"THE quarrel WITH others PRODUCES rhetoric, BUT THE quarrel WITH self PRODUCES poetry."
In order for one to communicate excellently, one must first communicate truth practically. This is a struggle not only in our daily interactions with others, but in the personal conversations we carry with ourselves constantly throughout every day. Why bring it up? Because the pursuit and portrayal of truth is a neccesity which embodies itself in every aspect of every thing that we do, think and say.
SO, WHERE DO we begin?
If I may be so bold, I'd say at the beginning. The issue most of us face is not found, necessarily, in the question of what do we believe; but rather, why do believe in it in the first place? It is so easy to write something or someone off. It is even more popular to make an assumption based upon any number of biases previously and often unconsciously created. This leads, almost inevitably, to the ever so common succumbed attitude of "whatever makes you happy".
Do not confuse my mention of this mantra with disapproval of pursuit in what you desire. I would hope from my previous posts that it is evident that this is not the case. What I would argue, however, is that, more often than not, what we think we want is not what is actually best for us or those around us in the long run.
I believe that it is almost painfully clear to us what we want. Regardless of who you are or where you are from, you have had, at some point or another, a desire for something. This desire, whether justified or not, led you to a place where either decisive action or full abandon was necessary and, like all of us have experienced, you chose one. The question I would like to pose here is this: just because you want or believe something, does that make it right? Does that make it OK?
INTERESTING.
You can approach this from many different angles and, ultimately, come to many different conclusions. Because of this, instead of delving into some arbitrary battle of philosophy, ideology and religiosity, I am choosing, simply, to leave you with the following illustration:
Johnny is a good kid but he tends to push the limits when it comes to obeying his mother. He loves her more than anything in the world, but pushing her limits comes in a very, very close second. We meet Johnny on the road, driving a car for the first time. Upon reaching the first intersection, however, Johnny's mother exlaims "Johnny, stop! You cannot cross yet, there is a stop sign." Johnny snidely replies "I don't believe in stop signs." and sails through only to be met with a head-on collision.
Ok, depressing, I know. Sorry for the debbie-downer moment. But sadness aside, this story demonstrates something of vital importance. Although silly and nieve, Johnny made quiet a startling statement about himself. Not only did he tell us that he did not believe in stop signs, but by directly disobeying them, he proved to us that he also believes something much more frightening. Johnny believes that, regardless of what others say, if he does not believe in something, then to him, it does not exist.Interesting sentiment, certainly. The terifying part about this kind of behavior is that, regardless of whether or not Johnny believes in the stop sign, he is still going to get hit by the car that is screaming through in the other direction.
Here is the point: sometimes it doesn't matter if we believe something or not. What actually matters is whether or not what we believe is true. Just because we want something or think something does not necessarily make us right. In fact, more often than not, we are mistaken by our own, selfish desires. I think it is of utmost importance to take a huge step back from our current lives and beliefs to seriously quarrel with ourselves in an effort to fully understand why we believe what we believe.
I think default mode for most of us is to put on this face of ambiguity. We push away things of importance and shun those who stand for or against anything. Our faces stay hidden from purpose and we effortlessly shy away from any and every form of public approval or disapproval of anything. I find it more refreshing, honestly, to find someone who sincerely believes in something totally opposite to myself than to find someone who half-heartedly assumes something in line with myself. Because of this, I would like to sincerely challenge you to, for whatever it's worth, analyze not what you are doing as much as why you are doing it.
People are desperate for meaning, purpose and truth. But how can we find truth in such an ambiguous world? Ah, my friend, stay patient. I am not hear to give answers, only to raise questions. This journey we are both on, life, is a short one but it is worth every second. Pain is the price we pay in the pursuit of truth and every drop of sweat and bead of blood we give to achieve that goal is worth more than gold. Finish every battle strong but do not be discouraged if you loose or confuse one for battles may be lost but perseverance ensures that the war will be one.
In order for one to communicate excellently, one must first communicate truth practically. This is a struggle not only in our daily interactions with others, but in the personal conversations we carry with ourselves constantly throughout every day. Why bring it up? Because the pursuit and portrayal of truth is a neccesity which embodies itself in every aspect of every thing that we do, think and say.
SO, WHERE DO we begin?
If I may be so bold, I'd say at the beginning. The issue most of us face is not found, necessarily, in the question of what do we believe; but rather, why do believe in it in the first place? It is so easy to write something or someone off. It is even more popular to make an assumption based upon any number of biases previously and often unconsciously created. This leads, almost inevitably, to the ever so common succumbed attitude of "whatever makes you happy".
Do not confuse my mention of this mantra with disapproval of pursuit in what you desire. I would hope from my previous posts that it is evident that this is not the case. What I would argue, however, is that, more often than not, what we think we want is not what is actually best for us or those around us in the long run.
I believe that it is almost painfully clear to us what we want. Regardless of who you are or where you are from, you have had, at some point or another, a desire for something. This desire, whether justified or not, led you to a place where either decisive action or full abandon was necessary and, like all of us have experienced, you chose one. The question I would like to pose here is this: just because you want or believe something, does that make it right? Does that make it OK?
INTERESTING.
You can approach this from many different angles and, ultimately, come to many different conclusions. Because of this, instead of delving into some arbitrary battle of philosophy, ideology and religiosity, I am choosing, simply, to leave you with the following illustration:
Johnny is a good kid but he tends to push the limits when it comes to obeying his mother. He loves her more than anything in the world, but pushing her limits comes in a very, very close second. We meet Johnny on the road, driving a car for the first time. Upon reaching the first intersection, however, Johnny's mother exlaims "Johnny, stop! You cannot cross yet, there is a stop sign." Johnny snidely replies "I don't believe in stop signs." and sails through only to be met with a head-on collision.
Ok, depressing, I know. Sorry for the debbie-downer moment. But sadness aside, this story demonstrates something of vital importance. Although silly and nieve, Johnny made quiet a startling statement about himself. Not only did he tell us that he did not believe in stop signs, but by directly disobeying them, he proved to us that he also believes something much more frightening. Johnny believes that, regardless of what others say, if he does not believe in something, then to him, it does not exist.Interesting sentiment, certainly. The terifying part about this kind of behavior is that, regardless of whether or not Johnny believes in the stop sign, he is still going to get hit by the car that is screaming through in the other direction.
Here is the point: sometimes it doesn't matter if we believe something or not. What actually matters is whether or not what we believe is true. Just because we want something or think something does not necessarily make us right. In fact, more often than not, we are mistaken by our own, selfish desires. I think it is of utmost importance to take a huge step back from our current lives and beliefs to seriously quarrel with ourselves in an effort to fully understand why we believe what we believe.
I think default mode for most of us is to put on this face of ambiguity. We push away things of importance and shun those who stand for or against anything. Our faces stay hidden from purpose and we effortlessly shy away from any and every form of public approval or disapproval of anything. I find it more refreshing, honestly, to find someone who sincerely believes in something totally opposite to myself than to find someone who half-heartedly assumes something in line with myself. Because of this, I would like to sincerely challenge you to, for whatever it's worth, analyze not what you are doing as much as why you are doing it.
People are desperate for meaning, purpose and truth. But how can we find truth in such an ambiguous world? Ah, my friend, stay patient. I am not hear to give answers, only to raise questions. This journey we are both on, life, is a short one but it is worth every second. Pain is the price we pay in the pursuit of truth and every drop of sweat and bead of blood we give to achieve that goal is worth more than gold. Finish every battle strong but do not be discouraged if you loose or confuse one for battles may be lost but perseverance ensures that the war will be one.
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