Living a Legendary Life … October 25th, 2020

Sitting 2

A Trio of Trouble

There is a trio of troubled troubadours who raise their ugly heads to sing off-key tunes, causing all of humanity to suffer in the listening.

They tour together. They only believe in each other, and they foster the conditions causing all the pain experienced on Planet Earth.

Pretty dramatic beginning, don’t you think?  Now that I have your attention, let me introduce these dunderheads of defeat.

Insecurity

The mother’s name is insecurity.

She hounds, pecks and nags to bring about her will. That will is very simple:  to establish the need for love rather than a love relationship.  She points out flaws and never forgives them. She discourages all attempts at improvement. She leaves her household barren of basic human confidence.

Superstition

Then she turns to her sister, superstition, to explain the rules of operation. Superstition lays the groundwork for the reasoning behind all the insecurity.  Superstition fosters the notion that there are supernatural reasons for the most natural of events. Superstition warns of dangers which are never realized and promotes prejudices for the alleged protection of all. Superstition promotes ritual over rhyme, practice over discovery and dogma over true belief.

And then, she invites the big brother to come in to seal the deal.

Arrogance

His name is arrogance.

Arrogance has an excuse for everything. Arrogance is clothed in fakery and armed with ignorance. Arrogance flexes its muscle to prove superiority.  Arrogance is the enforcer of all that makes us insecure and all that causes us to revere the superstitious.

The trio rampage through the human fold like a wolf at night, destroying all semblance of innocence and all sensation of protection. They fear no one but continue their mission of mayhem, seemingly unchecked by any mortal force.

Their only weakness is that they don’t seem to be able to function alone. When separated, the true essence of their nature shines through and exposes them.

  • Insecurity is like a jealous child.
  • Superstition resembles a baffled bungler of misinformation.
  • And arrogance is an ignorant brute.

Fortunately for all human beings great and small, there is a threesome that counters the efforts of this diabolical trio.

Acceptance

Standing firmly and strongly in an intelligent profile against Mother Insecurity is acceptance.

Acceptance is the perfect counter against insecurity because it dismisses the notion that there is a foregone conclusion.  Acceptance accepts–first, ourselves for who we are.

Then, with a tremendous boost of confidence, acceptance allows differences in others.

Acceptance brings the productive idea that we don’t have to reinvent ourselves but instead can work with the package provided.

Logic

Logic has been summoned to counteract superstition.

Logic rarely has an opinion, but poses the well-placed question.

Logic wants to know if there is any history to the notion.

Logic desires evidence.

Logic is the element of life that has historically dismissed the errant philosophies that have brought us near the brink of destruction.  Can there be anything more god-like than the probing question that splits the darkness and demands, “Let there be light?”

Logic becomes faith when enacted by people of passion.

Humility

And finally, there is humility, which, for some odd reason, has gained a reputation for being weak. However, humility is always the profile taken by any  intelligent soul who knows there is always more to learn.

Humility feels no need to supersede the will of others, but only wishes to be a part of the whole.

As in the case of insecurity, superstition and arrogance, our three friends–acceptance, logic and humility–gain strength through one another.

Leading a legendary life is a decision to accept who we are and the identities of those around us, while logically requesting an explanation for events and humbly placing ourselves in the flow of humanity instead insisting on an arrogant seat of power above others.

Two Households

The trio of troublers: insecurity, superstition and arrogance.

The trinity of triumph: acceptance, logic and humility.

But you can be certain of this:  you will most certainly belong to one family or another.

1 Thing That Defines a Nation … August 24th, 2020

Jonathots Daily Blog

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Easy

Too many ridiculous proclamations have been made about the holiness of struggle and the purity of hard work.

If intelligence has a home in us, we eventually take what needs to be done and find a convenient, if not enjoyable, way to accomplish it. Therefore, you can identify greatness because effort and pain are not predominant in the presentation.

This is something we need to relearn.

We’ve become convinced that those who suffer are somehow more righteous than those who learn the ways of Earth, the style of humanity and pursue a path to make the journey just a little more joyous.

I will stand and proclaim it:

I am no longer impressed with difficulty.

I do not want to hear how many pounds of pain it takes to make an ounce of pleasure. I want to work with people who are inspired, finding ways to embrace the flow of life—and instead of swimming upstream to make themselves look enduring, discover the best ways to work with Mother Nature instead of making her the adversary

  • Find something beautiful to do.
  • Make sure it’s a contribution.
  • And then, before you pass it along to the human race, fine-tune it until you can offer it in the easiest format possible.

1 Thing That Stalls Our Ego … August 17th, 2020

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Pain

It pains me to confess to you how essential pain is to the human experience.

Without this aggravation, we are in danger of becoming self-righteous—feeling invincible, and dare I say, claiming to be a chosen race or a Super-people.

We are not known by our victories but are qualified by our failures.

It is pain that lets me know what my brothers and sisters are feeling.

During this pandemic, it has been essential for each of us to feel some of the pain of the virus to remain empathetic to those whose lives have been stolen through it.

Merely losing dollars and being inconvenienced still softens our hearts a little bit—considering the ultimate cost of taking our last breath.

I don’t know who we are without pain.

All of our heroes struggle.

All of our saviors die.

And all of our comrades suffer in the trenches with us, as we endure the infliction.

Pain prevents us from becoming irrationally self-important.

No one likes pain.

No one wants pain.

It is why, on occasion, we all require pain.

 

Drawing Attention … August 21st, 2019

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Encircled

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art by smarrttie pants

Music: In His Presence, by Jonathan Richard Cring

Performed by Cring & Clazzy

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Drawing Attention … August 14th, 2019

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Baby Steps Part 5

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art by smarrttie pants

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The V Word … July 2nd, 2019

Jonathots Daily Blog

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THE

Image result for gif of letter v

WORD


She hurts.

He hurts.

You hurt.

I hurt.

They hurt.

We hurt.

It is a story told without resolution—a profile in defeat—a chair of comfort, set to the side.

It is a pain minus healing.

It is the word that should never be written or uttered again:

VICTIM

Being identified by your tragedy, characterized by your weakness or remembered for your sadness.

It is nearly drowning yet remaining in the water.

It is being battered and beaten and commanded to continue to wear your bandages.

It is the insincere belief that pity can ever be love, or sympathy, true mercy.

Victim

Victimized

Victimization

Don’t make one.

Don’t be one.

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G-Poppers … August 24th, 2018

“People are stupid.”

This is a statement that seems to be flying through the air twenty-four hours a day, as our society becomes convinced that gaining supremacy over other people is best achieved by insulting them and striking out at their character and intelligence.

Unfortunately, there is way to stop this onslaught without getting ground up in the gears of the mechanism.

So today I offer my last G-Popper.

It has been a great run.

Sharing the wisdom of cordiality and gentleness through the eyes of a grandfather was something I felt, many months ago when I began this column, to be a kind way of expressing the change that needs to be set forth among us all.

But it is important for all organisms on Earth to evolve with the times.

So starting next week I will have a new column on Friday entitled “Sit Down Comedy.” It will be a combination of observations mingled with a humorous peek into how we turn our everyday journey into a sixteen-lane freeway instead of just honoring a path.

And of course, in the process we will determine the difference between a stupid idea and trying to tie that misstep with the people who often accidentally stumble into believing it.

We will use video. We will use audio. We may use music. And just a little bit of writing to express the ways to escape stupidity without declaring people stupid.

It will be simpler than G-Poppers but no less sincere.

So I look forward to seeing each and every one of you next week for “Sit Down Comedy,” when we can sit down and reason together… and use the comedy to ease some of the pain.

 

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