David Michael Bruno

What will you be known for?

Sometimes the “What will you be known for?” question irks me. Like there is going to be one thing about me that everyone who shares at my funeral will say.
“Dave was the guy who loved a good joke!”
Well, of course I love a good joke. And I love telling good jokes, which, I might add, happens all the time. It’s uncanny. Even so, is humor my “What will you be known for?” attribute?
Let it be known that I’d like to be known for, not only how funny I am, but also how wise I am. I’m not interested in being the funniest person alive. I’m not capable of being the smartest. I just want to be remembered as joyful and thoughtful. And compassionate. and creative. And proactive. And restful. And all sorts of things.

Anyway, I was giving some thought to all this on my compute home from work. I was thinking about the obvious. We will never be known for anything worth being known for if we allow inconsequential things take up most of our attention.

I asked my oldest daughter, who has been riding horses for years now, “Would you rather have $10,000 or a horse?”
“Does the horse come with tack, food, and medical supplies?”
“No, you have to pay for that. You just get either ten grand or a horse.”
She said she’d take the money, save it, get a job to earn more, and prepare for a time when she could really afford to own a horse. This made me feel all sweet inside. Rightfully so. She’s a great kid!
But the nutty thing is that, if instead of buying her countless Christmas and birthday gifts and odds and ends throughout the years (most of all of which she no longer has or no longer wants) we simply tucked the money away, she’d be able to afford a horse by now.
There is, of course, value in buying gifts. I’m not advocating a lifestyle of everyday stodginess in pursuit of someday happiness. Sometimes, though, we know the things we’d like to be known for. But we get ourselves distracted by things and activities of lesser concern. It’s not worth it.
As best as I can tell, there is only one surefire means to avoid whiling away life on things and activities you don’t want to be known for: sacrifice.

3 Consumer Justifications That End In Crap

There are at least three excuses those of us with too much stuff use to justify our excess.

It would be wasteful to get rid of it. Uh, no. It was wasteful to get it in the first place. Now it’s just plain stupid to allow it to keep cluttering up your life. What’s wasteful is the mental and physical space that the stuff you don’t need and don’t even want is taking up. Stop wasting your life. Get rid of the crap.

I might need it some day. The moment this justification passes your lips you know it’s not true. Seriously. Here, try this experiment. Go into your garage, find that box you haven’t opened in a decade, dig inside of it, and pull out that graphing calculator. Now go stand in front of a mirror and, speaking out loud, convince yourself that you might need it some day. Liar, liar, pants on fire. Get rid of the crap.

It has sentimental value. Then why did you bury it in the closet? Besides, you don’t even like the uncle who gave it to you. The nostalgia you’re really missing out on are all the good times you could be having if you weren’t constantly reshuffling stuff inside your garage and closets. Get rid of the crap.

One thing is for sure. If you use these three justifications to keep loads of stuff, at the end of your days you are going to have, well, loads of stuff. Do you want the end to be filled with crap? Purge the things that are messing up your house and dominating your material and spiritual space. Then go live a joyful life that blesses others.

First Hutchmoot Reaction - Ron Block

I have this rule of thumb that goes like this. Every honorable man should have at least a minor crush on Alison Krauss and should flat-out love Union Station. Therefore, this past weekend I was all aswoon to be in the presence of Ron Block at Hutchmoot in Nashville.

Stuffed in the Usual Places

Have you ever noticed that it’s really hard to realize your dreams? But, have you also taken note of how easy it is to buy stuff that supposedly will help you fulfill your dreams?

What I have observed is this. When I get a crazy dream and pursue it, though I rarely see it through (dreams are very hard to realize), nevertheless the act of going after it leads me to new, wonderful, unexpected opportunities. By contrast, when I buy something to help me fulfill a dream, I still rarely see it through, but I end up in the same old, dull, predictable places. Like the return line at Costco or Target.

It’s better, I think, to dream and get lost in a new direction than to shop and return to the same uninspiring line.

To My Friend Who Wants A Luxury Car

A friend of mine is considering buying a luxury car. We've chatted about it a few times and I think she knows that though I would never scorn her for following through on a luxury car purchase nevertheless I don't think it is a good idea. The other day she joked that I need to write a blog post to tell her why she shouldn't buy a luxury car. So I am.

I was a little surprised by the response of many followers of the 100 Thing Challenge on Facebook. When I put this question to them, most who responded thought my friend should go for it...as long as the car is racy and has a manual transmission.

I have this other friend who is so fun loving. We call her "Captain Fun Zone!" Me, by comparison, could be labeled "Admiral Grumpy Pants." So even though I like race cars (which, by the way, usually don't have manual transmissions anymore) and occasionally think buying stuff is enjoyable, even so, I still think it's not a good idea to buy a luxury car. And here's why.

If you don't stop yourself, no one will. Not even 100 Thing Challenge followers! Ever heard of lemmings?

If you are thinking about buying a luxury car or ever have bought a luxury car then think about this: Did the decision consume your mind for months and months? Of course it did. Now guess why you couldn't stop thinking about it.

Luxury car manufacturers brag about all the wrong things. "Our leather seats are made of veal." "Our cars cost more than all the other cars in the world." "Only the most pompous, most promiscuous, most powerfully unethical people drive our status symbol." Do you really want to drive around day in and day out announcing to the world that you buy into this kind of "luxury" and "status" thinking? You're way better than that.

Most important point of all: If you're looking to be satisfied by your car purchase, you are guaranteed to fail. No car can satisfy. Period. (This is different than being satisfied with car, which, of course, is totally possible.)

So what do I recommend for car purchases? These aren't hard fast rules, but I think they can help:

Purchase at least 1-2 models down. Thinking of a mid-level Audi? Buy nothing more fancy than a VW Jetta. Wanna Acura? Don't spend a penny more than a Honda. Even consider 3 or 4 models down. Live a life that is awesome no matter what car you drive. Run like the wind away from a life that is "better" if you drive a certain kind of car; that is a lame kind of life.

Only allow yourself a choice between 2-3 models. Period. Tomorrow, if I wanted to, I could take the day off of work and go buy any one of 50 different cars. Probably 75 different models are within my price range. Narrow the choices down immediately. Then you will not have to worry if choice 42 is more like your personality than choice 27. It's a car for crying out loud! Just pick a couple you might buy and then ignore all the advertisements.

If you're buying a car because you're dissatisfied with your current car, transfer that dissatisfaction to something else first. Get mad at your cat. Seriously. Cats are so friggin annoying. Go ahead and blame the cat for a week or two. You'll find that there are way more important things to be unhappy about than the car you're driving. Global poverty. How much money you make. How few books you read. Cats. The LeBron James Show. Your diet. The estranged relationships you have with family. Seriously? Are you really spending all this energy griping about the car you drive? Come on.

Just buy the darn car. (I'm preaching to myself here. Once I took like 6 months to buy a used Nissan Sentra. I drove my wife insane looking at every used car in the state of Illinois.) Are you spending 5, maybe 10, hours a week thinking about that car? Good grief! Buy the car and use the spare time to plant a garden. Paint the inside of your house. Moonlight and make some extra money. But for the love of Pete, just buy the car and move on with life.

OK then. Rant over. :-)