By now, you may have noticed that a lot of the things that I tend to talk about are direct quotes from movies, books or TV or are things that I think about those things. You may be wondering why. Don't I have any original thoughts? Can't I come up with my own ideas?
Wise King Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun. As far as inventions and creature comforts i disagree. Science is coming up with new things that we never had before all the time. But when it comes to traditions and philosophy, you know, what we think, how we think it and how we choose to run our lives, he was right on the money.
Right and wrong. Morals and ethics. Ways that one can behave. There are millions of them and they don't change over time. All there is is all there ever was or ever will be. Although it may not seem like it sometimes, all things are reflections of other things. And in every little thing is at least one lesson we can learn about life. It may be how to improve ourselves or our lives or things we can suggest to others, but everything no matter how small is important.
When I was in school, I was never a big fan of history because I didn't care about what happened in the past. I just cared about my future. I learned with time that the events of the past are important to know, if we don't want to be doomed to repeat them. It still isn't really important to me exactly when certain events happened just that I have a general idea of which happened before what and what caused those events. Knowing what happened isn't important if you don't know why it happened.
The world is full of a great many bad things such as, ignorance, hate, depression, angst, pain, war, terror, destruction, disease, famine and starvation to name a few. It is not all that hard to get swallowed up by the negatives and washed away into that sea of madness.
I know that focusing on the bad leads down that long dark spiral and that it is a lot harder to climb back out than it is to just keep moving up from where I am. So I look for tools of harmony and balance in everything I do. I am constantly on the look out for some new way to do things that is better than what I have done before. I endeavor to learn and experience and grow. And because it is what I am looking for, it is what I find. Everywhere all around me I find examples of how to live better and do better. Most importantly I learn what does and doesn't work in safe environments.
From role-playing games I get to create characters that have some of the same impulses that I do and see how those impulses play out without the harsh consequences of the real world. I get to be people that I might have been if I had made different life choices. In ccg's I get to learn more about strategy and the psychology behind meta-gaming as well as politics and social dynamics.
Through books, movies, comics, blog posts and TV I get to see things from other people's perspectives. I get to see into the minds of the writers to understand the way they think as well as the way their characters think. I get to put myself into the shoes of each character and figure out what I would do in their situations and see how it differs from what the writer has them do or what the writer says.. I can reflect on the differences and learn why there are discrepancies between our points of view. I learn new ways to see old things or better ways of describing things that I have always said and done.
The world is not just a place of darkness. It is a place of light as well.There are just as many positive things as there are negative. Look for the love and the light and you will find it.
I believe that each person should live their life by example. What this means is that you should say and do the things that you believe people should say and do. So when I quote someone else or share with you my thoughts on something that someone else has said or done these are things that I have taken into my life and made my own. I am suggesting that you do the same, but only if you think those things will work for you also.
Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Me vs Us versus Them
In this world, we are taught at a young age that it is a man eat man, dog eat dog, everyone for himself kind of situation. We are instructed to look out for number one and not worry too much about anyone else. We are told you have to look out for yourself because nobody else will. And let's face it, who cares about anyone else as long as you get yours, right?
This seems like a sound strategy, at first, as long as you don't really think about it. But once you do, you will realize that it can't really work for everyone. Sure, it works for some but it can't work for everyone. The only people who are going to get what they want are the ones that are willing to beat down or deprive others, those willing to force their way through and take from others so that they can have what they want.
Some examples of the extremes of this type of thinking being the general way of life are places like Somalia and some of the Middle East. You have a few bullies and bad boys, those that are strong or powerful enough to live at the top of the food chain and everyone else suffers. Even most of those in the middle and bottom rungs of society are still only looking out for themselves. They just don't have the will or the means to get where they want to be.
It is not just those places where that mentality really doesn't work though. It really doesn't work anywhere. Why should anyone ever be willing to give you what you want if you aren't going to give them something in return? If you are not looking out for their interests there is no reason for them to look out for yours.
Once you start looking out for other people's interests as well as your own, things start to change a bit. Then it is no longer you against the world. You become part of a team and it is then us against the world. While there are more concerns with more people, there is more power as well. More people can do more work faster and handle more obstacles than each individual alone could ever hope to do. Sure you will need to make concessions and compromises. But once others see that you are willing to do so, most of the time, they will as well.
Besides, the word us brings with it a kind of tingly warm and fuzzy feeling. You are no longer alone in looking out for your best interests. And that, in and of itself is a very rewarding feeling.
Us vs Them is better than Me vs the World. But, it still bears with it many of the same problems, just on a larger scale. In the Us vs Them scenario, it is your whole group vs the people and problems that you encounter that are not a part of "us" Because there are more of you, it is easier to force your way through and to simply push people and obstacles aside. As you do this though, you make enemies of "them". Then "they" are more likely to put up resistance with each further encounter. Sometimes this resistance will hardly even be noticeable. Other times it may threaten to destroy all that you have worked so hard to obtain.
The only really viable way to prevent this is to always or at least whenever possible create scenarios that work for all involved so that everyone gets what they want or at least the closest reasonable proximity.
You may not all live in the same place or have exactly the same goals, but if you are all looking out for each other each willing to make compromises for the other, there is no reason not to work together to make sure you all get what you want.
