Back in the Day…

Step away from the pack.

When we started Cantankerous Old Coots, there were just two of us- Justin, the wild-eyed dreamer and stay at home Dad and Ralph- the over the hill dreamer and frustrated retiree. As we stumbled through the launch and developed our plans for the blog, our first thought was that Cantankerous Old Coots would be a beacon in a dull, conformist world. We wanted to create a landmark of contrarian thinking and inspiration for sheep everywhere who were lost on the road of life.

We had both suffered from following the crowd and trying to please everybody and were now attempting to recover our Independence and joie de vivre by letting it all hang out. We were repelled by the conformist, non-conformism of today’s youth where letting it all hang out seemed to mean letting your boxers show by wearing your jeans under your crotch. We were bored by the look alike cars and mindless music, the inanity of modern humor and the insecurity causing modern man to seek status by wearing clothes with designer names written on them like a billboard.

We didn’t believe we were alone… 

We believed that we weren’t the only people bugged by these developments. So we began Cantankerous Old Coots to tell it like we saw it. We hoped that this would be the start of a community. Next we decided to help people who might feel some anxiety about the direction the world was heading but not yet ready to tell their friends about their feelings. We wanted to find intelligent, insightful people who were beginning to push out of the kool-aid stupor of modern life but still uncomfortable about speaking out. For these folks we established Cantankerous Old Coots University (COCU) which consisted of lessons devoted to encouraging one aspect of Cantankerousity. To date, 21 of these lessons are available for readers of Cantankerous Old Coots. A few of these lessons have been quite popular. Others languish in relative obscurity in the archives of Cantankerous Old Coots.

It is time for that to change.

Today I would like to review three of those Coot’s Lessons as a service to newer readers who may have missed their initial publication. Today’s lessons might be categorized as emphasizing urgency as an important quality of cantankerousity. Taking action with immediacy and vigor is basic to the cantankerous mind and lifestyle. So here are the three review lessons for today.

 Take Coot’s Lesson 1 – Let it out.

“Maybe your mother taught you to be nice. She may have told you “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Well, we say forget what your mother said. How far has your mother’s advice got you anyway. We say, if you feel it, then let it out.. “

Then review Coot’s Lesson 4 – Say it when you feel it.

“Are you one of those people who worry about being “politically correct”?  Do you always think out what ‘you want to say before you say it?  Do you get home later and say to yourself ‘I should have said….’ “

Finally follow Coot’s Lesson 7 -Coot’s Don’t Dither

“..decisiveness is more important than being right. Others may worry about making the right decision. Cantankerous Old Coots know that getting all the facts and weighing the pros and cons is less important than action. “

So take a moment today and review these three Coot’s Lessons and use them in your life. Don’t get hung up on doing the ‘right’ thing. You know the right thing already. You just aren’t willing to take the heat for acting on it. Maybe you need more inspiration. If so Ginger Baker may be your man.