3 Things… September 20th, 2018

Jonathots Daily Blog

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To Follow That Lead

1. No one is better than anyone else

 

2. Revenge is useless

 

3. Be of good cheer

 

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Salient…June 4th, 2018

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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There are matters that are too important to ignore or leave to chance. These are salient moments.

You can “go crazy” or you can “stay sane.” One requires you go and another suggests you stay.

If you intend on spending your life chasing what is popular, convinced that the numbers, profit margin and adulation is proof of its value, then you will end up constantly finding yourself splashing down into a pool of disappointment.

After all, consider the word popular–it “pops up,” and then, when it’s proven to be insufficient for human growth, it pops again, like a balloon, and goes away.

Here is a statement: virtue, love, tenderness, creativity, gentleness and honesty will never be popular.

You will never get the majority of the people to agree at any single moment to swing their weight in the direction of faith, hope and charity. These attributes are enduring.

Those who stay and follow them, when the “crazy” goes away, will find themselves positioned to be of help for friends and family who were wounded by the latest failed fad.

You might ask, what’s the difference between crazy and sane?

Crazy is any movement that suggests that the absence of mercy will achieve progress.

Sane is understanding that the greatest progress we can make is to apply mercy to every situation.

It’s all about mercy. There is no kindness without mercy. There is no love without mercy. Mercy is realizing that even if things don’t get better, we can work with what we have to find some good.

This will never be popular.

There will be more screams for revenge, vindication and violence as the years go by.

You can “go” after these causes, but you’ll end up crazy. Or you can “stay” with the power of mercy and remain sane.

So here is your salient moment:

There will be many voices in the wilderness. If you follow them you will go crazy.

There will always be an opportunity for mercy. If you embrace it, sanity will be your prize.

 

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G-Poppers … September 1st, 2017

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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A quick point from G-Pop.

If it is your idea to share your heart, it’s called vulnerable. If somebody else demands you share your heart, it’s called weak.

Human beings need the ability to make their own choice. When you remove this, you tinker with the soul. No human being has the right to tinker with the soul of another.

Yet rather than screaming about choice, it would be a good idea to learn how choice is acquired.

It’s really quite simple:

If you need to be wanted, you always come across as weak. On the other hand, if you need to be respected, you will generally be considered mean.

So at all costs, we must refrain from the need to be wanted–that fussy part of us that tries to pretend we don’t care what people think while simultaneously being addicted to the drug of public opinion. Because the danger is to rebound and try to become tough, demanding that people respect us–and when they don’t, plotting a foolish revenge.

This situation is not different in China as compared to Argentina. The people in the British Isles don’t have different criterion than those in Nigeria. All of us function in the same scenario. In other words, we rise and thrive by avoiding the feelings of needing to be wanted or needing to be respected.

Being wanted and respected is impossible until it is determined that you are valuable. So crawl into your own soul and make pearls–accumulating worth.

Make yourself interesting. Make yourself predictable in a good way. In other words, when the chips are down, you can be counted on.

There you are. If you are going to complain about the system, you’ll never be able to work with it. So how do we become valuable?

1. Stop seeking praise and seek opportunity.

2. Be willing to do important things on your own when others have given up.

3. Don’t criticize people for failing to have the same determination that you do.

4. Do the good deed and don’t hang around for the party.

5. Make sure that when you fail, you make it clear to those around you that you’re going to correct it or improve it.

6. Acknowledge the value in others.

G-Pop wants his children to know that they should not need to be wanted or need to be respected.

The power lies in becoming valuable to those around you–and then they will want you and respect you.

 

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Cracked 5 … July 11th, 2017

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Jonathots Daily Blog

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 Brief Conversations Between a Dog and a Cat

A.

Dog: Your hairballs make me puke.

Cat: Good. Then you’ll have something to slurp up.

B.

Cat: Your ears droop like they’re dead.

Dog: I can wag my tail!

C.

Dog: I run in the park.

Cat: I own the house.

