Moments in the meantime...

Moments in the meantime...

Have you ever noticed how living your life keeps getting caught up in the minutia of the moments...and how even when you are totally into a thing...life is going on around you and your focus...while needed and desired in that moment...seems trivial and incomplete when you step back and take a look at that moment with some fresh eyes and a different perspective?

I listened to someone speak today about their experience...and as they were processing their feelings and the aftermath of their moment...I found myself comparing...measuring...relating...and trying to solve a puzzle with them about their experience while at the same time trying to see how I fit into the same issues and conversation...how would I be if compared by the same measurement and how would I feel if facing the same circumstances? Would I have done the same as this individual given the same circumstances or would I have made a different choice...and if so...why? Along with why...how would that have impacted me differently?

I saw a piece of what this event did to or for them...I guess it depends on how one looks at it...their uncertainty...their questioning of themselves...the guilt...and worry. I understand the fear. I get how something like the mistake they apparently made...out of a very positive intention....but none the less a mistake...made them feel like they let others down and possibly put people and organizations in jeopardy. So what does it all mean?

It doesn't really mean anything. It can mean everything. Depending on how a person views it...it might be nothing or it could be everything and there is only one person that can make a difference like that. How do I view it and what does it mean to me? Well...what do I want it to mean to me? How does this make me look in others eyes? Will people see me the way I want them to or will they look at this as a reason to view me negatively? Could this actually underline what I already believe? Is this proof?

In the meantime...while all the questions...all the self-examination...all the doubt...life is carrying on....and these moments...travel on in the meantime. What does it all mean?

You decide...

Truth...an interesting point.

So....this week...I really pissed someone off. I didn't exactly mean to...it's...at times...just the nature of what I do and the way I do it. See...in a way...I tell the truth to people for a living. I make great efforts to do this with understanding, empathy, diplomacy, and caring. Generally this is taken well by people even if it is not what someone wants to hear...and this is often the case. But most of the time, people in general, appreciate hearing a truth. It gives the opportunity for personal growth.

However, there are times where I feel I have to tell someone something that they need to hear...but yet they are just simply not ready for receiving the information. At times, such as this situation above, there is often an emotional reaction, emotional reactivity, and my role in the drama is being the instigator. I am not particularly excited with having to implement this role...but I can take it on when I need to. Confrontation isn't my natural state however I am more than comfortable with confrontation when the time calls for it. My experience has been that most people do not like confrontation...but when confronted with a truth...they are open to seeing a different path...at least to some degree. From there it is all just about planting seeds.

Now...I have used the term truth several times here...and have written about this in the past so I would invite the reader to check out another of my blogs from the past in dealing with truth.

http://thethoughtlounge.blogspot.com/2007/06/momentstruthand-being-in-now.html

This of course does not cover the subject and is incomplete so I will first and foremost freely make this admission. What is written in this past blog holds the core of what I am describing above, however it is quite incomplete.

A truth is as one sees it and is a matter of personal perception. With that said I will also say that there does exist some universal truth within the context of our individual lives as well as collectively, and while valid philosophical arguments can be made against this, the reality of perception connects most of us to a gathering of information and agreement.

A flame is hot. Ice is cold. The sun describes day. The moon describes night. Yes...it is our five senses that provide us with this information and can not therefore be fully trusted...so holding a burning ember in your bare hand for 5 minutes...take a nice 5 mile stroll walking in snow in January with bare feet...dipping your bare feet in boiling oil....hmm?...You don't want to? Could it possibly be that you know better? Fear getting injured? This would be a justified fear. That this would be a justified fear...is a truth. A truth because of the likelihood of the injury. While the argument of a philosopher is an interesting theoretical exercise...any rational person would doubt the mental stability of anyone actually trying these exercises. Truth.

These examples are simplistic and even juvenile yet they are examples of basic agreements that we have all come to hold as truths. Even the most cynical and ardent philosophers abide by these same evident truths in their daily existence while railing against the idea of such a thing intellectually and academically. The exercise of thought. The concept of time is just as universal. The proof is in the behaviors of the cynic. While fighting tooth and nail against the very idea of time being a truth to us collectively...the truth actually is...that academic is there at work at 8:00 AM to teach his/her class or he/she is not paying their mortgage that month. The argument is simply an exercise in intellectual thought...but not in practice. Not in behavior. Not real. But interesting nonetheless.

