The "Fire's" Warmth...

Good Morning!

There are days that I can not supress my enthusiasm for life...and there are those other days!  It is a roller coaster!  Over time I have learned to create those components within myself that catalyze the feeling that I have when I am having a good day...so when the bad days come...I can fight them at their level rather than fall prey to the effects!

Everyone has "ups and downs..."

Some times your plans do not come to fruition...some times narrow minded supervision gets in the way...some times...you get in the way!

Don't let it get to you!

Pick the path and stay on it!

The Power of Positive Thinking and Positive Attitudes has been challenged lately! 

Many advocates have gotten defensive...Me?

I think it should be constantly challenged!...

Why?

I do not believe that positive mental attitude does not make anyone anymore successful...but...

...What it does do...is makes them happier...and oblivious to what is going on around them...NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS...I AM HAPPY!

...This is a situation where ignorance is bliss...AND...it is also helpful in achieving goals!

Why?

Because...What makes people successful is hard work and persistence...people that are happier seem to work harder and stay on task...so from my perspective...positive attitudes do effect success...but not for the mystical reasons that many proport...but just plain cause/effect...Work hard and you'll reap benefits!

I have to laugh...We have a tendency to make things too complex...

...Look at things from the simpliest perspectives...it is generally the real reason...

Shifting Gears!

Some of you have heard pieces of this story in the past...

When I was growing up (Late Teens, Early 20s)...I hung with many Native American Friends...

They were rather reclusive...that is...they kept to people with "like mind" and like themselves...

It was an interesting...

I was accepted into their midst and got to see the inner workings of the real culture...

In the evenings...the older members often got together and sat around a fire and talked...and sang and told stories...I loved that!

I got invited to these campfire gatherings...the strange thing was that my invitation was often over many of my Native American peers...but the elders wanted me there (not the boys...which confused me) and every time I was there...I was invited...in a way this created a bit of a rivalry and a jealousy between them and I...but I just went with it!

One evening the oldest guy started talking and everyone immediately quieted down...it was the first time I had heard him talk!

He looked right at me and said that the difference between humans and white people was that white people built BIG fires and sat far apart...humans built small fires and sat close together...sharing the warmth of the fire and of the warmth of eachother...

The group nodded respectfully and...

Then he got up and left...

They sat quiet for a while and I broke the silence by saying...

"..he is old and tired...must of needed to go to sleep..."

They laughed!

I sat dumbfounded and then one of the older guys said..."you don't get it...he left so that we could share our warmth between us!"

Warmth...I thought it was heat!

I suddenly realized that I had missed the whole message and from that point learned to dig deeper into meanings...

What a great gift that he shared with me!


A Bend in the Road...

I read a series of articles over the past few days that discussed (argued about) how much water a person should consume on a daily basis...

No one could agree on the right amount...

...a static, 1 ounce of fluid per pound of body weight...

...consumption being dependent upon activity...

...input should be based upon your output...

and on and on...

But something suddenly hit me...

NOT ONE of these articles noted that more than 1.7 billion (YES 1,700,000,000) people do not have access to fresh clean water on a daily basis...ZILCH, NO WATER, NADA...ZERO!

That seems a bit more important to me...than how much we should suck down!

Should I drink 80 ounces of water per day or 160 ounces...?

Is warm water or cold water better for my body?

What a narrow and selfish existence!

Why can't every article written about fresh water, be required to include a tag line about how many people need water...PERIOD?  REMEMBER THAT NUMBER 1,700,000,000  1.7 BILLION!  UNTIL THAT NUMBER IS ZERO!

How sad!

Shifting gears!

I am jumping all over the place...aren't I?
Our myopic view of life often creates problems...and even more sad is that we remain clueless even after the catestrophe is caused by us!  Or we refuse to take any blame...or responsibility...

I just had a discussion, with a VERY wise man who blames all of the world's woes on the most subtle of "greeds."  All of our problems stem from greed!

I remember being intrigued by a theory called the "Butterfly effect."

To refresh your memory it says that every event is somehow infinitely linked to many occurances in the future...

The batting of a butterfly's wings in western Africa leading to a major hurricane that wipes out a Gulf Coast City...is a more direct example...but it could be a set of absolutely crazy and unrelated connections...but it is a seemingly inconsequential event leading to something of world shattering significance...

The insignificant splitting of one single atom, effecting 4 more and so on...until we have a thermal nuculear  explosion!  Interesting?


Shifting gears AGAIN!

How about your purpose?

Courtney and I got into an interesting discussion tonight...she is working on her next Science Fair project...

It is about isolating and confirming the presence of sugar in the husk of the Queen Palm seed and then converting that sugar into ethanol...to be used as a bio-fuel...it is a carry-on project from last year's "extract the plant fat and conveert it to diesel fuel project...and uses the waste from the oil refinement to get more fuel from this source...

As we talked about plants and seeds...we discussed that plants have many different ways of spreading their seeds...some just drop them...

Some use a sweet fleshy fruit to attract animals to eat them and the actual seed is not digested...so the animal spreads them...

With others the seed is so hard that animals cannot eat the outside...and drop the seed in frustration!

The Queen Palm appears to have a husk that animals like to eat...but they drop the "baby" coconuts...because they can not gnaw through the shell...

Seems like a combination of 2 of the concepts!

But that was just the beginning of the discussion...

We talked about purpose...What really is a plant's purpose...or an animal's purpose...

When you think about a plant...it only grows and lives to create seeds to make more of that plant...but why?

And as we talked...the same holds true for animals...their only purpose is to propagate...but for what purpose?

There really is no meaning to life...or living...when you look at it this way!

When considered on an individual level...there is no reason or value for existence!  There is no purpose!

EVEN FOR HUMANS!

That is pretty deep!

It is only when the entire existence is considered in a system that there is any purpose...then a plant does exist to feed herbivores...and so on...then there is some meaning...but is it enough?...but think about it...we exist to serve another level?  I do not exist to die!  But in the system...many of us do!

Deeply philosophical but think about that for a moment...

Why are you existing?

Are you an individual or part of a system?

Is there a purpose for you...some worthwhile conntection...or are you a drain on the earth's resources...?

Purpose breaks down when you attempt to stand as an individual...and only exists in the connections between things...are you food...fodder...or...just plain useless...or do you really mean something?

Those are deep and  freaky thoughts!  The coolest thing is to share this type of philosophical thinking with a 14 year old!  I LOVE THEM!


Are we there yet?  Are we there yet?

Yes we are!  Let's tie this all together!

We have to be VERY careful about narrowing our focus and the effect that it has on our meaning and the impacts of our actions!

When you worry about eating right or drinking enough...think bigger than yourself and take an extra moment to consider the impact of your actions...am I taking food or water out of the mouths and stomaches of people who have nothing?

Are my actions and my narrow thoughts impacting others in extreme places?

Does my driving a block instead of walking add to the global warming issue?

Is the narrow and self-serving nature of my opinions keep me from real understanding and perspectives?

Am I experiencing the true warmth of others?

Do I build a small fire and share its warmth with others...and sit close enough to them to share the warmth that they have?

These are questions that you can answer for yourself in the privacy of your own assessment of your actions and the subsequent impacts...

Your meaning and purpose will never be found in your substance...but only in your connections...outside of yourself...the things most intangible...

It is nothing mystical...it is hard work!

Enough Said!