This way, each time, you fold more and more people into the us category, until you run out of people opposed to you. As opposition disappears and your goals become easier to achieve, Us vs Them will gradually work itself into We vs Nobody.
And We vs Nobody truly is the best system.
This seems like a sound strategy, at first, as long as you don't really think about it. But once you do, you will realize that it can't really work for everyone. Sure, it works for some but it can't work for everyone. The only people who are going to get what they want are the ones that are willing to beat down or deprive others, those willing to force their way through and take from others so that they can have what they want.
Some examples of the extremes of this type of thinking being the general way of life are places like Somalia and some of the Middle East. You have a few bullies and bad boys, those that are strong or powerful enough to live at the top of the food chain and everyone else suffers. Even most of those in the middle and bottom rungs of society are still only looking out for themselves. They just don't have the will or the means to get where they want to be.
It is not just those places where that mentality really doesn't work though. It really doesn't work anywhere. Why should anyone ever be willing to give you what you want if you aren't going to give them something in return? If you are not looking out for their interests there is no reason for them to look out for yours.
Once you start looking out for other people's interests as well as your own, things start to change a bit. Then it is no longer you against the world. You become part of a team and it is then us against the world. While there are more concerns with more people, there is more power as well. More people can do more work faster and handle more obstacles than each individual alone could ever hope to do. Sure you will need to make concessions and compromises. But once others see that you are willing to do so, most of the time, they will as well.
Besides, the word us brings with it a kind of tingly warm and fuzzy feeling. You are no longer alone in looking out for your best interests. And that, in and of itself is a very rewarding feeling.
Us vs Them is better than Me vs the World. But, it still bears with it many of the same problems, just on a larger scale. In the Us vs Them scenario, it is your whole group vs the people and problems that you encounter that are not a part of "us" Because there are more of you, it is easier to force your way through and to simply push people and obstacles aside. As you do this though, you make enemies of "them". Then "they" are more likely to put up resistance with each further encounter. Sometimes this resistance will hardly even be noticeable. Other times it may threaten to destroy all that you have worked so hard to obtain.
The only really viable way to prevent this is to always or at least whenever possible create scenarios that work for all involved so that everyone gets what they want or at least the closest reasonable proximity.
You may not all live in the same place or have exactly the same goals, but if you are all looking out for each other each willing to make compromises for the other, there is no reason not to work together to make sure you all get what you want.
This way, each time, you fold more and more people into the us category, until you run out of people opposed to you. As opposition disappears and your goals become easier to achieve, Us vs Them will gradually work itself into We vs Nobody.
And We vs Nobody truly is the best system.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Help see the message gets delivered
I have a powerful, positive, empowering message, one that can not be
gotten across or fully explained in just a few short words on a single
day. It is a message of peace, love and prosperity. A message of world
change. This message is something that can only be fully realized after a shift in the average person's way of being, something that is only likely to happen after one can both see the whole picture and see themselves within it
And it is my intention to reach a worldwide audience. The words I write, while helpful for me and those close to me are meant to reach as many eyes as possible. To such ends, I post my work in over a dozen different places on the internet
You may (or may not) have noticed that on some of these posts I ask that you share my work with others. The reason for this is so that more people have the opportunity to have the kind of thinking that this world so badly needs as part of their lives. People need to stop suffering in their sleep and wake up and start taking control of their own destinies. I don't want my work shared so that I can have recognition. In fact, recognition is the last thing that I want.
But if my way of thinking can improve the life of even one individual, if I can make the life of one person easier with the lessons and examples that I share, then I am happy with my work. In my daily life, offline I can only really reach out to one person at a time. Don't get me wrong. Changing the life of one person for the better is completely freaking awesome. Two or ten or even thousands would be even better though.
The thing is, I only personally come in contact with a dozen or maybe twenty people every week. Let's say that's the average for most people. I think that's a little low because I don't tend to get out much. But if each person that reads my work online shares a little of my thoughts and ideas with each person that they come in contact with, soon twenty becomes hundreds and then those hundreds become tens of thousands.
I don't really care about the number of followers that I have, but it is good feedback. The more followers I have on my blogs the more I know people appreciate what I write and the more I know it is making an impact on people's lives.
And do you know what ? I don't really care if it is my work in particular. What I am really asking that you share with others is inspiring, empowering, uplifting things. I know that what I have to say is a good message. I don't have the time or inclination to read the whole internet and pick and choose what's inspiring and what is not. If you know of someone else that has the same goal as I do and has just as good of a message, share their work instead. If what you personally do in your life is a better example, share your own stories ideas and lessons on how to make the lives of yourself and others around you better. What I write, what you write, what others write, it doesn't matter to me as long as it serves to make this world a better place.
If you like what I write, don't thank me or directly offer me gratitude in any way whatsoever. No, instead show that gratitude by joining me in making the world better. Show others a better way. In this world there is really no such thing as neutral. You are either contributing to the improvement of society or you are contributing to its downfall. So what's it gonna be Utopia or Dystopia?
IF you want a world that is in a constant state of positive change, one that is always getting better and better, take the positive, uplifting, empowering things into your life. Make them a part of your way of being. And then share sHaRe SHARE share those things with the world.
