My Dream car used to be a ford Taurus; now it is a Honda Accord

I am afraid I am going to die or get crippled in a car wreck

I’ve never had a traffic violation

In Math class (11^th grade) my friend told me it was national no T.V. week. Subsequently, we decided that T.V. was worthless and we made a pact to not watch T.V. It lasted for over a year and my life has been better because of it.

I really liked the movie “The Incredibles”- Dash was my favorite

I can’t decide whether I would classify myself as decisive or not; seriously

I spend 95% of my disposable thoughts thinking about the future

3 Things make me cry – thoughts about my mission, love for and from my family, and movies like “Bolt”

My adventures:  Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Thailand, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Canada.

I did an Olympic triathlon, I thought I was going to die until I finished the mile swim

I like to win, but contrary to popular belief I don’t mind losing; I’d rather play and lose than not play

I don’t like to go to sleep

I enjoy Ballroom dancing and have danced since I was 8 years old

I once grew my hair out past my chin

One winter during recess, I walked up and asked the teacher if we could kick snow, because they were adamant about us not throwing snowballs. She replied “yes,” so I proceeded to the biggest bully in the school and I made a snowball using my feet and I maneuvered it to be on top of my shoe, and I kicked it at this kid and it hit his face. He picked up and threw a snowball at me. I went and told the teacher and he got in big trouble. I still have some regret about doing that.

I love being married

17 is my favorite number

Right before I moved out of the singles ward I was assigned a new home teacher. He shared the quote below and it  what I needed to hear and I really appreciated my home teacher at that time. He read this from the book “Jesus the Christ” from James E. Talmage. I have always wondered how one can pray always like the scriptures teach, and this has given me a little more insight on what that means and how one might do that.

“It is well to know that prayer is not compounded of words, words that may fail to express what one desires to say, words that so often cloak inconsistencies, words that may have no deeper source than the physical organs of speech, words that may be spoken to impress mortal ears. The dumb may pray, and that too with the eloquence that prevails in heaven. Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul, of supplication based on the realization of need, of contrition and pure desire. If there lives a man who has never really prayed, that man is a being apart from the order of the divine in human nature, a stranger in the family of God’s children. Prayer is for the uplifting of the suppliant. God without our prayers would be God; but we without prayer cannot be admitted to the kingdom of God. So did Christ instruct: ‘Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.’”

Michelle and I went on a quick road trip up to Portland for Memorial day. Here are a few of the things that we did.

Michelle Linton at Silver Falls

Mike Linton standing behind waterfall

I am standing in the middle on the right.

Mt. Hood on drive back from Silver Falls

Portland Temple Mike and Michelle

Haystack Rock

Japanese Zen Garden

The sign reads “do not pass snowplows on the right.” As I read that a lot of thoughts went through my head and they were not limited to; “What a stupid sign,” “Who would ever do that,” I could picture some idiot being pummeled by the snow as they attempted it, but for there to be a sign, somebody must have,  more than a few people must have actually tried and of course failed. I saw in my mind several cars and snowplows driving through a snowstorm going over this Oregon mountain (we had just passed Deadman’s Pass, and yes I did slow down after seeing that sign), and I saw what it must have looked like to the Snowplow driver- almost white out conditions all around and 2-5 inches of snow piled up on the road in front of him, he is going about 30-40 MPH through the long and winding road clearing the snow away from the left lane in hopes that the road will be safer for the other cars after he does his job, all the snow gets pushed off into the right lane either for a snowplow in the right lane behind him, or for him to clear the next time he comes down that road. Then all of a sudden he sees in his right rear view mirror some very impatient driver in a small car attempting to pass him on the right. The snowplow driver has no choice but to drive on and as the car attempts to pass he gets pummeled by the heavy snow being plowed from the left lane, the car gets pushed off the road and death or serious injury is the probable result. Traffic is held up for hours and rescue crews come and the media reports on the accident and the next thing you know, there is a meeting to discuss how to make the roads safer and a committee gets together and decides that they need to make  3 permanent signs for this dangerous road that read “DO NOT PASS SNOWPLOWS ON THE RIGHT”- I think that they could just make a sign that says- “Don’t be stupid”, but that really isn’t specific enough.

I actually learned some lessons from this sign. It was a long drive and I had more than a few hours to reflect on the ridiculousness of the sign, but how in life sometimes we need signs like that, signs that aren’t for all of us, but signs for the few, yet how often we are the “few” that need them.

What can we learn from this sign? I think there are a few lessons we can learn from this

-          We shouldn’t try to pass or go around those that are in front of us clearing away the obstacles

-          It is better to wait and be safe than to hurry and put yourself in danger (i.e.  Speaking when angry, rushing through rush hour traffic,  etc.)

-          Not everybody “gets it” (what is obvious for some people is not obvious for others), and we sometimes need to be taught, told, and reminded of basic things

-          You don’t always have to understand the “why” to benefit from wise counsel

-          We shouldn’t dismiss simple rules because of their simplicity

In life there are obstacles that we encounter and some of them are on dangerous, steep, and slippery roads. Almost all of the time when we can’t get through them on our own there is help- whether it be a friend or family member or a teacher or a role model that clears away the obstacles or makes a way for us not to be pummeled by them. No matter what the obstacle (drugs, immorality, addictions, etc.) there are people, programs, prophets and angels plowing the way for us to not be absolutely pummeled by those forces.  So we shouldn’t try to pass or go around those that are in front of us clearing away the obstacles.