So truth...is quite an interesting concept...and yet I believe truth has shades of gray itself. Are there absolute truths? I personally believe that there is very little in our lives that is black and white. Most of life is a shade of gray. However I do believe that absolutes do exist...albeit in very short supply. But it isn't in the extremes that I want to linger. I think the more interesting conversation is in the battleground of the agreed upon truths. Those not out on the fringe but the more debatable, yet still strongly held opinions, which can lead to healthy debate and personal growth. One of these subjects, to me, is respect. I have written about this in the past. Again I invite the reader to this past blog.

http://thethoughtlounge.blogspot.com/2007/06/respect.html

My explanation of respect always includes self-respect...and it was in this conversation that I angered someone earlier this week. It is interesting to me that the same words can have such diverse affects on different people. With one person it caused a flash of anger and they burst from their seat and out of the room and building. They...were...done! LOL.

Another person cried, laughed, and asked for a hug. It is interesting that people are so individual in their growth, thoughts, and ideas...as well as reactions...to the same information. Does it make the information less true because one person could hear it and one person could not? I do not believe it changes the truth of the assertion...I do believe it speaks to an individual's ability to hear the truth or to accept a truth. But it doesn't necessarily make that truth less of a truth.

A common assertion regarding respect...is...I will respect you if you respect me first...but if you are gonna disrespect me...I am going to disrespect you back. This is very common and I have two names for this mentality.

The first is "the warrior's mentality". It is and has been the mentality of warriors...the people who war with each other...as in real war. This point of view was developed through survival and therefore is valid within the framework of violence. For as long as human beings have registered their history and I am sure beyond...this mentality has existed and in those areas prone to violence as a way of life, it will most likely and unfortunately continue to exist. It is protectionism and defense. Purely survival. While it is understandable how it came into existence...it is also understandable how useless it is when analyzing an individual's personal growth. This attitude suppresses an individual's ability to truly grow. It is about power and control. It is about physical strength...with no intellect, understanding, or empathy.

The second name is "a pen mentality". Pen as in penitentiary. This is the way that human beings treat each other in prison. This same population considers themselves as soldiers and so the core of this mentality is the same. That same mentality filters out into the street through thugs and gangs...billy bad asses and alcoholic individuals unable to get their life's struggles under control...immaturity and the sheep mentality when individual's do not value themselves more than simply fitting in with a crowd...as well as some of the mentally ill. There are more categories of course...I am simplifying for the purposes of this post...but there are more.

Suffice it to say...this is all without self-respect as I have described it in the above mentioned blog.

Respect is earned. But self-respect is earned and hard fought for as well. Someone who acts under the definitions above...who is living in our society and not in a hot...forward area...defending our country...does not and should not be living with a warrior's or a pen mentality. It is simply not necessary and more so it is harmful to the individual as well as our communities for each of us to allow ourselves to reduce ourselves to these poor ways of being in the world. It is absolutely a reduction as a human being to view our world like this because it justifies inhuman behavior. Behavior that is illegal, immoral, undignified, corrupt, and disrespectful.

It takes more guts...more bravery...more courage...to hold your personal integrity intact and retain your self-respect by not allowing yourself to be degraded and reducing your belief and behavior to actions brought on by these faulty belief systems. We should instead rise above petty immature and inane feuding and treat each other the way we should be treating each other...with dignity and respect. It takes more to be more. It does not take much to revel in degradation. This attitude and belief is shallow and unfulfilling. One will never be their full potential as a human being by embracing violence and pride. I guess it comes down to what one wants in their life...and if one does not care for ones self...one will hurt others...and thereby themselves...because they will be ignorant of being any better.

I do find it interesting that so many of us can be so truncated in our own ability to develop. Of course I am not above the warriors or pen mentality. I lived a good portion of my life from the same direction and therefore I am not speaking from some lofty perch. However...I learned to do better...and learned to live better...and learned to believe in a better way. Truth.