Every post can make life here on this planet better. It could be one life that improves, it could be dozens or even thousands. How much of an impact happens as a result depends on you.
I am going to keep living, and learning and writing and sharing until this world is the place it should be. There. I've told you what my intent is. Now, what are you going to do?
And it is my intention to reach a worldwide audience. The words I write, while helpful for me and those close to me are meant to reach as many eyes as possible. To such ends, I post my work in over a dozen different places on the internet
You may (or may not) have noticed that on some of these posts I ask that you share my work with others. The reason for this is so that more people have the opportunity to have the kind of thinking that this world so badly needs as part of their lives. People need to stop suffering in their sleep and wake up and start taking control of their own destinies. I don't want my work shared so that I can have recognition. In fact, recognition is the last thing that I want.
But if my way of thinking can improve the life of even one individual, if I can make the life of one person easier with the lessons and examples that I share, then I am happy with my work. In my daily life, offline I can only really reach out to one person at a time. Don't get me wrong. Changing the life of one person for the better is completely freaking awesome. Two or ten or even thousands would be even better though.
The thing is, I only personally come in contact with a dozen or maybe twenty people every week. Let's say that's the average for most people. I think that's a little low because I don't tend to get out much. But if each person that reads my work online shares a little of my thoughts and ideas with each person that they come in contact with, soon twenty becomes hundreds and then those hundreds become tens of thousands.
I don't really care about the number of followers that I have, but it is good feedback. The more followers I have on my blogs the more I know people appreciate what I write and the more I know it is making an impact on people's lives.
And do you know what ? I don't really care if it is my work in particular. What I am really asking that you share with others is inspiring, empowering, uplifting things. I know that what I have to say is a good message. I don't have the time or inclination to read the whole internet and pick and choose what's inspiring and what is not. If you know of someone else that has the same goal as I do and has just as good of a message, share their work instead. If what you personally do in your life is a better example, share your own stories ideas and lessons on how to make the lives of yourself and others around you better. What I write, what you write, what others write, it doesn't matter to me as long as it serves to make this world a better place.
If you like what I write, don't thank me or directly offer me gratitude in any way whatsoever. No, instead show that gratitude by joining me in making the world better. Show others a better way. In this world there is really no such thing as neutral. You are either contributing to the improvement of society or you are contributing to its downfall. So what's it gonna be Utopia or Dystopia?
IF you want a world that is in a constant state of positive change, one that is always getting better and better, take the positive, uplifting, empowering things into your life. Make them a part of your way of being. And then share sHaRe SHARE share those things with the world.
Every post can make life here on this planet better. It could be one life that improves, it could be dozens or even thousands. How much of an impact happens as a result depends on you.
I am going to keep living, and learning and writing and sharing until this world is the place it should be. There. I've told you what my intent is. Now, what are you going to do?
Friday, March 28, 2014
Synergy and tribal life pt2
But, it's also a way for me to look back over time and see how I've changed and how my own personal growth is doing. Also, in the past, I have found that I have many of the same conversations over and over. What happens is, I spend hours of my time explaining a thing to someone that I know and then a few months later I meet someone new and have the same exact conversation. Now, when something like that comes up I can just say, I wrote something about that, a little while ago, let me get you a link to it.
And last but not least. Business. What I love doing is giving people the tools, the advice, the know how to make their own lives better. The feeling I get from that is such a massive high, but that by itself doesn't pay the bills. I intend to make my living by making the lives of others better. So, towards that end I have spent a lot of time and energy looking for an online business that has many of the same goals that I do.
I spent so long looking that I almost gave up. But, about a year ago, I found this company, started by two ex-homeless guys, that really has heart. Their goal, like mine is world change. They want the world to be a better place and are putting their money where their mouth is. They care more about the improvements in your life than they do about whether or not they ever make a dollar and nearly every decision they make shows it. These guys and their goals synergize perfectly with my goals.
They want to change the world for the better. So do I. They give people the tools to make that possible and so do I. To reach as many people as possible, I post in multiple different places on the web. The main place that hosts my blog, the one that all the others redirect to is the blogging platform on their website. I am part of a team, working together so that we can all be successful. Come check it out here
So most of the time, I'll be talking about tools to make your personal life better, different ways of speaking, acting and thinking to make your life and that of those around you better. Sometimes it will be just personal relationship building skills. Sometimes it will be tools and ideas that you can use in your job or business. Other times it will be all of the above. See, synergy.
If you are happy with the way your life is and don't want any improvements to it, good for you. Have a great life, but please stop following me. What I have to say isn't for you.
If however, you look around at your life and see places that it could be better, and if you are willing to do the work of making it better, welcome to the tribe. More people doing a job means less work for all. Each new person that joins adds synergy making world change easier and easier to accomplish.
Also keep in mind, my main method of changing the world is through these posts. Each life that my work touches is one more opportunity to make that change happen. So if you want to be part of the tribe, if you truly want to see positive world change happen, in your lifetime, please please please, share my work with as many people as possible.
