Starting Anew

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
~ Socrates

Earlier this month, I had been making a serious attempt to take inventory of many personal issues and examine my life, as to be sure it is worth living as Socrates would say. However, a sad incident took my and the nation’s attention, and I’ve found myself discussing and debating gun-related topics. No matter how right or wrong I am in this political arena, my impact on the solution at large will be quite minimal; thus, I have decided to focus again upon things by which I can personally be more effective.

Everybody’s Solution Sucks

A lot of discussion has taken place in the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy. Many talk about gun control while others discuss mental illness. But let me just say for the record, everybody’s solution sucks: yours, mine and those pundits on TV.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

“All I want you to do for me is give it to me when you get home.”
~Aretha Franklin (Respect)

Aretha Franklin’s song is a woman’s cry to be treated fairly and properly by her man. This is a reasonable thing to demand. However, for many of us, respect has become more a thing we desire or demand and less of something we give or show. And while we might deserve respect, and perhaps should avoid certain situations due to a lack of it – I wonder if I may be unbalanced in the demand-and-give ratio.

Character Revelations

“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won't have time to make them all yourself.”
~ Alfred Sheinwold

We all know that paranoid person in the office or some other social environment. The one who acts out of fear, the one that reminds us of Tom Smykowski from Office Space running across the corporate landscape between the building and coffee restaurant warning his officemates that the company has hired consultants. The truth is that we all act out of fear at times, but the person who displays habitual response to perceived fears creates a lot of problems for themselves. And we see it obviously in others!

Mental Calisthenics

“…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”
~The Apostle Paul

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am working on some character renovations. Whenever starting such a project, I find the passage above a good place to start.

Paving the Road

“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.”
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This morning I was consumed in thought about how people judge each other and why. Of course we all know this is a bad practice, yet it continues to happen.