This year the global population is estimated to pass the 7 billion mark. Seven billion people, and I'm one of them. That's like looking at a sea shore and picking out a single grain of sand... that one's YOU. So... what's so special about you? What sets you apart from the others? If you can honestly answer that question, you're miles ahead in the human race.
The question has bothered me my whole life. I see myself as being special in my own way, as having something unique to offer, but in the end I'm nothing more to the rest of the world than another grain of sand. I think the worst, most pointless state of existence is a person who doesn't have any answer to that question. No dreams, no goals, no purpose but the completely mundane. The second most useless state of humanity is my own. To have talents, dreams, goals, vision, something to offer that would benefit the world, but all of that potential is wasted. It's like granules of gold imbedded, unnoticed, in pyrite. The world doesn't care, it doesn't recognize the value.
Funny, I can see the unique value in every human being. Every individual has her/his crucial place. A parent either raises a child up to become a world-changing gift to humanity, or the parent raises a drug-addicted thief, or maybe a serial rapist or killer. Same parent, same child, different parenting practices in alternate potential realities.
I also see how a massive pile of human sand that refuses to participate in the status quo could collectively alter the future for the better. Humans follow the crowd. What if the crowd nearest you decided it's just not gonna take "it" anymore? It being tyranny or ignorance or callous indifference to human suffering or evil or WHATEVER. Not only are they not going to take it anymore, but also they're going to CHANGE it. If I was nothing more than just another grain in that world-altering sand pile, I could feel proud of my minuscule stature.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Lionheart's Living Free Rules #1-6
1: Materialism and the passionate desire for CRAP YOU DON'T NEED is the root of all evil.
2: The only physical needs you have are water, food and temperature regulation. Everything else is optional.
3: Life is roughly half horrible and half wonderful. Accept that and stop complaining. Whichever half you focus on will determine whether you are happy or miserable.
4: When choosing a career, do for income whatever you would do just for fun. If you hate your job, choose a brand new career based on this rule.
5: Debt is slavery. If you don't have enough of your own money to pay cash for it, you can't afford it. And if it's not one of the necessities mentioned in LIVING FREE rule #2, you DON'T NEED it. And if you most likely couldn't sell it within 30 days at a solid profit, it's probably not a wise investment. So don't buy it!
6: Fear no person, fear nothing. Ultimately, the only person, place or thing that has any power over you without your PERMISSION is God. Almost nothing you're inclined to fear will happen, and if it does, SO WHAT. What's the worst that could happen, you die? Unless you're an enemy of your Creator, there's no such thing as death! Fear of failure, pain, discomfort or death will only inhibit your freedom and keep you from success!
2: The only physical needs you have are water, food and temperature regulation. Everything else is optional.
3: Life is roughly half horrible and half wonderful. Accept that and stop complaining. Whichever half you focus on will determine whether you are happy or miserable.
4: When choosing a career, do for income whatever you would do just for fun. If you hate your job, choose a brand new career based on this rule.
5: Debt is slavery. If you don't have enough of your own money to pay cash for it, you can't afford it. And if it's not one of the necessities mentioned in LIVING FREE rule #2, you DON'T NEED it. And if you most likely couldn't sell it within 30 days at a solid profit, it's probably not a wise investment. So don't buy it!
6: Fear no person, fear nothing. Ultimately, the only person, place or thing that has any power over you without your PERMISSION is God. Almost nothing you're inclined to fear will happen, and if it does, SO WHAT. What's the worst that could happen, you die? Unless you're an enemy of your Creator, there's no such thing as death! Fear of failure, pain, discomfort or death will only inhibit your freedom and keep you from success!
The Federal Government Will Never Balance the Budget In This Generation
I'm making a dark prediction, not based on any special prophetic knowledge from God, or any insider information. This prediction is based entirely on nothing more than common sense. In this generation of voting adults, our federal government will never balance the budget or stabilize the economy or give us the opportunity to fully realize the American Dream. That's because the steps that would be necessary to return America to its pre-1930 prosperity would be too drastic for even American voters to accept, much less Congress. So instead, nothing but temporary and unstable patches will ever be applied to this modern economic disaster.
