JustAL Loqui

Category: Just Thoughts

  • Give Thanks??? FOR WHAT!!!!

    This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. We live in one of the richest and most prosperous countries in the world. However, there are some who do not understand just how well they have it. A few years ago I was in Iraq and I was talking with a man who was born and raised in a little town on the western end of Iraq not far from the Syrian border.   He had never traveled more than 20 miles from his place of birth. In fact during this conversation he was only a few blocks from the house he was born in.

    This conversation took place around Thanksgiving of 2005. I was explaining to him our concept of the Thanksgiving Holiday. He found it odd that we would isolate a date to be thankful each year and wondered if we were not thankful at other times of the year. Contrary to popular believe “Thanksgiving” is not a holiday celebrated around the world. I tried to explain the concept to him and told him it was just not this single day that we were thankful. He laughed at my explanation and said from what he had seen most Americans were the most unthankful people he had ever met.

    I found his actions odd and asked him to explain them to me. This is a paraphrased rendition of what he said.

    “Americans expect things to be given to them and if they are not given then they feel violated. Americans make a thousand dollars a week and still consider themselves as poor. Their arrogance blinds them to what they have because they are never satisfied with what they have; they always deserve more.” This man made the equivalent of about $1000 a year; he could not image making $1000 a week.

    His explanation was much more elaborate than what I just put here, but virtually everything he said was true. We do “expect” things and often feel no need to work for it; if we want it then obviously we deserve it.

    If you make $10K a year you make more than 84% of the world’s population. If you make $50K a year you make from than 99% of the world’s population. I know the first thing someone out there is thinking is, “Yea, I make money but things here cost way more than other places.” Sorry, not true. Some things are more expensive for sure, but most items are not in other developed (or for that matter un-developed) countries. I could make comparison to some of these items, but I suspect if you are the type of person who has read this bit to this point then you probably already have a web-link open to make your own comparison; you can start with the price of gas if you like.

    This Iraq man I was talking to was the same man who believed the pictures he saw of grocery stores in the US were nothing more than propaganda. There is no conceivable way there could be that much food in one location, let alone in several locations in a single town. And if it were true then truly Americans were the richest people in the world. From his perspective of life that is something that is just not possible. Most of you will never be able to see things from his perspective.

    I’ve been fortunate enough to see with my own eyes what poor is. No social programs to pay you money if you refuse to work. In many countries, if you do not work, your only recourse is to be a beggar on the streets.

    Be thankful this Thanksgiving Holiday. And be thankful for something more than just a day off from work. Put your outlook in perspective and you will see we have so very much to be thankful for. Try to imagine you existence from the perspective of someone who is really poor, but I suspect you will not be able to do that because we cannot imagine what poor really is. If you are thankful for the “things” you have then you have missed the point.  It’s not about possession of things, but rather a possession of an understanding of just how things are in other places and an appreciation for how things are here when compared.

  • Push Your Boundaries

    When was the last time you pushed your boundaries? What can we claim as a victory if there was no risk to the endeavor? Many are content to spend their days in a routine; get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV, go to sleep… day after day after day, week after week, year after year. I think many of us do not even realize we are in a rut.

    Try something daring and see what happens. Yea, you might fail and that’s OK. Fail with a smile on your face knowing you got out of the rut for just a little while. You might be amazed at just how fulfilling that failure can be.

    I recommend you start small; maybe try a new way to make brownies (box mix not allowed) or take a different way to work. Turn the TV off for just one night and read a book. The right book will stir your soul and create in you a desire to step out of your comfort zone. Great accomplishments come with great risk.

    I refuse to live in a rut… even something as simple as taking a different way home from work will brighten your day because you will see things that will be missed if you stay in the rut.

  • How Can This Be…???

    I sometimes wonder by what process my wife thinks.

    My wife sent me a text and asked me to stop on the way home from work and pick up a few things.  Like a good, caring husband I responded with an affirmative, but asked what was in it for me.  It’s not like I can do something like this for free; you understand I’m sure.

    She responded and said, “Whatever your heart desires…” I took that as an open door so I asked for a third motorcycle. I need a third one because I only have two and I feel a third one would come in handy from time to time; again, I’m sure you can understand my premise.

    Imagine my surprise when she promptly returned a text and told me, “Has to be within reason… no greed.” See, she keeps changing the rules and that is just not right. How is it they can make an open statement then, when things don’t measure up to their pre-determined expectations, they change the rules and add delimiters to the equation.

