Be The Change No. 1

"Everyone chooses their level of involvement. We might share the same place BUT that does not mean we share the same space. Not everyone in the congregation is Christian."

Be the Change.

There is never a shortage of folks talking about what is wrong with America. Society seems to have lost its way. And if you watch the news, engage in social media, turn on the television, watch a movie, buy into the system, drink the Kool Aid, and believe the narrative, then you are going to see a lot of evil and immoral things. And you are going to have a myriad of choices to find with which to lay fault.

And a lot of the places to blame get given to you directly from the source of your information on the immoral and evil acts. There is no shortage of explanation for the problems people see when they tune in. There is no shortage of claims or commentary about what is going on with our youth, our elderly, our men, our women, our depressed, our manic, our community, our culture, our people . . . . There is always some boogeyman around the corner, down the street, across the tracks, in the next town, one state over, and that boogeyman is coming your way soon.

You can blame whatever you like. You can convince yourself of whatever you like. You can be right about whatever you like. Because we all know the problem and we all have solutions. You would think with so many problems and so many folks with solutions that things would be on a different trajectory when you tune in BUT the trajectory never seems to change. I can remember the same narrative on the news when I was younger. The narrative of increasing evil and immorality around the corner and coming your way has been there. The boogeyman was always out there and heading my way.

So, if we’ve seen these problems for at least forty years, and the same reporting on the problems for forty years, and the same trajectory for the past forty years, and the same concern and dedication to solving the problem for the past forty years, then why are we still here talking about the same problems and offering the same solutions with no change?

You can’t change the world BUT you can help do the dishes. You see we have these grand ideas as humans that we’re great. We are destined for great things because we are special. We are making America great again. We are the great hope. There is a lot of greatness that just sits there and atrophies, and stagnates, and dies as potential because we want the grand spectacle of being great BUT not the daily struggle to be great.

We all get caught up in this idealization of doing great things BUT we don’t put in the work to be great every day. We want a culminating act without showing up every day. We want to hit the final shot at the buzzer BUT don’t want to show up for practice. We want the one moment and omit the daily dedication to making ourselves great.

So, I don’t look outside for solutions to any of the problems we have with interpersonal violence because those external solutions have led to here. The same trajectory, the same rhetoric, the same solutions, the same shit. If you want different things, then you have to do different things. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. So we are living in an insane society. An immoral society. A society that is not aligned.

And the only change we can make is by helping out with the dishes, making our beds, cleaning our house, planting our seeds, doing our work, choosing to change, and making ourselves great every day. You can wait on the next burning building to run into for your moment of greatness or you can work on being great every day. There are no days off in the path to change. And there is no change in the external without the internal change in each of us.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange

Personal Meditation No. 170

“It’s not all in your mind but if you don’t control your mind, then the rest doesn’t matter.”

Embrace the Within.

Finished my second book of the year already. The next book was one I wanted to read and was on my list this past fall and winter. It’s a motivational book titled You’re Not that Great by Daniel Crosby, Ph. D. And I might not be the person you think needs a motivational book, however, Dr. Crosby chocks a bunch of information from other sources into the hundred pages and change that make up this motivational book. Another thing I really enjoy are the Lived Learning Challenges at the end of the chapters. If you follow me on Facebook then you see that I applied one of them yesterday in an attempt to see what folks considered my strengths.

We are typically awful judges of what we do well and what we do poorly. So, it is nice to get perspective and it is also nice to hear some good things about yourself on social media. That doesn’t happen too often. It’s a quick read with tons of information and life applications. So, if you’re looking for change I totally recommend a read. Maybe even buy a copy so you can write all through the book. I like writing in books.

So, I wanted to take a little time to focus on a reference Dr. Crosby made to a YouTube series by Kirby Ferguson, Everything is a Remix. I found that information so compelling for where I am and what I do. I am under no assumption or delusion that what I am doing every day here is original. It has my voice and has my ideas BUT my voice and my ideas come from so many different sources and influences that I would find it difficult to write down everything that impacts my writing and my style alone, let alone my thoughts.

And I think that is one thing I can bring into my classroom. The understanding that we need to read and watch and listen to a lot of information from a variety of sources to get ourselves a thorough education. I know that a lot of folks try to avoid things they don’t like in learning. Some folks stopped learning and coasted the rest of the way through life. And other folks adopt my mindset of trying to learn something from everything.

If I have to experience something, then I want to get something out of it. If I have to sit through a meeting, wait in a line, drive to a place, go for a walk, watch a program, or read a selection, then I want something to take away and apply in my life. Sometimes we don’t immediately see the impact. Sometimes we immediately pull things together. BUT the process of learning as much from as much of life is what keeps me interested in everything.

Amor fati. Even in the struggles of what is a messy existence filled with many things outside our control, we do get to control our choices about our daily interactions with everything.

I am going to choose to learn. It is one of my core principles in life. The importance of learning and growing from my experiences is what has carried me this far and will carry me as far ahead as I have to go. What are you learning?

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain