SENSITIZE 2
Every morning, Mr. Cring takes a personal moment with his audience.
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1 Thing You Can Do This Week to Improve Your Chances
Stop Complaining
I know you’ve heard this many times—even by this simple writer.
But I would like you to consider it as a personal life choice and a means of procuring survival.
Complaining takes a very ugly route—a four-step decline into stinky doo-doo.
- Life sucks.
- You suck.
- God sucks.
- I suck because I’m stuck.
As you can see, with each new step, deeper and deeper depression sets in, until finally the complete sense of doom makes us feel we’re at the mercy of all circumstance.
Now, simply telling someone not to complain is like encouraging a friend on a diet not to eat too much. It often increases the temptation, and therefore sinks the ship of possibility.
I’m not trying to get you to stop complaining cold turkey.
I’m telling you to back your way out of it.
When you start thinking “you suck because you’re stuck,” just change the complaint to a statement—a simple one:
“This is the crux of what is really bothering me.”
You will be surprised, if you chase the bird to the tree, how much easier it is to see it.
So once you’ve made the statement—and it does not have to be happy or friendly—then change that statement to a memory.
In other words:
“Maybe God doesn’t suck. Maybe there was a time I was in just as bad a state as I am now and survived it. When did that happen? Do I have a memory of being victorious in any situation that was as horrible as this?”
If you can come up with a statement of what’s bothering you, deciding that you no longer suck, and then spark a memory of when you overcame, then therefore God doesn’t suck—and you might be able to change that memory to sharing.
Find one person among all those people that you think suck and tell him or her about your predicament.
Share about your complaint, how you found out what was at the heart of it, and how you came up with a memory of something you pursued before which succeeded—hence, “you’re not a little weenie.”
Yes, take the memory of being redeemed and share your hope.
So change your statement of dissatisfaction into a memory of overcoming your dilemma, and present that memory to another human being.
After this, you just might be ready to change your sharing into planning.
Said plainly:
“It turns out that life doesn’t suck. It just picks on people who expect everything to come their way.”
So you find yourself complaining: “Life sucks, you suck, God sucks and I suck.”
Here’s the counter:
- Change that complaining to a statement
- Statement to memory
- Memory to sharing
- And sharing to launching a great plan.
Complaining.
Best suggestion? Back off.
That’s often really good advice.
And not just for when you’re out chasing a serial killer with a squirt gun.
1 Thing You Can Avoid to Escape Becoming an Asshole
Stop insisting that you’re a “little grouchy” but don’t know why.
It is a sadistic ploy by those who feel they aren’t getting enough attention and wish to bring the entire focus on themselves. For you see,:
Some of the virtues of human beings can also become vices.
This comes to play with this situation.
When we find out something is broken or faltering or in this case, grouchy, we’re compelled to try to fix it.
So rather than beginning the trip or starting the new project or focusing on an important family matter, the “little grouchy guy or girl” has everyone in a furor, trying to figure out what to do to cheer him or her up.
- “Did you get enough sleep, or is it coffee? Did you have enough time to get yourself ready?”
People begin to fret over this seemingly hapless soul who merely hungers to control all attention.
- “Are you worried about your family? Are you worried about your job? Are you worried about your health? Are you worried about your bridge club? ”
Like young parents huddling around the two-year-old trying to figure out why he’s crying, they gather—with unnatural concern.
- “Are there any other symptoms? Is there a runny nose involved? Do you have iron-poor, tired blood?”
And of course, the inevitable:
- “Are you mad at me? Did I offend you? Did I miss one of your signals that are so quietly given that it’s difficult to know what you’re attempting to communicate?”
This sets the whole room a-buzzing with overwrought mercy, making this one person more important simply because they’ve expressed a weakness.
Yes—now I remember. That was Darwin’s concept:
The Survival of the Whiniest
Let me give you a clue.
Life is like a football game.
So pad your shoulders, put “peace” in your mouth and get your head in gear.
Don’t expect the other players or the coach to nurse you to victory.
