Found (Jun. 16)

It seems that most people at some point in their lives loose something or misplace something and set off into a search to find something. And then in that moment when what was lost becomes found when a feeling of excitement and relief just seems to flow through the body. It is this moment of being found which is something so good that it makes life so good and so amazing. When you feel that life is missing or that you have lost the life with which you live, it puts you in a spot where you completely lack that sense of being found. See loosing you life and the spirit with which you live it is detrimental to you health and quite literally puts you in a place where there is no chance of being able to live the life as if you are found. The good news is that if you are lost there is a process by whcih you can go through life in an attempt to find yourself. To sit around and remain lost is not where you want to be, even if you feel comfortable, becoming who you are is far more important and will allow you to live life with that similar feeling to finding that lost item and the reality is that in a sense you have found yourself giving cause for that feeling.

Alone (Jun. 15)

While everyone is built differently and desire certain amounts of social time and other amounts of alone time. There are certain people that somehow survive on very little alone time but there is still a need for time alone. When you are alone you have time to think of things that you do not normally think of. Thoughts are capable of going deeper than they normally would. But see this is something that can also be dangerous which is why one should not have too much alone time. What is more interesting is that even though a good amount of alone time is good, there is still a desire to return to places where one will not be alone. It shows the truth in the fact that humans are social creatures, in much the same way the other animals live in packs and herds. So, the point is simply this, take your alone time and make the most of it. Do not neglect it because being alone scares you or because you have some other aversion to being alone, there is some great value, but do not let the alone time hold you there away from the reality of being a socail being in need of fellowship with others. There is a fine line to being alone and one must learn to walk it wisely in order to become a better and growing person.

Waiting (Jun. 14)

It seems like we are always waiting for something to happen. Perhaps you are sitting down in front of your computer reading this now and thinking that you are simply waiting around for something amazing to happen. You have been watching too many epic movies and just dreaming on the day that your epic story will take place. Perhaps you could care less about the epic story and yet you find yourself waiting in line getting ready to order your favorite burger and fries. Then there is the waiting that you would rather not be doing, the waiting in your car as you are stuck in traffic or at that light that takes forever to change, even with no cars coming from any other direction. Weather it is the small things or the big things, life requires that you spen time waiting. It is imparitive that you maters the art of waiting because you will have to do it. Are you the type that gets frustrated and complains because the world isn't revolving around you? You will have a hard time going through life because you are going to be a downer of a person at every instance when you are waiting. Are you the person that enjoys finding the simple humor in everyday life and then point it out to the people around you and perhaps you are the person that really doesn't care what other people thing of you so you sing and dance with huge gestures as you are waiting for the next subway car. Life is full of waiting and how you decide to pass your time waiting is important not only to your own personal happiness but potentially the happiness of those around you as well.

Fanatic (Jun. 13)

Sports are an interesting thing that really brings out a unique side in the individuals who follow any given sport. Before sports the meaning of fanatic or describing someone as fanatical was probably not something that was taken lightly or in good nature. The reality though is that the fanatical spirit for a sports team has become something to be proud of, something to fight for and something that makes the individual do weird things that would not happen under normal circumstances. Think about the people who paint their faces the colors of their favorite teams or the people that go even further and paint their entire upper bodies. Sometimes gathering with a group of friends to spell out the name of their favorite team. While the actions themselves taken in general everyday circumstances are defiantely fanatical, in the realm of sports these actions are nothing more than the norm. It seems odd that with a certain context certain actions are allowed and then not allowed at other times. Perhaps the reality is that fanatical is something one should strive to do more in their lives with the things, other than sports, that someone is passionate about.

Symptoms (Jun. 12)

Doctors and other medical staff do an incredible job of visually checking over a person and taking note of what appears to be wrong but also listening to what a patient will tell them about the symptoms that they have in order to make an accurate assesment of what is or might be wrong. The symptoms themselves are a very interesting phenomenon that is often ignored as one chooses not to listen to what their own body is telling them. Often times the symptoms act as signs to point out the bigger problems that are wrong and some of the symptoms are not apparent immediately as the body has a natural response to minimize pain in an attempt to help heal itself. Symptoms act as a means by which one can not only judge the severity of a problem but also where in the healing process the body is at based on the current and past symptoms. In many ways they are like road signs, when you see them and follow them you will eventually end up at your destination but when you choose to ignore the symptoms, getting to where you need to be can be rather hard. At least when you are driving you know what your destination is where the symptoms are merely pointing you to the destination that you hope to discover at some point down the road.

Senses (Jun. 11)

There are exactly five senses that are common to find amongst human beings. These senses are what help us take in the world around us and then interpret what exactly is going on in the world. Sight is an important sense that lets one see in images what is going on in the world. Smell takes the sents of objects around them and gives them a particular aroma to go with an object. Sounds are interesting in that they could draw our attention to a particular object based completely on a non-visable wave traveling through the air. Taste is usually something that one associates with food but in reality everything tastes a particular way. And last is touch by which we can feel objects and the particular qualities related to the surface and composition of the object. Together we get a complete picture of an object that is not something any one of the senses can let us know on its own. When one sense is lacking it is often true that the other senses that are working are heightened but inevitably there is still an incomplete picture of anything that one precieves because there is no understanding of something that could possibly be understood. Of course one will be left at a point where you must question your senses and ask if they are giving you accurate information by which to precieve the world in which you live.

Fun (Jun. 10)

Every child simply wants to do things during the day that they deem fun. Adults know that in order to get to the activities that they consider fun there is a great deal of work behind it. Perhaps the adult will work a job that they do not like or perhaps they will do a job which they consider fun but have to deal with aspects of that job that are not so much fun. In general we all really want life to be fun. Fun is something that is not very clearly defined however and is perhaps more of the attitute with which things are done. The most menial job could be fun if one takes the time to see the bits and pieces of the job that are fun or that they can make fun. Fun is also something that can be tied to the struggle in much the same way that a job you do not like leads to fun. Take relationships for instance. There are defiantely going to be struggles in any kind of relationship and there will be times when you disagree and times when you want to understand but you just can't. All of this confusion and all of the struggle to get through these things are part of what makes a relationship fun. If these things did not make the relationship fun then you would not persue the relationship any further. So, in all that you do and in all the ways that you live life, take time to look for fun and strive to make things that appear to be lacking fun all the more fun.

Made (Jun. 9)

When you were a kid no doubt you made several interesting crafts that you then gave to your parents to hang on the refridgerator or some other place in the house. They were not great works of art and not necessarily anything to be proud of but as a kid they were sentimental to you and the fact that your parents seemed to like them so much put a smile on your face. But what was it about these particular items that were so important to you as a kid? The simple answer is that you made them. You took them to your parents and said, "Look what I did!" They were very simple project without much detail. Even the best artists in the work work hard to make something that they and others can appreciate. Some work in great detail and create pieces that look real while others work in the idea of being abstract. Even if you look at a photograph of a beautiful landscape there is still something missing because the detail with which one creates these pieces of art does not even begin to compare with the amazing reality of being physically at the sight of what the piece of art depicts. There is however a disconnect because the incredible detail is not something that is easy to say was made by someone. There is a disconnect because the artist it not someone you can run out and talk to. Perhaps this world of incredible beauty is all mere chance or perhaps we are simply waiting to meet the one who made it.

Hair (Jun. 8)

Hair is a very funny thing and has been the brunt of way too many jokes or stories as an excuse for nothing. It can take hours a day to perfect and only moments to ruin. It is something that grows and something that we cut and use thousands of dollars of product on every year. And it isn't like the hair needs all of the product that we spend on it but it gets it because well, we like hair. We do whatever we can to keep our hair and yet it seems that the nature of hair is to receed over time. Some have given up and hair all together and spend more time than most keeping it off of their heads. Hair is one of the first things that we notice about people and provides the perfect explination as to why we spend so much time and money on hair. Hair could determine wether or not you want to go talk to that person of the opposite sex on the other side of the room or not. It could determine in the work world wether someone gets offered a job or a sale or not. Hair holds way more power than you could possibly imagine. Yet, at the end of the day you put your head on a pillow and ruin your hair so that you will have to redo it all over again the next day. It is only hair for goodness sake.

Signature (Jun. 7)

There is something truly unique about a signature. It is something that is so a part of a person that it is usually the one thing about them that you will remember and is also used as a means of identification. If you are just signing you name on a piece of paper it still holds true to being something truly unique and you. Doctors are known to have signatures that are particularly messy and many other people have a truly unique signature that says something about who they are. But the real signatures that we should think about are those that are more defined by our personality and the manurisms that you do on a daily basis. These sorts of manurisms come out in many different ways and usually in group settings but are not limited to just those occasions. They portray a particular kind of person and usually one that you want other people to see you as. They are often influenced by the people that are around you and their particular manurisms that you pick up on. Your signature will say a lot about who you are and the enviornment that you spend a lot of time in. It is not something that you may know that you have control over, but you really do. To some extent if you start hanging around the type of people that you want to become, your signature will slowly become more and more like you may want it to be. Likewise you can also make who your are, your signature something completely hideous by not being in the right place or striving to be what you really want to become.