I guess part of things is just about maturity. For in my younger years when I was a scrapper and came from the same mentality...I saw, said, and did things that I would never do in the same way now. Truth.

Interesting how truth works...
Truth.

Healing...

It is good to see a new year come and we can begin again, entering a fresh calendar and new beginnings. There is a feeling of excitement in the new and a sense of anticipation. Of course it is also a bit of folly because the only thing that has really happened is we have crossed over a threshold of a calendar which is simply a perception. But the perception of time in a calendar can be as real as one will make it...so I will take the road to the new and go with the flow, celebrating it's possibilities.

I consistently find as I walk along my path in this life that I am choosing to view things as positive whenever I can manage to justify it in my own mind. Not that there isn't the negative out there...there is plenty of bad to go around. But I gotta tell ya, I personally, feel better as I try to search for the positive in whatever it is. I find this more healing...more cathartic...for me.

Sometimes that is really difficult because there is a part of me that feeds on catastrophizing a situation or an event. I kinda grew up with that perception around me. My mom told me once that she expects the worst, and then if it doesn't happen, she is relieved and if it does, she is not surprised or disappointed. Not to point fingers or anything...we are all allowed our own way of looking at life, but every cell in me hears that and my response is...yuck. I do not want to expect the worst. I do not want to be disappointed either, don't get me wrong, but I would rather focus on hope and expect the best...the positive...and work towards making even a cruddy situation positive.

One of my clinical supervisors, as I was going through my training for being a marriage and family therapist once told me, "even in the worst stories, experiences, and situations...you will know the client has turned a corner towards permanent healing once they view their horrible situation as positive. That is the only point that they will be able to get past it".

So the idea is that even if a person has been exposed to being hurt, attacked, maimed, raped, watched someone else killed, or almost died themselves, they need to get to a point in their perception...their view of their own experience...that will speak to them as the outcome of that experience as being positive.

Now...it is completely understandable if you read that statement and say to yourself there is no way I could be maimed or raped or watched someone die and see it as positive. That might be a perfectly normal reaction and it even might be a reaction shared by the majority of people reading this, however...if you want to heal from the wound...you need to get to the point...with time and a lot of effort...that will lead you to a place which will allow you to see that good has come from whatever it is that happened to you.

Why would you have been made better by going through something horrible? Well...usually all the pain experienced, that hurts and leaves us wondering why...will lead us to new realizations and learning experiences...and sometimes even to safer and healthier places in life. Not always will it make one healthier...in a physical sense...but very often that is an added benefit. The point is, the experiences have a benefit, even though they were traumatic to go through. It is at that point that one can make the transition from being a victim of the experience...to being proactive and moving forward in their own life...taking charge...in a healthy way.

We watched 20/20 last night and saw the story of a 16 year old girl who 6 years ago at the age of 10 was left in charge of her 3 year old sister, in a trailer, while mom went off to a casino to gamble. While left alone, two teenagers come to the trailer, gained entry, and stabbed her and her sister. The 3 year old died and the 10 year old almost died. She was stabbed repeatedly and left in a wheel chair. It was a horrific scene and one that on so many levels should never have happened. The teenagers, a brother (19) and a sister (16) were caught and convicted. They had a problem with the children's mother because of a drug deal gone bad.

Today the survivor is 16 years old, going to high school, is a popular, smart, cute teenager, full of life and energetic, looking at her future with eyes wide open, having just been adopted by her foster family. She is an athlete and is participating in track and field events in her wheel chair. She is living her life...not just existing in it...not just surviving it. She is happy. She is healthy. This survivor...this young girl... said that she wasn't angry. She was actually thankful that this had happened to her. "How?!?" you might ask? She said that before the attack her life was horrible. Now her life is wonderful. She has a real family, real support, and a real future. She also has money ($5 million) because the trailer park was owned by a casino and provided no security. The money in no way makes up for the fact that this young girl no longer has use of half her body and that her sister died.