What would need to be done if we were to have a balanced and stable budget and a sound economy? Here's my short, abbreviated list:
1. Remove all of our troops from everywhere except within the borders of the USA. Not just Libya and Iraq, EVERYWHERE. No more world-policing.
2. Decriminalize all drugs, not just marijuana. States should be solely responsible for substance abuse laws, and if the federal government stopped spending our money investigating, prosecuting and incarcerating non-violent offenders, billions of dollars would be saved annually.
3. Decriminalize all "victimless crimes." No victim, no crime. See #2 above, and add billions more in savings, from incarceration expenses alone.
4. Return all federal lands to the states and eliminate all national forest, parks and monuments bureaucracies. The federal government owns Washington DC. Everything else belongs to the states and the citizens.
5. Eliminate all redundant federal bureaucracies, beginning with the TSA. Before the TSA, there was efficient, constitutional, non-invasive airport security. Those were the good ol' days.
6. Abolish the Fed and send those crooks to prison. After releasing all the potheads, there will be plenty of room. Replace the Federal Reserve counterfeit notes with a stable solid-asset currency, minted by the federal government or independent mints, including Indian nations. Currency based on pretty rocks would retain its value better than printing press paper.
7. Strike all regulations, taxes, fines and fees for engaging in free enterprise that have buried small businesses and favored giant corporations. You could virtually abolish everything and leave businesses alone unless they are engaging in fraud or crimes with victims. Hmmm, that would force lots of bureaucrats to pack their stuff and go get real jobs, like the rest of us.
8. I know you've got more ideas, don't you. So why not type some of them into the comments box below.
Do these ideas sound too extreme? Maybe our government would never do any of this? If you think so, please refer to the title of this short note. Now you know why.
What would need to be done if we were to have a balanced and stable budget and a sound economy? Here's my short, abbreviated list:
1. Remove all of our troops from everywhere except within the borders of the USA. Not just Libya and Iraq, EVERYWHERE. No more world-policing.
2. Decriminalize all drugs, not just marijuana. States should be solely responsible for substance abuse laws, and if the federal government stopped spending our money investigating, prosecuting and incarcerating non-violent offenders, billions of dollars would be saved annually.
3. Decriminalize all "victimless crimes." No victim, no crime. See #2 above, and add billions more in savings, from incarceration expenses alone.
4. Return all federal lands to the states and eliminate all national forest, parks and monuments bureaucracies. The federal government owns Washington DC. Everything else belongs to the states and the citizens.
5. Eliminate all redundant federal bureaucracies, beginning with the TSA. Before the TSA, there was efficient, constitutional, non-invasive airport security. Those were the good ol' days.
6. Abolish the Fed and send those crooks to prison. After releasing all the potheads, there will be plenty of room. Replace the Federal Reserve counterfeit notes with a stable solid-asset currency, minted by the federal government or independent mints, including Indian nations. Currency based on pretty rocks would retain its value better than printing press paper.
7. Strike all regulations, taxes, fines and fees for engaging in free enterprise that have buried small businesses and favored giant corporations. You could virtually abolish everything and leave businesses alone unless they are engaging in fraud or crimes with victims. Hmmm, that would force lots of bureaucrats to pack their stuff and go get real jobs, like the rest of us.
8. I know you've got more ideas, don't you. So why not type some of them into the comments box below.
Do these ideas sound too extreme? Maybe our government would never do any of this? If you think so, please refer to the title of this short note. Now you know why.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Being Alive, Living Awake
Being "alive" requires me to be the exact person God designed me to be. I'm not a member of the walking dead, I am fully living, and I know that "life is good," and here's why:
First of all, I wasn't designed to follow the herd, so I DON'T. And if I was intended to be a leader, people would follow me, and THEY DON'T. So I don't expect them to. I'm content knowing that I like people, but I'm not a member of a group, tribe, clique, gaggle or club. The direction my feet are turned is the direction I go, and if I go alone, it's probably because there's no trail that goes that direction. And most other people prefer to follow trails.
I have a unique blend of talents, hobbies, interests and passions, and there's probably no one else in the world who matches that exact blend, so the result is that I have lots of friends in life but no life partner. That's okay, because having nobody else telling me what I will or will not do with my talents, hobbies, interests and passions means that I am COMPLETELY FREE to live EXACTLY as the person I was designed to be. I am not a two-headed animal trying to travel in two opposite directions. That makes me efficient at being MYSELF.
