Welcome, ven a gozar!

Some nights like tonight, when things are quiet, and the music is just right, I can feel my end approaching. I know it will be tomorrow when my world will be changed forever, and everything I know will be taken away. Strangers will be my family, and if I have any mind left, I will live in a world where none can enter.

A world of memories returning. Thinking thoughts I haven’t thought in decades. Old friends and family members I have all but forgotten will become my closest companions. If my body is wasting away in a corner, or perhaps a bed, waiting for me end, my memories will help comfort me.

If I am very lucky, I will go to bed one night, lay down, turn out the light, think about those most important to me and how much they mean to me, how perfect the world is, and go to sleep. Never to waken again. Someone will find what is left of me, and go through the motions that we go through at times such as those, but my race will have been run.

I can not be sad about it, I have spent my life knowing death waits with me, marking time behind me, over my left shoulder. I am grateful for this knowledge. Death has been my councilor and guide for many years, and there is nothing to fear in death for me. Whenever I question what I should be doing, all I have to do is look over my shoulder, and I see that little swish, the flash of what is visible changing into what is not.

I make my best decisions at that moment. Decisions are easy to make in that instant, because everything I have done up until that moment is weighed, and my path is laid out before me. I can move forward confident that the path I take is the correct path. Consulting death brings me calm, knowing what is important and what is not.

Life is what is important. Making decisions that benefit others without impairing or causing harm to myself is important. My life is my most important possession. Something I do not own, and have so little control over is the most important thing in the world to me. Without my life, I can not do those things I must do. I am not even a spec of dust in a sunbeam.

So when the music, darkness, and my thoughts are aligned, I can feel death behind me, marking time. I know my time is not this instant. I also know that I can not waste what little time I have. Time is too precious, and there is too much to do.

When you look at me, and it looks like I am doing nothing, wasting my time, remember that wasting time is not something I do. I may be resting, or collecting my thoughts. I may even be consulting my final end, to determine how whatever weighs me down at the moment ranks in importance to my final end.

Even if I am lounging about, taking naps between sips of now cold tea, know that I have received my guidance from an honest source. Even now as I type this and listen to the music dancing through the air, I know this is exactly what I should be doing. I also know that when I am done with this task my most important tasks of today are almost done.

The dishes did not get washed, the grass and weeds did not get cut, and dinner did not get cooked. But none of that is important when weighed against those things I did that really matter. If tomorrow I do not wake, I will have passed over knowing that I took care of those most important things in my life with all the thought and care and attention to detail that I was capable of. If I do wake up in the morning, it will be a wonderful day, because I will already know those things which are most important and which things do not matter.

Stepping away from myself, these are the things I wish for you too. It is my desire that you too finish each day knowing that if you do not wake in the morning you have completed those things which mattered the most in your life. If you do wake in the morning, I pray you know what matters most, and what is idle distraction at best. Unfortunately, and it makes me sad to write it, but your time too is short. Make the most of each minute, and when it looks like you are wasting time doing nothing, you and I will know the truth of your actions, and how well your time is spent doing what is most important in your life at that exact moment.

The surprising Beijing Olympian, thirty-three year old American woman weight lifter Melanie Roach (check out her video) was interviewed on one of the morning television talk shows this week. She was very impressive, not just for her Beijing Olympic weight lifting journey, but in having such a wonderful outlook of all other areas of her life. Melanie Roach uses her learnings and life skills to keep her life in balance.

Melanie Roach told a story that caught my attention over and above the highlighted Olympic Athlete portion of her very full life. It was very affirming for me, and honestly more of an earth shaking moment than Melanie Roach conveyed in the few seconds she had in front of the camera.

Melanie Roach related than when she learned her son has autism, that she went to see her Pastor. Melanie Roach told her Pastor that having a son with autism was not something that she thought she had signed up for [in her life]. The Pastor who is obviously very wise countered that Melanie Roach was getting exactly what she signed up for.

Melanie Roach is now making a very sweet lemonade of this opportunity once she understood this was something she needed in her life, and said that her son and his illness has enriched and fulfilled her in ways she had never imagined. My best wishes for Melanie Roach, and her Olympic trials. No matter what the outcome, Melanie Roach has vibrant full life, and the Olympic trials will be another gilded page in her scrap book of life.