But she is in a place today that is a place of healing. A place of going forward into a future that will be bright. She is not a victim...she truly is a survivor...in every sense of the word. The reality of her current life is because of her healing and her attitude. It would be fairly easy for her to get stuck in the why me cycle. She is choosing to go forward in her life, which means she needs to look at the gifts she has received once the physical wounds have healed. Sometimes situations are not as clear as this young lady's example, but the point is there will always be something positive to take from whatever the damage is...sometimes it takes us awhile to find it or see the lesson, but it will show itself, and it is our job to be open and receptive to hearing the lesson...to learning.

Which brings me full circle. By being open to learning and receptive to a positive attitude, one can find a way through the brambles and thorns of life's painful paths to see that no matter how hard or bad things might seem, there are lessons to learn and things to be thankful for. Your life is whatever you make it and looking for excuses as to why you aren't or shouldn't be or can't...which is a word I personally hate....HATE...can't....is self-defeating.

Which is why I will always do my personal best, to try to look at the positive perception, because it is the right thing for me...and I would hope...is the right thing for you as well. Just about anything...is possible, if you believe.

A Time For A Change

This is quite a time we live in. Extraordinary and exciting, dangerous and scary, full of promise for the future and the making of historic moments, we are living in a time that will be studied by future generations. Our decisions are important and significant because they change us as a society, which will change our future path and the direction of future generations.

We are altering our own normality which in my opinion is vital and important. We NEED to do this because we NEED to grow and that growth will strengthen our children, grandchildren, and beyond. It is exciting because this is how we as humans progress. It is also scary because we cannot predict what certain changes will mean and we need to be careful with the changes we make. I will offer some examples.

As the industrial revolution took hold of this country, we slowly moved towards production capabilities never known to human beings in the history of the world. As we grew and continued to create, invent, and establish new forms of production of material goods and services we started to grow our thinking and understanding of how certain things work.

We created steam engines which powered trains and ships which led to greater migration patterns and distribution of goods bought and sold. This was a great advance. One unintended consequence of this was also the spread of certain diseases, to people who had no natural immunity built up because that particular virus or bacteria has never before been introduced to them, as well as birds, bugs, animals, and rodents to places not known to them prior, which in turn changes those new environments.

We eventually created a combustion engine which led to the creation of vehicles which allow for personal transportation and transportation on a smaller scale. This also and at approximately the same time allowed for larger types of transportation as well in the forms of trucks, buses, ships, and eventually even aircraft for distribution of goods and transportation of people for personal reasons, economic reasons, production reasons, as well as military reasons.

These same advances brought about change that strengthened our economy, military, global positioning, and industry as well as our personal lives and opportunities. These engines also run in factories, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, motorcycles, street sweepers, generators, and on and on. They have made our day to day lives extraordinary and much easier, full of new possibilities.

But they of course have a negative consequence as well. They have a byproduct that is extremely unhealthy for our bodies and for the environment. CO2. This gas that these engines produce and omit has the effect of killing us if we breathe too much of it directly. This gas has the same effect on us if we put too much of it in our atmosphere. I believe it is atmosphere and not stratosphere. Point being the more we pump into our air the closer we come to changing our planet in a way that is going to have an effect on our physical lives both personal and professional, and on our future.

We have altered the planet by our collective behavior over the last 100 to 150 years in such a way that could mean significant changes to what we know and the way we know it when it comes to our lives and geography. I say could because we can still change some of our behaviors and alter some of our current ways so that we do not end up destroying ourselves.

Of course combustion engines are not the only way we add this and other gasses to our environment that have an effect on our global environment...they just happen to be one of the largest ways. Another would be cattle and the methane they produce. The number of cows has grown exponentially globally because of the market for them which is a byproduct of the equal explosion of global human population, but the cattle we breed globally produce a great amount of methane which contributes to this same problem.

If you happen to be one of those who does not believe in global warming or the trends that scientists are predicting because of it, I would simply refer to the above example of breathing the output of just one combustion engine and the deadly health risks doing such a thing represents. While our atmosphere can absorb some of these gasses, one must admit there has to be a limit to how much and for how long it can take prolonged exposure, it only makes sense there will be a limit and at some point the balance will turn to the negative. This is reasonable and to ignore the point of diminishing return is at the least costly and at the most naive.