Free from the herd, when I see evil and injustice in the world, there is nobody with so much influence over my thinking that they can convince me the evil and injustice is just a figment of my imagination. I see it, so I believe it. The herd may be looking at pop culture, sports and celebrity gossip, thinking those are the important things in life. Meanwhile, I don't know the rules of their games, I don't know who those celebrities are, I think their culture is stupid, and I'm looking the opposite direction anyway. I'm not watching TV, I'm looking out the window. And then I'm outside, and I'm walking around. I'm alive, breathing the air, living MY life, not the life of a celebrity on TV who's pregnant with an alien baby from an affair with a basketball player.
I tell people about the evils and injustices they would otherwise overlook because that's the right thing to do, NOT because I think most of them will listen or care. And since the majority of the herd of human sheep won't listen or care, I understand and accept the fact that evil and injustice will rule the land more often than good and justice. I understand that and I'm prepared for it, but that doesn't mean I'll keep silent when justice would have me be heard. What it means is that I won't follow them over any cliff. And it also means that if anyone at all listened when I spoke, those friends of mine won't jump either.
Because I am alive and awake, I am confident. When the storm comes, I have boarded my windows. I have battened down my hatches. I am docked securely in the harbor while others are still at sea, fated to drown. They've called me crazy or stupid. Now let's see what Fate calls them.
And that's the Master Plan. I was born to be myself, not someone else. To follow my path, not yours. The Master Plan was never even my own, and that's the beauty of it. It's the plan of someone far more brilliant, someone with flawless logic: the One who made me, designed my every detail at the drafting table. Every talent, hobby, interest and passion is part of that plan. I was put here on purpose and so were you. I was meant to be awake and alive, so were you. As different as we are, we are exactly alike: we're here for a reason, we came on a mission. But we can only fulfill our mission if we are awake, aware and SOBER. If you live awake, you'll live fulfilled. If you live asleep you'll die empty. But frankly, it's none of my business which way you choose. If you live dead, you're like all the rest of the plants and animals: everything that's born, that lives, that grows also dies. You can be food for worms if you like. All I can say is, this is my personal opinion: life is better than death. And in my experience, life is good!
First of all, I wasn't designed to follow the herd, so I DON'T. And if I was intended to be a leader, people would follow me, and THEY DON'T. So I don't expect them to. I'm content knowing that I like people, but I'm not a member of a group, tribe, clique, gaggle or club. The direction my feet are turned is the direction I go, and if I go alone, it's probably because there's no trail that goes that direction. And most other people prefer to follow trails.
I have a unique blend of talents, hobbies, interests and passions, and there's probably no one else in the world who matches that exact blend, so the result is that I have lots of friends in life but no life partner. That's okay, because having nobody else telling me what I will or will not do with my talents, hobbies, interests and passions means that I am COMPLETELY FREE to live EXACTLY as the person I was designed to be. I am not a two-headed animal trying to travel in two opposite directions. That makes me efficient at being MYSELF.
Free from the herd, when I see evil and injustice in the world, there is nobody with so much influence over my thinking that they can convince me the evil and injustice is just a figment of my imagination. I see it, so I believe it. The herd may be looking at pop culture, sports and celebrity gossip, thinking those are the important things in life. Meanwhile, I don't know the rules of their games, I don't know who those celebrities are, I think their culture is stupid, and I'm looking the opposite direction anyway. I'm not watching TV, I'm looking out the window. And then I'm outside, and I'm walking around. I'm alive, breathing the air, living MY life, not the life of a celebrity on TV who's pregnant with an alien baby from an affair with a basketball player.
I tell people about the evils and injustices they would otherwise overlook because that's the right thing to do, NOT because I think most of them will listen or care. And since the majority of the herd of human sheep won't listen or care, I understand and accept the fact that evil and injustice will rule the land more often than good and justice. I understand that and I'm prepared for it, but that doesn't mean I'll keep silent when justice would have me be heard. What it means is that I won't follow them over any cliff. And it also means that if anyone at all listened when I spoke, those friends of mine won't jump either.