What struck me about Melanie Roach sharing her simple story is the Pastor’s insight on what life is all really all about. Our individual life is not always about having one fantastic day after another. Our life is not even about having one fantastic weekend after a long hard work week. The Pastor understands this, and also knows that we never have anything occur in our life that is not perfect for us, and that we are not ready for.

Trails and tribulations in our life, no matter what form they take are in our life because we asked for them. When we asked for problems in our life, is a point of debate on when and how it happens, but the Pastor is correct, what happens in our life happens for a reason. Nothing in our life happens just because.

When any situation happens to us, no matter how terrible, it is not something outside of our control, brought into our lives from what appears to be an outside influence. When bad things happen in our lives it is because we need them to. We need to experience, what it is like waking each day and seeing no resolve to our situation. It does not matter if it is loneliness, loss of a job, family member, friend, or even our own impending death, we need whatever it is in our life. We need those unpleasant situations happening in our life at that exact moment.

As a friend and I were talking about breaking addictions, he told me, “there is no good time”. He is right, there is no good time, but the time when something bad happens in our life, is the perfect time, and the perfect situation for us.

When something bad happens, do not approach it as yet another obstacle to be overcome, or suffered through. When bad things in our lives are approached from this perspective, that is exactly what they become, another obstacle to overcome. When bad things enter into our lives they need to be seen as opportunities.

Not only opportunities, but opportunities that have arrived at exactly the right time and for all the right reasons. The way we approach what seems to be an insurmountable problem is a defect in our perspective. What is really happening no matter how terrible, unjust, or wrong, is happening for all the right reasons at exactly the right time. No more, no less. Turning problems into something to struggle through, is removing all possibility of personal growth and spiritual learning that should come out of the situation. That is, if we embrace and accept our life’s problems as being perfect, instead of fighting them.

As I sat on a portion of a couch with my Grandfather who was sitting in a Lazy Boy watching television on a black and white tv once told me… “Kid, if you are going to be a thief be a good one, if you steal a tv, steal a color tv, the penalty is all the same…” At least that is as near as my memory of that moment exists in my recall of being a child.

I worked as a deck hand for United States Steel many years ago at the ripe old age of eighteen. They paid me an incredible amount of money for what I did at the time, or so I thought. One day in Chicago I went to shore with another guy. He was farther up the ladder than I was and made a good thirty percent more than I did. As we wandered around a little slice of town where the cab dropped us off, he wanted to go into the dime stores. I thought that was a little odd, but we had nothing else to do with our time. We went into two of them and one small shoe store, and maybe a corner market. He never bought anything though, just wandered around and left. When we were back on the boat he started emptying his pockets of pencils, ten cent notebooks, erasers, and other small trinkets. He told me he could not help himself. He said he had been shoplifting like that for years. He said he stole small stuff, because it was the theft, not the item that satisfied his need.

I hung around and experienced the receiving end of other thieves through the years. I can say firmly, it has not been an uplifting experience. Nothing is ever stolen that hurt badly, but replacing things someone stole from you is at least an inconvenience. I imagine most of the stolen items were sold off at a small part of their worth. I hope whatever money the thieves were paid for the risk and their trouble made it worth it.

Recently I was at work, and sitting in an employee cubicle, where we take our breaks, and do a little surfing if we wish. We were given mugs a few weeks ago, and mine walked off, so I was using a replacement to enjoy a cup of tea with. Lately eating or drinking anything remotely warm makes my nose start running. I am not sure why, but it is annoying. I locked up the computer which really was not necessary because there were over a dozen idle computers already. But locking the computer, I left my cup, and notebook while I went in search of Kleenex.

I came back a few minutes later, and there was a contract employee sitting at my spot drinking the last of his soda. I stopped and looked at him. The light turned on and he said something to the effect that he was sitting in my spot and I was the one who locked the computer? I nodded yes. After a short pause he said, “and that is your mug?” Again I nodded yes. I thought that was an odd question…. He stood up saying, “I guess I let you have it then.” Again an odd phrase, but it was early, and I am a little slow sometimes.