D.

Dog: I am man’s best friend.

Cat: I am a woman’s revenge.

E.

Dog: I am good. I poop in the yard.

Cat: I am better. I poop in the house and convince them they can’t smell it.

 

 

Dudley … March 9th, 2017

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DUDLEY

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G-Poppers … February 17th, 2017

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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Feelings.

They normally travel around with a forlorn adjective: hurt. Hurt feelings.

It is the most common malady of humans–even more prevalent than the cold.

Feelings are hurt for one simple reason: each one of us feels that we are more important and valuable than what others may feel at any given moment.

99% of the conflicts between nations are based on hurt feelings. Some of those painful emotions go back generations.

And even though we try to use education and religion to tamp down our need for recognition, deep within our hearts, we want to be treasured instead of trashed.

So we fight.

We argue.

We struggle.

We promote our value in comparison to the worth of others.

So we start grasping at subtle differences like skin color, sexual orientation and even gender.

• “You can’t be as good as me because you’re a woman.”
• “You aren’t my equal because you’re black.”
• “I’m more important because I’m an American.”

G-Pop wonders if his readers might want to become part of the solution instead of clogging up the train station heading to confusion.

It’s really simple: walk into your heart and fire apathy–as you hire appreciation.

Everyone needs the grace of gratitude.

The amount we receive determines how much fuel we have to fire up our engines toward success–or crash down in revenge.

G-Pop thinks it boils down to a sip, a cup and a bucket.

1. A sip: “Thanks.”

That just cools the dry, complaining, achy throat of anyone who is tired of being unappreciated.

2. A cup: “Thanks, we could not have done this without you.”

Not only cooled, but a quenching of the aggravation over a history of being used.

3. A bucket: “Thanks. You are just so freakin’ awesome.”

Now you’re tying generosity into the power of their character. It drenches them in joy.

Of course, you can overdo the bucket and you can under-do the sip. But if you’re wondering why human relationships don’t work, it’s because the fluid of thankfulness that should be flowing among us has dried up in favor of the desert of distance and ignorance.

G-Pop will tell you that most of us humans need at least a cup of appreciation a day. That’s a lot of sips–but certainly can be handled with one bucket.

The next person you meet will be parched from the lack of gratitude. He or she feels they’re important.

God has not given you the job to humble others, but instead, to moisten their feelings with legitimate appreciation.

 

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Ask Jonathots … November 17th, 2016

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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When turning the other cheek, how do you ensure you won’t be slapped twice?

A door has two functions.

If open, it provides access to another possibility.

If closed, it creates curiosity, but also can pass along the impression that what is beyond the barrier is forbidden.

The reason most people fight is because the doors are closed. It’s the main reason that “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” fails to achieve any purpose–because slamming the door in the face of another human being does not mean they won’t try to burst through or close doors in your face.

Retaliation is a never-ending process–unless somebody opens a door.

I have relationships with people who are fruitful, even though they’ve been speckled with egregious conflict and offense. They work because doors are left open.

And I have broken connections with other folks that were halted because the door was slammed on communication, leaving behind a climate of mistrust–a grudge.

When you turn the other cheek, you refuse to slam the door on the possibility of creating peace.

Will someone take advantage of your willingness and slug you again? Perhaps. But if you push back they will certainly follow up their violence with additional attacks.

For after all, there are no guarantees when it comes to interaction with human beings, yet I can promise you that if you slam doors, strike out, or try to get even, you will certainly be in danger of escalating the aggression.

It is in that moment of turning the other cheek, refusing to participate, and allowing for cooler heads to prevail, that you thrust a mirror into the face of your enemy and let him or her see themselves as the villain.

Does it always work? Does anything?

Certainly there are some folks who will continue to beat on you once you stop fighting, but it is not the norm. Usually when you refuse to seek revenge, you will stall the vitriol of others and give them pause to contemplate.

In that moment, more than likely you will avoid the second slapping–and just possibly open the door to conversation. 

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