Yes, We Can Sprint In Life

We always heard, LET'S NOT SPRINT BECAUSE LIFE IS A MARATHON.  I just WON'T agree less with the fact that LIFE IS A MARATHON but I'll be the first to disagree if someone tells me that we CAN'T SPRINT?  C'mon dude.  Even in various organizations, you would hear SMALL SPRINTS in 'war rooms' either for operations and projects!!!

Let's try to be on the same page here.  So WHAT do SMALL SPRINTS really mean?  Simply put, it refers to the very popular best practices of breaking down huge or complex goals OR projects into shorter and more manageable 'time-boxed' periods a.k.a. SPRINTS to achieve material and tangible progress and keep that motivation going💧💧💧

So, the bigger question, HOW do we achieve BIG progress in small blocks of time called SPRINTS?  One expert was widely quoted like:  YOU DON'T NEED HOURS OF FREE TIME TO MAKE PROGRESS.  ALL YOU NEED IS 20 MINUTES OF FOCUSED EFFORT.  Oh YES, I vividly remember one time in the past WHEN my frenetic schedules really 'hostaged' me from dawn till sunset and in between, I had like a few blocks of 20 minutes to spare📌📌📌

So, WHAT I did, instead of waiting for that PERFECT block of time WHICH will never come, I decided to tackle one small piece of task in between those chunks of schedules.  Oh Oh, would you believe, those fragments of 20 minute-windows changed everything.  And I realized I DIDN'T need hours and hours BUT instead, all I needed was to put on the focus within the duration of those small-small windows.  And from that time on, I adopted that approach of squeezing those SMALL SPRINTS in between my frenetic schedules, and that approach really paid off💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  True, our lives are always BUSY and IF it's NOT busy, it's BUSIER and finding time to tackle meaningful work often feels like a battle against the clock.  Many productivity systems do demand hours of focus OR intricate planning WHICH can feel impractical in a whirlwind of meetings and all those distractions.  This explains WHY I embraced those 20-minute SPRINTS as I realized I could use those small 20-minute gaps in my schedule to chip away at big rocks to achieve progress.  That's WHY, let's agree, YES, WE CAN SPRINT IN LIFE😗😗😗

Moves On The Margins Matter Most

 

In life, there are tons and tons of MOVES to make.  There's that trail-blazing one, the architect-focused one, the strategic one, the tactical one and WHEN we're faced with risks, we'll be swift and quick with our mitigations.  HOW's the MOVES ON THE MARGIN?  Surely, that is a discussion LESS revisited as it is more often situated along the margins, those borders, those fringes WHICH are definitely NOT in the line of sight and more often, NOT even within our awareness📗📙📘

Most common dilemma is that, WHEN we're IN THE MARGINS, we tend to lose that focus as a result of that loss of momentum.  Compare that to those times WHEN we are on a juggernaut, on a winning streak.  Problem is, during those times WHEN we seem to be IN THE MARGINs, we tend to lose touch with the need to think of something that will MOVE THE NEEDLE.  So, WHEN we are overwhelmed and unfocused, that's WHEN we will miss that opportunity to be that NEEDLE MOVER as opposed to goals.  As goals are binary, we would achieve them and feel great OR w DON'T and end up feeling down OR even lousy.  YES, we WON'T always achieve the exact result we want💚💛💜

Swing over to be a NEEDLE MOVER and expect that the result and outcome of your pursuit would have that significant impact on your success.  YES, we can break down the result into actions and once we determine that we can MOVE ON THE MARGINs and maybe be a NEEDLE MOVER, we can create that action plan to achieve the tangible results💥💥💥

YES, a NEEDLE MOVER will often lead us to excitement and even build the momentum arising from the successful results.  Looking back, I realized that MOVES ON THE MARGINS by itself may seem quite a daring OR aggressive move even to the tenacious one.  And to complicate things, for those MOVES ON THE MARGINs, we would at times have been left with very little breathing room to even envision oneself to even become a NEEDLE MOVER.  SO HOW?  I would always counsel folks in dire straits to take ONE STEP AT A TIME.  Never be over-smart enough by being 'recklessly' aggressive because instead of mitigating a risk, such an abrasive move can even raise the severity level of the risk at hand😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  Many times, I've witnessed up front WHEN even before we get in the middle of dire straights, some would even simply throw the towel way too early, even before breaching the margins.  And by the time they reach those boundaries, it's all moot and academic because they have given up way too early.  Point of contention is that, in life, let us continue pushing hard even when things are getting tougher because, much as I hardly believe in magic or miracles, they do happen NOT out of sheer luck but it all boils down through persistence and patience😊😊😊