Reflection (Jun. 6)

It seems wise to take time out of your busy day to reflect on what has taken place. Perhaps you will make time for it daily or perhaps you only take time to reflect after a big event occurs but to lack a time of reflection shows a complete lack of desire to better yourself. If one just goes through life, never taking time to think back they may be able to claim that they are living life in the moment but the moment has the potential to be so much better if a time of reflection takes place. See there is the whole idea of not repeating the mistakes of the past and putting oneself in a position to succeed by repeating positive circumstances. Reflection may keep you from a bad investment of your money or keep you from getting into a relationship that is doomed to fail from the start. Reflection can also help you improve upon the things that turned out just okay by hopefully bringing ideas to mind as to how to make it that much better the next time around. You already take time to repeat the good experiences to family and friends who want to know what is going on in your life, why not take a few more moments to attempt to learn something from the experiences that you have had? It really does take a heart that is eager to learn from the events of the past but makes the future that much more exciting.

Conference (Jun. 5)

There are many ways to look at the idea of a conference. In sports you see it as a group of teams that play eachother more frequently than they do other teams. Perhaps in business it is simply a large meeting of like or like minded companies looking to better their practices. You even see the idea of the conference in religious organizations as well as a time to come together and grow as a larger group rather than an individual church. There is one unique idea that seems to happen at or within a conference. The simple fact is that a conference has its primary goal within its members to produce the best possible outcome forcing each member to be the best that it possibly can. Even in sports where you may hate the teams in your conference more than other teams, the goal that you have is to play the best you can against them forcing you and the other team to be at their absolute best. There may be instances where a conference has members that come and go but to simply allow a member of your conference to be less than its best is to let yourself become complacent. In order to be the best you have to align yourself with the best. It produces the challenge to become better, even if it means increased competition in the mean time.

Elbow (Jun. 4)

You may never realize how much you use certain body parts until you injure them. There are some particularly challenging ones to injure as well. The elbow might not be all that challenging of a body part to injure and the recovery may not be all that difficult but it still really hurts. Think about the times that you have hit your funny bone, which well all know resides in that one spot in your elbow. If you are fortunate enough to hurt the tendon that is in your elboe you will know it when you try and push on anything, even as simple as a book or lifting yourself out of a seat. The elbow is just one of thsoe joints that seems to get used in a lot of ways, and ways that we do not often think of. Perhaps it is the fact that we like to focus on the muscles and building them to be stronger. We lift weights to accomplish this and we eat dairy products to make our bones stronger but we often do not think of the joints and what we could be doing for them until they bother us. Perhaps your elbow feels a little sore just thinking about the potential of injuring it. Well then the best thing you can do is make someone feel awkward by greeting them by simply grabbign their elbow. Or perhaps you become hungry at the mention of food earlier and you should run out and eat some elbow maccaroni. Whatever you do, respect the elbow.

World (Jun. 3)

The world in which we live is a very interesting place. There are so many different things that make up the world like the vast oceans of water that somehow sit in particular valleys of rocks and yet not others. Mountains rise what seems like incredible distances above the waters and form peaks that seem so perfect that it is a wonder how they got there exactly. We could fly for miles around this world and meet untold amounts of people that are all sustained by the air that encompasses this planet. The world sits at a very particular distance, though not always the same distance, from a sun that provides light and heat that are vital to the survival of every thing that lives. There are literally billions of people that actually live on this planet and one could spend a lifetime trying to meet all those people and still fail miserably. And yet the world is really a small place when you think about it. While there is still much more to be expolred on this planet there are untold reaches of space beyond us that dwarf this planet in comparison. Despite the large number of people you inevitably end up running into someone who knows someone else that you know from a completely different realm of life. This really is a small world after all.

Picture (Jun. 2)

I am sure you have heard the phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words." This statement holds incredible validity on many different fronts. In comparing a word with a picture, there are many things to notice. Words exist within a particular realm where by there is a given defined shape to which a word can take. Then once the word is complete it has but one clearly defined meaning. A picture on the other hand may have a particular shape and may fit within a given realm but the freedom within that realm is something that words cannot come close to. A picture requires a great deal of interpretation both from the brain to determine what is in the picture but then to also interpret a meaning from what is observed by the brain. There is freedom in a picture to find a definition that is more suitable to the interpretation of the individual. There is certainly a time and a place for words, such as in a blog like this or in the many books and papers the have been written throughout the ages. Still the pictures with a single page can tell an entire story, something a book could only dream of. The precision of words is something that has its place but the simplicity or rather complexity of a picture does so much more with so much less.

Famous (Jun. 1)

The world in which we live today is absolutely enamoured with celebrities. Even more to the point, there are now things like YouTube which allows for ordinary average people to record something on camera and then turn it into something that the entire world can see allowing the average person to be famous, if only for a little while. On the one hand it makes perfect sense why we are so excited about those people who are famous simply from the standpoint that it seems everyone wants to gain some sort of fame in their lives. The desire itself may be traced back to the innate, and incredibly selfish desire, to be known by the rest of the world. If we can die and have more than just our family and friends know who we are and the great things that we have accomplished then we will have made a name for ourselves and we will be remembered. Because of course history only remembers those people who were truly great. In reality, outside of a select few people, everyone becomes forgotten at some point and fame only stretches so far. Fame also has some pretty severe affects on those who are living with it, simply by the way that people strive to know more and more about those who are famous. The knowledge one seeks to gain in knowing a celebrity must somehow relate to the fact that we have this desire to know how it might be possibly for ourselves to also become famous. Fame through selfishness has also ruined many celebrities as we can see from early drug use, other run ins with the law and most sadly the early death of many.

Sale (May 31)

It seems that store are very eager to get you to come inside and spend your money. Society tells you that you need to keep up with your firends and buy the latest and greatest things. And yet it seems that we find ourselves as a society less pleased than ever and in the midst of a recession that is only fuled by commercialism and the desire to have stuff. A sale is an easy way to make a dollar and stores often tell you how much money you are going to save because you bought something on sale. The reality is that a sale is an easy way to steal money from the unsuspecting. See, you will have more money in your pocket if you never buy the item on sale to begin with. There are many interesting tricks of the trade that also factor into the idea of a sale. See a product is made for a certain amount of product and labor. The item is then shipped to a distributor and then to the stores, each step along the way adding a bit of cost. Then the store puts a price on the item, usually around the manufacturers suggested retail price. This price is often inflated well above the total cost of the item. This way people will buy things where the store can make money as well. Then when things are not moving off the shelves the store can have a sale and that sale price is still above what the store actually paid to put the item ont he shelf. It makes no sense for a store to sell something below the price that they paid for it and they won't unless they do a large enough volume to have already recouped what they paid in the first place. The sale as you can see is all a trick based on the price that was paid by the store for the product.

Pay (May 30)

When one does a particular job they usually expect that they are going to get paid for their work. Sometimes that pay is good and much appreciated and sometimes it is that money that becomes dangerous. See the world we live in today does not value what they are paid and we have created several laws which theoretically make pay something fair. While these laws are not in and of themselves a bad thing it seems that they have put more moeny in the hands of people who honestly do not know how to use their money wisely. Since one's credit and ability to buy big things on credit is a result of how much they make, the reality is that people who are getting paid more than they potentially should are being told that they can afford things that in reality they cannot afford at all. One of the more interesting laws goes on to say that different people should be paid the same for equal work. The reality of what pay is, however, is that is it something to be agreed upon by employer and employee on an individual basis. I am reminded of a story where an employer needed help and hired a first group of people at an agreed upon pay. Later, realizing that he needed more people to complete the task on time, he hired more people and agreed with the second group of people to pay them the exact same amount of money that he agreed to with the first group. Still later there was a third group of people that he brought in and agreed to pay them the same amount of money for their work. At the end of the day when all the employees were paid and dismissed everyone, despite the differing amounts of time that they had worked were paid the money that they agreed to work for, the exact same amount for everyone in all three groups. Those in the first group complained and yet they had no arguement since they were paid what they originally agreed to. Be glad that you are paid for the word that you do and be sure to spend that money wisely.

