Apparently, there's a secret that has been floating around throughout the ages and discovered by a select few people, such as Aristotle, Plato, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Carl Jung, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill and others. These great people of history were "past secret teachers."
Inspired when she read the 1910 classic THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH by Wallace Wattles, author Rhonda Byrne has created a DVD (and book) titled THE SECRET sharing her discovery of the secret teachings.
Basically, the secret is the Law of Attraction -- in other words, whatever you wish for can be yours.
It's about positive thinking, as well as visualizing what it would be like to obtain whatever you wished to come true.
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." Henry Ford
The Law of Attraction has four steps.
Step 1: Visualize your goal. Close your eyes and picture what you desire in your mind. Then imagine the desire has already come true. Imagine how it would feel. Imagine how it would smell.
Step 2: Believe your desire will materialize. Don't worry about how or when -- just concentrate on the fact that it will become realized. It will happen. Continue to believe and the Law of Attraction will make it come true.
Step 3: Keep the faith. Doubt brings about failure. You must never sway from the desire. You must realize there is no other option than to succeed. You must believe everything you think about will come true.
Step 4: Be fearless. Be relentless. Do not procrastinate. Do not waiver at the critical moment. Do not sabotage your pending success. When the opportunity presents itself, you must boldly grab it.
Being a lazy person with a powerful imagination, this sounded like the perfect gimmick for me. So I spent the better part of several months imagining what my life would be like if I could achieve my lofty goals.
There I was, locked in my imagination, living a life of glory, dressed in purple, wearing number 50, knocking down Bears and Lions and Green Bay Packers. I was a middle linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings.
But no matter how hard I concentrated on my desire, I was never even asked to show up at Viking training camp. I was basically stuck on step 3. Even though my imagination was impeccable, doubts began to creep in.
Perhaps I was being a bit unrealistic. After all, in my 60s, I might actually be a little too old for professional football.
Therefore, I needed to come up with a more attainable goal -- something that was unlikely to happen yet possible.
Although I was a dashing figure of a man with plenty of wit and wisdom, I always found it difficult to hook up with the right woman. In fact, I usually found it difficult to hook up with any sort of woman at all. So I decided I would visualize a desirable, compatible woman who would enter my life and we would live happily ever after.
First of all, my ideal woman doesn't have to be perfect. Although I'm nearly perfect myself, perfection in others is too much to expect. Finding a compatible mate is hard enough without being unreasonable about it.
Physical traits aren't too important. Tall or short doesn't matter, a few extra pounds are okay, a full set of teeth is desirable and a certain degree of attractiveness helps. But no redheads (too fiery).
And it would also be really nice if she actually liked me.
Every day now, bi-hourly, I visualize this woman. She knocks on my door and utters something like "Hi there, big guy. I understand you're looking for me." Then our eyes meet and we instantly fall in love... or maybe not.
I may never be a professional middle linebacker but somewhere out there is a semi-perfect woman who has nothing better to do with her life than hang out with me.
But don't knock on my door before noon – I sleep late.
___________
Quote for the Day -- "The secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body." Dan Millman
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and a secret desire to live in a world without secrets.
___________
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Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
11 Dimensions of Humdrum
"The world is incomprehensible, thus we must treat the world as it is -- a sheer mystery." Carlos Castaneda
The Dogon is a small African tribe in the southwest corner of the Sahara Desert.
A thousand years ago, the Dogon collectively refused to convert to Islam. Thereafter, Islamic law classified the Dogon, as well as other groups in the region, as being fair game for slavery, which included the murder of the males and enslavement of the women and children.
Consequently, the Dogon established their villages in defensive positions along the walls of sandstone cliffs in an area near the Niger River, south of Timbuktu in Mali, where the tribe has been basically isolated from the rest of the world.
The Dogon have a cave on their land with wall carvings over 700 years old. The holy man of the tribe sits at the entrance of the cave to protect it. When he dies, another holy man takes his place.
Some of the carvings depict a pod coming out of the sky and landing on three legs. The pod contains amphibious beings, called the Nommo, also known as the "masters of the water," which have fish-like characteristics.
The Nommo told the Dogon they came from the third planet out from Sirius. They related a story similar to the Lucifer rebellion within the Bible whereby the Dogon were one of the Nommo races, but had rebelled against the Creator and were relegated to Earth.
