What one thing would you dare to dream, and do, if you knew you could not fail?

And what if you did fail … why should that stop you?

Someone asked me those questions several years ago.   Although I don’t remember the circumstances of the particular situation, I do know that when I deliberately ask those questions of myself now, they give me the freedom to be creative and imaginative!

I’ve learned that failure — while temporarily painful — is part of the learning, growing process.   And failure brings results.   It is written that Thomas Edison “failed” at least 1000 times in refining / perfecting the filament in an electric light bulb!   But rather than thinking of that as “failure”, Edison prided himself in creatively finding over 1000 ways that didn’t work!

Most of you have likely been around young children — whether your own, or those of your friends or relatives.   Think of this analogy — think about watching a young toddler learn to walk.   The child fell — “failed” — time and time again.   And occasionally you saw that child fall so hard that you thought (s)he would be afraid to get up and try again.   But toddlers do get back up!   And they do try again!   And they aren’t afraid!   Toddlers see grown-ups and other children walking better than themselves — and still, they do not give up!   They have the inate freedom to keep trying and failing … and trying and failing … and trying and failing … 
And in that freedom to fail, lies the key to their success … they eventually master walking!

As adults, you and I are the same way.   We will never be free to succeed … until we allow ourselves to be free to fail !
There is only one decent way to live this life, and that is to have the courage to not only dream your dream, but to LIVE your dream!
Take that first step!   Whatever it is.   And then take another step, and another — progress, stumble, fall down, learn, get up, try again …
Always keep confidently moving forward in the direction of your dream!

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Did you know that a rubberband, once it is stretched, never returns to its original dimensions?   Try it!   Get (2) new, same-size (diameter and elastic thickness) rubberbands.   Using both hands, stretch one of those rubberbands — horizontally, vertically, both directions, however you choose.   Then hold the stretched rubberband together with the unstretched new one.   See the difference?!

Did you know that the  human mind  is like that stretched rubberband?   Once your mind is stretched, it never returns to its original dimensions either !

Now, imagine yourself as the rubberband that you just stretched.   Challenge yourself over this next month to stretch  YOUR mind  in new dimensions!

Start slowly, or dive right in — there are no rules — make your  S-T-R-E-T-C-H  as simple or as complex as you desire.   Perhaps you’ve always been wanting to pick-up a new skill or craft or sport … or learn about a topic or field of study that’s totally unrelated to your work or current hobbies … or sit down and leisurely read … or write creatively … the possibilities are as limitless as your own imagination !

Just  S-T-R-E-T-C-H  yourself in new ways!   And above all else, enjoy the journey !

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I like numbers and statistics … but it’s what I would call an ‘acquired taste’!   Back in the day, I absolutely hated the stuff … in my senior year of high school, my “Statistics & Probability” class and the evil “CS 100″ about killed me.   “CS 100″ was a newly-created (and mandatory for graduation) computer programming class, which involved creating, running, and storing computer programs on a series of roughly 7″ x 3″ horizontal punch cards.   As I remember (shudder!), we used this large typewriter-like keypunch machine to manually punch lines of programming code onto the cards … 1 line of code per card.   We then ran our cards through a large IBM card-reader to see if our program “worked”!   And it really stunk huge when you wrote your code incorrectly, or mis-keyed characters into the machine … you had to re-do the whole mess, sometimes multiple times!   My classmates and I slogged our way through, with the collective motivation that “C’s get degrees” … and all the while wondered “what the heck are we ever going to need THIS stuff for anyway”!!!   But I digress … !

Over the years, I’ve grown to embrace numbers and data-trending … to understand and appreciate the implications of such … to look backwards at ‘fact’, to project forward anticipating ‘fortune’ … to make choices and hedge a desired outcome, to ‘right the ship’ again when necessary.   Numbers always tell a story … they’re like a language or a computer program:  what can appear to the eye and brain as random gibberish, can actually be interpreted and evaluated to present a ‘big picture’ or a microcosm of such.

Recently I was reading an I.T. news article (you see what happened to me?!), and I learned a new word … and a new number:  “zettabyte”.   What, might you ask, is a “zettabyte”?!   (more…)

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Or …  “A  Telling  Story”  … ??    Hmmm …

Have you ever found yourself simply wondering what someone’s “story” is?