Be Wary Of Those 'UNSUBSCRIBE' Buttons & Links

 

NOT to scary you out BUT here's the latest creative scam trick.  HOLD YOUR BREATH.  Hitting that 'UNSUBSCRIBE' button OR link from an email list seems so simple and no-brainer.  Except that rarely does it ever fully work, if at all [WHEN in fact you could have been aware that you will UNSUBSCRIBE from that same list in a year.  I used to have 10,000+ mails undeleted in my mailbox and now it's down to 500+📗📙📘

Too bad that DOESN'T seem to be our biggest worry anymore.  WHAT with those convenient UNSUBSCRIBE buttons OR links.  BUT hey, top security experts advise us that hitting the leave-me-alone box is now a security risk as hackers are using that UNSUBSCRIBE button as a means to get you to click and even capture your personal information.  Reality is, these days, in addition to the flood of spam text messages we receive on a daily basis, your email inbox is likely filled with newsletters, promotions, and other messages that you DON'T even care to read OR perhaps DON'T know WHY you receive.  BUT you SHOULDN'T just start clicking those UNSUBSCRIBE links because it may open you up to certain cybersecurity risks💥💥💥

And while those email UNSUBSCRIBE links may seem innocuous, especially if you generally trust the sender, cybersecurity experts say that there are a number of ways in WHICH threat actors can leverage those links for malicious purposes.  Like responding to a SPAM text OR answering a SPAM call OR clicking that UNSUBSCRIBE link confirms that your email address is active, giving those cyber criminals an incentive to strike on you❌❌

Security researches showed that there were numerous [unreported] cases WHEREIN those UNSUBSCRIBE links can be 'hijacked' to send users to phising websites, redirecting them as exposed targets WHERE you end up being prompted to enter your credentials to complete the process [of UNSUBSCRIPTION].  Experts said that statiscally, 1 in every 600 clicks of email UNSUBSCRIBE links can land you on a malicious website, whoaaah😡😡😡

SO HOW?  Experts advise us to follow these:  In GMail, tap 'MORE'  then 'MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS' in your left-hand navigation bar [MENU---> MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS] and scroll to the sender.  Click UNSUBSCRIBE to the right of the number of emails sent recently.  Alternatively, UNSUBSCRIBE from individual emails by opening the message and clicking that unique UNSUBSCRIBE button embedded within.  In some cases, you will be redirected back to the sender's website to complete the process [and that's fine BUT ensure you're in a legit site] .  Be wary [and worried] of UNSUBSCRIBE scams!!!

When Things Go Sideways, DON'T Go With It!

 

There's this funny one-liner:  WHEN THINGS GO SIDEWAYS, DON'T GO WITH IT!  Of course we CAN'T take this literally because sometimes, WHEN THINGS GO SIDEWAYS, we're IN IT, LIKE we're onboard that vehicle that goes SIDEWAYS.  BUT the catch here is that some of us get carried away by such [almost] tragic circumstances such that we would often end up stuck and immediately raising the WHITE FLAG because some of us would always end up with that 'GAME OVER' attitude.  WHAT many of us would get mixed up is that life is NOT akin to competitive sports.  Life is NOT an NBA game.  It's neither a soccer game wherein when the buzzer sounds, it's really GAME OVER😡😡😡

True, we're living our life intentionally.  We know WHERE we're headed and WHAT really matters to us.  And we're actively cultivating WHAT we're best at.  And often, we're developing that strong personal foundation to support our life, both at home, at work and even in our other endeavors.  And EVEN WHEN life seems to be 'rocking' along, that DOESN'T mean that we're immune to OR separate from the world around us.  Truth is, we are certainly NOT immune and we're reminded of that from time to time, especially when we stumble down💚💛💜