Woods (May 29)

All the wood that we use to build things comes from trees that were once part of a forest. For those that spend time in the forest you will know that you have been back in the woods. Wood itself is a very interesting thing. It takes years and years to grow to a nice enough size to be cut down to use for something else. However, the wood itself, before it is cut down is something of a majestic nature. It is alive and grows. Very few places that can be considered woods are made up of thousands of trees that all coexist in harmony with one another. They become so think in spots that it might seem like one must be impeding on the other and yet it is not the case. They stand there, all nice and tall with their branches spread out as if to say look at me. Then, in the back woods, when the wind comes it is almost as if the trees begin to talk. They whisper things in your ear that you never thought you could hear and yet there it is. It isn't like they are saying go away or this is my space. It is something much greater than that, something of a welcoming nature that also says thank you for protecting me. When the woods are cut down the trees stop talking and something becomes amiss. The wise will take what they need and leave the rest, planting more to grow in place of what they have taken. Then the woods will talk forever.

Movies (May 28)

One of the greatest forms of art, and certainly the most appreciated form of art, in todays culture is that of movies. Sure you haven't really thought about movies as art before but when you think about how a movie is made on film in much the same way that a photographer takes a picture it is really hard to deny movies as art. While they are similar to something such as the theater only with a lack of live actors performing their artful skill, the movie is greater for many reasons. See the world in which we live has made the movies a cultural phenomenon whereby we will gladly spend $7 to $15 to see the latest movie on a regular basis. Movies have become much like television where you are not a part of the conversation unless you have seen the latest movie. Movies have also taken the idea of escapism to an extreme unmatched by any other art form or other form of entertainment. We have swaped out reading for the movies when it comes to taking ourselves to far off worlds and situations far beyond what we deal with in everyday life. We look at movies to tell us how to act and how to discover who we are and who we want to become. We use movies to pass the time and dream of what could be, either right now in our own lives or in the much distant time from now, past or present. No other art form has sought to maximize technology to create something truly unique where the experience if truly something that has never been done before yet feels so familiar. The power that movies have is also a very dangerous edge on which we will always walk as long as the population in which we live continues to go to the movies.

Noise (May 27)

It really doesn't take much to make a noise. And it is nearly impossible to find yourself in a place without any noise. Some of us like to live in a world that is full of noise and others love to simply be in a place where the noise is as minimal as possible. Unless we are talking to another person there are really very few instances when we pay much attention to the noise that is out there. Sure, if you are really into music you could simply sit and attempt to enjoy the music that you are listening too. Concerts seem like they might be a good place where one is observing the noise that they hear but it seems that the experience itself is about more than just the noise and typically, since the songs are not usually new we allow ourselves to fall back into habit, so to speak, without really appreciating the music that we are listening to. See noise is one of the things that are always there but one of the things that we typically do not spend a great deal of time attempting to honestly appreciate. We are so used to what we hear on a daily basis that it is only when things are different that one might even notice the fact that there is noise. Noise is really a simple pleasure in life but one that can also become something unpleasent as there are certain sounds that we do not enjoy.

Games (May 26)

There are various forms of games to be found in this world from the super simple children's board games to the highly active games that we call sports. There is something about games in general that we really enjoy. There is usually some emotional connection and a way to release energy or focus our minds on something. Games give us something to strive for as we seek to accomplish a task either on our own or as part of a team. Some games are all about the strategy and some are all about playing by the rules and yet others are all about ones athletic ability. While the games mentioned previously in this blog post are all about the fun, it seems that we like games so much that we have taken that idea of a game and transitioned it into just about every other area of our lives. Shopping for instance is no longer shopping when it becomes a game to either have the latest and greatest thing or when it becomes about finding the best deal possible. Then we have taken games and even applied them to the process to find that special someone in our lives. Your friends tell you to act a certain way so as to cause someone else to want you more or so that you yourself do not sound so desperate. When games flow out of the bounds of the games themselves and into other areas of our lives it becomes a very dangerous thing that needs to be closely watched. The attitude of games causes one to spend more money than they have so as to impress that other person who seems to be able to buy anything and everything. In relationships it causes hurt feelings and a lack of trust. Keep games fun and in the realm they are supposed to be in and the rest of life will be so much more what it is supposed to be.

Realization (May 25)

When one talks about a given situation there are a few things that tend to happen, much like one would expect from seeing a counselor. At some point in the conversation, the person talking about the situation will come to some kind of realization that they have not really figured out before. That, or all the evidence that one should come to a realization and the lack of that realization coming to fruition. It may be obvious to the person who is listening to the person describing their situation but it may not be obvious to the person speaking. One has to work hard to train their mind to see things, to fish for patterns in all the chatter. It helps if one has good processing skills and proper thinking capabilities. That will help the realization. The one listening may come to some realization, but it is really not their realization to be had. They could give advice, but that will not help the other party come to a realization. They could ask questions in order to help the other person process in an attempt to lead them to the realization. This second option does more good than simple advice. So, you may have someone you go to who can give you wise counsel, but can this persaon ask you the right questions when you need a realization?

Cling (May 24)

The world is not meant to be a place where clinging happens for an extended period of time. There are certain moments when the cling is a good thing, but face the facts, kids will eventually grow old enough and give up carrying their blanky around with them in the feircest death grip you have ever seen. There are of course instances in life where we have seen the cling happen. Sure you could have too much static in your clothes but the reality is that the cling is not a healthy thing over and extended period of time. It is not good for a 30 year old to continue to cling to their parents. It is unhealthy in relationships in general for there to bee too much clinging. This is not to say that commitment is bad as there does need to be a cleaving that takes place in marriage. There is a difference between the cleave and the cling. The cleave is a good thing and is one where even when the two parties are separated by space and distance they are still committed to eachother. The cling is such that there could be no space or distance without there being a catastrophic disaster. You leave the clinging to your parents to cleave to your spouse. The cling is meant to end and the cleave is meant to last unto death do you part. The cling is unhealthy and the cleave is what was intended for man.

Team (May 23)

Sports provide us with a great example for the way life seems like it should work. Not just any sports, but team sports specifically. A team is made up of several individuals that realize that they cannot accomplish the given task without the help of the other around them. For a team to win a game there needs to be several different things happening. First the individual members need to know what they are good at. There are certain points in a game when you will be asked to do something that you are not the best at, but if you know what you are good at you will not attempt to do too much in the other situations and hopefully you will find yourself in situations where you are able to step up and do what you are best at to the best of your ability. Second, each player needs to find themselves in the role that they have been asked to play. It is kind of like the body in general, where we do not ask our own eyes to also smell in addition to seeing. Third, and potentially most important, each part of the team needs to be able to communicate so each member can do their job in conjunction with the rest of the team within the established system. Without communication the parts will not work together as well as they were designed to do. In a world today where we see individuals in professional sports seeking bigger contracts and focusing more and more on the self it becomes more and more apparent how important it is for the individual to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. Now if only the world would have fewer of those individuals who only look out for themselves and more of those who realize that we as the human race are here as a team, in conjunction with everything else that lives on this planet.

Fence (May 22)

There are many decisions that you will make in life where you have two really good options and it is hard to choose just one. One who takes their time to make a decision on something with two very distinct options may be called someone who is sitting on the fence prior to making the decision. The fence, as it is called, seems to be considered a bad place to be from the standpoint of those who are not sitting on the fence and they will use every bit of persuasion in order to get you off the fence. It seems like everyone in the world is one one side or the other except for that person who is sitting on the fence. But is the fence really a bad place to be? It seems that the person who sits on the fence on some issues is the person who wants to keep an open mind. This of course is not necessarily a good thing should you be a doctor in a life or death situation. However, if you are in a situation where there is less at risk then is seems perfectly alright to sit on the fence. Know that if you sit on the fence long enough you will fall off as one side of the fence may no longer be an option. It also seems that when one steps off a fence on a less critical issue they tend to put themselves into a box which they may have to work their way out of. This may not be true but because you are sitting on one particular side of the fence you are then always associated with that side of the fence. Be wise about how you use the fence in your life and be there at the right times for as long as seems prudent.

Hindsight (May 21)

There is a common phrase that states, "Hindsight is 20/20." The theory being that you can look back at what has happened based on some decision that you made and could say one way or the other if you should have made a different decision. The positive of this is that if you do look back at the decisions that you have made you are at least attempting to learn what you can from those decisions. The dangerous part of this is that you could spend all day wallowing in the pitty that you create by saying what you should or should not have done. Hindsight should never be about the pitty party and should be all about the need to learn and grow. You should allow hindsight to influence the decisions that you make in the future but you should not let hindsight run your life in the future. The reality is that no two situations will ever be the same so if you allow hindsight to run your life the decisions that you make in the present, even if those decisions would have been best in the past, may not be the best now. There are certainly situations that seem the same and some decisions will overlap in their affectiveness but it is not always true. Take time to process your hindsight and life will be good. Do nothing with your hindsight but look at it and the world becomes a dangerous place.

