You never know unless you try...anything

Over the past couple of days, it has become very apparent to me that some people, perhaps more than a few, live their lives scared. What a hollow existence that must be? A life spent scared seems worse than no life whatsoever. I told my wife this week that I will never live that way. If that costs me quantity for (my version of) quality, then so be it.

One thing I learned (not sure from whom) and try to pass on to every human I interact with is to "own your feelings and your decisions". Our decisions put us where we are. No one can make me feel or do anything I don't decide to do. They can physically injure or kill me for my actions, but they can NOT make me do anything. If it costs me my life, that too is my decision.

In the end we're all just worm food and living life with that perspective gives us incredible freedom. This is, obviously, not a "slash and burn" license but an incredibly liberating perspective. Don't be scared of freedom.

It's not about me (or you)

It's about us. We are all in this together; starving children in Africa, uber-wealthy Americans, club kids in Europe, all of us. It's about changing the us/them mentality. When we are "we", there is no them.

My new friend, Soren, recently posted an entry about Invisible Children. What an incredible organization. I love their intro, "If the Greatest Generation sacrificed for war, what will our generation be known as if we sacrifice for peace?" After reading the site and watching a couple of their trailers, I was moved to act and I hope you are too.

Another great site is Modest Needs. They are doing great things to help society by bridging the gap for a lot of "the working poor". Thank you. Thank you.

is ignorance bliss?

introspection and thoughtful consideration can be painful. it can lead to breaking whole-life traditions. it can lead to changing interpersonal relationship, but ultimately it will lead to freedom. once you own the decision and the consequences, it can be liberating. exploration needs to be personal and internalized. my method may be different than yours. it can be scary.

believing what you are "supposed" to believe or what you've heard your entire life is easy. the bible and "christianity" (however you might define it) are too tidy for me. when i raise the real questions i get trite responses like, "heaven, you got to believe it to see it" and "thats why it's called faith", that are no longer acceptable. what repercussions will i face? how will they change my thinking? how will my decisions impact those who depend on me?

watered down

a twitter conversation this morning got me thinking. the twit comment was " When most people get a hunch, they call it a hunch. Christians call it 'God'. Great wildcard there". when people write off intuition to "god", i beleive they are watering down both.

the perspective of calling it "god" gives humanity no credit. we are simply passive in this process and have no input. this discounting is probably what makes it easier to not think for oneself, accept what is given and "conventional wisdom".

it also weakens "god" because a hunch can be wrong. how could "god" be wrong? omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient yet not sure on a hunch? if god exists, i doubt that he/she would miss something that simple.