Sometimes, it can seem that every day is filled with uncertainties, right from the time you wake up and WHEN sometimes you find fault because you ended up on the wrong side of the bed?  It's during those times WHEN meaningful self-care feels important.  WHEN we need those inner foundations we've built to keep us strong.  WHEN we hug the people close to us and also virtually, the ones we have NEVER even met.  WHEN we need to see and be the good.  YES, I remember wanting to write about this more than once before [those times WHEN the breaking news included terrorist attacks. natural calamities and those kind of stuff that would test our mettle to the hilt💥💥💥

I had supposedly typical uneventful days UNTIL one day, my laptop's hard drive crashed then followed by some 'foul-up' in the Window's auto-updates.  WHICH meant NOT just losing stuff but the bigger realization I had during those seemingly uneventful days is that I lost that momentum [WHEN I thought I was already then going on full throttle].  That kind of snags we hit, those are very typical triggers to throw us SIDEWAYS, and worse, to throw off our schedules and priorities😖😖😖

Our takeaway:  Allow me to piggy-back to that catchy one-liner:  WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, DON'T GO WITH THEM.  Having a life and work you love, or work towards that, DOESN'T mean that bad things WON'T happen in your world. It DOESN'T mean you WON'T get disrupted.  It DOESN'T mean that you WON'T lose your loved one OR get injured via some freak accident.  It DOESN'T mean you're immune to the sudden disappearance of your job, your very lifeline.  WHEN THINGS GO SIDEWAYS, DON'T GO WITH IT dude😖😖😖

Are There More Spurts Than Sparks In Life?

 

Are There More Spurts Than Sparks In Life?  True, we like SPURTS in life.  LIKE those rapid changes of growth of a baby.  LIKE a growing child WHO quickly learns the basic and rudiments during the early schooling.  BUT WHAT differentiates SPURTS from SPARKS is an immense sheet of an ocean.  So, WHILE everyone of us would welcome those SPURTS in life, NEVER SETTLE FOR LESS because those SPARKS in life would offer us multiple times more compared to those SPURTS, either in its material change OR impact to our life.  WHY?  Only those SPARKS can ignite and fuel your engine to go full throttle.  Just NEVER SETTLE FOR LESS because you deserve MORE THAN JUST SPURTS📗📙📘

Problem is, many of us [and that makes me guilty in the past as well] are so mesmerized with SPURTS such that WHEN SPURTS do happen, it's like the best thing to ever happen in life.  UNTIL it dissipates.  UNTIL it goes pfft.  UNTIL it evaporates in thin air.  UNTIL we then realize WHEN those SPURTS are more LIKE a dud more than anything near real💚💛💜

So WHAT'S your SPARK?  WHAT is something that makes you excited to get up in the morning and gives you energy?  WHATEVER your vision is, that is your SPARK?  True, today's Gen Alpha and Gen Beta may NOT know WHAT their SPARK is today and it may change many times over their lives BUT we can start our day to explore HOW generosity could SPARK meaning in one's day in life💦💦💦

Even as layment and non-psychologists, let's dissect with curiosity as to what differentiates SPARKS versus mere SPURTS?  WHAT is something that gets you up in the morning so eager to take on the day?  WHAT gives you that joy and seemingly bottomless energy?  And WHAT gives you that enormous hope and seemingly boundless optimism combined with zest and excitement all rolled into one💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  SPARKS will rarely, if at all, just happen instantly in a flip of a finger.  Instead, SPARKS need that to get developed and nurtured.  BUT more than anything else, we need to get that freedom to develop our respective SPARK for it to thrive.  Because, more than just those SPURTS, it is those SPARKS that will ignite our 6-cylinder engines for it to go full throttle.  So, would you SETTLE FOR LESS with just those intermittent, random and likely rare SPURTS?  Instead of going for the legitimate SPARKs in life?  So, ARE THERE MORE SPURTS THAN SPARKS IN LIFE???

Is Quitting A Smart Move?

 

IS QUITTING A SMART MOVE?  We've all heard it.  WINNERS NEVER QUIT.  QUITTERS NEVER WIN.  BUT WHAT if we are told right in our fact that, that is a brazen lie?  WHAT IF quitting ISN'T a sign of weakness OR failure BUT actually the SMARTEST move we can make?  I know it sounds absurd hearing these days.  Sadly, we have all been conditioned to think that persistence is everything, that success is simply the result of NEVER GIVING UP.  Seriously???