Life is this way:
Tackle it or get smeared.
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Sit Down Comedy … December 14th, 2018
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Bad inflow, stinky outflow.
The human race has been given lots of bad information.
Thus the stink in the air.
The collaborators are at work. They have gotten together and either lined up in one brigade or clumped in another–those camps being the secular notion that all human beings are basically good, just needing to be left alone to prosper within their own consciousness, or the religious assertion that we are rotten, and if God doesn’t save us and constantly monitor our activities, we are fodder for hell.
It’s spooky.
And trying to find a real life out of these warring armies of philosophy makes the common person like me wish for some peace. The problem is, I end up less productive than I wish to be.
Human beings are probably one of the simpler forms of life.
We are not creatures in the jungle, struggling for survival. We are not bees, frantically trying to make honey, and we also are not cockroaches, scurrying across the floor to escape being squashed by grossed-out adults.
We have two buttons. Yes, just two: LESS and MORE. Should we press LESS or press MORE?
The conflict arises when our ego tells us to press MORE when LESS is needed, or our fear demands we press LESS when it’s time to hunker down on the MORE button.
The entire Gospel of Jesus was a less and more proposal. Don’t take my word for it–you read it and you’ll see the principle. He came to guide us into what should be done less, what should be thought less and what should be felt less, and what requires a good dose of more.
You don’t have to go any further than the Beatitudes to find this in full application:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
In other words, less ego about being spiritual because you really aren’t, and God doesn’t expect you to be anything but human.
“Blessed are they that mourn.”
More compassion is needed for others if we expect to feel the compassion coming back our way.
“Blessed are the meek.”
Less struggling, fighting, arguing, back-biting and cursing will give us a chance to buy time for a shift in society’s thinking or a change of scenery.
“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
We all need more energy in trying to learn to achieve our goals by using the most common sense we can possibly muster.
“Blessed are the merciful.”
It’s made clear that the more merciful we are to others, the more we receive in return.
“Blessed are the pure in heart.”
The less we inundate our emotions with unnecessary arguments, the easier it is to see God working in our lives.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.”
The more we stay out of the fracas of politics and religious intolerance, the more we will be viewed as individuals who make things happen–good things.
“Blessed are those which are persecuted for righteousness sake.”
Yes, less worry about whether we will come out on top. We should stop being concerned about goodness going out of style.
And the culmination: “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.”
Bluntly, less fretting about whether things are going to turn out well for us here on Earth and in the kingdom beyond.
Step into your day with your two buttons: LESS and MORE.
Then take the time, all the good things you’ve learned, and choose which one to press when it is the moment to render an excellent decision.
We are delighted to announce that every afternoon from now until Christmas we will be posting sittings from the story, “Jubilators,” for your enjoyment. Good reading and Merry Christmas!
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Click the elephant to see what he’s reading!
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3 Things… April 12th, 2018
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That Are Powerful to Learn Before You Draw Your Next Breath
1. Nature always invites a portion of chaos
2. You can survive if you can adapt
3. Evolution is more successful when undertaken with good cheer
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this inspirational opportunity
Catchy (Sitting 26) Amaze On … December 10th, 2017
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She struggled to regain consciousness as the sweat poured off of her forehead into her lids, burning her eyes. She closed them tightly, trying to think, which was virtually impossible because her head was throbbing.
Where was she? Who was she, for that matter? What was going on?
Her whole body stung with a variety of wounds. Gradually she opened her eyes, blinking away the perspiration, to stare down at herself. She was lying flat on her back, wearing a bra and what appeared to be cargo shorts, pinned to the ground by a very heavy snake.
Horrified, she resisted the inclination to stand up screaming. As the snake crawled across her belly, she felt the undulations of its skin against hers, propelling itself forward.
She nearly went crazy. Instead, she forced herself to wait. She waited until the snake had stilled itself, and then, in one swift motion, she grabbed it with her hands, leaped to her feet and threw it into the air. She hadn’t realized how heavy the snake was, so it didn’t go very far. She scurried quickly away to what she hoped was a safe place.