    I think I am a reasonable person and possess an above average level of intelligence and reasoning ability, but this is just beyond me.

    Help me out here… am I wrong?

    Signed
    Confused

  • The Bumper Sticker Epidemic

    It is not my intent to insult, but evidence points to a drastic problem in our society. When I write a BLOG it automatically posts to Facebook. My BLOGs range from 500 to 1000 words which, based on what I have seen, is rather common for a BLOG. I believe, albeit a biased assessment, my BLOGs have worth and make a statement. So it saddens me when only a few (if any) make a comment or click the “like” button. This tells me few if any take the time to read them.

    If I post a 5 word comment or a picture that really has no value in the grand scheme of things I will get multiple likes and several comments. Everyone is looking for an answer that will fit on a bumper sticker and that is not going to happen. If you want the truth you will have to work for it; you will have to read more than a bumper sticker.

    bumper_sticker

    Do yourself a favor and work for it, get the truth, don’t rely on the cute little posters that are so prevalent on Facebook. Find the answers for yourself and don’t rely on someone else’s bumper sticker. More often than not a bumper sticker is designed to hide the truth, not proclaim it.

  • Words Speak Louder Than Action

    Wait, that’s not right. I can say anything, but if my actions do not bear witness to my words then my words mean nothing. Sadly, sometimes our words paint us into a corner and we fail. Our words out-maneuver our intent. Other times we accept the words of others as truth without first verifying their intent and we fall prey to foolishness.

    Let’s talk about a few words and see how they play out:

    Integrity – Does not mean you never make a mistake. But what it does mean is if you make a mistake you claim responsibility for that mistake and act proportionality to correct it.

    Endurance – Many claim to possess it, very few actually do and even fewer still put it to the test.

    Honor – Has nothing to do with words. But has everything to do with actions.

    Wisdom – Has nothing to do with how many big words you know. But has everything to do with how you act in a difficult situation that words have created.

    Compassion – Has very little to do with how you think, but that’s where it starts. Compassion with no action is pity.

    Strength – Has nothing to do with holding 100 pounds over your head for long periods. But what it does mean is an ability and desire to help a friend hold that 100 pounds.

    Kindness – Has everything to do with a kind and charitable act… so long as you don’t expect anything in return.

    Purity – None can claim it, but many do.

    Courage – Is not being fearless, but acting even though you are scared to death.

    Leadership – The ability to win the trust of people around you to such an extent that they want to follow you. Forced leadership is not leadership; it’s tyranny.

    Verbally claiming these traits is contrary to the trait being claimed. These traits are assigned to us by those who know us best.

  • That Whisper of a Smoldering Thought

    I suspect this happens to us all. During the night, in the fringe between sleep and awake where you are only slightly conscious, a thought will come to you. It may be something about work, a product or process solution that has been in the works for weeks; an answer that has eluded you to the point of total frustration.   Or it might be just a random thought that you felt was overly profound and you decided to remember that thought and write it down first thing in the morning. Well, morning comes and for the life of your best friend you cannot remember what it was. A whisper of smoke from the smoldering ashes of your thought is all that lingers.

    smoke-3 Try as hard as you might you cannot formulate that thought into words. This happens to me all the time.

    I was told by a friend to keep a pad and paper beside the bed and when a thought comes to mind make the conscious effort to grab your pen and paper and write it down. Sound advice and I did that once and it works, except the next morning I couldn’t read what I wrote.

    I guess I am stuck with what comes to mind while I am fully conscious.   Unfortunately so are you if you expend the time to read what I write. Some who read my lame excuse for literature tell me I should write more; so I will. Perhaps, after a while, they will see the errors associated with that recommendation.

    As I come up with thoughts I often write them down if I am able. Often a thought will come to mind while riding that endless road and by the time I stop for gas the thought is gone leaving only a faint footprint of its existence. Thoughts range from the mundane to the profound; at least I think them profound. There is neither rhyme nor reason to my patterns of thought while riding, but I do not think I am the only one can claim that trait.

    Maybe someday a profound thought will come to me while I’m putting gas in the bike.

  • Why BLOG

    I’ve been reading a number of BLOGs lately for no other reason than to get some ideas. I enjoy writing, but, more often than not, I have little to write about. I’m a bit of a Neanderthal which, in this particular instance, means I believe reading the instructions is a sign of weakness. My grammar and spelling are atrocious and I rely mainly on the red, green and blue squiggly lines provided by MS Word to tell me something is amiss.  I read a considerable amount but would not say I am a vicarious reader. Most of the items I read are work related which are often technical or directive in nature.