Recently, I stumbled across a research paper by psychologists claiming that sometimes, QUITTING is exactly WHAT we need to do.  In the past, I did get into these FORKED ROADS and it involved decisions WHETHER I should QUIT OR NOT.  And if there's one thing I learned the hard way in the past, QUITTING is NOT just another one of those cards, just another option.  Sometimes, it even surfaces as the BEST OPTION.  True, we've been taught, told and trained that TO QUIT IS TO LOSE💥💥💥

NOW, let's turn the tables around.  Have you ever stayed in a job OR a relationship OR an activity way way past its expiration date, just because you DIDN'T want to be labelled as a QUITTER?  That dilemma hit me once before I'll unashamedly admit I felt battered 'back and blue'. Admittedly, I was so damn stubborn during those times as I used to think and firmly believed that QUITTING was for people WHO are either weaklings OR that they simply lacked that grit [needed for the grind].  WHETHER it was sticking to a toxic job OR forcing myself to chase goals I no longer cared during those times, I still clung to the idea that if I just pushed harder, things will work out📌📌📌

BUT alas, it DIDN'T.  Instead, I found myself trapped and so miserable, not just mentally exhausted BUT I even so drained, zapped in fact.  And here's the scare:  The more I forced myself to persist, the 'LESS ALIVE' I felt.  Instead, I thought I was counting my days fast dwindling to my 'waning hours'.  It WASN'T until I finally gave myself that 'permission' to quit that everything started to change.  YES, that time [around 2 decades back], I decided to walk away from an activity that seemed 'sucking' the life out of me, and it reached a point WHERE my habits weren't serving me!!!

Our takeaway:  WHEN I did walk away from that activity, I thought that was one of the best decisions I ever made.  At that point, I realized that QUITTING was LIBERATING and definitely NOT defeating.  Because that meant making a conscious choice to stop investing my time, energy and emotions into something that WASN'T working anymore.  Moreover, I realized that I uncorked that unhidden power in knowing WHEN TO LET GO.  Yes, QUITTING CAN BE A SMART MOVE, dude😌😌😌

Does MORE Efforts Mean MORE Success?

 

Does MORE Efforts Mean MORE Success?  Easy answer, dude.  It's both a YES and a NO.  WHY?  Because there are one too many iterations that will prove us right, that MORE EFFORTS mean MORE SUCCESS.  We DON'T need to look far.  Just reflect on the success stories of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Paul Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.  If they have anything in common besides being the top billionaires till to date, it's the fact that they are the best concrete proofs that MORE EFFORTS mean MORE SUCCESS.  BUT how do we counter that proposition that LESS EFFORTS mean MORE SUCCESS as well?  YES and YES, there are tons of narratives that have proven LESS EFFORTS can still lead us to SUCCESS.  The argument here lies on an assumption that if you put in LESS EFFORTS in your endeavor, once you fail OR flop, WHEN you look back and analyze things, there are fewer things to peruse and that's efficiency per se📗📙📘

One too many studies and researches have been done to dissect the correlation of EFFORTS to SUCCESS and 75% of those results point to the same conclusion, that is, SUCCESS IS NOT DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO EFFORT.  The bottom-line here is the EFFORT itself.  Is your EFFORT moving the needle?  BTW, NOT every effort is justified.  In fact, exerting EFFORTS for the sake of exerting it is an exercise in futility and nothing less as SUCCESS is absolutely about WHAT you focus on and HOW effective you use your time to achieve those goals💚💛💜

Frankly and bluntly, just because you TRIED hard DOESN'T mean that that will work OR simply put, that you will succeed!@#$%?  Let's face it, millions of people have become too preoccupied with that 'grind' and the truth is, it is actually burning them out.  YES, by all means, you can TRY.  WHY NOT?  BUT please, let us pursue it with a better and preferably strategic approach.  BTW, EFFORT is just one component of our road to SUCCESS BUT it's NEVER the 'BE ALL'📌📌📌