Looking around frantically, she realized she was in a jungle. She had never been in a jungle before, but from everything she had heard or read, this appeared to be a rain forest. The heat was suffocating and the humidity so high that water was dripping from the leaves. The ground beneath her was teeming with life, giving an eerie sense of continual movement.
As she looked down, she saw that her legs were covered with little black bugs, which she tried to remove and as she did, tiny red welts remained as residue. But she patiently pursued the task.
On her left, she noticed a small pile of supplies. She rummaged through a knapsack and found two large canteens, which she opened and discovered held water. There were also power bars, a flashlight, matches and a map. On the map was a note, scrawled in magic marker, which read: “Compass in front pocket of knapsack. Walk north. You will find civilization.”
Stunned, terrified, abandoned, Jo-Jay burst into tears. How did she get here? She thought back to the last thing she remembered. She had gone to a Thai restaurant to meet up with an informant, who was supposed to give her a contact on the CLO and a fellow named Joshua.
Arriving at the restaurant, she was greeted by a lovely woman of Eastern extract, who motioned Jo-Jay to follow her down a narrow hallway, through a door and some hanging beads. Jo-Jay recalled pulling back the beads.
And then… well, now waking up with a snake on her chest.
As she stood, convinced she was doomed to die, she conjured the words of her Grandma, who explained that the only truly priceless gift in life was in all circumstances finding a reason to be grateful. This gave Jo-Jay a blessed laugh, considering how little there was to be grateful for out in this wilderness.
But she did have water. And apparently her abductor possessed some sort of conscience, to spare her life and give her a fighting chance to become suburban again.
It then occurred to her that the longer she stood there, the more the communication in the animal kingdom would view her as a target instead of a participant. So she grabbed the compass and knapsack, located north and started walking.
Three hours. Five hours. Was it seven hours? It seemed like even more. She trudged through the jungle.
At first she was totally horrified by the tiny stings on her legs and swatting at the creatures that tried to suck the moisture from her eyeballs. But she finally calmed her spirit and energized her body. She stopped every hour or so to eat a bite and drink a little.
When it occurred to her that evening was coming, she realized she could not survive a night in the jungle.
Suddenly she had an instinct to stop and listen. Over the sounds of chirps, squeaks, hisses and howls, there was another vibration–actually kind of a mumble.
She thought it resembled human voices.
She quickly turned in the direction of what she hoped was life. As she stumbled forward, she emerged and found herself in a clearing. Fifty yards across the expanse stood a man, woman and two children.
Jo-Jay screamed, “My God, my God! I need help!”
The man turned and ran toward her as the woman followed and the children trailed. When they arrived, she related her story–as much as she knew.
They listened intently, and then explained they were the Paulsons from Winterset, Iowa, missionaries to the local tribe, and were clearing off this section of jungle to build a church.
Jo-Jay tried to explain her situation and her own mission, which seemed to confuse the provincial Paulsons. She calmed down and then simplified. “I need to get back to America as quickly as possible.”
Reverend Paulson explained that four times a year, he drove their big truck three hundred miles into Brasilia, the capital, to get supplies, but that he had just completed the journey last week and there was no fuel for the truck.
Jo-Jay asked about other transportation. None.
Airplane. None.
Boat. No water that would take her anywhere she wanted to go.
She felt hopeless. She couldn’t stay with these missionaries until the next supply run. She needed to get back.
Something was very wrong–some danger in the air, which she needed to relate to her friends.
Questions cluttered her mind and suffocated her thinking. Why did they spare her? Why did they abduct her? Why did they feel it necessary to take such drastic measures for such a silly little thing as a bunch of Jesus rallies in the United States?
Then one of the children spoke up. “Papa, we do have fuel.”
Jo-Jay pursued. “Do you? Do you have fuel?”
The reverend nodded his head. “Yes, but it’s for us to survive for the next three months.”