And last but not least. Business. What I love doing is giving people the tools, the advice, the know how to make their own lives better. The feeling I get from that is such a massive high, but that by itself doesn't pay the bills. I intend to make my living by making the lives of others better. So, towards that end I have spent a lot of time and energy looking for an online business that has many of the same goals that I do.
I spent so long looking that I almost gave up. But, about a year ago, I found this company, started by two ex-homeless guys, that really has heart. Their goal, like mine is world change. They want the world to be a better place and are putting their money where their mouth is. They care more about the improvements in your life than they do about whether or not they ever make a dollar and nearly every decision they make shows it. These guys and their goals synergize perfectly with my goals.
They want to change the world for the better. So do I. They give people the tools to make that possible and so do I. To reach as many people as possible, I post in multiple different places on the web. The main place that hosts my blog, the one that all the others redirect to is the blogging platform on their website. I am part of a team, working together so that we can all be successful. Come check it out here
So most of the time, I'll be talking about tools to make your personal life better, different ways of speaking, acting and thinking to make your life and that of those around you better. Sometimes it will be just personal relationship building skills. Sometimes it will be tools and ideas that you can use in your job or business. Other times it will be all of the above. See, synergy.
If you are happy with the way your life is and don't want any improvements to it, good for you. Have a great life, but please stop following me. What I have to say isn't for you.
If however, you look around at your life and see places that it could be better, and if you are willing to do the work of making it better, welcome to the tribe. More people doing a job means less work for all. Each new person that joins adds synergy making world change easier and easier to accomplish.
Also keep in mind, my main method of changing the world is through these posts. Each life that my work touches is one more opportunity to make that change happen. So if you want to be part of the tribe, if you truly want to see positive world change happen, in your lifetime, please please please, share my work with as many people as possible.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Synergy and tribal life pt1
Hi. Welcome. You there in the back. Yes, you. Can you hear me okay? Do I need to speak up? Good let's get started.
It has been said that in order to be as successful as we possibly can, it takes an awful lot of synergy. You probably know by now that I don't like to just throw words at people. I like to define them, so that we can all be on the same page.
Synergy quite literally means working together. It is the combined efforts of people or things to create a larger whole than the individual parts. I like to think of the word as s for same and ynergy for energy. I think of it this way because you are using the same energy but getting more done.
We can't afford to be working in multiple directions at once or we will never get anywhere. Doing things efficiently is applying synergy to your goal of getting things done. The most efficient way has the highest synergistic effect on your time. You create this synergy by arranging your errands in the proper order, so that the amount of energy you put out to get things done is the same or less and the time necessary to complete the tasks is less as well.
Another way that synergy can work for you is finding multiple uses for the same tools. With physical tools this means less time and energy spent shopping for new ones and less money spent purchasing them. With the non-physical it means making the thoughts and ideas that you already have in place work for you in new ways, again allowing you to get more out of the same or less effort.
For me this blog serves multiple purposes.
First and foremost, it is my soap box. I plan to change the world. This will happen through a combination of personal growth, life coaching, mentoring, living by example and sharing my results with all of you. With these posts I show you what my point of view is as well as many powerful positive tools for making your own lives better. I don't expect you to just go "huh, that was interesting" and then go on about your daily lives. I expect you to take what I say and make it your own and then make changes to your life accordingly.
I am building a tribe of people that want to make the world a better place, that want to live in a better place and want the world to be better still for our children. And all it takes to join that tribe is a conscious decision to start making your life better, now, not in ten years or six months. Today.
World change starts at your front door, inside your house even. We change the world by changing individuals, who then become examples for other individuals to follow. So these words that I write for you and to you are primarily to give you the tools to do exactly what I am doing.
It has been said that in order to be as successful as we possibly can, it takes an awful lot of synergy. You probably know by now that I don't like to just throw words at people. I like to define them, so that we can all be on the same page.
Synergy quite literally means working together. It is the combined efforts of people or things to create a larger whole than the individual parts. I like to think of the word as s for same and ynergy for energy. I think of it this way because you are using the same energy but getting more done.
We can't afford to be working in multiple directions at once or we will never get anywhere. Doing things efficiently is applying synergy to your goal of getting things done. The most efficient way has the highest synergistic effect on your time. You create this synergy by arranging your errands in the proper order, so that the amount of energy you put out to get things done is the same or less and the time necessary to complete the tasks is less as well.
Another way that synergy can work for you is finding multiple uses for the same tools. With physical tools this means less time and energy spent shopping for new ones and less money spent purchasing them. With the non-physical it means making the thoughts and ideas that you already have in place work for you in new ways, again allowing you to get more out of the same or less effort.
For me this blog serves multiple purposes.
First and foremost, it is my soap box. I plan to change the world. This will happen through a combination of personal growth, life coaching, mentoring, living by example and sharing my results with all of you. With these posts I show you what my point of view is as well as many powerful positive tools for making your own lives better. I don't expect you to just go "huh, that was interesting" and then go on about your daily lives. I expect you to take what I say and make it your own and then make changes to your life accordingly.
I am building a tribe of people that want to make the world a better place, that want to live in a better place and want the world to be better still for our children. And all it takes to join that tribe is a conscious decision to start making your life better, now, not in ten years or six months. Today.
