Philosophy

Today I tried to live in the moment and not worry about all the items that seep through my mind.  For example it is apparent to me that most people aren’t fixated with the news  (especially political news) so I decided to take a break from the news stations and put on a music or comedy station instead. Many a day I fret about what is going to happen at work but today I decided to take it one step at a time.  To make those quiet moments last extra long my cell phone decided to take a break as well (not planned). This was especially interesting when I entered the subway and located the one other person in the subway who didn’t have a cell phone and didn’t smell like urine to have a conversation with.   Living in the moment allowed me the freedom to observe and understand different things that I might often neglect. It is an experiment that I would like to repeat every once in a while in between Fox News Alerts.

If you complain and want empathy then be ready for the solutions. If you won’t take the time to listen respectfully to those solutions then your empathy will slowly disappear. The solutions that you find alone will have to work completely or you will have know one to blame except yourself. Even if you implement a token amount of the solutions that one offers it will lesson the blame if things don’t work out and allow you to continue to have some empathy in the future. If one the other hand you can logically convince the others that this policy is best and they take some credit for it’s implementation then they also can take some blame for it’s failure as well. The point is simple if you are to complain to others then you must listen to them as well.

It’s amazing how some acts and words are observed under a microscope while others can’t hardly be seen by a telescope. I would normally jump to the media’s liberal bend to favor certain individuals but then we’d have to ignore Howard Dean’s rant.   Maybe it’s the surprise factor that makes those words and acts draw more attention then others. Would it shock us if Bill Clinton made an advance on single woman yet an advance by the Pope would definitely make the headlines.  What’s sad to say is that the actions or words might be quite similar  but because one person is put on a higher pedestal their actions bring a steeper decline that continues far longer then the person who has a reputation. There are also the taboo words that make more of a dent then other words touch the racial or feminist rail and you truly might get burnt long after a word is spoken.  The problem is that microscope continues to look for different criteria and when it hits its mark it makes larger then it truly should appear and a reputation can be ruined forever.

I believe one of the most difficult concepts to grab is that there is good and evil in every group whether it be political, business, ethnic, religious or charity.
There will be people there for the right reasons and those for the wrong reasons.  Individuals who will look to climb the ladder upon the necks of those that “work with them” and those that rise above others for the good works they do.  In between will be the cynical types who will follow whichever road appears to be stronger at the time. The challenge is to be willing to root out the evil even publicly if need be to make sure the cream really rises to the top and your group can meet the goals it needs to be successful.

To be honest as brave as I might appear to others there are certain things that I’m terrified of.  Here is the top five that worry me.

(1) DYING NOT DEATH- It is the process of waiting in pain to get to your maker especially if you lose your mind along the way that is truly scary.

(2) CONFLICTS NOT FIGHTS- I would be willing to fight for what I believe in but fear getting into conflicts with friends and family.

(3) LONELINESS BUT NOT BEING ALONE- Many nightmares come to mind where people abandon me although I enjoy many solitude activities.

(4) FOR MY FAMILY NOT MYSELF- In general I worry more about what happens to my loved ones over time then myself.

(5) EXISTING BUT NOT LIVING- It scares me that someday I might just exist but not create, learn or make some difference in the world around me or beyond.

In my last blog I discussed the issue of homosexuality and the reason that those of faith react to it but are there times that we should “let it be” without a word?   I believe as long as we clearly state our position on an issue  of concern with understanding on how that other individual feels once, then maybe it’s time to “let it be”.  We must realize that nagging or preaching to an individual that doesn’t want to listen can turn them further away then bring them closer and who knows the other issues you might have in common.  We also must build a structure of friendship and concern before we can even offer such advise because without that balance our words can fall on deaf ears or be met with anger.   “Let it be” shouldn’t mean giving up but knowing when words of prayer can truly help instead of words spoken. By agreeing to disagree on certain positions we might open a door to a friendship that is stronger then we ever expected.