[01.28.08] Monday Night Recap
- January 28, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: [MNR]
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interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

• [CollegeDays] This past weekend, I went to sleep at around 4am and was up by around 7am…This used to be a daily occurrence in college. Now? I was passing out at 2 in the afternoon…man I’m old.
• [Equinox] After a bit of a hiatus (again), I’ve started my workout regime again. Wish me luck!
• [StateOfTheUnion] George Bush gave his State of the Union address today. As I watch, one sad thing is seeing the ovation and cheers by one side while the other stays seated. I know there are differences of opinions and varying stances by parties, but these are times where you dream of a unified nation…rebuke and challenges coming face-to-face, but speaking highly of the President to those in the public. ‘Holy Gossip’ as I was taught…
• [MissionsPresentation] As promised yesterday, I uploaded the missions presentation online. It’s just a glimpse of the faces out at the NavJeevan Center. If you guys have any interest in helping out or making donations for them or just to learn more about it, let me know or visit the NavJeevan website.

Here’s the presentation…

#7 (1 of 12)
- January 27, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: announcement, Personal
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interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

In my 28 in 2008, I’m 1/12th of the way of completing #7. The first book I bought/read was “Egonomics” by David Marcum and Steven Smith. And let me tell you, I really recommend this to anyone who is in a leadership position…be it in a company, ministry, relationship, whatever. It creates an opportunity for important self-reflection…understanding the limiting factors in our own lives (as well as understanding the internal issues that others could be limited by). And by knowing these things and acting wisely upon it, it will lead to more efficient progress in life.

Here are a handful of texts that jumped out at me for various reasons throughout the month:

• Curiosity is the active ingredient that drives exploration of ideas. Curiosity gives us permission and courage to test what we think, feel, and believe is true, reminding us we don’t know everything about anything.
• When competitive challenges consume us, combined with the general inaccuracy of our comparisons, we get sidetracked in three ways: we set goals we shouldn’t set to begin with, we set the bar higher than is reachable or realistic, or we get comfortable where we are at.
• The logic behind defensiveness doesn’t stack up. If we’re wrong, do we really want to defend a bad idea or position? If we’re right, will being defensive increase or decrease the strength of our position?
• When people move from sharing to showcasing, the smartest people are ignored – even when they’re needed the most.
• For most people, tradition holds that the opposite of excessive ego is humility, when in fact having too little ego is just as dangerous and unproductive as having too much.
• The closer we move to the extremes on humility’s equilibrium, the harder it is to make our way back to the center. The longer we stay off-center, the more comfortable we become off-center. If we don’t quickly recover, we’re more likely to develop an egotistical reflex in the way we work.
• Regardless of what others say or how they act, a genuine exchange of ideas isn’t possible until people are sure what’s being questioned is ideas, not identity.
• Veracity doesn’t differ from truth in its destination, but in action. Veracity implies the habitual pursuit of, and adherence to, truth. Both pursuit and adherence matter immensely, pursuit in arriving at truth, and adherence in making a change once truth is discovered.

Just recap a small glimpse of it was exciting again for me. Who would have thought this reading thing would be so informative and beneficial? Next on my reading list is unChristian…I’m excited!

Alright…3:15am…time to sleep! (I wasn’t up this late to blog, but making the 2007 NavJeevan Missions Team video for tomorrow [today's] service. If I get time, I’ll try to shrink and post and it on youTube or something)

Facebook
- January 24, 2008 - posted by chicago wedding photographer nate mathai

categories: Personal
tags:

interested in booking? Head over to the the contact page or shoot me an email to info@natemathai.com

I never joined Friendster. Nor did I join MySpace. I didn’t really see any benefit to it. They were social networks, but seemed more stalker-ish than I liked…and I still just can’t stand the layout of MySpace. But when Facebook came out, it came as a huge benefit. Initially I used it as a way to connect with classmates…if I missed an assignment or didn’t know when an exam was, I could easily find the people in my class and send them a message.
It’s continued to be a great resource for me to re-connect with friends from high school and old friends from across the country. It’s also a great way to reach my clients (past/present/future) and get notice to people of things going on. BUT…sometimes, it can get a bit out of control.

In it’s simplest form, Facebook is great at ‘shrinking the world’. I love things like that, because it makes us more efficient. But now, there are all the applications that that just get in the way. Normally I decline everything other than friend requests or group/event invites. But I decided to let a few just sit there for a bit and look at what I had (above image). “Friends for Sale”…”Heroes Ability”…”Zombies Invitation”…I mean, seriously? I’m sure some people have fun with this, but there are some things that just seem to not be worth the time. So just so everyone knows, I mean no disrespect by not playing the Oregon Trail with you, I just don’t have the time to play. Plus, I hate clutter, so I try to keep my page as clean as possible.

On a similar note, there are some useful/fun things that aren’t that crazy. One thing I like is the “Friend Wheel” as it visually shows the interconnectedness of all your friends…interesting thing to see. So what’s your favorite facebook app? Maybe I’ll try it out…