Motivational speakers.

Life, lessons and coffee.
Recently I read a post about someone who did well at a motivational lecture. Now I have no idea what a motivational lecture is about, on the other hand my brother seems to be quite an expert on the subject as he has a Life Coach and attends motivational lectures. For a number of years I've gotten snippets of this wisdom and what he's learned. For example he says 10 affirmations when he gets up in the morning, positive thoughts about himself and what he's going to accomplish. I get Lectures about how successful he is and that he's the #2 man in the office. From there on, it's on and on, about what I can do to help myself. Then come the lessons on life. How to be a success and make a great deal of money, how to win friends and influence people (Andrew Carnegie wasn't it?). Then I ask him, "Are you prepared for a major earthquake in your front yard?" Considering he lives right on top of a major fault where oil has been pumped out of the ground for over a hundred years there has definitely been a change to the geologic structure of the fault zone where he lives. Come on Bro' WTF you gonna do when the Inglewood Fault rips? His response is the insurance company will take care of it. Puzzled I tried to explain to him that his insurance company isn't going to be there during the quake and asked what was he going to do in the immediate aftermath. I still have no answer. Nonetheless Bro goes on with life lessons that really have no meaning now that he refuses to accept the possibility of a major quake in his living room.
While living in the SF bay area I also met a lot of people who attended these uplifting motivational lectures on life the universe and everything. And like my bro most of them are eager to pass on what they've learned and show off the success it has brought. None of them will accept the fact that an 8ft tsunami entering San Francisco Bay at mean high tide would cover all except the very center of the island they live on.
Living on the San Andreas Fault, playing on the edge in the desert I too have learned life lessons. From the practical I've learned how to make a fire with only the materials at hand and how to extract water from plants (a waste of time). I too have a life coach she is a bit different than my brothers, Mother Nature. She has taught me the most important life lesson of all which is to know what to do when Mother walks up to you and and goes, "Tag! You're it!"

To my brother and those who would give life lessons. You only need one affirmation. "The world is magic." But there is no magic without coffee.