World change starts at your front door, inside your house even. We change the world by changing individuals, who then become examples for other individuals to follow. So these words that I write for you and to you are primarily to give you the tools to do exactly what I am doing.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
How strong are your beliefs?
People like Hitler, the KKK and radical terrorist groups,I don't agree with.
I hate what they do or have done to countless innocent people. Their methods are heinous. But I respect that they are willing to stand up for what they believe in. It is clear and concise, what they believe and what lengths they will go to in order to stand up for it. And if what they believed in didn't lead to the slaughter of their fellow man you probably would too.
In polite society, people don't really challenge one another's beliefs. For the most part we just agree to disagree and spend less time with the people that don't think like we do. You really only hear about how strong a person's beliefs are when they are killing for them, running for public office, or once they have died.
Anytime what we really believe is challenged by another person we automatically react, by getting angry and going on the offensive. Half the time even when someone is just asking questions, attempting to get a better understanding of what it is that we believe, we react as if they are attacking our core being.
Why?
We are not our beliefs. We are not our country, our dog, or our parents. We aren't our views on patriotism, religion or government.
Those things are simply our point of view on the world around us. The thing is, getting angry or violent when someone else does not understand or agree with your belief is not likely to get them to suddenly see your side of things. It is in fact, more likely to polarize them against you.
I think it is healthy to have your beliefs challenged on a regular basis. What we tend to do is to make up our mind about a thing based on a limited pool of data and then never think about it again. We operate for decades on beliefs that only took us minutes or a few hours at the most to come up with.
But what would you do if you were to wake up in a world where your beliefs were constantly questioned and you were antagonized for making life style choices that to you seemed completely arbitrary? Imagine being verbally abused every time you wore blue jeans or a white top. What if smiling were outlawed? What if having sex daily was mandatory between the ages of 24 and 30 but a crime at any other time?
Would you, could you live in such a world? All of us have different things that we value, and to different degrees. There is mostly likely a certain point where you would decide enough is enough and you would rebel against the system. But where would that point be? Do you know your triggers?
And what would you do? Would you take the first step or wait for some charismatic leader to rally behind? Would you decide to enter politics or law to change the things that you could not abide? Or. Would you fight to the death for the freedoms that you value?
And if so would you do it as a warrior in some people's army against the government? Or would you become a terrorist? Or a supporter that makes supplies for the troops?
Is there a difference?
I like to think that I know how I would respond based on how I have responded to various injustices in my life. But as time goes on it seems that less and less people are willing to stand up for themselves.
The average individual lets others make nearly all of their decisions, has virtually no hand in politics and has the police and armed forces to protect them so that they no longer need to do any fighting personally.
The real question is, has it made our beliefs stronger or weaker as a result?
I hate what they do or have done to countless innocent people. Their methods are heinous. But I respect that they are willing to stand up for what they believe in. It is clear and concise, what they believe and what lengths they will go to in order to stand up for it. And if what they believed in didn't lead to the slaughter of their fellow man you probably would too.
In polite society, people don't really challenge one another's beliefs. For the most part we just agree to disagree and spend less time with the people that don't think like we do. You really only hear about how strong a person's beliefs are when they are killing for them, running for public office, or once they have died.
Anytime what we really believe is challenged by another person we automatically react, by getting angry and going on the offensive. Half the time even when someone is just asking questions, attempting to get a better understanding of what it is that we believe, we react as if they are attacking our core being.
Why?
We are not our beliefs. We are not our country, our dog, or our parents. We aren't our views on patriotism, religion or government.
Those things are simply our point of view on the world around us. The thing is, getting angry or violent when someone else does not understand or agree with your belief is not likely to get them to suddenly see your side of things. It is in fact, more likely to polarize them against you.
I think it is healthy to have your beliefs challenged on a regular basis. What we tend to do is to make up our mind about a thing based on a limited pool of data and then never think about it again. We operate for decades on beliefs that only took us minutes or a few hours at the most to come up with.
But what would you do if you were to wake up in a world where your beliefs were constantly questioned and you were antagonized for making life style choices that to you seemed completely arbitrary? Imagine being verbally abused every time you wore blue jeans or a white top. What if smiling were outlawed? What if having sex daily was mandatory between the ages of 24 and 30 but a crime at any other time?
Would you, could you live in such a world? All of us have different things that we value, and to different degrees. There is mostly likely a certain point where you would decide enough is enough and you would rebel against the system. But where would that point be? Do you know your triggers?
And what would you do? Would you take the first step or wait for some charismatic leader to rally behind? Would you decide to enter politics or law to change the things that you could not abide? Or. Would you fight to the death for the freedoms that you value?
And if so would you do it as a warrior in some people's army against the government? Or would you become a terrorist? Or a supporter that makes supplies for the troops?
Is there a difference?
I like to think that I know how I would respond based on how I have responded to various injustices in my life. But as time goes on it seems that less and less people are willing to stand up for themselves.
The average individual lets others make nearly all of their decisions, has virtually no hand in politics and has the police and armed forces to protect them so that they no longer need to do any fighting personally.
The real question is, has it made our beliefs stronger or weaker as a result?
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Do me a favor? Fix the world.