Other than EFFORT, let us NOT overlook that the equation of SUCCESS encompasses various key variables like SKILL, EFFECTIVENESS, RESOURCES and even LUCK.  And to top it all, the appropriate 'matching' of all the above to the task at hand.  And people with low skills, NO matter HOW much effort they put in, will NOT be successful at accomplishing their goals beyond their competency💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  As outliers, let us ignore those lottery winners WHO became successful even with nary an effort.  On the other hand, many more people work way beyond 40 hours per week.  BUT WHAT's the narrative we will hear?  It's that they have little result to show, if at all.  In short, spending a hell lot of time doing something DOES NOT necessarily mean that you have accomplished anything useful.  YES, you can spend donkey hours on a single task only to realize that you are doing it all wrong.  Dude, NOT ALL EFFORT IS EQUAL.  And in the real world, nobody cares HOW much effort you put in.  Instead, many of our stakeholders care about the results.  That's WHY we would hear KPI's and OKR's, metrices that support the hypothesis that MORE EFFORTS does NOT necessarily mean MORE SUCCESS!!!

So, It Begins When YOU'RE FIRED!@#$%?

 

Kenny Atkinson, the NBA Coach of the Year for 2024-2025 admits that he NEEDED TO GET FIRED.  Frankly, in the NBA, the education of an NBA head coach DOESN'T begin with success.  The lessons start WHEN the same red carpet that welcomed you is pulled and the security code is NO longer valid at the practice facility and a search begins for your vacated job, the one you worked damn hard to get it for a lifetime [ONLY to be fired at the most unexpected timing].  YES, so it begins WHEN YOU'RE FIRED!@#$%?

So, YES, Coach Kenny Atkinson admitted that WHEN he got fired as head coach of NBA team Brooklyn Nets, he has 'GROWN A LOT'.  Admittedly, Coach Kenny said that after getting fired, he got a 'LITTLE TAKEN ABACK and HOW DO I TURN THIS AND GET BETTER'?  WHEN I was fired  [due to the corporate shakeup triggered when Dole owner David Murdock decided to buy back his controlling shares] from my plum I.T. role at Dole Food, I took it hard BUT I took it calmly.  HOW did I extricate myself out of it?  YES, that opened up new trailblazing career opportunities for me as it hastened my plans to migrate and try my luck in sunny Singapore😢😢😢

True, we all dread it.  WHO WOULD NOT?  Losing your job is the stuff of nightmares especially WHEN you NEVER expected it.  Everything from your finances to your personal life gets affected and WHO knows WHEN the next opportunity will come knocking on your door OR WHAT will it be, if at all.  BUT WHAT if that uncertainty and chaos that comes from getting laid off actually leads you in a direction that's even better than you could have imagined???

Let's revisit the recovery paths most of us [WHO GOT FIRED from their job] plotted quite successfully:

• That MOMENT OF PANIC - Obviously at that point in time, I felt helpless and panicked, NOT prepared to handle the darkest time in my life
• NEXT STEPS - As I did NOT have a backup plan, I had to go back to my drawing board and assess all my options and decide WHICH WAY TO GO
• BIG IDEA - Like a voice from the wilderness, that temptation to try my luck at sunny Singapore was knocking incessantly on my door.  I took that call

Our takeaway:  LESSONS LEARNT once I got fired were the best ever life lessons I have had.  That's WHEN I learned how useful was my networking.  That's WHEN I realized I [still] had the support structure. That's WHEN I looked within and take stock of things if I was still resilient enough, with that stamina and sanity to get over the hump.  YES, these life lessons come hard and sometimes it will hit you you hard lightning quick even before you realized it.  YES, dude, SOMETIMES IT BEGINS WHEN YOU'RE FIRED!@#$%?

Improving Is Just 'NOT ENUF'

 

YES, we all welcome IMPROVEMENTS.  WHO does NOT want it?  Because any IMPROVEMENT is always a step ahead of things.  BUT oooooooooooops, let those IMPROVEMENTS not become your 'mouse trap' please.  WHY?  Many of us [and that includes moi many times in the past] [wrongly] thought that IMPROVEMENTS is the ultimate achievement we can secure in life.  BUT let's deep-dive as to WHY IMPROVEMENTS may be most welcome BUT it should NEVER be the ultimate goal we should set because beyond IMPROVEMENTS, there is a hell lot more work to do, like it OR not📗📙📘

At the workplace, we have kind of 'institutionalized' IMPROVEMENTS, tagging it as CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS BUT please DON'T get us wrong here.  We DON'T settle for 'bread crumbs'.  NOT that we are belittling IMPROVEMENTS but per se, IMPROVEMENTS has a GIVEN  and that GIVEN is that the existing 'CORE' remains and instead, what's initiated are all the tweaks and fine-tuning with the end view of IMPROVING things💚💛💜

SO WHERE do we go from WHERE we are right now?  Experts advise us to assess HOW effective are things as it is at the moment.  And from there, define your 'DESIRED OUTCOME' because if you're on Point B after coming from Point A, does it mean, there is NO Point C to explore?  And that includes the probability of totally overhauling things to reach Point C???