Robert Temple, a British archeologist, wrote a book in 1976 titled THE SIRIUS MYSTERY, which included the sacred knowledge of the Dogon. It seems the Dogon had detailed knowledge about astronomy for some 4,600 years.
Sirius is the brightest star in our sky. Orion's Belt contains three bright stars in a row. If you follow that line downward to the left, you will see a very bright star -- this is Sirius.
According to ancient Dogon sacred knowledge, the brightest star in the sky (Sirius) had a companion star that was invisible to the naked eye, with an orbit of 50 years, made out of the heaviest matter in the universe.
It wasn't until the early 1970s that this phenomenon could be confirmed by astronomy telescopes. Sirius, now known as Sirius A, is part of a binary star system and has a companion star, a white dwarf called Sirius B, naked to the human eye, which has an orbit of 50.1 years. According to scientific computations, Sirius B weighs about 2,000 pounds per cubic inch -- recent calculations believe it may even be considerably heavier than that.
The Dogon also had knowledge of the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, the existence of Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, and many other astronomical facts not discovered until modern telescopes came into existence. Also based on the Dogon knowledge, a red dwarf star was discovered in the Sirius system in 1996.
Thus, it has been postulated that the Dogon had been visited by extraterrestrial beings eons ago.
The continent of Africa is replete with tribal stories of advanced beings that descended from above (or ascended from below the earth) in ancient times and interfaced with the indigenous peoples.
For example, Zulu shaman Credo Mutwa claims that many thousand years ago "there arrived out of the skies, a race of people who were like lizards, people who could change shape at will... who married their daughters and produced a power race of Kings and tribal Chiefs."
A couple thousand years ago, an entity named Quetzalcoatl, which means "flying serpent" (reptilian being), was worshipped as the God of Knowledge in Mesoamerica (Central and South America). He was able to travel between the earth and the sky. Many Native American tribes have legends of beings that ascended from the stars.
Even the Bible has references to advanced beings who came to earth from elsewhere. In Genesis 6:4, the sons of the gods (advanced beings from beyond the earth) came down from the heavens and cohabited with the daughters of man (earthly women) creating a (hybrid) offspring called the Nephilim, who became the mighty ones (earthly gods, royalty).
According to some of the latest scientific discoveries, such as String Theory and Torsion Field physics, there may be as many as 11 dimensions (or 10 or 12, depending on the flavor of the day). Every dimension may contain multiple vibrations (frequencies) which are unaware (unseen, unknown) of other varying vibrations.
Life is a mystery. It unravels a bit more and more every day, with every answer leading to 11 more questions.
By the time we figure it out, we'll probably have to start all over again, with the invention of fire -- all the way to the invention of Lady Gaga.
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
BB -- 11:11
___________
Quote for the Day -- "We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." Carl Sagan
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Sonyah the Southern Oracle.
___________
-
-
The Dogon is a small African tribe in the southwest corner of the Sahara Desert.
A thousand years ago, the Dogon collectively refused to convert to Islam. Thereafter, Islamic law classified the Dogon, as well as other groups in the region, as being fair game for slavery, which included the murder of the males and enslavement of the women and children.
Consequently, the Dogon established their villages in defensive positions along the walls of sandstone cliffs in an area near the Niger River, south of Timbuktu in Mali, where the tribe has been basically isolated from the rest of the world.
The Dogon have a cave on their land with wall carvings over 700 years old. The holy man of the tribe sits at the entrance of the cave to protect it. When he dies, another holy man takes his place.
Some of the carvings depict a pod coming out of the sky and landing on three legs. The pod contains amphibious beings, called the Nommo, also known as the "masters of the water," which have fish-like characteristics.
The Nommo told the Dogon they came from the third planet out from Sirius. They related a story similar to the Lucifer rebellion within the Bible whereby the Dogon were one of the Nommo races, but had rebelled against the Creator and were relegated to Earth.
Robert Temple, a British archeologist, wrote a book in 1976 titled THE SIRIUS MYSTERY, which included the sacred knowledge of the Dogon. It seems the Dogon had detailed knowledge about astronomy for some 4,600 years.