Questions (May 20)

There comes a day in school when you ask your teacher, "Can I go to the bathroom?" And the response back is, "I don't know, can you?" After looking at her with a confused look on your face she tell you that you have not asked the right question and that instead, and from now on, you need to ask, "May I go to the bathroom?" It may seem like a simple rephrasing of the question, but it makes a big difference. At many points in our lives we are left to ask questions. Much of the time it is simply finding the right question to ask that is most important. In the remake of the movie I-Robot with Will Smith, the doctor who is murdered has left a holographic message for Smith's character. It is really his only chance to solve the mystery. The funny thing about that message is the only response that is really helpful, and appears not to be helpful at the time is the response, "That is the right question." While life may not always be a mystery to solve as it was in this film, the reality is that the process through life does require us to ask the right questions. To be able to have something or someone telling us that we are asking the right questions is extremely valuable. If you are simply asking the questions without that you could lead yourself in many wrong directions.

Confession (May 19)

As the sports world continues to deal with the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, there is a unique phenomenon revealing itself. It is the desire to confess the truth after hiding it for a long time. No one likes to be wrong. It makes perfect sense why someone would want to hide what they have done for the simple reason that everything you have done comes into question. The reality is that it eats away at who you are to continuously tell a lie. The longer that you hold the truth inside and tell lies on the outside the more it will eat away at you and the more the sense of growing guilt will become. To finally tell the truth, either to someone close to you or to the entire world, allows one to finally release and move past the wrong that they have done. In a sense, the whole idea of confession should remind one of confession in the catholic church. You may not agree with the catholic church in general but the reality is their concept of confession is a very valuable one. Perhaps it is something that we should take more seriously and perhaps confession is something that we should learn to do as quickly as possible. Ones life will be much greater and experience a lack of guilt if one is allowed to confess. It is also highly likely that if one were to know that they will have to confess they will be less likely to do anything that they would then need to confess later. The habit of confession is good and could make the world a better place.

Whereabouts (May 18)

It is generally considered a safe habit amongst outdoors people to let someone know what your plans are and where you are going in the event that something should happen. In this instance should something go wrong there is someone who can alert authorities giving survival a much better chance. In life in general this is also a good habit to get into in everyday life. With the way the world is headed and with all the desperate people out there, it seems to only be a matter of time before one finds themselves in a precarious position. To have someone that knows where you are going and when you are going to return it is quite clear that authroities can begin working within the same day that something happens rather than several days or months later. The funny part about it all is that it seems that the government wants to take more and more control over your life and knowing exactly what you are doing. You ahve to have some form of identification on you at all times as a mater of legality. Then if you own any property such as land or some kind of vehicle, the government wants to knwo the whereabouts of those items as well. Then every year you get to pay taxes tell the government where you spend your time from the simple standpoint of where your income is coming from. It should not be hard for someone to figure out the whereabouts of any person in this country as long as they were able to have access to enough government information. Sure it may be a safe practice amongst friends and family but it is hard to call the government your friend.

Arguement (May 17)

It seems that the world is becoming a place where people just do not care to make sense. Too many arguements made in political debates and in commentaries in the paper and in many other arenas lack basic composition elements to make a good arguement. Let us take a second to watch all the great Greek philosophers roll in their graves. The art of the arguement is something that we have taken and perverted to be something we use in order to gain power and prestige. We will often skew facts in order to say something that sounds so good that other people will follow without even taking the time to think. You can really say anything with charisma (not that you really know what that even means) and people will follow much like the lemmings that we have become. The sad reality is that the real thinkers are getting pushed out of society because they lack the charisma. To be able to make an arguement that is able to be tested and approved as both logical and where the conclusion is a necessity from the propositions is truly a lost art. I am not saying that one cannot make good arguements on both sides of an issue only that we have failed to really make a good arguement in a long time.

Gone (May 16)

Have you ever tried so hard to hang on to something and not let it go? Have you ever put something in a protective case or even gone through the effort to get a safety deposit box at a bank so as to keep something valuable in? Have you ever held on so tight that in the end the tighter you held on to something the more it seemed to slip right through your fingers. The bottom line is that things in this world are not meant to last forever. Even the physical body that you enjoy now will deteriorate and eventually you will die. Any money you make in this life and any money you save will eventually either be gone because you spend it or it will be gone because you are gone and in effect that money is gone to you. So why do we hold on so tightly to the things that we own in this world? There is something to be said for taking care fo the things you have been blessed with but at the same time there is something to be said for not holding on too tightly to the things that you do have since they will be gone at some point. This is a fine balance that takes a long time to master. It seems that few people actually think about this balance and that is what inevitably gets them in trouble or overly emotional about something or someone. Take time to think about the fact that things will eventually be gone and appreciate the time that you do have with them. Take care of them but learn not to be surprised when they are gone.

Innocence (May 15)

In the judicial system that is set up in this wonderful country and across most of the world the phrase innocent until proven guilty is what is thought to be believed to be true. The sad reality is that our culture thinks otherwise. See, we tend to make assumptions based on a limited number of facts. Our brains draw conclusions and fill in the blanks. Even with testimony of people who may be the most truthful people or expert people in the world their own brains will still fill in the gaps. It is this reality that leads to people being wrongly convicted. Or perhaps they are even found to be innocent, but their re-entry into the world makes them feel like they are in prison. Innocence is not something generally granted to people today and is really a statement of the condition of people in general. It seems that no matter who you are you are going to make some kind of mistake in your life. If there is someone that speaks out against that mistake, or any mistake, we generally assume that it must be true because people are not completely good. No matter how hard one tries the reality is that it is impossible to be perfect and perhaps it comes down to a matter of degree in our legal system. Perhaps your mistake is driving too fast from time to time or perhaps it is something that most people would say you need to go to jail for. The reality is that innocence is not something one could possibly attain to today.

Spending (May 14)

We spend our money how we see fit to do so. Yet, at the same time we get upset when others are spending their money in a way that we do not see fit, especially when it comes to big business and entertainment. The reality is that a majority of the people in this world maintain some kind of debt and yet continue to spend. Not that their example in the United States government is any different than themselves. Should we be surprised that the financial crisis that we find ourselves in is here? Should we not expect that whatever band-aids are put on this financial crisis will last only until the next meltdown that promises to be bigger and more difficult? If the world wants to change the issues that it faces the thing that needs to change is the way that we spend money. That is not just big governement which has a huge hole to dig itself out of but it also comes down to the individual and the way that they spend money. There should be exactly two things that anyone including the government should go into debt for. First is education and the second is housing. Of course the banks need to learn how to structure loans so that it is actually possible for the average American to actually be able to pay those loans off. Spend the money that you have and nothing more. Save your money for those days that will be difficult and live a more simple life.

Quick (May 13)

It seems to be a general trend that people in this world like to get things done quickly with the rare exception of taking breaks or vacations. We are drawn to sports where the quick excel or at least those that can make something happen quickly excel. When driving we want to get from point A to point B as fast as we can, even to the point of disregarding the limits placed upon us by the law. While there is some relation to speed and quickness it is not necessarily the same thing. Quickness though is the sudden burst of speed over a small period of time where speed is a prolonged occasion of quickness. The Cheetah is said to be one of the fastest animals on the planet but it is merely one of the quickest as they cannot prolong their speed over time. While there is no real detriment to quickness in the world, one should ask themselves if it is really the best way to go. The Cheetah does not always catch the food that it hunts. The moments mentioned earlier where we as a world seem to slow down and not retain the quickness are the moments that we treasure and look fondly back upon. Perhaps we do not wish to look fondly back at certain things and that is why we strive for quickness or perhaps we simply haven't seen the value in doing things well without the quickness. Unfortunately in a world that loves to be quick changing away from anything that currently works on quickness is nearly impossible.

Moving (May 12)

You will never realize how much stuff you have until you are moving and have to find a way to get all of your stuff from one place of residence to the next and then find a spot for all your stuff at the next residence. When everything that you own is put in boxes as much as is possible you might even be able to build your own little residence out of the boxes and surely enough all your stuff would provide solid insulation. And then to think that when you do move, there is an untold amount of things that you are likely to give away or throw out. Things that you no longer need and things that you might want but perhaps there just isn't a place for those things and a sacrifice must be made. Perhaps moving is one of the best things that one can do from the simple standpoint of coming to a realization of how much stuff you do have. There are only so many things that one needs in life and then there is an untold amount of things that one could want but how much of that stuff that one wants is actually going to be used enough to justify having that stuff? Sure there are things that you will want in case of an emergency and then there are things that you will want just so that you can have fun. At what point does the collection of things become a waste of money that could be saved and invested to spend at a later time on something more important, like your health. Moving is a great way to show you the amount of stuff that you do have and even if it is as simple as moving things from one place to another within the same residence the practice of moving could be a healthy solution to the problem of all that stuff.