It is generally agreed upon that the world's overall state of being could use some improvement. Just as the world is filled with people, it is filled with problems.
If there were a magick wand that could be waved to fix all the troubles that would be just great wouldn't it? But as we all know, such a thing is probably not going to happen.
Have you ever walked into a place, a bedroom, an office, or the recent site of an explosion and seen just chaos and confusion, with things strewn about everywhere? You may think to yourself, how is this ever going to be cleaned up. How does one go about making this place fit to be seen by others, or ever even used for its original intended purpose?
While you are taking it all in as one whole thing the task of maintenance and repair seems impossible. Your brain just wants to shrivel up and hide. There is too much going on all at once.
With all of the wars, famine, corrupt politics, piracy, racial prejudice and a seeming limitless list of other "fun" things going on in the world, it seems that "cleaning up" our world is an impossible task.
But what is it that our world shares with countries, that countries share with states, states share with cities and cities share with homes? What is the common denominator in all of them?
That's right. People. Everything that is right or wrong with the world can be said to be the work or fault of people. If the world is to change in any positive way, it requires the people living within it to change.
So what I want you to do, right now, is to get up from where ever it is that you happen to be reading this and go out and change every person in the world. Go on. Go do it. Right now!
What's that you say? It's too big of a task? I must be insane?
Well maybe, but I talk about that in a previous post.
Now with that super messy area we discussed earlier, the only way to get things done is to break up the task of cleaning it into a series of lesser tasks, each on a smaller scale than cleaning the whole room or area.
The world is the same way. The task of changing the world for the better must be scaled down into smaller tasks and worked on one area at a time. Each person only has a limited amount of influence that they use to get people to think and do as they say. Most people do not influence others on a global or even country wide scale. Even within a single city very few people have the influence to get everyone within its limits to do things their way. But a single person can and should hold absolute sway over what they themselves think and do.
The best thing you personally can do, to change the world, is to change yourself. Become the person that you think epitomizes the traits that our world should have. Once you have become that person or once you are well on your way to becoming that person, encourage others in your home to do the same.
Then use your home as model for other homes in your community. Show how you manage to handle and conquer many of the problems that exist within the world and why they are not an issue in your scaled down world. Gradual expansion can and should occur. Over time the influence of your way of being will grow. More and more people will see through experience that your way is a better way and they will begin to follow it.
Just as with that messy room, when there are two or three people with a million tasks it takes forever. But when there are a million people with a million tasks, the work is quickly done.
If there were a magick wand that could be waved to fix all the troubles that would be just great wouldn't it? But as we all know, such a thing is probably not going to happen.
Have you ever walked into a place, a bedroom, an office, or the recent site of an explosion and seen just chaos and confusion, with things strewn about everywhere? You may think to yourself, how is this ever going to be cleaned up. How does one go about making this place fit to be seen by others, or ever even used for its original intended purpose?
While you are taking it all in as one whole thing the task of maintenance and repair seems impossible. Your brain just wants to shrivel up and hide. There is too much going on all at once.
With all of the wars, famine, corrupt politics, piracy, racial prejudice and a seeming limitless list of other "fun" things going on in the world, it seems that "cleaning up" our world is an impossible task.
But what is it that our world shares with countries, that countries share with states, states share with cities and cities share with homes? What is the common denominator in all of them?
That's right. People. Everything that is right or wrong with the world can be said to be the work or fault of people. If the world is to change in any positive way, it requires the people living within it to change.
So what I want you to do, right now, is to get up from where ever it is that you happen to be reading this and go out and change every person in the world. Go on. Go do it. Right now!
What's that you say? It's too big of a task? I must be insane?
Well maybe, but I talk about that in a previous post.
Now with that super messy area we discussed earlier, the only way to get things done is to break up the task of cleaning it into a series of lesser tasks, each on a smaller scale than cleaning the whole room or area.
The world is the same way. The task of changing the world for the better must be scaled down into smaller tasks and worked on one area at a time. Each person only has a limited amount of influence that they use to get people to think and do as they say. Most people do not influence others on a global or even country wide scale. Even within a single city very few people have the influence to get everyone within its limits to do things their way. But a single person can and should hold absolute sway over what they themselves think and do.
The best thing you personally can do, to change the world, is to change yourself. Become the person that you think epitomizes the traits that our world should have. Once you have become that person or once you are well on your way to becoming that person, encourage others in your home to do the same.
Then use your home as model for other homes in your community. Show how you manage to handle and conquer many of the problems that exist within the world and why they are not an issue in your scaled down world. Gradual expansion can and should occur. Over time the influence of your way of being will grow. More and more people will see through experience that your way is a better way and they will begin to follow it.
Just as with that messy room, when there are two or three people with a million tasks it takes forever. But when there are a million people with a million tasks, the work is quickly done.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
How big is your shoe?
Although I have never been a Boy Scout, I have had many friends and
family members who were. One of the things that they teach the kids
really stuck out for me and is something that I strongly identify with.
They say you should leave any area that you come to in the same or
better condition than you found it. It's called leaving a small
footprint on the world around you.