There’s an Einstein Brothers deli not too far from work, and I often grab a quick “soup, bagel, and schmeer” take-out for lunch.   More often than not, each time I’m there, I see a 40-something man sitting at a table … arms crossed on top of the table, cup of coffee in front of him, sad empty eyes staring blankly and trance-like at his tabletop or the floor in front of him, sometimes a coat hanging on the back of his chair, disheveled hair but yet he’s always rather neatly dressed in what seems to be the same pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeve gray sweatshirt …    He doesn’t look like what you would typically call “destitute”, yet he does look … lost.

Lost.

Lost how?   By choice or by circumstance?   Questions run through my mind.   Where does he belong?   Does he have a place to go?   Is he part of the aftermath of the economic downturn in recent years … is he one of what the media refers to as “the new homeless”?   Is he escaping something or someone?   Is he a parent and waiting for one of the kids behind the counter to finish his/her shift?    Or does he simply go to Einstein’s for coffee every day?   His presence paints a silent picture.   What’s his “story”?

What’s your “story” … what’s my “story” … ?   Whether we’re aware of it or not … or even like it or not … each person tells a story that others read.   Take a look around you … who and what do you see?   The businessman sitting across the aisle in the gate area at the airport … the woman in the car alongside yours on the highway … the children with their faces and hands pressed against the sea aquarium glass wall … the senior citizen staring out the window in the library … the gardener watering plants at the nursery … the cashier at the grocery silently ringing-up your purchases … the storytellers and their stories are all around us, every day.   And you and I are storytellers as well.

Posted in "Suzanne Sez ... " (Short Editorial Zone!) /

Welcome to “Suzanne SEZ”, a  Short Editorial Zone … a little diversion for you … whatever might be going through my busy brain.   I’m a very perceptive person, tuned-in to the little things … and for as long as I can remember, I’ve never  allowed Life to simply pass me by.   I’m always consciously and subconsciously allowing my senses to observe and note the details of daily life … to find the extraordinary in the ordinary … eyes, ears, mind, heart, and soul wide open.

I can be a little off-the-beaten-path at times … well, sometimes even off the road, through a ditch, and up and over an embankment … !!   You get the idea … always an adventure waiting to happen, and never a dull moment!!

Soooo … stop by from time to time … read about my quirky observations!   I invite you to occasionally take a little trip with me here and never even leave your office or your smartphone.   Come on-board my Train Of Thought … buckle-up … and enjoy the ride!   Don’t worry about where we’re going … I don’t even know, and it’s immaterial anyway … that’s half the fun of it!   Just take a few minutes to ride along … and don’t forget to look out the Window … !!

Hopefully our journeys together here will inspire your own  observations … in the grand scheme of things, we’re only on this planet for a fleeting moment … Life is short … don’t let  IT pass YOU by!

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You’ve found our recently-launched company blog!!   Maybe you stumbled-upon us in an online search for a power quality term, or maybe someone pointed you in our direction.   Nonetheless, we’re glad to have you with us here … thanks for stopping by!

We’re a manufacturer of electrical power quality solutions for mission critical and life safety applications.

We developed this blog as a way to stay in-touch with you (our sales prospects, customers, manufacturer’s reps, electrical contractors / distributors, specifying engineers, etc), and we hope you’ll choose to stay in-touch with us and follow us by subscribing to our RSS feed (see the link on the right)!

We thought this blog would be a great way to share pertinent product and application info with you, as well as give you the opportunity to ask questions and interact with us!   We anticipate our blog being a valuable resource for you, and a real win-win for both of us.

Navigation is pretty straightforward … current posts are front-and-center, categories of archived posts are on the left, and a list of recent posts in reverse-chronological order are on the right.   Besides our own product and application news, we’ll also offer some real-world info from our subject-matter experts out in the field, some pertinent and helpful industry news … and from time to time we’ll even throw in some “not-so-technical stuff” just for a brain-break!

So again, welcome!!  And thanks for your interest in Controlled Power Company, and our electrical power solutions!

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