Issues (May 11)

When looking at the political scene it is very easy to see people that have issues with each other. See when people cannot think alike they take issue, either with what is said or with the person themselves. One of these two senarios is very dangerous while the other can be a jumping point into something greater. Because we live and have different minds we are going to think differently. Scientists have proven that the formation of male and female minds draws a very distinction by what happens to the brain when testosterone is introduced to the fetus in the mother womb. The outcome for the male mind is a loss of the number of synapses between certain parts of the brain where the female mind maintains a larger number of synapses causing them to think in a very different way. Everyone seems to think that everyone else should think in the exact same way that they do, but this is not the case and personal experience further distinguishes the possibility of differences. The important thing to realize is that we are all living in the same world and even if we think differently and take issue with others, we can still live with other people without hating the person. It is important to take issue with what is said and not the person themselves. It is possible to draw this distinction and it should be done. Fully realize that the way one thinks may cause you not to be best friends with someone but it does not have to perpetuate the hate of someone.

Calm (May 10)

There is a well known phrase that makes light of the conditions right before a storm. And there really is nothing quite like the calm before a storm. But there are times when that calm isn't so much what one thinks it is going to be. See there is also the reality that a storm must blow in and the preceeding wind isn't necessarily part of the storm itself. In life there are often storms and they can hit at times when things seem to be calm and steady. There are also storms in life where the wind blows before the storm and you think gee, this is tough and all of the sudden the storm comes in and makes you realize what is really tough. This wind while it seems difficult is really still a calm before the storm and should be treated as such. Also, the calm isn't a time to sit back and relax, but rather it is a time to prepare to make sure that you are ready for that storm to come. When you prepare in advance for the storm ahead, the storm that is going to come will seem like the calm in and of itself. There are times when sitting and listening to the rain on your roof is extremely relaxing and to some extent helps provide a calm in life. No matter what life is bringing your way look at it as a calm and use it to prepare for what is next.

Mom (May 9)

Perhaps the greeting card industry has created a day for mothers in a selfish attempt to boost revenue and perhaps the reality is that our mother's honestly deserve credit no matter how one feels they actually did as a parent. Your mom, no matter how well you know her is the person that put up with you from the time you were but a simple one cell being made up of a joined sperm and egg. She gave birth to you. Perhaps you were adopted and perhaps you do not know your real mother. But she at least went through that for you. And more than likely now there was another person in your life that you could call mom. And she put up with your crying in the middle of the night, your breaking her valuables because you were playing where you shouldn't have been and all the arguements that you decided to have with her when you decided to be a rebel. It amazes me to think that no matter how good of a child anyone was, mom still had to put up with you and did so willingly for the still small moments. So on a day that may be now forced upon our society, take some time to think back on your mother and what she did for you. It may be something more special than you ever thought the day could be.

Correctness (May 8)

There are certain things that you will absolutely not talk about in specific circumstances. Perhaps there is someone in the room that you know will not take kindly to what you are about to say or perhaps it is something greater that society or your particular small society thinks to be taboo to address. Is it really correct to let the circumstances change who you are and what you decide to talk about? This is not an issue of simply you would not like to talk about this with this person at this time but rather this is something that you simply never want to talk about. There are several problems with this from a general perspective. The first is that you choose to become someone guarded and thus not your true self in this instance. You simply put on a mask and become the person that you think the others around you want you to be. This is a similar situation to doing and saying things that you would not normally do because of the company you are around and the difference between these two is for the individual to decide. The second problem is simply that big issues simply will not be talked about because the culture, for whatever reason, has decided that the topic is off limits. This then leaves how one learns about this topic to the greater culture that is talking about it and perhaps talking about it in a manner that honestly isn't correct. The larger or outside influence is in the very least being genuine and thus more correct than those who are not talking aobut it in an open and honest way.

Dependent (May 7)

Humans are creatures that desire to be independent but are sadly forced into dependence. At times we will rationalize our dependence on something to the reality that it grants us freedom, as is the case with oil and other fuels. There are certain dependencies that are helthy to have and actually help us become better people, such as our dependence on food and water. At the same time there are certain dependencies that are very damaging, the most obvious is the need we have to be in relationship. Clearly it is not good for one to live a completely solitary life. We all seem to have friends of some kind and desire to spend time with those people. However, there are certain people who take relationships such as a friendship or even a romantic relationship and place ones entire life on that relationship. This becomes dangerous and can be seen in the signs of being overly clingy and jelous. In a sense, it seems that the natural dependence that seems to be built into who everyone is as a human has been perverted into something that lacks the true nature of the design. Sure there is a healthy way to have a relationship but the dependence is then driven by the lonliness that we feel as humans and pushes relationships that are not helthy to maintain. Take a step back and become confortable in yourself so that you can then properly place that dependency in someone else.

Conclusions (May 6)

Recently in the news there was a story about a group of scientists who had taken some bone from the skull of what was apparently a neandrathal. They were able to extract some DNA from the crushed up bone scrappings that they had taken and compared it to that of present day human DNA finding a gene that matches some humans. Of course the conclusion in the field of science must be that evolution is true and present day humans evolved from these neandrathals. Unfortunately this conclusion is completely based on speculation and not at all on the facts that were actually discovered. There are several other possibilities like the real possibility that there was another species related to humans and monkeys that is now extinct. This conclusion has a much higher possibility of being true as it is a much simpler explination that requires less proof. This proof of course is missing in the evolutionary theory. The reality is that msot of the conclusions made today by any party is made through a particular worldview that shades the truth to ones own particular beliefs. It is not just a phenomenon found in science, though it is vividly apparent in the field of science. The wise are the ones who may come to conclusions, by means of occam's razor or otherwise, but allow for the possibility of being wrong. It is not to say that one should question everything that they do believe but simply that they seek out good data and good philosophical understanding of what they actually believe and allow for other truth, data or even opinion to be shared within the realm of potentially being the real conclusion. It is being willing to take the responsibility to provide reasons for what they believe in relation to other beliefs expecting the same in return. When we allow conclusions to be in the realm of theory rather than fact, we do a great service to the world in which we live.

Party (May 5)

On a day when Mexico celebrates, Cinqo De Mayo, one should stop and think of how little it takes to have a reason for a party. See, in college there are parties galore and reasons range from the important to the complete lack of a reason. It is not wrong that one celebrates with a party and generally there is a good occasion to celebrate when one puts on a party. Do you know the reason that you are throwing a party? Does it really matter that you know why you are going or putting on a party? Does there really need to be a reason? One of the best aspects of a party is that you are able to gather a large number of friends in one location and then to be able to connect with them. It is this fellowship that is really important even through there may be other aspects of the party including drinking and dancing or whatever else might suite ones fancy. Still the large upsides to the party itself is the people. While special occasions are great to have a party on it seems that these moments come along few and far between when one considers how important the social aspects of a party really are. Perhaps the real reason for any party to happen shouldn't be the day or occasion but rather that as a group of friends you simply need to spend time together.

Shine (May 4)

There are certain things that seem to catch the attention. For instance things that shine seem draw the eye. If you are looking to buy a car your eye is not going to want to look at a car that is not shining. New electronic LED billboards are garnering a lot of attention, mostly becuase they have a tendancy to distract drivers and cause accidents with the way that they shine. Las Vegas is known for its lights and it seems that the more lights a casino has shining the more attention it garners to perspective customers. You have all seen the giant spotlights that you would imagine to be common in Hollywood that shine into the night sky and can be seen from all over the city, they attract your eye. The way the human eye is built allows it to pay special attention to things that shine and the changing of those things that shine. As the sun shines down and light is reflected the eye takes notice. So, if you are looking to garner attention you will need to find something that shines. If you want to keep attention directed away then be sure not to use anything that shines. Of course the one thing that we notice most for the way that it shines is the sun. Perhaps there is some reason in that and we are to pay more attention to the sun than we do for some unknown reason.

Sink (May 3)

If you put something in water, one of two things will happen. The option that most humans are glad to discover is that an object can float. The other option that puts fear into humans is that something can sink. Now we know that density determines if an object will float or sink in relationship to the density of water, at least the particular water at hand should it have minerals in it thus increasing its density from the regular density of pure water. Still, even though a density may be less than that of water, currents in the water could cause something to sink as well. The bottom line is that it comes down to knowledge. If you have a rock that you do not want to loose, you do not throw it into the deep point of one of the great lakes. If you have a piece of wood that you don't want to loose make sure you don't put it in water with a current that will pull it under. It seems to me that the tendancy of humans in general is to test the water. This philosophy is like throwing rocks into water expecting them to float. Surely there is enough information out there that one should be able to weigh the facts and then make a decision not to watch the rock sink in the water. Still there are other people out there that make arguements on political or moral instances in particular that have the same effect as throwing rocks into water expecting them not to sink. If you do not want to sink make sure you check the density and currents first.