Of course a discussion of development and change would not be complete without at least a mention of the weapons that we have developed and created. The potential for destroying ourselves several times over has existed for decades now and the threat is very real. With irresponsible leaders of the world taking power and gaining these weapons, how will this play out? Again...a very interesting time to be living in and a part of.

We have recently elected a new president, which was both historic because of his racial background, as well as significant because of the mix of financial issues, other domestic issues, and foreign policy issues, not to mention two active wars we are fighting...and I am increasingly amused and find curious the reactions I have came across since this has happened. Some people are elated and some are very scared. Those filled with fear sometimes will quote comments made by the political right to base those fears on...fair enough...that is their belief system at work...and others can't articulate their reasons for the fear...they are just...scared.

About a year and a half ago I read both of the president-elects books. I started telling the people in my groups that I was running at the time that this guy has the skills, background, education, and experience necessary to bring people together...he has already built a long history of bringing people together and has been doing this for 20 plus years...since before he was the president of Harvard's Law Review...he is someone...if anyone can...that has the potential to bring the people of this country together...has the potential to bring world leaders together...except maybe those that can not see past the color of his skin...and if he could make it through the press and political gauntlet...that I would vote for him because of the man...not the party...I am registered with one party but frankly...I do not vote party...any party...I vote people...I do not vote for people I don't like or believe in...personally...that's just me...

The choice has been made by this country and now it is up to the man to follow through and do what is needed. Whether or not you voted for him...he is now our president as Americans. Whether or not you are elated or scared...this is a time of change and change itself is scary. He is human so is bound to make some mistakes...but he is cognizant of what our history is...and what we need to do domestically and globally. My hope and prayer...is that this change will be a change for the better for now and leave a footprint for a better change for our future. Only time will tell. But if we can come together and unite...as a people...as a country...we are much more likely to remain the strong world leader that we have come to be...and that is really the goal isn't it?

My Goal...

Have you ever wondered if you make a difference? I mean we all make some difference just by living our lives and being around...that whole systems theory thing...everything has an affect and effect on everything else...the It's A Wonderful Life thing...the ripples in a pond theory...



I mean really...truly....strongly...passionately...tenaciously...make a difference to people...someone...do you create a lasting and reverberating impact?



Who has made a lasting impact on you?



Many people have greatly impacted me through the course of my life. My father was my hero...and in many ways still is. He was an excellent example of how to be a man, father, provider, husband. Of course he had his flaws...he was very much the authoritarian and had very strict boundaries and a quick and hot temper. There were many times I remember being scared and feeling like I did not want to let him down. But he was a hard worker and that included working to be a good father.



I am now older than he lived to be. He was 39 when he passed in a car accident on his way home. One mistake...one bad choice...and it was all over...his story...his life...my mentor.



I am forever amazed at how hard he worked and at how much time he made for my brother and I. He was accomplished in several things and always found time for us. He was always busy...but always there for us. It will forever amaze me when I see people reaching for lofty goals such as people becoming a good spouse or a good parent, and then achieving it.


I still marvel at the way some people are able to be so together in their lives. Even on a good day I find myself tracking less than I desire for myself to be as a parent, as a husband, as a professional, as an individual. Infinitely human and vulnerable to human frailties. I am strong...I am not weak...but I am human.


So with looking at my mentor...and other mentors I have had in my life...I then ask myself...am I leaving a legacy of impacting...truly impacting others? I sure hope so. I am trying. I know sometimes...I fall shy of my goal...but I sure hope when everything is said and done...that I can look back and feel good about the trail I have left behind.


I hope that whatever good I am as an example to others in my life...great or small...I can improve and grow the good...grow the impact...reach for greater heights. I pray that someday...I have made a difference...for someone...somewhere...for the greater good.


Make the world a better place...to live and love in...and maybe...just maybe...our children will pick up that torch...and carry it forward to the next generation...and the world will be a better place....for us having been in it for awhile...

Things that made me go Hmm...

In reponse to a comment left on the last post...