Sirius is the brightest star in our sky. Orion's Belt contains three bright stars in a row. If you follow that line downward to the left, you will see a very bright star -- this is Sirius.
According to ancient Dogon sacred knowledge, the brightest star in the sky (Sirius) had a companion star that was invisible to the naked eye, with an orbit of 50 years, made out of the heaviest matter in the universe.
It wasn't until the early 1970s that this phenomenon could be confirmed by astronomy telescopes. Sirius, now known as Sirius A, is part of a binary star system and has a companion star, a white dwarf called Sirius B, naked to the human eye, which has an orbit of 50.1 years. According to scientific computations, Sirius B weighs about 2,000 pounds per cubic inch -- recent calculations believe it may even be considerably heavier than that.
The Dogon also had knowledge of the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, the existence of Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, and many other astronomical facts not discovered until modern telescopes came into existence. Also based on the Dogon knowledge, a red dwarf star was discovered in the Sirius system in 1996.
Thus, it has been postulated that the Dogon had been visited by extraterrestrial beings eons ago.
The continent of Africa is replete with tribal stories of advanced beings that descended from above (or ascended from below the earth) in ancient times and interfaced with the indigenous peoples.
For example, Zulu shaman Credo Mutwa claims that many thousand years ago "there arrived out of the skies, a race of people who were like lizards, people who could change shape at will... who married their daughters and produced a power race of Kings and tribal Chiefs."
A couple thousand years ago, an entity named Quetzalcoatl, which means "flying serpent" (reptilian being), was worshipped as the God of Knowledge in Mesoamerica (Central and South America). He was able to travel between the earth and the sky. Many Native American tribes have legends of beings that ascended from the stars.
Even the Bible has references to advanced beings who came to earth from elsewhere. In Genesis 6:4, the sons of the gods (advanced beings from beyond the earth) came down from the heavens and cohabited with the daughters of man (earthly women) creating a (hybrid) offspring called the Nephilim, who became the mighty ones (earthly gods, royalty).
According to some of the latest scientific discoveries, such as String Theory and Torsion Field physics, there may be as many as 11 dimensions (or 10 or 12, depending on the flavor of the day). Every dimension may contain multiple vibrations (frequencies) which are unaware (unseen, unknown) of other varying vibrations.
Life is a mystery. It unravels a bit more and more every day, with every answer leading to 11 more questions.
By the time we figure it out, we'll probably have to start all over again, with the invention of fire -- all the way to the invention of Lady Gaga.
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
BB -- 11:11
___________
Quote for the Day -- "We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." Carl Sagan
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Sonyah the Southern Oracle.
___________
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-
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Growth Addicts
An addict is someone who is obsessively devoted to something.
People can become addicted to all sorts of things, such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, sweets, sports, gambling, sex, travel, TV, gardening, gossip, etc. They can even be addicted to community growth.
Most people with common sense realize there is an optimal size to almost anything. A garden won’t flourish if plants are too close together or too far apart. A forest won’t flourish if trees are too close together or too far apart. An animal herd won’t flourish if there are too many animals for their range.
Bigger isn’t always better.
However, Growth Addicts are unaware of the ramifications of overpopulation. These are people who have some sort of inane behavioral quirk whereby they simply can’t accept the size and scope of the community in which they live. They are compelled by some sort of neurological disorder to stimulate community growth.
If you ever ask one of these Growth Addicts at what point the growth should level off, they’ll look at you as if you’re crazy.
To a Growth Addict, there never is enough growth.
To a Growth Addict, growth is a way of life.
Many local politicians are afflicted with this disorder. They promise to lure industry into their area under the preposterous notion that this would have a positive impact on the entire community. Many real estate folks are also afflicted with this disorder. They travel to far away locations and attempt to persuade people to relocate to their area. Some local business owners are also under the delusion that community expansion will benefit them.
I lived a few miles outside a small town in Arizona in 1986-1992. It had a population of about 3,000 and seemed like an ideal place to live, especially after having spent nearly 12 years in Los Angeles.
However, it didn’t take long to sour on the place.
The city council was made up of bankers and real estate brokers. They had this simple-minded notion that bigger was better and that if they didn’t do something drastic the world would pass them by. Their idea of progress was to attract industry so they could grow at a much faster rate than would normally take place.