Because I am alive and awake, I am confident. When the storm comes, I have boarded my windows. I have battened down my hatches. I am docked securely in the harbor while others are still at sea, fated to drown. They've called me crazy or stupid. Now let's see what Fate calls them.
And that's the Master Plan. I was born to be myself, not someone else. To follow my path, not yours. The Master Plan was never even my own, and that's the beauty of it. It's the plan of someone far more brilliant, someone with flawless logic: the One who made me, designed my every detail at the drafting table. Every talent, hobby, interest and passion is part of that plan. I was put here on purpose and so were you. I was meant to be awake and alive, so were you. As different as we are, we are exactly alike: we're here for a reason, we came on a mission. But we can only fulfill our mission if we are awake, aware and SOBER. If you live awake, you'll live fulfilled. If you live asleep you'll die empty. But frankly, it's none of my business which way you choose. If you live dead, you're like all the rest of the plants and animals: everything that's born, that lives, that grows also dies. You can be food for worms if you like. All I can say is, this is my personal opinion: life is better than death. And in my experience, life is good!
The Prestige
The Pledge. The Turn. The Prestige.
The elements of a great illusion. And the elements of a life well-lived. My life is my own masterpiece of magic. Wait for it...
1. The pledge: Magician announces the impossible feat he is about to perform. In a magic show, the magician displays whatever article or apparatus he will use to accomplish his feat. In life, the apparatus displayed for the pledge is whatever talents or assets you have. And you determine what you will do with those talents and assets.
2. The turn: Magician does what he said he would do. But only doing what he announced he would do does not earn him the prestige. He said he'd do it, he did it. Okay... In life, accomplishing what you set out to do is good, but it's not awesome.
3. The prestige: Illusion capitalizes on the most exotic and overlooked principles of psychology. To achieve the prestige, the magician understands this aspect of human thinking: if you get an audience to watch your illusion by overpromising something they imagine will be better than the truth, they'll be disappointed at the end result. If you tell them what you plan to do exactly, they will imagine you doing it in advance. So when you accomplish the feat, their reaction will be equivalent to someone seeing the trick for the second time. A positive reaction, but not a fantastic one. But if what you tell them you're about to do fascinates them, but it's an understatement, they will imagine you doing something fantastic. Okay, now they're watching and anticipating what they've imagined. But what you actually do is something far more awesome than what they've imagined. The magician earns the prestige by underpromising and overdelivering, by surprise. The reaction of the audience will be the best possible audience response.
In real life, the difference between an unsatisfying life and a good life is, an unsatisfying life consists only of the promise, the pledge. You have talents and assets, but never achieve the turn. If you lived a good life, you used your talents and assets well, and accomplished what everyone expected. And that leaves the possibility of something far better: a FANTASTIC life. That would be achieved by the surprise ending. The awesome overdelivery beyond anyone else's expectations.
The elements of a great illusion. And the elements of a life well-lived. My life is my own masterpiece of magic. Wait for it...
1. The pledge: Magician announces the impossible feat he is about to perform. In a magic show, the magician displays whatever article or apparatus he will use to accomplish his feat. In life, the apparatus displayed for the pledge is whatever talents or assets you have. And you determine what you will do with those talents and assets.
2. The turn: Magician does what he said he would do. But only doing what he announced he would do does not earn him the prestige. He said he'd do it, he did it. Okay... In life, accomplishing what you set out to do is good, but it's not awesome.
3. The prestige: Illusion capitalizes on the most exotic and overlooked principles of psychology. To achieve the prestige, the magician understands this aspect of human thinking: if you get an audience to watch your illusion by overpromising something they imagine will be better than the truth, they'll be disappointed at the end result. If you tell them what you plan to do exactly, they will imagine you doing it in advance. So when you accomplish the feat, their reaction will be equivalent to someone seeing the trick for the second time. A positive reaction, but not a fantastic one. But if what you tell them you're about to do fascinates them, but it's an understatement, they will imagine you doing something fantastic. Okay, now they're watching and anticipating what they've imagined. But what you actually do is something far more awesome than what they've imagined. The magician earns the prestige by underpromising and overdelivering, by surprise. The reaction of the audience will be the best possible audience response.