Sing (May 2)

A movie has a soundtrack because the music they use can greatly affect the way one thinks during the movie. A musical in particular is evidence of how this works as during a happy time in the film a joyful song will be sung and the audience feels that same emotion. Life itself has a soundtrack of sorts in the music that you listen to everyday. Perhaps the right song is not always playing as it seems to be doing in the movies but the songs that we sing will often strike a chord in our lives. We sing in our cars, in the shower and untold other places where we feel free to just belt out a song at the top of our lungs. We like songs not simply because of the beat or melody but because the message speaks to our inner being. You may be super white and love gangsta rap, but deep down there is some part of you that connects with that genre of music, either the difficulties of life or the desires in what they seek. For some reason is seems that musicians are able to say things in songs that they sing that one might not be able to say otherwise. To be able to sing something is to be able to reach deep down in the soul and say something that may be true but where the mind may not be able to come up with the right words. To sing is something great and truly unique in the way it can go so deep.

Off (May 1)

There are days in life when you are just off your game. You stub your toe because you are inches off of your normal path from the bed to the bathroom in the morning. You spill some of your breakfast down your shirt because your mouth somehow moved a fraction of an inch in either direction from where it normally is. Then of course driving is an interesting task where you likely miss your turn, and hopefully you don't drive through a fence or something much worse. It is near impossible to me on your game, thinking clearly and acting exactly as you would like every day of your life and there will be some days that are just off. In the moment it is frustrating but the sooner you learn to laugh at it and shrug it off the better that off day will be and the more fun it will be as well. To dwell on what is off is to take your mind off of what is coming next or what you are doing in the moment thus causing the drift between where you should be and where you are to grow increasingly larger. If you were to throw a ball and the ball could roll forever, it would be important to throw the ball at the exact angle you wanted everytime. So you decide to throw a ball from Los Angeles to New York City. Well if this ball started off on a course that was just one degree off, the further the ball traveled the further off course it would look. But if you were to stop the ball when you noticed that it was off and were able to throw it from there on a new and correct angle you would then get to your intended target. That is the effect that laughing at yourself on an off day can have.

Fine (Apr. 30)

The word fine is used in many interesting ways that on the one hand are completely unrelated but at the same time really make you think. First, one could use the word fine to describe how they are doing and you would think that things are alright but not all that great. Second, you could then use the supperlative to say that it is your finest hour and the meaning changes completely into being potentially the best moment in your life. Third, and perhaps the most crass use of the word, would be for someone to describe a member of the opposite sex as fine. In which case of course you mean, like the supperlative that the person you are talking about is very attractive. Fourth, and last for now, is the term fine being used to describe an amount of money you must pay as part of a penalty for something that you have done. One little word has been used to describe just about every possible level of emotion, or at least gets you to think about every possible level of emotion. From the low point of paying a fine, up through the alright to the absolutely amazing. The spectrum of one word is so large that it gives a little glimpse of the unreal.

Remember (Apr. 29)

There are certainly moments in your life that you are going to remember both good and bad. There are the things that you will want to remember and the things that you will not want to remember but either way there is some importance in remembering both. As time passes things will loose their importance and some of the details will fade. In the Jewish tradition there were certain events that were deemed so important that festivals were set up specifically to remember what happened. The tradition would be set up in such a way that the traditions and stories surrounding the event would be passed on from one generation to the next leaving very few details to pass away. Even for the smaller events in the Jewish tradition that one would want to remember, altars were set up, much like the monuments of today so that when one passed by they would ask about it and the story of that event could be told. What does the average person do in their lives to remember in this way? Most people do little or nothing. Tattoos have become something in modern society that people do to remember a certain event. Even cars are now adorned with stickers that say in memory of something or someone. These are important things to have and the more different ways we have of remmebering the better off we will be.

Dirt (Apr. 28)

It seems that humans, to some extent have an incredible habit of being clean. And to those who are not clean you are looked at as a little bit lower on the ladder than those who do maintain that standard of cleanliness. The reality of cleanliness is that it seeks to eliminate dirt. Dirt. If you believe in the creation story found in the Bible it is Dirt itself that man is made of and Dirt that man's physical body will return to. Perhaps that is the reason that we fear dirt as much as we do. It somehow represents the end of life in an odd and twisted sort of way. We even go as far as taking those who have died and putting them back in the dirt. But dirt is really just dirt. It is part of the world and something that is inevitable. It has a unique way of finding the hidden places that make it hard to remove. It is really everywhere. Sure there are places, like in the home where dirt should be removed but dirt itself is here to stay. In a way it is the constant reminder of how precious life is. It is not something to cause fear but something to remind you to take the opportunities that come your way. At the end of a good day there should always be a little dirt that needs to be removed.

Shower (Apr. 27)

When we think of a rain shower outside we will have one of two reactions. Either you will be excited by the rain and want to go run around and play in it or you will be frustrated by it and find something to do inside to stay out of the rain. But when we think of taking a shower in our bathrooms the reaction is generally different. Some might see it as a necessary daily grooming requirement to make sure that you are not categorized by your body odor. Or you might find it as a time when you can simply relax and let the stresses of life melt away as the warm and sometimes hot water hits and drips down your body. Either way the shower looks for you it is still something that you do on a regular basis rather than being something that you either love or hate, run to or run away from. Both the inside shower and the outside rain shower are basically the same thing, water falling from above. The arguement could even be made that both have the same purpose, just targeted at a different being. See the inside shower is something that is refreshing to humans. The outside shower is rather the refresher to wild animals and plants that rely on the water not simply to be clean but to be alive.

Definition (Apr. 26)

It seems that a great deal of problem arises from a simple lack of definition. When people use words they have a particular meaning in mind. The problem with that is that someone may have a completely different idea of what something means. Perhaps the difference in definition is because one person never learned the real meaning of the word and only picked up the word in context that lacked clarity. In many cases there is a significant obstacle to overcome in relation to a different culture that may use the same word to mean something completely different. But definitions, even a part from these circumstances are not as clear as we would like them simply because we are forced to describe one word by using other words. This creates a circular form of argument in relationship to a definition leading to a complete lack of definition. The deeper you go in an attempt to describe one particular word will lead to a circular chase as you will be forced to describe every word you use in definition and then every word used in the following definitions, eventually leading back to the original word. This is the curse and blessing of language and a problem that will not too soon be solved.

Complex (Apr. 25)

There are a lot of details in the world that go unseen and unknown. Often times we go throughout life not seeing the details that must be there for even our own existence. The conclusion then is that life is way more complex than anyone could possibly imagine. If life seems simple the truth might be that you are going through life in ignorance. Now it may not necessarily be a bad thing to go through life ignorant but to be ignorant means that you are neglecting to look at truth in all the places that it exists. Scientists seem to be prideful with the fact that they are constantly searching for truth in the way things are. And it seems that everyday scientists are able to discover new truths in the universe. Even the scientists do not know all the complexities of the universe and the way they attempt to explain things are presented in theories, not truths. Let us try our best not to be ingnorant and use the minds that we have been given to find as many truths as we possibly can. Let us look and see the complexities of life and live in such a way that at the very least we acknowledge that life is complex.

Pain (Apr. 24)

Lets face the reality that life is going to be full of pain, both physically and emotionally. A lot of who we are and our character is thus determined by how we handle pain. Do you become someone who needs to be catered to when you experience pain? Do you ignore pain and let it build up until you cannot handle it anymore and then let it burst out all at once? Or perhaps you are the person to experiences pain, reflects upon it, sees how you might change things for the future and then move on, never fogetting but never dwelling on the pain that you have experienced. Everyone is different in how they handle pain but not everyone is healthy in the way they deal with pain. There will be times when everyone strays from the healthy way to deal with pain and different kinds of pain affect people differently. Still if one is looking for a way to improve who they are as a person pain and the way that they handle it certainly should be a starting point. Pain is unavoidable and how you handle pain reflects your character. It honestly is that important.

Failure (Apr. 23)

At some point in your life you will come across a situation that you must come to the conclusion that you are a failure. No matter how hard you try, or don't try, there will be something that doesn't work out quite the way you expected and you will have to admit that you failed. How one responds to such adversity has a great deal to say about their character. It is so easy to want to crawl into a hole or burry your head in the sand after admiting to failure but that response is only for the weak. Surely you have heard the phrase, "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again." This phrase of course does not mean that you should continually run yourself into a brick wall. If Thomas Eddison has made his light bulb exactly like his first attempt everytime we would not have the light bulb today. Sometimes a failure is a chance to make a completely new start in a completely different direction and sometimes it is a matter of making a small adjustment and continuing on towards the original goal. But if you simply stop in the face of failure and let your fear continue to grip you after a failure, that failure will be the one and only accomplishment that you ever experience in life.