This should kind of go without saying. I mean who is responsible for the state of the world today? That's right people. They say there are around seven billion of us now. And if each person just went through life without paying any attention to their habits and the impact they have on the world, the world would quickly become a wreck. What's that you say? It is a wreck?
When I first heard about this concept it appealed to me. I liked the idea of leaving every area that I passed through the exact same way I found it. I could tread in the footprints of other people and leave none of my own. It seemed stealthy and ninja like. Better yet, there would be no negative impact on society. I could make sure, that I personally did not make the world a worse place than it already is.
I patterned my life after this ideal and still follow many of the habits that got started by this thought process. I wash all of my own clothes and the dishes I use. When leaving a room I make sure to throw away any napkins, bags or wrappers that I may be responsible for. I do not expect anybody to come behind me and clean up any mess I make. I do it myself. And no I do not live by myself. Currently there are four other adults living in my home.
You may have noticed that I initially locked onto leaving things in the same condition. But after awhile I started thinking. What if everybody did what I was doing? Wouldn't it be awesome? The world would not get any worse.
But it would not get any better either. And that started to bother me because I have nearly always believed that individuals are responsible for how the world is today. Individual action can and does make a difference. Don't believe me? Think about it this way. If all of the individuals were removed from the planet would there be any people left?
When people say one person can't make a difference, what they really mean is that when weighed against the actions of all the other people out there, that one person's efforts do not make a difference. And they are right. But, what they fail to realize is that when other people see one person taking a stand and doing something that they believe they also should be doing, other people start to emulate that one person. Soon one person becomes five and five become twenty and twenty become a whole community.
It occurred to me that in order to make the world a better place, all it takes is for everybody to leave things in a better condition than they found them. Think about small details around your home. Maybe you have a drying rack for your dishes. Let's say you personally wash dry and put away every dish you use plus you put away one item already in the drying rack. From this point forward none of the dirty dishes laying around the house would be yours and that would be about it. But if you got everyone in your home to do this there would never be any dirty dishes lying around. And the drying rack would quickly become empty and stay empty, leaving less clutter in your kitchen. It only takes an extra minute or two, to wash whatever dishes you use. And it does make your home a better place.
Think about all the other chores around your house, laundry, the garbage or whatever there is, it all works the same way. If you handle everything that you are responsible for and then in each area take care of just one extra item that does not belong to you, your impact on your home becomes positive. If you get others in your home to do the same, then your home becomes a better place.
The best part about it is this concept scales with the effort you and yours are willing to put into it. First you can change your home. Then your home can be an example for others in the community. Then you can work on changing your community. Then you and your community can change the world.
So, in closing, I say this. Leave a big footprint on the world. Just make it a good one.
This should kind of go without saying. I mean who is responsible for the state of the world today? That's right people. They say there are around seven billion of us now. And if each person just went through life without paying any attention to their habits and the impact they have on the world, the world would quickly become a wreck. What's that you say? It is a wreck?
When I first heard about this concept it appealed to me. I liked the idea of leaving every area that I passed through the exact same way I found it. I could tread in the footprints of other people and leave none of my own. It seemed stealthy and ninja like. Better yet, there would be no negative impact on society. I could make sure, that I personally did not make the world a worse place than it already is.
I patterned my life after this ideal and still follow many of the habits that got started by this thought process. I wash all of my own clothes and the dishes I use. When leaving a room I make sure to throw away any napkins, bags or wrappers that I may be responsible for. I do not expect anybody to come behind me and clean up any mess I make. I do it myself. And no I do not live by myself. Currently there are four other adults living in my home.
You may have noticed that I initially locked onto leaving things in the same condition. But after awhile I started thinking. What if everybody did what I was doing? Wouldn't it be awesome? The world would not get any worse.
But it would not get any better either. And that started to bother me because I have nearly always believed that individuals are responsible for how the world is today. Individual action can and does make a difference. Don't believe me? Think about it this way. If all of the individuals were removed from the planet would there be any people left?
When people say one person can't make a difference, what they really mean is that when weighed against the actions of all the other people out there, that one person's efforts do not make a difference. And they are right. But, what they fail to realize is that when other people see one person taking a stand and doing something that they believe they also should be doing, other people start to emulate that one person. Soon one person becomes five and five become twenty and twenty become a whole community.
It occurred to me that in order to make the world a better place, all it takes is for everybody to leave things in a better condition than they found them. Think about small details around your home. Maybe you have a drying rack for your dishes. Let's say you personally wash dry and put away every dish you use plus you put away one item already in the drying rack. From this point forward none of the dirty dishes laying around the house would be yours and that would be about it. But if you got everyone in your home to do this there would never be any dirty dishes lying around. And the drying rack would quickly become empty and stay empty, leaving less clutter in your kitchen. It only takes an extra minute or two, to wash whatever dishes you use. And it does make your home a better place.
Think about all the other chores around your house, laundry, the garbage or whatever there is, it all works the same way. If you handle everything that you are responsible for and then in each area take care of just one extra item that does not belong to you, your impact on your home becomes positive. If you get others in your home to do the same, then your home becomes a better place.
The best part about it is this concept scales with the effort you and yours are willing to put into it. First you can change your home. Then your home can be an example for others in the community. Then you can work on changing your community. Then you and your community can change the world.