Truth is, many IMPROVEMENT efforts we have witnessed in life have, at times, neglected to start with a clear understanding of the desired outcomes and instead focus on more easily observable process metrics.  WHILE focusing on efficiency is NOT a bad thing in and of itself, I'll be the first to argue that a greater emphasis on understanding outcomes is where opportunity arises😊😊😊

Our takeaway:  WHAT has been a recurring narrative many times told, heard and witnessed is that many of us get entranced [over and over again] by that cycle of IMPROVEMENTS.  Given that the rat race we are in, is getting tightening, frankly, IMPROVEMENTS are stop-gap measures BUT we should never end with it.  That's condoning mediocrity, to be frank.  So, dude, think about it, can we think OUT-OF-THE-BOX?  Can we reengineer a process even if it's working fine now but rooms for IMPROVEMENT should egg us to go for the juggernaut because IMPROVING IS JUST 'NOT ENUF' dude!!!

When Some 'KILLERS' Remain Scott-free!@#$%?

 

In all the judicial systems all over the world, most of the time, JUSTICE is fair enough.  BUT do we know that while the sentenced 'KILLERS' are indeed languishing in those jails, there's a breed of 'KILLERS' WHO remain scott-free till now?  Hold your breath dude.  Please DON'T take this so seriously because I'm NOT  literally referring to 'KILLERS' on the run BUT I'm referring to the dream 'KILLERS'.  The Dale Carnegie book titled "HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING" says that one of the reasons WHY we are full of worries is because we are trying to take control of WHAT is happening outside, that we tend to overthink allowing those negative thoughts to go inside us💜💛💚

Thing is, we are NOT living in day-tight compartments.  We AREN'T living in the present moment.  Instead, we seem to be living in the past 24 hours OR living in the next 24 hours.  Alas, rarely we live in WHAT lies in front of us.  I myself, I have my fair share of experiences with worries [and many of them are, admittedly, sort of 'horror stories'].  YES, it comes naturally and just pops into our minds. And usually, it might even keep us awake at night just by going over and over it in our heads.  We can rattle off LAZINESS, ANGER, FEAR, EGO, JEALOUSY and DOUBT.  Any of those WON'T do any good on us.  BUT WHAT's perplexing is WHY is it difficult to live in the present💥💥💥

Unfortunately, like a habit, WORRY has been evolving over time. Through many instances, we tend to continue worrying and that alone does solidify our habitual pattern[s] to our own selves.  LIKE a habit as well, being worried most of the time can be broken.  And that patterns ISN'T fixed.  And it might take some time to break it BUT again, it is breakable.  So, HOW can we break those habits as they form the very core of that vicious cycle😡😡😡

I admit though that I HAVEN'T read that book but alllow me to share my practical approaches WHICH I confidently feel helped me extricate out of it.  And my practical approach was as simple as A-B-C because WHAT I always strongly believe till now is to face my worries.  MUCH as I have my fair share of fears, instead of running away from those fears, I would confront myself with frank questions LIKE:  

• WHAT is the worst thing yet to happen?
• HOW would things be without this worry?

Our takeaway:  The realizations I came about were quite hard, to be honest.  LIKE things are NOT easy.  LIKE at times I admitted it's damn hard to break those fears and worries.  LIKE it will never be a one-off thing because it may haunt me back from time to time.  BUT here's the light of the tunnel [and BTW it's NOT a fast-speeding train], that is, sooner OR later, I'll be able to handle and manage it.  And just like anything in life, the more we feed and condition ourselves to worry about things, it will obey.  Our fix:  Let's take control of ourselves because NO one else will do it for us.  Oh YES.  WHAT a life WHEN SOME 'KILLERS' REMAIN SCOTT-FREE!@#$%?