In real life, the difference between an unsatisfying life and a good life is, an unsatisfying life consists only of the promise, the pledge. You have talents and assets, but never achieve the turn. If you lived a good life, you used your talents and assets well, and accomplished what everyone expected. And that leaves the possibility of something far better: a FANTASTIC life. That would be achieved by the surprise ending. The awesome overdelivery beyond anyone else's expectations.
Illusion
EVERYTHING YOU SEE IS ILLUSION. Even if you don't believe me... now you know.
The future is that part of the past that, in the present, hasn't happened yet. Time is only one small part of the larger illusion.
Why you see what you see: light bounces off of an object, strikes your eye, sending a signal to a part of your brain that doesn't "see," but interprets the electrical signals it receives, transforming the interpretation of those signals into a mental vision representing the external object. YOUR MIND SEES, NOT YOUR EYE! It's an illusion!
So ultimately YOU SEE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE, not necessarily what's really there.
All five of the RECOGNIZED senses are as subject to mental interpretation as eyesight. What does or doesn't taste good depends on a person's preconceived ideas about taste. Somebody loves bananas, someone else hates them. It's the mind, not the taste buds that make that decision.
Beauty and ugly are "in the eye of the beholder." The mind of the beholder fabricates sliding scales of physical attractiveness to decide who's attractive and who isn't. A woman might use Antonio Banderas as a subconscious model for comparison. When she sees someone who looks somewhat like him, she thinks he's "handsome." If she sees someone who looks nothing at all like him, he's "ugly."
An attraction to a personality can also be influenced by subconscious comparisons, positive or negative. The Hollywood "bad boy" fictional characters have shaped the minds of women from childhood, helping them discern the difference between a "sexy" personality and a "wimpy" one. Unfortunately, in REAL LIFE, a "bad boy" is a male with no self-control. Maybe he drinks too much, drives drunk, drops a little acid now and then, picks fights, has a violent temper. Unfortunately, the qualities that separate "bad boy" from "good boy" are also the very qualities that make a so-called bad boy the WORST POSSIBLE husband, father or even lover. The difference between a "good" or "bad" person, whatever gender, is their level of self-control, patience and empathy for others. And everyone has those qualities to different degrees, so a good or bad person isn't exactly clear-cut. If God is ALL GOOD and the devil is ALL BAD, nobody is completely good like God or evil like the devil. Which means there's no such thing as a "nice guy" either. "Nice guys" are as much a Hollywood fiction as "bad boys."
What music sounds good, whether you love or hate the color orange, whether you think 75° weather is sweltering hot or freezing cold... all of those opinions about the material world are mind-over-matter, not determined by the information your sense organs receive, but by experiences and comparisons lurking in your subconscious mind that influence how you INTERPRET incoming sensory data.
So in the two worlds, the worlds of Matter and Spirit, the material world our bodies live in is an illusion. It's temporary, relative and easily misunderstood. On the other hand, the intangible world our minds live in is so misunderstood that some people refuse to even recognize its existence. Yet, that's the true, permanent world that would still exist even if the material world went up in radioactive mushroom clouds. That's the world of the immortal, subconscious Soul.
So why does the world focus so much on the illusion? Material possessions that make you happy for a little while, until you lose interest and want something (or someone) new?
People are so materially focused that even their religions, churches and preachers dangle material rewards in front of their sheep as an incentive to be "good," or to believe their dogmas. If you do the right things or BELIEVE the right magical combination of doctrines, you'll receive a physical mansion in heaven, a crown of jewels, a planet to rule over or a pile of obedient virgin wives. Whatever the promise, it's a material reward for "proper" spiritual behavior. Why should there have to be ANY physical reward for doing the right thing? If you give one thing with the motive of receiving something else, that's not a gift, it's a business transaction. If you buy a couch for your living room, that doesn't really qualify as a selfless charitable act. So how "good" is appropriate human kindness if it was done for the purpose of material reward?
While some people who know me may be doubting my sanity or wisdom, please try to understand this. The material system of money and CRAP we don't really need, the political system, the worldwide military posturing, the religious structures, EVERYTHING YOU CAN SEE is an illusion to me. That's why I don't support ReCommuCrat politicians, taxpayer-funded social programs, religions, pop culture or anything, really, that excites most people. ALL I really care about is, "do for others what you would want them to do for you," and "don't do to another person anything you would hate." I believe that's the only lifestyle that really pleases God. And in case you were wondering, I'm pretty sure that's What Jesus Would Do.