So, in closing, I say this. Leave a big footprint on the world. Just make it a good one.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
You ARE God pt2
As children, we are taught not to show weakness or vulnerability,
boys especially. We are told not to cry in front of others because
"they" will use our weakness against us. Now while this may actually be
true, it is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy. We make it true. We take
the pure love that all children have at the beginning of life and turn a
lot of it dark by making an automatic belief that all new or different
people are bad. This belief paves the way for a great number of
tragedies later in life. It starts out as just a simple fear of
strangers but it sets the stage for things like racial prejudice and
intolerance, misogyny, homophobia an inability to function well socially
and even a hatred of and unwillingness to try anything new.
A person coming from a place of love and understanding would never take advantage of vulnerability in another person. Not just because they would not make that choice, it simply would not even occur to them as an option. But because we worry about our children and want to keep them safe we tell them that they need to be on guard against those who might want to hurt them. The problem is the way we go about it. An unreasoning fear against the unknown is not the answer. We should teach them to be open to new people and ideas but cautious, to slowly over time learn about them and decide for themselves whether they are good for them or not. When coming from a place of love you create love. When coming from a place of not love you create not love.
Therein lies the problem. People that you do not know, will take advantage of you if you let them. It is true. But only because we make it true. By teaching our children this the seeds of mistrust and hate are sown and if we don't stop them from going down that path, they will be the ones taking advantage of others later on in life because of a do unto others before they do unto you type of attitude. If we were to teach caution instead of fear however then some truly amazing change could occur. IF every parent in the world were to suddenly decide to make this one change in their way of being, much of what is wrong with our world would simply disappear. The problem is the whole world isn't going to change overnight. There is too much mistrust and fear. So what to do?
Become a god! Don't laugh I am serious. When people talk about a god what are they referring to? It is generally a being of immense power with near absolute control over every facet of a person's life. A god can decide whether you live or die and whether you are fortunate or unfortunate in life. While it may not be possible for you to control the whole world, I submit that it IS possible for you to control nearly every aspect of things around you in your everyday life.
You can change whatever it is that you do not like about your life. The key factor here is that you have to care enough about that change to be willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. In a previous example, you were hungry, you exerted your will and change happened. No exertion brings no change. Or worse yet, it brings change that you have no control over. You already control every facet of your life whether you realize it or not.The hard part to swallow in all of this is, if that is true, then you are responsible for exactly where you are in life right now. All of the things that you do not like about your life you either chose or allowed to happen by letting other people choose for you.
What stops most people is either laziness or lack of desire to bring about the change they say they want. A woman who is being abused by her husband but still stays in the relationship is getting something out of that relationship that is more important to her, at the time at least, than not being in that relationship. It doesn't matter what it is whether it's great sex or a feeling of being wanted or whatever. Until her desire to not be abused is greater than whatever she is getting out of it nothing will change.
Tune in tomorrow for more about the god that you already are.
A person coming from a place of love and understanding would never take advantage of vulnerability in another person. Not just because they would not make that choice, it simply would not even occur to them as an option. But because we worry about our children and want to keep them safe we tell them that they need to be on guard against those who might want to hurt them. The problem is the way we go about it. An unreasoning fear against the unknown is not the answer. We should teach them to be open to new people and ideas but cautious, to slowly over time learn about them and decide for themselves whether they are good for them or not. When coming from a place of love you create love. When coming from a place of not love you create not love.
Therein lies the problem. People that you do not know, will take advantage of you if you let them. It is true. But only because we make it true. By teaching our children this the seeds of mistrust and hate are sown and if we don't stop them from going down that path, they will be the ones taking advantage of others later on in life because of a do unto others before they do unto you type of attitude. If we were to teach caution instead of fear however then some truly amazing change could occur. IF every parent in the world were to suddenly decide to make this one change in their way of being, much of what is wrong with our world would simply disappear. The problem is the whole world isn't going to change overnight. There is too much mistrust and fear. So what to do?
Become a god! Don't laugh I am serious. When people talk about a god what are they referring to? It is generally a being of immense power with near absolute control over every facet of a person's life. A god can decide whether you live or die and whether you are fortunate or unfortunate in life. While it may not be possible for you to control the whole world, I submit that it IS possible for you to control nearly every aspect of things around you in your everyday life.
You can change whatever it is that you do not like about your life. The key factor here is that you have to care enough about that change to be willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. In a previous example, you were hungry, you exerted your will and change happened. No exertion brings no change. Or worse yet, it brings change that you have no control over. You already control every facet of your life whether you realize it or not.The hard part to swallow in all of this is, if that is true, then you are responsible for exactly where you are in life right now. All of the things that you do not like about your life you either chose or allowed to happen by letting other people choose for you.
What stops most people is either laziness or lack of desire to bring about the change they say they want. A woman who is being abused by her husband but still stays in the relationship is getting something out of that relationship that is more important to her, at the time at least, than not being in that relationship. It doesn't matter what it is whether it's great sex or a feeling of being wanted or whatever. Until her desire to not be abused is greater than whatever she is getting out of it nothing will change.
Tune in tomorrow for more about the god that you already are.
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