Chance (Apr. 22)

There are moments in life when you are offered an opportunity. It may seem that you would take a big risk by taking the opportunity and perhaps it will end in failure or perhaps it will lead to something great. There are very few opportunities in life that lead to something great where you will not be taking some kind of chance. There are plenty of calculations to be made along the way with the probability being different in every situation. One cannot simply think forever though. At some point a decision has to be made and one then must attack the opportunity head on with whatever the chance may be. If you take a chance and then do not attack it, there is a near certainty that the possible outcome involving failure will occur. If you take the chance and work hard however, there is a greater possibility of taking something that should be a failure and making it even greater than one could have possibly imagined. So, the next time you come accross a chance, what are you going to do? Will you pass on the chance simply because too many times in the past you have ended in failure or will you look at this chance and the opporunity that it is, the opportunity to make something great happen.

Knowing (Apr. 21)

To know something is a very interesting phenomenon. In the biblical language of Hebrew the verb that is often translated to know means a very intimate knowledge such that to know another person meant to have sexual relations with that person. You could not fully know someone without that being the case. To know a fact in a similar light seems to also incorporate that intimate nature. If you know, for instance, that strawberries are red you have had either some experience of a strawberry being red. There is a personal connection in the fact and who you are in order to know something. Many people think they know things but in reality do not know what they think they know. For instance you could know that apples are red, perhaps because all the apples that you ahve ever seen are red. Then one day you find what looks like an apple but it is green. If you know that apples are red then it could not possibly be an apple. But as you probably know there are apples that are green, yellow and red. In these examples knowing is based on experience, but one could claim that the way we experience thing relies on our own imperfect senses. If we cannot have certainty that our senses gather information in a correct way then we cannot rely on experience to honestly know something. But how else might you know something?

Aquaintence (Apr. 20)

Lets face the facts, there are a limited number of people in your life that you will be able to develop a good strong relationship with that will last over time. It will depend largely on both parties ability to communicate over long distance while maintaining the same level of closeness that is so hard to foster outside of close proximity. At the same time we should all be thankful for the other people in our lives that we will have a good relationship with while we are living in close proximity. They are still people that have a large influence in our lives and shaping us to who we are and who we will become. They are the people that we get out and do things with and the people that create some good memories in life but perhaps do not know every detail of how we think and what we like. At the same time they are the people that are there in the present to be present and in turn act as a present in our lives. Later in life there is always the chance that you will run into these people again and you will be able to catch up on life and where it has taken both of you and it will seem just like old times but the reality is that time and distance has not been the same as those other close friendships. Still it is so valuable to have the aquaintence in your life, you would be bored with out them.

Will (Apr. 19)

The will is a very interesting thing. That is of course the human will that seems to propel us into action. On the one hand it is very clear that we each have our own personal will that is unique to each individual and one that to a certain extent thrives on self preservation and personal desire, thus being completely selfish. Often times the will and actual occurance do not mirror each other, even when there are no other individuals to conflict with ones own personal will. One can certainly make the choice to give in to the will of another person and there are particular people out there with a will that would rather some other will tell them what to do, even down to the smallest details. The interaction of wills can be healthy and unhealthy on so many different levels that it seems nearly impossible to figure out how one might want to adjust their own will to a fine balance. While this certainly sounds complex and very detailed as to how the will works and how the will itself is what determines your personality, it really comes down to a very simple fact of making decisions. Each and ever decision you make, even down to the smallest ones are the actions of your will.

Concentration (Apr. 18)

Lets all be honest and admit that there are times in our lives that we seem to loose focus. There are several reasons as to why this happens. For one it could be that we simply do not care about the situation that we currently find ourselves in. In this instance our bodies nearly function without us actually thinking about what is going on. As a second option it could be that we are simply thinking too much about the future. See there is this innate desire to know what is coming next and we can simply loose focus on the present. Whatever the case might be, one of these options or one of several others, the loss of focus is one that is damaging to us in the present. In the midst of a conversation it is entirely impossible to say the right thing if you are thinking about something else and the person you are talking to can tell when you are not focused on the conversation at hand. The lack fo respect is damaging to the relationship and may not be repaired all that easily. Sure the future is something that is absolutely important but to loose the concentration on the present for the sake of the future may cause the future to be something less than even what you are thinking about the future in the present.

Ash (Apr. 17)

Recent eruptions of a volcano in Iceland has sent large amounts of ash and steam into the atmosphere. The continuous eruption over an extended amount of time seems to be rather interesting and most unique in recent history. There are certain pictures of the ash from this eruption that are simply amazing. One video clip shows a truck in Iceland driving down a presumably paved roads but the reality is that it looks more like he is driving down a dirt road. Ash is this by product of the burning heat and is something that we see in simple things like a campfire. It is something that is unwanted but something that seems like we do not know what to do with it. There isn't even a really good answer as to how we get rid of it. It seems that there are things in life that create layers of ash over who we are. Years and years of work at a job that we do not like change us into someone other than who we are. Sure there is still the shape of who we are and maybe even visible specks of the real us where the ash has failed to settle. But what if we knew how to get rid of the simple ash that covers our life? If there was a simple way to wash ourselves and become who we really are. In everyday life we shower daily to get the dirt and ash off of our bodies, but what about the figurative ash that covers who we really are?

Drip (Apr. 16)

There is something about water that is so relaxing. Think about all the different ways that one has to use water in a relasing manner. From hot tubs to showers there are limitless possibilities. The weird reality of it though is that there is also forms of torcher that involve water. While the excess of water and being held under water is certainly dangerous, there is also the constant drip water torcher that exists. As it is in this country, there a limits as to what can be sold as a shower head. Only so many gallons are allowed to flow through per minute. But one has the ability to modify a previously purchased shower head in order to change the amount of water that comes through the shower head. Simply remove any limiting device and potentially drill a bigger hole through the tube and presto you have more water. But can there be too much water? Sure. Can there be too little water? Absolutely. It is hard to determine what the appropriate amount of water is. Sadly, in the event that someone is looking for that perfect relaxing moment with water, it is better to have too much than it is to have too little. Too much can be handled but the drip, leaving one wanting more is not something to shrug off too easily.

Tea (Apr. 15)

While the leaf that loves to enrich water to an incredible flavor with antioxidents and other healthy features is a wonderful thing, tea is also something that has garnered news stories on network television for a group of people that seem to want to nearly replicate one of the best events in US history, the Boston Tea Party. The whole premise of the original tea party was to protest the taxes being forced on tes imports into what would become the US. There was a serious lack of representation on behalf of those living in the Americas and as such they saw the tax as unfair. While there is certainly part of most people that are fed up with taxes in general today, the complaints of the modern day tea party are not nearly as legit as the original. Unfortunately they are represented and the new taxes that are seen today were forced upon them by those they elected, even if they did not vote for them. In this sense it is no surprise that this modern day group is being looked at by much of the world as extremists and a small faction of people who may just be crazy. Surly there are many more people that are frustrated with the current governement, they are choosing other options to voice their opinion, like the vote to come this fall. The best part of it all is that our governement allows for such movements and the day that the governement tries to squelch this tea party movement or any other movement is the day American's should truly fear.

Balance (Apr. 14)

As amazing as the human body is, it is surprisingly frustrating when things are not working as they should. There are many systems within the body that require a fine balance to work properly. Sometimes these processes require other systems to be producing chemicals at a very particular rate which can become out of balance. Doctors have found ways with medication to then help rebalance the body so that it once again functions properly. Balance itself though is a very fine edge to be walking. Think of instances in your own life when balance was required. Being off by even the slightest of margins would cause one to fall. Balance is not something that one can afford to just be close on, it is something that one has to have perfectly correct. Now take this idea and apply it to those situations in life when we talk about balance, either between work and social life or between family and friends or who knows how many other possible situations. It is a senario that makes life teeter on the edge of impossibility. The balance is so easy to upset and that small loss of balance could send things spinning into oblivian. Now think of the times you have needed to balance on smething and there has been someone there for you to hold onto. Instantly it becomes infinately easier to balance.