Jo-Jay giggled, baffling the family. “Tell you what,” she said. “If you will drive me to Brasilia, I will guarantee you all the fuel you want, and as a donation, will pay for you to make another run of special supplies for your congregation.”
Reverend Paulson stared at the woman before him, adorned only in a bra and cargo shorts, with a doubtful, furrowed brow.
Jo-Jay looked down at herself and laughed. “Listen–I usually dress better than this. I have the money, if you can give me the time.”
Right in the middle of the clearing, the Paulsons knelt in prayer, as a family, as Jo-Jay, slow to join in, caught the idea and knelt down herself.
Papa prayed. “There are no accidents, God the Father. We know this. So meeting our friend today has to have some meaning. You told me that I cannot take that which was given for your work and give it away for others. So I come to You and ask which is more important–this woman’s request, or taking care of those you have commissioned to us.”
He kept his eyes closed and remained silent. The family joined in the profile. As Jo-Jay listened, she assumed he was going to take care of his own. It was only logical. After all, some crazy woman comes out of the jungle, you don’t follow her like she’s a freakin’ Pied Piper.
After a few moments, the reverend opened his eyes. The family peeked out to see if it was time to stop. Reverend Paulson looked at his wife and children, and said not a word. One by one, a smile appeared on each face and they nodded. He, the last of the four, smiled and nodded also.
He turned to Jo-Jay and said, “God wants us to go to Brasilia.”
They wasted no time. They hiked three miles to their camp, climbed into an old truck and drove through the jungle, making their own road as they went.
Jo-Jay became quiet, thinking to herself.
For heaven’s sake, what the hell is going on?
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Jonathots Daily Blog 
G-Poppers … October 20th, 2017
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He was tall, lean, with tight jeans, leather skin, cowboy hat and a big cigarette puffing out of his head.
He was The Marlboro Man.
G-Pop grew up believing that this cowboy was the symbol of masculinity.
Unfortunately, G-Pop was so-so tall, portly, marshmallow skin, baseball hat, with no “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Needless to say, his appearance was not deemed macho.
The vision persisted until other images of emaciated victims of cigarette smoking splashed on the scene–the consequence of years of tobacco, tar and nicotine.
So nowadays we don’t really know what makes up a man or what constitutes a woman, though we are certain that the two sexes are better when they intertwine instead of interact.
What makes a man?
What constitutes a woman?
It does sound like the beginning of a very long essay, or a series done by a writer attempting to generate readership through a dribble of controversy. G-Pop shall save you the time.
The absence of truth places every human being right back in the center of the animal kingdom, willing to do anything to survive.
And as Pontius Pilate sardonically phrased, “What is truth?”
Truth is what we understand to be factual, while waiting for more information to enlighten us.
There’s nothing sexier than telling the truth.
Nothing more romantic than making it clear that you can be trusted.
There’s nothing more valuable to another soul than being able to relax with the account that’s been stated, and have some measure of confidence that it’s true.
Matter of fact, the truth sounds terribly alluring until you realize that occasionally it demands confession, apologies and repentance.
There is a contingency of our society that has begun to believe that the best way to avoid difficulty is to always deny any responsibility. It is pukey, sickening and devoid of any of the clarity which makes it simpler to live life.
Somebody lied to The Marlboro Man about cigarettes, so he ended up lying to us. Somebody’s lying today, and we are being tempted to buy into the lies and offer them up as explanations.
God help us all.
G-Pop would love to encourage his children to tell the truth, beginning with themselves.
It’s not always pretty, but it is always beautiful.
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on October 20, 2017 at 2:07 pm Comments (1)Tags: animal kingdom, apologies, cigarette, confession, cowboy hat, emaciated victims, G-Popper, interact, intertwine, Jonathan's thoughts, lean, lying, macho, man, Marlboro Man, Pontius Pilate, portly, Puff the Magic Dragon, sexes, survival, tar and nicotine, tell the truth, tight jeans, truth, Woman