I am a little slow, but it dawned on me after a few minutes what his intent had been, and why he was where he had no business being. In a round about way this brings me back to my Grandfather and his statement about stealing a color television. My mug can be purchased within five minutes of where I was sitting for less than a ten dollar bill. That is an important thought.

If that individual had been more daring or I had been a few seconds later, his intent would have cost him his job. I would have had no recourse but to turn him in as a thief to security on site, and report him to my boss. Of course it would have rolled up the chain and back down to his boss who would have to remove him from the site. I doubt his company would keep a thief on the payroll fwiw. He was essentially getting ready to put his livelihood, integrity, and future on the live for an object he could have bought with the money he probably earns eating his lunch on company time. Not the brightest light on the tree if I do say so.

Some people steal because they have to, and some because they want to. For the second group, all I can say is their decision making processes are very weak. Risking your job, home, family, and possible freedom for a trinket that could be bought for a few dollars is beyond stupid. As a little kid, I did not understand what my Grandfather was telling me. I thought then it was about the price difference. Over the years I have come to understand it is about so more, that the price has little to do with the act itself.

That person should be grateful I came along when I did. Rather I think, he is bitter he did not act in time and told himeself next time he will be quicker.

When we pause long enough to look back over our life, we like to assess how we think we are doing. We look at our accomplishments and satisfy ourselves that we are somebody because we have completed some number of trials and tribulations successfully over the years, while others we choose to compare ourselves to have not.

We like to prim ourselves, fluff up our feathers, push out our chest, and strut around hoping someone will notice. If no one notices that is all right too, because we at least know how good we are. We know how well we have done in the face of adversity, overcoming obstacles and proving ourselves while other watched. It really does not matter though except to us and what we think of ourselves.

I stumbled upon a good analogy of our true worth some years ago. We have all heard about how we can stick our hand in a bucket of sand or water and splash it or move it around and shape it to our liking. Of course we know when we are all done and we remove our hand, it is like we were never there to start with. My observation is from a different perspective

I was watching an ant hill a number of years ago and I saw what our real importance is through the ant colony. If you have ever watched and ant colony at work, you know they have there set trails they follow initially when leaving the ant hill. In the morning as the sun warms up the colony hundreds of ants follow trails out to some end where once upon a time a lucky ant found a food or water source.

Usually the food source has long been forgotten and once the ants reach the end of the trail they start foraging in what appears to be a wandering pattern. If they have particular destinations in mind, I have not deciphered how they work. So out away from the hill there are all these ants working away, walking all over trying to find food for the colony.

At the nest there are other ants whose job it appears to excavate new tunnels. You see them walking out one of the tunnels to somewhere at the edge of the ant hill with a tiny pebbles in their pincers, or maybe a clump of dirt. They walk out near the edge, drop whatever they are carrying, and walk back in to do it over again.

I am sure there are many more ants who each have individual jobs in the colony of which I am unaware. As the day progresses, all the ants go about their tasks and the whole colony enjoys the benefits of the communal work. As I watched the ants working away, it dawned on me that even though they were working towards a common goal, they were not in any apparent way attached to each other.

When I removed an ant from its task whether the ant was foraging, hauling tiny pebbles from far below, or smoothing the ant hill and possibly reshaping it, the loss of a single ant was not noticed, or so it seemed. In fact unless I disturbed the ground there was no notice of an ant disappearing from its appointed task.

In reality so it is with us. If something appeared and took one of us from where we were sitting reading this, not too many people would notice that we were missing. After a few hours, it would become noticeable to those close to us we were not around at that time, but for the majority of the community, the loss of a single person is really a non event.

So when we are looking back over our accomplishments, and puffing ourselves up and feeling important, we also need to take a few moments and reflect on the truth. Are our accomplishments something that really make a difference to our community, and improve the quality of life for everyone, or are our accomplishments of a singular nature, in that they only benefit us?

Hopefully by the end of our lives we will accomplished many things that stand out in our mind as something that was really worth doing, and not a something that was important only to us. If we spend our lives doing those things that are only for us, we are like the single ant I removed from the ant hill. Nobody will really notice the difference, and our feeling of self worth will feel a little hollow to us.