*gibberish blather...
*wannabe writer...
*doubt about personal integrity...

Hmm...

Methinks it is not my personal integrity at question here...I said I disagreed with your arguments...I didn't call you names...I could…but I don’t…I don’t even want to…I’m not sure why you do…

I have made a recorded history of expressing opinion that is strong and strongly expressed, but balanced… I also backed off of this “discourse” earlier because of this type of behavior…if disparaging this writer is the best that you can think to do in your intellectual arguments when presenting your views, then I do understand the psychology of whom I am dealing with and I have no desire to engage. If you would like to continue this conversation, I need to deal with an adult.

Personal assaults are abusive and really show a lack of ability…they do not forward your arguments…they degrade your points of view that you are attempting to make. They are harmful…and unfortunate. I would suggest writing your responses, if you decide to continue, with less emotion and more rationale. Just a suggestion if you really have a desire in challenging my thought process.

*I will argue that a majority of United States citizens no longer can agree on a clear definition of what freedom means...

I would argue that this has been a problem since the inception of the country. Do I believe in uprooting indigenous peoples? How about enslaving other people from a whole different continent? We fought a civil war based on the difference in definition of freedom. We are still fighting political wars over the definition of freedom. Abortion, gay marriage, executions, drug use, smoking, toking, stroking, in God we trust, taxation, unfettered capitalism, prayer in schools, on and on…we don’t agree on the fine points. No...I think the definition of what our freedom means and how far it extends has been an age old question since, as I said before…our country’s inception…but that doesn’t mean that everything I have already asserted isn’t accurate, correct, or “right”.

You have also quoted several things I have written but have taken them completely out of context to suit your purpose much like we consistently watch media and political parties do…and while I can understand how one might develop a cynical approach to the things I have written…the dysfunctions of some of the members of our society are an unfortunate but realistic part of our society…but not the entire society as a whole…and while I stand by my past assertions to the degrading pieces of this society…mine is more of a call to recognition in order to change what is there as opposed to hiding from it and acting as if it is not there…a call to change if you will…and yes…meaning must be a large part of it. Apparently we disagree on this point…this fine point…but I stand by what I have written and believe it, and here in America...we can agree to disagree.

*Yet, they are clearly equally divided into two groups arguing about what is not freedom.

I would argue that there are many more than simply two groups…even if you are talking political systems there may be two major parties…but last time I checked the two major financially backed candidates are not the only people, based on organized political parties that are running for president. We are fractured by groups of differentiating thought. There are always several out there who are representing those that fundamentally disagree with either of the two major parties. But that still doesn’t attack the heart of what I asserted. We collectively believe in freedom…and we spread that idea around the world…and to those that are of a closed mind…the idea of freedom is dangerous.

*Do you share in the same freedoms as your Father? I suggest looking for the resources that reflect what your senses are telling you. Something contrary to a habitual practice of digesting the interpretations of the talking heads, religious leadership or politicians.

My father was born into a different country, Spain, into a civil war being perpetrated by a ruthless dictator who murdered large amounts of people, and into an economy that was far behind where we are even today. My father ran from there as a teen and many years later eventually landed here in this land. My perspective is different and my reasoning sound. Where my ideas and thinking come from are not based on CNN, MSNBC, or FOX. While I do agree that one’s senses are how one creates understanding and therefore a perspective…I think maybe your assumptions about others should not be so narrow as to think that everyone comes from the same background or perspective…or be so braindead as to not think for themselves...but all that still does not shake my point in that “patriotic proclamation” as you coined it, which I gotta admit…I kinda like. Thanks for the kudo.

This nation believes in freedom…and we should. Defining things is also something I have written about in the past. It is vitally important…but even in the defining of a thing there will be divisive controversy. This is human nature.

I would also like to challenge the challenger here. Mine is an opinion created from observation and self-exploration. Observing what my fellow Americans have done and are doing…and what I have seen as important to my own path. I am not simply espousing or regurgitating someone else’s rhetoric. I simply…wrote what I believe. I would however suggest that your challenges are brought forward by simple rule of philosophical thought, challenge, and contradiction and therefore are simply a rote reaction to an idea expressed. Not even because you believe differently. Questioning a statement for the sake of the question and not in where it will go…it is the movement rather than the importance…you are actually strengthening the point I made in We the People…LOL…because it is our freedom here in this great country that allows me to speak my observations, and allows you to challenge them…

*The fact is, as I said at the beginning of our discussion, that the wannabe writer does not have a need for knowledge of the truth about what is right or good.

