Smart (Feb. 7)

If you had to come up with a definition of the word smart, at some point you will be forced into drawing a comparison with others. Simply knowing a lot of information is not in and of itself the definition of being smart as it really is a comparison to how much other information others know. It flows right from there into a comparison with wisdom which is really living your life in a smart way. Some people may live a life in a particular way, but it is only in comparison to others that you could call their life smart. It seems that striving to be smart is therefore a very selfish endeavor, which seems to some extent to be exactly the opposite of smart. In a sense, smart is just something that has to happen, it is not something that you strive for.

Gravity (Feb. 6)

We have sent rockets to the moon and beyond. We have created long tubes of metal with wings that fly when jet engines are attached. For some time humans have known of this phenomenon called gravity which prevents us from floating away into space and yet we have tried incredible hard to deny the reality of gravity. It is the kid that wants so hard to fly before they realize that inevitably they will fall back to earth, no matter how high they jump. For all the ways in which we try to defy gravity the reality is that there are many more ways that we use gravity for our benefit and pleasure. In much the same way one is left to wonder because of this if there is not something greater to be gleened from this. Often times we talk about having our heads in the clouds and yet the reality is that gravity will pull us back to where we are supposed to be. It is not to say that we shouldn't strive for greatness in the likes of rockets and air planes, but it is to say that we should work looking at the clouds with hope knowing that gravity has us where we are for a good reason.

Excitement (Feb. 5)

There are moments in life that we look forward to for long periods of time before they actually happen. We think of the promises of what are to come and the potential of even greater things. It all creates a pleasing aroma of excitement by which one uses to get through the drab parts of the stressful day. Sure there is the possibility that things will not live up to expectations, which inevitably causes disappointment. So with both of the possible outcomes in hand, which would you rather live your life with? It seems that living life with great anticipation leading to great excitement is the proper way to live life, no matter how unproper one becomes with excitement. There is a innatue desire to be filled with excitment in anticipation, a design of life that seems to be one of those things that just makes sense. Those who live in fear of disappointment are not the fun people to be around.

Technology (Feb. 4)

It amazes me to think back to when I was a child and to remember the technology that was big at the time. I remember listening to vinyls and thinking that a tape players was prety big. The day that wireless phones became something to have was another one of those big days. And today in an effort to make life easier, what have we done. iPhones that travel anywhere and play music and movies with a million different apps to do who knows what. The funny thing is that it seems that life has not become less complicated with technology but more complicated. More complicated, more complex, more frustrating, more of everything we were trying to do away with when these new technologies were being researched. For as nice as everything is and as much as I wonder what I would do without some of these great technologies there is still something deep inside that begs for the times of the past when things were easier and simpler.

Commit (Feb. 3)

As a fan of college football, today, signing day, is a very interesting day. More interestingly though it brings up the issue of commitment. See the reality is that there are certain people who make up their mind and then have to re make up their mind later, often changing the decision. To make a decision is much different than making a commitment. On the one hand you can decide to do something but that does not necessarily mean that you won't change your mind. When you commit to something there is something different about that, something most high school football players apparently do not understand. When you commit to something you have already taken that first step in the decision making it entirely impossible to change to course of what you are going to do. Take cliff jumping for instance. You can decide to jump off the high jump but after climbing up there and seeing how high it is, it is often that some will want to turn around and climb down. The reality is that it is safer to jump than to climb back down. The safest way to jump is to commit and give it all you have. It is the hesitant jumper who puts himself in the most danger of hurting themselves. So, honor the commitment and give it everything you have.

Security (Feb. 2)

Having been a witness to this latest financial crisis and seeing how the general population of our country has responded, one thing is explicitly clear, we value security. We work hard to put ourselves in a place where we are in control and do not have to worry should something happen. It is called security becuase we feel that if we just have enough then we won't have to worry and inevitably something does happen, just look at the financial crisis we are in. So many of use got to a point where we were comfortable with what we had and then in a flash it was gone. It has driven us to work even harder and save up even more money. But what happens next time? Will what we have placed our security in be enough? I think the question that we often forget to ask is, "What if life is supposed to be lived in such a way that security is not our concern?" See, whatever we place our security in here on earth will inevitably fail or fall short. But what is we all lived life without concern for our security?

Testing (Feb. 1)

Around the world of education it is impossible to get yourself away from the dreaded test. In classes you are tested to see how much of the information you know. Then you eventually reach what is called higher education and the first thing you need to do to get in is take a standardized test to see how you stack up against everyone else. It seems that the world is overly concerned about how you stack up against the rest of the world and needing to put everyone in their proper place. Tests are really just one more tool by which we allow the world to judge us. Does it really make sense to participate in this matter? Probably not but there is really no way around testing. Some will tell you that it is simply a measure of what you know but in a class you are ultimately given a class rating and on standardized tests you are ultimately compared to the other applicants. The funny thing about it all is that as soon as you forget the information for a particular test, the rest of the world forgets how well you did on the test.