On the other hand, if we some memories of how we made life better for the community or someone in it, we have fueled fires that will continue to burn in peoples memory’s long after we are removed. These changes need not be something that changes the very foundation of civilization, but may be something more humble and simple. Generally the more humble and simple whatever it is we do, the more it is appreciated by those people we do it for. Making life better for others, has a bonus of enriching our own life.

My heroes have always been a little tarnished. I published a past post about Marion Jones and the opportunity for her to become a hero now that she is making herself even with the world - or at least with herself, which is more important. I still believe what I wrote, and I think Marion Jones has started the process of rising above her current self. If Marion Jones continues there is no reason she will not be a hero to young people, and older people alike.

It is my belief our future is never written in stone. We each have our own obstacles to overcome and conquer. I believe there is a potential hero hiding in Marion Jones, and it will shine sooner than later. Unlike other current athletes who prefer to lie and hide, Marion Jones has nothing left to hide. Only opportunity for better things can enter her life, the worst will soon be behind her. Soon she will have paid her debt, and she will be able to wipe her slate clean. Then the real Marion Jones will step out, and start doing great things she may not even have dreamt of. Things we may never know about, and perhaps have no need to know about, but great things all the same.

There is an opinion that heroes do not come from tarnished lives. Some folks may rightly believe that to be a true hero, one has to be heroic in all aspects of their lives. What this does I think, is separate a few heroes from someone doing a heroic act. It is easy to be on the throne and do a great thing, it is much harder when one is struggling to be, and finding themselves in a position of contemplating a heroic act, and following through with it. It is even harder, yet greater when that act goes unseen and unnoticed.

If there are such people in the world who are heroes in the second sense, where their whole life is shiny and polished without a mark against it, and doing great things, I am all for them getting the recognition they deserve, and I applaud them. In my more mundane world, I have yet to meet any people who could pass this type of hero test. The everyday heroes I see in my world are more like the desperate thief Dustin Hoffman played some years ago where he was not a person anyone would look up to, but did something above and beyond him, quite by accident, and for selfish reasons. He became a hero all the same for a short time.

Most of the heroes I have seen are people who are in the right place at the right time, and do something above themselves and the people around them, when they did not have to. They were not looking for the chance to do something special. They did what they did without thinking. One heroic person I have seen had been drinking, another was trying to escape his life, and a third person was coasting along through life trying to be invisible.

What these three had people done with their lives up until that point was nothing special, and after the notoriety wore off they went back to what they were before, ordinary people getting through the day. In the space of those seconds when they acted heroically, they were above and beyond themselves. They saw something wrong that needed righting in an instant, and before they even thought about what they were doing, the heroic action had took place. I am sure when they realized what they had done, they were as shocked as everyone around them.

It may be thought of as less than stellar, but those heroes I have seen in action were ordinary people who had a moment of heroism, and then faded back into the ordinary life they were living before the act. I do think these are the best types of heroes though. These are the heroes that you, I and anyone else can be, if we happen to find ourselves in the right place at the right time.

I listen to, and read of people who say they wish they had better control over their emotions. There is not any particular identifiable group who feel they can not control their emotions. Lack of emotional control seems to be everywhere from young children, to old men and women too.

Pretend for a minute that you are suddenly transported to another country. In this country they speak a language you may have heard, but you certainly do not understand. It can be any language you can imagine as long as you do not understand the words being said.

Someone you know in this country comes up to you and says something to you, and laughs, but you can not understand what they are saying, so to be polite you smile too. A second, and third person come up to you smiling and one of them says something to you, and they both chuckle. Just to be polite, you chuckle too. They laugh again and walk off with smiles on their faces.

A fourth person comes up to you and says something you do not understand. This time they are not smiling. You do not know what to do, so you shake your head, and try to convey that you do not understand. They say something else to you, that you do not understand and then they walk off.

If you put these four conversations in a spot where we have lost our patience each time, there is a difference. In each of these conversations we had to run what was being said through our ego, to see what our ego self thinks, and how ego responds.

Of those people who feel they have poor emotional control, ego is usually the offender. Of course our ego responses are tempered depending on who is on the other side of the conversation with us. If our ego likes to bully for example, we will bully only if we think we can get away with it. If the other person involved in the conversation is bigger, or meaner than us, we  temper our response to that person, because we are scared of the consequences if we make them angry at bus.