Wake Up (Apr. 13)

We use alarm clocks to wake ourselves up at a particular time in the morning to get the day started and off to work or wherever on time. Yet it seems a common practice that some will set their alarms earlier than they need to simply so that they can hit the snooze button and potentially get a little bit more sleep. Clearly this is an instance of having to wake up even though one does not really want to. But, have you ever had the opposite senario happen where you are clearly asleep and you wan tto wake up but you cannot? Sure you can chalk it up to being a dream that you cannot wake youself up out of but it seems that there is a reality where the mind is hearing the alarm but the rest of the body continuously hits the snooze button forcing you back to sleep. Still what seems most amazing of all is the way one can set their internal clocks over time to wake up at particular times. See there are many times when people will wake up before their alarm goes off because somehow their body simply knows that it is time to wake up. Of these three scenarios one should be most thankful for this last position as it is by far the least disturbing and most comforting, even if you really do not want to wake up at that particular time.

Money (Apr. 12)

There is this little thing that it seems you need to live in the world today, money. The funny thing is that the government thinks that most people do not know what to do with money when they have it and so they decide that they need to take it from you to start these programs that then give the money back to you for certain services or at a later point in your life. At the same time the government, and scientists for that matter, want to teach evolution in schools whereby we get the idea of survival of the fittest. It seems that the governement thinks that money is exempt from this scientific policy however otherwise the government would let you keep more of you money taking only what they absolutely needed to run the government, without all the programs that are basically telling you how to spend your money. Sure there would be more people who would end up homeless and on the streets and there would be a much larger strain on the medical facilities that we have, but that is merely a minor effect of letting people deal with the decisions that they make. In the end, it is only money and your life is not really dependent on money but on many other things.

Goofy (Apr. 11)

You know there are times in your life that you just want to bust out and make everyone laugh, not in an attempt to get them to notice you or focus on you but simply because you know life will be better for them because they are laughing. People generally get into goofy moods when they are tired or based on some other emotion that they are feeling and of course it is different for everyone and the results are almost as unique as the person as to how they act in response to this goofy mood. Perhaps one of the more interesting outpourings of this goofiness is the person who for whatever reason loves to speak or type really long sentences that are probably run-on sentences like you learned about in grade school but at the same time seem to be just perfectly fine as they enter your head because you cannot find the grammar mistake that they are making. In a sense though you know that the world would be a better place because you get this picture of the Disney character named goofy in your head and suddenly it hits you that if the entire world were able to find themselves in a goofy mood more often the world would be a much more fun place to live in and the world would most certainyl have fewer problems in it. Then again we could just all go to Disneyland or world or whatever your preference might be and hang around the guy himself who just seems to have life in the reight perspective of reality and just being who your are, the goofy person that you know you are.

Mind Control (Apr. 10)

It is really amazing the way the body works. This is not the first time you have heard it and it certainly won't be the last. What is truly amazing is the way the body functions in a sense of doing what you tell it to do. Now, it isn't like you literally say to your arm, more from this position to that position and pick that up. In reality you probably do not even consider honestly thinking about the actions you perform most on a daily basis. But, as fast as a computer (and sometimes faster) your mind sends messages through your nervous system to move your body in the ways that you desire. There are even some natural reactions that your body will naturally perform, such as when you touch something hot, your hand moves away before your mind even gets the chance to think about it more often than not. This reaction is really proven to not be something of learned habit, though future ramifications of that incident will certainly make you more hesitant to touch something that may be hot. Sadly there are also instances in life when you feel like you are sending all the right messages to the right body parts to perform certain actions and the results seem to be lacking. It is almost like taking a baseball player and asking him to sew. He may have some idea at what to do but it just isn't going to be the same as a professional seemstress. It really makes you realize how difficult it is to live with a nervous system that isn't functioning properly. Your mind seems to loose all sense of control and things quickly slip through your fingers.

Numbers (Apr. 9)

You remember when you math teacher was forced to tell you in math class as you were growing up, "You need to learn math because it is impossible to live life without knowing basic math, math is everywhere." Who would have thought that they would be so right. It seems that math is certainly everywhere and the more you think about it the more places it seems to come up. Every activity you do, even sleeping has some number associated with it. Try living without numbers for a while and inevitably you will realize that whatever length of time you live without numbers is measured with a number. There are certain people in the world who may like numbers a little too much. The numbers become something to look at and analyze to the extent that their preparation becomes so detailed that they might just forget to live life and enjoy looking at their numbers. It is a good thing that there are people who like numbers, as one would not like to leave there money at a bank that didn't like numbers. So you may have to live every second of every day with numbers but just be glad that there is someone who likes numbers more than you do.

Preparation (Apr. 8)

There are certain events in life that you will want to spend some time preparing for. Even a simply car ride to work needs certain preparation for what is going to happen either during or after the ride. The act of preparation itself requires at least some preparation in the form of thinking before gathering needed items or whatever else it might be that needs to be accomplished before a certain activity is undertaken. It seems at times that it is easy to forget the preparation that you have worked so hard at before. Think of those instances that happen throughout your life where you enter a room and for some reason cannot remember why you entered the room. Sure it seems to happen more the older you get but it still happens. In the long run you have to remember that there is only so much you can do to prepare. The adventure of entering a room and trying to remember why you entered the room is usually far from the norm but is an example of the interesting adventure that can be had. You could spend all your time preparing and none of your time on the adventure or you could take the adventure and trust the preparation that you have done being flexible to adapt when you realize you forget something. It is atill an adventure.

Nothing (Apr. 7)

Sometimes when you ask a guy what he is thinking about he will respond by saying nothing. Now, this consept may be particularly hard for females to grasp since they have a very difficult time thinking of nothing, but apparently becuase men have very compartmentalized brains it is entirely possible for them to think about nothing. The question is what kind of nothing are they thinking about? See on the one hand there is the nothing that is the lack of everything. This nothing is not a think in and of itself but rather happens when there is simply a lack of things. You could ask someone what is in the closet and they could respond that there is nothing in the closet because there are no clothes, shoes, coats, cleaning supplies or anything else in the closet. There is also the nothing that acts as something. It is still the lack of something but is not looked at as a something. This is the nothing that you can actualy have. Using the closet analogy, if someone rather were to ask what you have in the closet you could say that you have nothing in the closet. This is different than saying there is nothing in the closet in that on the one instance you are owning the nothingness inthe closet, where on the other hand you are simply stating the lack of things to posses in the closet.

Mystery (Apr. 6)

Sure we all might enjoy sitting down and reading or watching a good mystery unravel in a story but why is it that there are certain mysteries we feel the need to unravel? When it comes to the stories there is always an end or a reveal at some point that satisfies the need to know but what would it be like if you could simply let the mystery be a mystery? Science, in essence, has always been about solving the mysteries of life and the way things work on our planet and in our universe. Science has become so prominent in this search for truth that in many circles science has become the end all be all of truth and knowledge, which cannot actually be proven scientifically. But it seems that this desire to know rather than to let something be a mystery in science has driven particular theories from a state of potential to a state of truth. In doing so, science has instead masked truth in such a way that it may be impossible to shed a theory for what is actually true as there is no mystery left. Scientists use logic in such a way that they claim not only to know all truth but to know all logic. What happens when we discover life on another planet that is even more intelligent than we are and has logical reasoning that contradicts our own? While the desire for truth is not wrong, why not live in such a way as to allow for the mystery to be present, thus leaving room for change and imagination.

Colors (Apr. 5)

When you look at a painting you begin to see the color choices that the artist made. Often times there is a great deal of blending that occurs and even layering of coloras in given instances. It is amazing to think of all the possible colors that one could use either in art or simply as a description of nature. Then to think that beyond the visible colors that we can see there are even more colors that exist. Some animals are said to not be able to see colors in the same way that humans do leaving one to ponder the question what colors do we not see. What do they really look like to someone who can see those colors. This is not taking an electronic devise and turning off filters and what not, but actually seeing these colors. What is even more amazing is that we are allowed to see the colors that we do see. Part of the wonder and amazement that humans find in nature is the amazing way that colors are what they are. Think of a sunset for instance, or even a rainbow. It really isn't the same thing without the color. The eye in the way that is accepts color and the brain in the way that it interprets color is simply amazing.

Rise (Apr. 4)

Have you ever taken the time to make bread and not in a bread machine but to actually make bread with your own hands? There is a period of time in which the bread must sit and rest, to a certain extent, during which time the bread rises. As the bread rises it becomes ever so much closer to the task of which it is meant to accomplish, that of becoming a loaf of bread. Similarly, it life man is set out to rise up to the task before them. An army must rise up together to defeat the enemy. A sports team must rise up together in order to win a game. Even in work you must rise up to the challenge of completing the assigned task. So what is the importance of this act of rising? It seems, in essence, that humans have this innate and built in desire to become something greater than they currently are and to completely accomplish this something must happen whereby they literally rise above where they currently are. The task is not complete until this act of rising has been accomplished.