We often need reminders or counsel from parents, teachers, and/or mentors that point out the things that are obvious. The basics are what we are reminded of day in and day out. Not because they aren’t common sense, but because despite the obvious right decision we still mess up and need reminders.

I think that decisions that are slow and thought out are seldom wrong. I am a person that likes to rush into things and make decisions quickly and get going in some direction and then correct course on the way. Sometimes, decisions need to be made quickly and decisively, but most the time and especially on the big decisions we can wait a little longer and think through things before we commit to something, and the wise people in my life are people who make big decisions deliberately, and aren’t forced or persuaded to act more quickly before they feel comfortable with a decision. So I think it is better to wait and be safe than to hurry and put yourself in danger.

So many more thoughts, but so little time to figure out how to write them.

Any other principles we can learn from this sign?

A word of encouragement during (or right after) a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.
- Anonymous

I couple of years ago I decided to run an Olympic triathlon, and so in preparation I signed up to run a few sprint triathlons. My training early on consisted of thinking about how unprepared I was for 6 days out of the week and actually running or swimming one or two days each week. I didn’t tell anybody that I would be running the TELOS Tri (sprint) and when I arrived by myself with my brother’s bike, I didn’t know what to expect. It was such a cold day that they decided to reverse the normal order (Swim, Bike, Run) to be Run, Bike, Swim. It changed from going from my weakest to strongest events to be the opposite (my strongest to weakest). If I was wiser, I would have given up. I ran 3.1 miles, I biked 12, and then the (300 or 400 M ) swim and pain began. After the first lap, I quickly realized why the swim is supposed to be first- there are fewer deaths of people drowning because of exhaustion. I thought I was going to die. My energy was all spent on the less hazardous events of biking and running and I couldn’t get it out of my mind that “if you get tired running or biking, you can stop or pass out and still live, not so easy to do when you are in the middle of a long square pool with people splashing water on you as they painlessly pass your patheticness. I don’t remember most of the thoughts that went through my mind, but I remember finally reaching the edge of the pool after my last lap and it taking me an extra minute or two to muster the strength to climb out of the pool and as I hobbled toward my towel, I couldn’t contain my stomach and the little food and a lot of pool water that was in there came spewing out. After the second time, I was so embarrassed and discouraged, I grabbed my towel and went straight to my car, head hanging low, body beaten, stomach still struggling, and so so sad. It was at that time that I realized how important it was to me to have received the steady and frequent support supplied by my parents throughout my life (seriously, they never missed an event/race/performance/concert). I called my mom after that to tell her that I could barely finish the sprint tri- and I tried to convince her that if I did an Olympic tri, I would surely die. She then gave me some words of encouragement and told me that I could do it and that I would not die. I believed her and it was her words of encouragement that stopped me from giving up on accomplishing my first (and maybe last) Olympic Triathlon.

Mike Linton- testing out wet suit in preparation for first open water swim.

Here are the things I learned from the Larry H Miller autobiography that was just published. Some things are direct quotes and others are lessons I indirectly learned from reading about his life. I really enjoyed the book and the honesty of the both Larry H. Miller and his wife Gail.

- Intensity and focus will make reality out of dreams
- The more wealthy you are the more service oriented you need to be
- A healthy and happy person will enjoy wealth longer
- Happiness is found for the rich the same way it is for the poor (family and non family relationships, service, hard work)
- You can get more done by having a routine
- I think frugality is an ingredient for happiness (the richer man then in some respects must fight harder for happiness than the poorer man)
- To diffuse an argument- ask a lot of questions, listen, then repair.
- Make a habit of writing down and digesting life’s lessons. You will progress faster that way
- Stop and ponder
- Money will change you unless you work at it not changing you
- Keep promises (as an employer) to your employees
- The turning points in Larry H Millers life were when he married Gail
and when he started paying tithing
- It takes big risks to achieve big things.
- As people approach death they dwell on relationships not their
possessions
- After difficulty or contention with someone it is important to go to great lengths to reach out and make things right.
- Write letters to your friends and family
- Learn how to delegate
- If possible don’t go into personal debt. Stay out of it, when you get out.
- “Don’t change your standard of living as your income increases”
- If you love possessions, you will be made captive by them.
- It is important to sit back a few times a year and wonder what it all is for?
- Learn how to keep the passion
- Go to work everyday and do what needs to be done
- “Life is way too short to spend it all at work” – Gail Miller
- It is usually the challenges that help us grow the most

Larry H Miller’s Business Suggestions
- “Don’t expand too fast, protect the base”
- In negotiations- go early, inspect value, curb excess desire, learn what other wants and don’t assume, do whole deals, think on your feet, negotiate for self.
- Ask lots of questions
- “Even more important than the will to win is the will to prepare to win.”
- “You don’t have to blow out another’s candle to let your own shine”
- “Don’t make a bad deal just to make a deal”
- “Keep money in perspective”
- Be patient
- “Play to your own strengths”
- “Trust your instincts”
- “Manage business at the level of business you are actually doing; not at the level you wish you were doing”
- “Learn not to confuse the elements of motion and progress. Progress always requires motion, but motion isn’t always progress.
- “Accomplish more by not caring who gets the credit”
- “If you want extraordinary results, you must put in extraordinary effort.”
- “Don’t assume people see problems as clearly as you do.”
- “Let the fires burn all around you and fix one problem at a time.”
- “You can’t do it if you aren’t there”
- Create a reputation of doing what you say you’ll do
- “In negotiations try to give the other person what he wants”