However if the other person is someone who we see as below us, or not as important as us, the bully ego comes out in full force. Why we just let the other person know where the crow flies, and what the bear does, and we don’t care what they think or say.

So it is not really emotional control most of us suffer from, but rather it is being too generous in giving ourself permission to act in a way we know is not appropriate. We let our ego run our conversation, then we justify our actions by blaming the other person for some imagined inadequacy.

The other person who we just bullied is at fault, because of the way they spoke to us. Perhaps the choice of words they used, or the look on their face. We find it easy to find fault with the other person while ignoring our reaction when we know their is no negative consequences involved.

If you are someone who has trouble controlling their emotions, I suggest you look inwards to you. Check out your ego, which is really running you, and your emotions. Watch yourself and notice how you do not react the same way with all people, but you only act when it is safe to do so. Watch and notice how no matter what you seemingly do, someone is right there setting you off when you are trying so hard to maintain?

If you find these things are true, it is not controlling your emotions that is at fault, it is letting your ego have to much control in your life. You control your emotions any time you need to, but normally you do not, because your ego is in charge and it is telling you how to act and react.

Wow, am I having a problem with the integrity issues this week! Two of the blogs on my blogroll to the right, sonalismrules, and heroworkshop, share some pretty strong feelings about integrity. Both of them incidentally over the India verses Australia Cricket test match (?) this week. The match definitely ups the visibility of world class athletes’ and starts to question the status they hold, referees too. This problem is also going lower down in sports in the last months.

While the big news here in the US has been around steroids, Marion Jones, and Floyd Landis seem to hold the spotlight there. Some athletes did not learn anything, or thought they were immune to normal human expectations. Baseball once again is having its already shaky reputation dragged through baseball mud once again with widespread steroid use reported. In late December Florida State college came under the spotlight for group test cheating where as many as twenty athletes may be involved.

Integrity seems to be the issue at hand. I am grappling with the word integrity and I can understand why it is defined with a standard definition, a conceptual view, and a philosophical view. It seems we all have an idea of what integrity should be, but we have different thoughts on how and when it applies.

As a poker player, I have sat with some pretty immoral people. I have seen people who are willing to cheat me, but if they give me their word on something it is as good as gold. I have seen other players give their word, and take any advantage they can to ensure they get what they want. Both types of people act with integrity in their dealings. The biggest difference between them is one type of player goes by the general rule of what is right, and the second argues over what was agreed upon.

Obvious integrity examples for me are in presidential politics. I watched Richard Nixon state he was not a thief. I saw Bill Clinton adamantly claim he did not have sex with a certain woman. The current president has been caught making claims that have shown to be not quite true. In their view they all acted with integrity, in the view of their public they acted with something less.

In the world I was brought up in, the value I was taught that is most important is integrity. I was once asked by a close friend to lie for him, saving him from a serious problem. It was a simple lie, and no one would have known. My integrity would not have been impugned if I had agreed. Well, that is not really true, for I would have known. In the end of all things integrity is one of the things no one can take from me. I can only give it away, and I refuse.

In the current state of sports, people are willing to give up everything for the money. How much money do these people need to accumulate before they can like who they see in the mirror? How much money is needed before a family member, or friend can look at someone who is a liar, and a cheat decide it is okay because they made enough money that they are beyond it all now.

In the stories making the media today, these are not little things that someone was caught doing, or lying about. In the case of Cricket, a whole nation now has their integrity drawn into question due to the act of a few people. India is outraged because they have been wrongly cheated out of something they have every right to.

What is done, can not be undone, in the near future at any rate. No amount of reparation will ever undo the sting of what has been done. No amount of sorry will ever fix the damage done to Cricket, and other sports too. Like it or not, now the integrity of a country - all the way down to an individual - is no longer on the line. In the eyes of many in the world it has been lost, and may possibly never be regained. Was it worth it, I would not do it?

I do not know if you are familiar with the old story, “The Ant and The Grasshopper”? For a refresher, here is my 2008 version of what the author had in mind when the story was first told. It may be a little different from the written version, but times change, and so does my perspective.

