant social time with friends, it’s a time to pool our ideas and generate an action plan for giving…. a plan that we WILL carry out.

By this self-imposed hunger, we are reminded about how we need to help those with less than us. We get determined not to cave in to the temptations of the physical world and instead strive to live a spiritual life of good deeds. It focuses our thoughts on what’s important.

Why bother turning over a new leaf? Even the wind or a small insect can do that. No, today I am going to turn over a new rock. It’s a bit more challenging, plus there are lots of cool things hiding underneath rocks. So starting today and into the near future at least, tomheston.com is going to provide you with the real me. No more simple links to articles I find interesting, and no more autoblogging (for this, visit my split image at http://www.tomheston.com/wp2 which I use to keep myself up-to-date). So here’s the latest… from me….

1. Expertise in 1 field does not guarantee expertise in another field. This is obvious, but lots of smart people who are successful in their chosen field lose sight of this fact due to arrogance and over-confidence.

2. Planning is not the same thing as acting. Action is what counts, hopefully well planned out. Actions without plans sometimes can be successful, because you are actually doing something. Plans without actions? Garbage.

3. Saying you will do something is not the same thing as actually doing it. Lots of people feel better when they say they will do something, like, “I’m going to visit my friend…” or “I’m going to lose weight this year” or similar. They feel good just having the goal, and to them, that’s enough. But simply having a goal doesn’t get the job done.

4. Excuses are no substitute for results.

5. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Where there’s no will, there’s an excuse.

I strive to be results-oriented and not necessarily process-oriented. Sometimes, a good process using a checklist can improve results. But the process isn’t the result. Results are what counts. I try to always remember, there are at least two (good) ways to skin a cat (sorry you cat lovers, I like dogs).

Finally, a quote from John Adams:  “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”