    Sentence structure is a foreign language to me. I know what a noun is and a verb, but not so sure I can point out an adverb. I know what an adjective is but often get them confused with words that are probably not adjectives. I know when a sentence does not look right, but lack the wherewithal to correct it without some outside assistance. In fact, for the sake of curiosity, I just went to www.grammar.ccc.commnet.edu and took a short Sentence Body Quiz. There were seven questions of which I failed five and the two I got right were purely guess-work.

    Don’t ask me what a “simple subject” is or an “adverb clause” and if you ask me what a “dangling participle” is I will assume you have a runny nose. Here’s another bit of information I feel I should share. I just looked up the definition of an adjective on the same website and learned what I thought was an adjective is not. Apparently book learnin’ is not my strong suit. So, we have undoubtedly determined sentence structure is not my area of expertise.

    Punctuation is another area of understanding that eludes me. If you are a scholar in this area, and you are reading this, I’m sure you have found numerous punctuation errors and are at this very minute getting ready to send this article to some friends so they too can get a chuckle. That’s OK, I take no offense.

    So why would an undereducated Neanderthal want to write a BLOG? Well, the answer is simple; because I want to get better. I recently started the process of self-publishing a book and while writing the effort I felt I was doing well based on my own understanding. I submitted the final draft and should not have been surprised to learn my writing skills were reminiscent of paintings on a stone wall.

    If you read my BLOGs (I suspect my audience is in the single digits) and see glaring errors fell free to leave a comment and point out my errors. I believe we learn most from errors made. I will not take offense. I take constructive criticism very well; unless it comes from a family member, friend, acquaintance, co-worker, associate or a stranger.

    I started reading a BLOG by Michelle W who is a “professional writer, editor, napper and dog-snorgler who has the ability to leap tall buildings with only minimal mechanical assistance…” Her BLOG (or at least one of her BLOGs) is titled “Blogging 101 and I believe it may help in my efforts.

    We’ll see.

  • Maybe A Bit Bogus

    Last night I wrote a short bit for this blog and was going to post it but lost connectivity at the house.  Sadly that happens all too often as I live in the quiet solitude of the country and connectivity comes from a satellite dish.

    I think I am glad I did not post it because it gave me time to realize that, in reality, parts of the edition were bogus. Here is a portion of what I wrote:

    *****

    …but for the most part, I do not write for others.  I write for myself.  Call it therapy or call it self-indulgence… Call it what you will and I will take no offense.  I have very thick skin; so much so that I have to remove a layer or two to figure out people are making fun of me.

    I have written a few short fictional stories and couple of short articles based on what I have seen or how I perceive things.  It is really not my intent to be published…

    *****

    Now, here’s the bogus part.  To say I do not write for others and do so with little care of whether someone likes it or not, or that I care not if I am published, is really a bit of a lie.  Nobody wants to expend energy writing articles that are never read; total waste of time.  In truth I would enjoy the knowledge that people appreciate what I write and take it to heart because it is (usually) the heart from whence it comes.  How many of us make a comment on Facebook and go back 5 minutes later to see who commented and what they said?  We, although we may not admit it, are hurt if nobody replies.  We want to be noticed, we want to be appreciated and we want to be people of worth.

    If my book, “Solitary – Without The Confinement” sells only a few copies I am sure I will be hurt as I have wasted all that time writing, editing, re-writing and we won’t even mention the amount of money spent getting it published.  I did not have enough faith in my efforts to have my book picked up by a publisher so I opted to go with the self-publish approach; which is not cheap.  I know my book will sell at least 100 copies because that is the amount of books I plan to buy once it hits the streets.  But purchasing my own book will not pay on my investment.

    Bottom line… I want my book to sell because I believe it has something to say.  I believe it has a message for those who may be wandering.  I truly hope you buy a copy for two reasons.  One, I think you will enjoy reading it.  Two, I think it may help some find a path that may have eluded them… plus, I want my money back… OK, that was three.  Hey, it’s my BLOG I can say what I want.

  • First Post

    This is my first blog post using WordPress. I’ve done BLOG posts in the past only to have my intent pushed aside by OBE. The intent is there – time, patience and endurance is sometimes lacking.

    Most of what I say will be worthless I’m sure, but I hope from time to time I spout off something worth repeating.

    We’ll see I guess.

    Oh yea… OBE is short for “Overcome By Events”