In the story from the book I had as a child, Ant laid around, or played around, and really was not trying to do anything with his life that was worthwhile. Ant slept late, lounged around the house, and was generally lazy. Depending on your perspective this may not be such a bad life. Seems kind of fun to me as part of a life balance.

Grasshopper on the other hand was an over achiever. Grasshopper started at the crack of dawn tending his retirement fund, and working overtime to increase his net worth. He was not fussy about what he did to generate money, as long as he thought he was being productive he was happy.

What is not obvious in the story is both Ant, and Grasshopper are very good at their life choices. Ant never changes character, and actually worries about the future, or thinks of working for a living. Grasshopper’s character on the other hand never thought about enjoying life, as he was too busy working for some future time.

They both may be considered role models for people who think as they do. In the story, there is something else not mentioned and not readily apparent. The Ant spent an extraordinary amount of time visualizing how his future was going to be, and not really doing anything about achieving it.

Grasshopper on the other hand had little imagination. Grasshopper could not look to the future, and imagine what life would be like. Grasshopper spent his time getting ready for winter, and did not take time to enjoy the summer, and be happy for what he had at present. Grasshopper generally was moody and morose. With all of Grasshoppers good points, Grasshopper could only see his faults.

Some might think the Ant and Grasshopper were using some form of LOA, or other belief system. Ant was certain in his thinking that what he needed would be provided somehow, and everything would be okay. Grasshopper knew that any kind of LOA, or other belief system needed his help to be successful. The summer went on with Grasshopper prodding Ant to get a job, so he would have what he needed for the hard times coming. Ant was young, and carefree, he did not realize no one was going to help him survive come winter.

Of course after summer, winter came. Ant was now cold, and starving. On the other hand, Grasshopper had too much of everything. Some of his food must have been spoiling, because it had been saved for so long. While once again (as far as memory serves me) we do not know the whole story of Ant, or Grasshopper, some things are obvious:

• Too much of anything is not good. Whether it is our work ethic, belief system, or relationships, we need to strike a balance.
• Too little of anything has the same end result. Too much focus on one area of our life leaves us empty and cold in other areas. Emptiness, and want tend to make us bitter.
• To have a good life balance, we must be aware, and think. Blindly following any life path does not lead to happiness.
• We should be thrilled with our good parts, and accepting of the other parts, as Ant accepted his plight from playing, and goofing off all summer. Grasshopper demonstrates this in the story too, where he did not care to help Ant, but turned Ant away to fend for himself. Grasshopper accepted himself for what he was. Ant did the same, but not in such an obvious manner.

After the story ends, we can see both characters have their good sides, and their flaws. They both accepted that they each had their individual flaws. Ant apparently died from cold and hunger. Grasshopper died of loneliness because he no longer had Ant to talk with.

Family and friends at one time or another have told me in various ways, that I am one of the most stubborn people they have ever met. They have used some descriptive words like arrogant, condescending, and well, you get the idea. One coworker once said I was a bulldozer, because I bulldoze over anyones ideas or thoughts that I did not agree with.

I have been told in times of anger and frustration that in my world, no one’s opinion matters except mine. I have been told I also know it all too. A doctor I saw once that performed a day surgery for me, mentioned I had skin as thick as a horse. I imagine that is quite fitting.

My conclusion after completing what some may think is a fairly lengthy introspection of myself, my thoughts, and beliefs is they are correct. I am usually guilty of all charges. Yes, I am a culmination of all those adjectives people have used to describe me. I choose not to be a grammar expert, so adjective may not be the correct word.

There is a test given to people, to help the individual, teacher, or instructor identify an individual’s primary learning style. The test is simple though what is does is amazing. We have four basic learning modes we like to use.

The first learning behavior is someone who wants to do first, and learn later.

The second learning behavior is someone who prefers to learn as they go

The third learning behavior is someone who wants to know much more than the task, they want to know why the universe was created, and how it applies.

The fourth learning mode, and the one I was enmeshed in is a reflector. People who are reflectors do not want to do anything until they have thoroughly absorbed every part of the learning and how it fits in with everything they already know. You have shown them, told them, or demonstrated something so many times, you are sick of it. Fwiw, if you read yesterdays blog entry, you now know why I was hung up on math….