This is not a fact. In essence you are making a judgment of me here…and once again the assertion is personal rather than philosophical…but even if you take the personal out of it…a need for knowledge of truth of what is right and good….sounds like the sentiment of the religious right…asserting your idea of what is right upon me…without the option for alternative. Isn’t this exactly what you accuse me of doing?

For shame LOL…come on dude…

Tiptoeing through the tulips...

A Dickens reference? Really? Uh....OK....

First…I want to say…I appreciate your answering my writing with your thoughts and appreciate you putting what you think out there…and I appreciate your reading my writing as well. Thank you. I don’t have many readers and have even less that will step up…so I do appreciate someone sharing…

As far as responding to what you wrote…

Your first paragraph was simply hard to understand…only thing I really got out of it was that you think I am supposed to be doing something other than expressing my opinion on my own blog. This is incorrect and an assumption on your part. The whole purpose for me to write here is to say something that I think and believe…not to prove anything to anyone…it isn’t even to please or displease…just simply to express thought…this is an expression and if you disagree with my assertion…welp…I am OK with that…in fact…I am quite open to that…but I would appreciate the opposing assertion at least stay in context with what I was talking about…

Most of the rest of what you wrote seemed to be efforts to somehow argue a few of the points I made through my piece…and frankly…the arguing against us having a society that believes in freedom….even though freedom is basically an illusion…a point I have made and referred to in other previous blogs…does not make sense to me.

I personally think this is not a logical argument given the constitution, the declaration of independence, and even in a more recent example…what was expressed and acted upon after the events of 911…from people across this country…

I make the point that our society believes in freedom…not that we are actually free in every way, shape, and form…and honestly…I believe I was pretty clear in my assertions…I made several of them and after rereading what I wrote…I still feel good about it and stand by it. It is in the belief…the very idea…of freedom that we hold our strength and our collective power resides.

As far as your offer of insight for the future…I am not sure what it is that you are referencing because the quotes that you are obviously using from different sources around the Internet are not making a clear and cohesive point in context to what I was writing about or saying. Don’t get me wrong…I am not trying to blow off anyone…but frankly I don’t follow your reasoning or logic in reference to what I wrote and what I was trying to say…you are arguing a point…I get that…but your point is lost to me in part because it strays from the context of the conversation…

Are you arguing that Americans do not believe in freedom? Really? Is that your assertion?

If that is your assertion then I would highly disagree with you. If that is not what you were trying to say then forgive me…because see…that was the point of the piece I wrote…that and the moral of the story being that we “should” believe in freedom and we “should” be working hard to spread that word, belief, and idea around the world. Referring to Saddam Hussein regarding helping his people is like referring to Adolph Hitler helping German Jews by starting the VW company. That just doesn’t make sense to me.

I do not see how Saddam Hussein relates to what organizations like the Peace Corps, an organization who helps people around the world and are manned by Americans and was started by Americans and came forward as an idea and assertion from Americans, and other organizations that Americans help out in like Green Peace, and UNICEF have to do with your reference.

See…this is what I was saying about rhetoric a year ago…when I am writing…I am trying to make a point with my point…it is not about winning to me…it is not about simplistic inconsequential competition. There must be a meaning to the point…otherwise it is superficial and insignificant. It has to mean something to have an impact that is lasting. The power in words is in the ideas and beliefs behind them…it’s not in the strategic manipulation of gaining but in their ability to transform…and in transformation there is lasting meaning and true power…anything else is just…wind…

Namaste
Peace, sunsets, serenity, and prayer…

Just for kicks...



Thought you might get a kick outta this too LOL...This is an example of talking...but just not saying anything \;') blowing wind LOL...
Even Katie Courick is going....uh...what?!?

Enjoy


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