The future is that part of the past that, in the present, hasn't happened yet. Time is only one small part of the larger illusion.
Why you see what you see: light bounces off of an object, strikes your eye, sending a signal to a part of your brain that doesn't "see," but interprets the electrical signals it receives, transforming the interpretation of those signals into a mental vision representing the external object. YOUR MIND SEES, NOT YOUR EYE! It's an illusion!
So ultimately YOU SEE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE, not necessarily what's really there.
All five of the RECOGNIZED senses are as subject to mental interpretation as eyesight. What does or doesn't taste good depends on a person's preconceived ideas about taste. Somebody loves bananas, someone else hates them. It's the mind, not the taste buds that make that decision.
Beauty and ugly are "in the eye of the beholder." The mind of the beholder fabricates sliding scales of physical attractiveness to decide who's attractive and who isn't. A woman might use Antonio Banderas as a subconscious model for comparison. When she sees someone who looks somewhat like him, she thinks he's "handsome." If she sees someone who looks nothing at all like him, he's "ugly."
An attraction to a personality can also be influenced by subconscious comparisons, positive or negative. The Hollywood "bad boy" fictional characters have shaped the minds of women from childhood, helping them discern the difference between a "sexy" personality and a "wimpy" one. Unfortunately, in REAL LIFE, a "bad boy" is a male with no self-control. Maybe he drinks too much, drives drunk, drops a little acid now and then, picks fights, has a violent temper. Unfortunately, the qualities that separate "bad boy" from "good boy" are also the very qualities that make a so-called bad boy the WORST POSSIBLE husband, father or even lover. The difference between a "good" or "bad" person, whatever gender, is their level of self-control, patience and empathy for others. And everyone has those qualities to different degrees, so a good or bad person isn't exactly clear-cut. If God is ALL GOOD and the devil is ALL BAD, nobody is completely good like God or evil like the devil. Which means there's no such thing as a "nice guy" either. "Nice guys" are as much a Hollywood fiction as "bad boys."
What music sounds good, whether you love or hate the color orange, whether you think 75° weather is sweltering hot or freezing cold... all of those opinions about the material world are mind-over-matter, not determined by the information your sense organs receive, but by experiences and comparisons lurking in your subconscious mind that influence how you INTERPRET incoming sensory data.
So in the two worlds, the worlds of Matter and Spirit, the material world our bodies live in is an illusion. It's temporary, relative and easily misunderstood. On the other hand, the intangible world our minds live in is so misunderstood that some people refuse to even recognize its existence. Yet, that's the true, permanent world that would still exist even if the material world went up in radioactive mushroom clouds. That's the world of the immortal, subconscious Soul.
So why does the world focus so much on the illusion? Material possessions that make you happy for a little while, until you lose interest and want something (or someone) new?
People are so materially focused that even their religions, churches and preachers dangle material rewards in front of their sheep as an incentive to be "good," or to believe their dogmas. If you do the right things or BELIEVE the right magical combination of doctrines, you'll receive a physical mansion in heaven, a crown of jewels, a planet to rule over or a pile of obedient virgin wives. Whatever the promise, it's a material reward for "proper" spiritual behavior. Why should there have to be ANY physical reward for doing the right thing? If you give one thing with the motive of receiving something else, that's not a gift, it's a business transaction. If you buy a couch for your living room, that doesn't really qualify as a selfless charitable act. So how "good" is appropriate human kindness if it was done for the purpose of material reward?
While some people who know me may be doubting my sanity or wisdom, please try to understand this. The material system of money and CRAP we don't really need, the political system, the worldwide military posturing, the religious structures, EVERYTHING YOU CAN SEE is an illusion to me. That's why I don't support ReCommuCrat politicians, taxpayer-funded social programs, religions, pop culture or anything, really, that excites most people. ALL I really care about is, "do for others what you would want them to do for you," and "don't do to another person anything you would hate." I believe that's the only lifestyle that really pleases God. And in case you were wondering, I'm pretty sure that's What Jesus Would Do.
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