I was a statistical flyer in this learning style, out there past the standard three sigma range. How this learning style applies to what people think of me at times is interesting. It also makes me a human blender of ideas and thoughts. I later became a trainer which brought me close to the statistical center over time.

The ‘frustration’ people have with me, is I can not read, hear, or experience something, and take it as truth. I compare it with everything similar that I know already. This compare and blend process may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few days. When I am done, I know without any doubt at all whether I agree, disagree, why something is right, or wrong, and how far away from correct an idea is.

For example, if I read or hear somewhere about some human attribute being less than acceptable, it goes into my whole brain database of knowledge, and is compared to what I know already. If it does not agree with every other source that is in agreement, well then it is simply not correct. Not a bad trait, but I do it with most things.

Once it is faulty, it is faulty - this is where people mention to me I have a problem. Some people however can not accept that what they choose to believe (choose being a keyword) is not correct. For some people to be correct, almost every thinker in human history has to be wrong. I can not imagine for a second that the greatest thinkers on earth are wrong, and one little printed thought is correct.

World religion is a good example. Major beliefs, and religions share many fundamental precepts. Be good, and love one another is a precept all major beliefs share without exception.

When concepts deviate beyond what is shared in other major religions, it is possibly tainted thought injection, and should be treated as such. That does not make it immediately wrong, it does make it suspect and needing more looking into and thinking about.

I am sure you have heard, or read the (possibly mildly offensive to some) joke about the young bull and the old bull? In a cleaned up version, two bulls on top of a hill see a group of cows in the valley below. One, a young bull, being young, wants to rush in and mate with one of the cows. The old bull wants to walk down slowly, and mate with a number of the cows.

This joke is probably thousands of years old. There was a form of it in the movie, ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’, in the parking lot scene. It is also a premise in many other books and movies. At the end of all of these, the logic is immediately apparent: Why waste energy on small stuff when there are more important matters coming up? When you are older you will have more to contribute. While youth is great it is not the end all of existence, there is much more to life.

We should be who we are. When I was younger I enjoyed knowing there was someone around who was older and had more life experience than myself. I could go to and use them as a sounding board to help me through a hard decision, and present choices I had not thought of. I have never wanted to live in a world like that of Time machine, Logan’s Run, Brave New World, or any of the other books and movies where young is all there is, and life is controlled. Where and once you reach a certain age, you disappear. That’s not living, thats a lie in action.

It is a disservice to younger people to be much older, and try to be one of them. A much better tact is let someone younger than yourself be younger, and you be yourself at your correct age. There is much more to be gained from the relationship, and more satisfaction for both parties.

Take advantage of your life knowledge and life experience, to help young adults make the world a better place rather than helping them repeat the same mistakes that have already been made. If you are a young adult, take advantage of your enthusiasm, and energy to make the world a better place, but stop once in a while and ask directions.

No one would seriously argue the generally hasty decision making processes of some young adults. They do things on an instant. They are driving to a friends house, and they show up late, but with a new car. They push too many limits, and sometimes they pay a tragic price, either in themselves or the harm they have done to someone else. Thankfully, our society is set up in such a way, the damage they can do is limited.

There is a reason why people must meet a certain age requirement, either by law, or by general consensus. The reason for an minimum age, is peoples life experience, and decision making abilities have to be at a certain level before they can be effective in certain life roles.

I think it is a disservice to yourself, and young people, to be much older pretending to be young. A much better tact is let someone younger than yourself be younger, and you be you. There is much more to be gained from life, and more satisfaction for everyone. Take advantage of your life knowledge and life experience to help young adults make the world a better place rather than helping them repeat the same mistakes we did.

If you are a young adult, take advantage of your enthusiasm, and energy to make the world a better place. There is a lot to be said for youth, and there is a lot to be said for the knowledge and wisdom of age. Think about how much can be said when the two combine forces! Don’t be afraid to be the age you are. If you do not be your age, the only person you are fooling is yourself. You are also cheating yourself of some very good years in your life, and you probably do not like the person in the mirror to much either.