Their first course of action was to spend huge sums of taxpayer funds building an industrial park near the airport. Naturally, as bankers and land brokers, they all got a piece of the action.
When no one would build a business in their overpriced industrial park, they spent huge sums of taxpayer funds promoting the fiasco, including expensive advertisements in business publications in such places as Taiwan and Hong Kong. To date, the industrial park still remains empty.
During another brainstorming session, the city council determined the town would be more attractive if it had “funky” pink sidewalks, just like the ones in a popular ski resort town in Colorado. Tons of taxpayer dollars went into the project. All the concrete sidewalks in town were ripped up and replaced with pink, inlaid bricks. When the dust finally settled, it looked like cowboy town with pink sidewalks.
Progress, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. One person’s idea of progress is another person’s nightmare.
Promoting business and encouraging population growth should not be a function of local government, which has enough problems simply keeping up with the natural flow of change.
The flaw in this thinking is obvious. As more industry is added to an area, more people will move there to take advantage of the expanding economy. Suddenly, you’re back to the same old problem of needing to add more industry to support the growing population.
Local business won’t benefit from this ploy. As the area grows, new businesses will pop up, creating more competition -- a bigger pie with smaller slices. Eventually, local businesses will become overrun by national chains.
Nothing will be improved -- there will just be more of everything, including more traffic, more crime and a need for more solutions, requiring more tax revenue.
Most people live in a certain area because they like it there. For those who yearn for a larger community, it would be easier to move elsewhere than scheme to make the area grow faster than it would otherwise grow naturally.
Rather than move on, Growth Addicts insist upon spoiling things for everyone else. Bringing more business, more industry and more people into a community doesn’t benefit anyone, including those who have an insatiable urge to hasten progress.
Most areas will grow at a nice steady pace without Growth Addicts forcing their will upon the natural flow of progress.
Perhaps, Growth Addicts dislike their community because they subconsciously dislike themselves. Instead of taking responsibility for their own happiness they manipulate the world around them in a vain attempt to alter a reality they blame for their own perceived misfortunes. If so, Growth Addicts are in dire need of psychological help.
Some of my best friends are growth addicts. Even members of my own family are infected with this insidious malady. They can’t seem to help it and don’t even appear to be aware of their dysfunctional condition.
If you’re not a Growth Addict, read no further.
An intervention is a confrontation, usually initiated by family and friends, directed toward an addict in an attempt to rid the addict of his or her harmful addiction.
Consider this to be an intervention.
I am your friend.
You have a serious mental disorder.
I want to help you get well.
STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT.
We don’t need your guidance and control.
You’re obsession for growth only makes things worse.
More industry means more people, creating more problems that will be solved by bringing in more industry. Then more industry will attract more people, requiring even more industry, which will again attract more people, and so on, and so on.
This is a vicious cycle without end.
Bigger isn’t better -- it’s just bigger.
You have an unhealthy addiction.
It’s unhealthy for you and everyone around you.
Get over it.
Your problem isn’t the size of the community; your problem is you.
If you have a compulsion to make changes, look inward.
Stop and smell the roses.
Or move to a bigger city.
___________
Quote for the Day -- "Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it." Milton Friedman
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where work is a four-letter word.
___________
-
-
People can become addicted to all sorts of things, such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, sweets, sports, gambling, sex, travel, TV, gardening, gossip, etc. They can even be addicted to community growth.
Most people with common sense realize there is an optimal size to almost anything. A garden won’t flourish if plants are too close together or too far apart. A forest won’t flourish if trees are too close together or too far apart. An animal herd won’t flourish if there are too many animals for their range.
Bigger isn’t always better.
However, Growth Addicts are unaware of the ramifications of overpopulation. These are people who have some sort of inane behavioral quirk whereby they simply can’t accept the size and scope of the community in which they live. They are compelled by some sort of neurological disorder to stimulate community growth.
If you ever ask one of these Growth Addicts at what point the growth should level off, they’ll look at you as if you’re crazy.
To a Growth Addict, there never is enough growth.
To a Growth Addict, growth is a way of life.
Many local politicians are afflicted with this disorder. They promise to lure industry into their area under the preposterous notion that this would have a positive impact on the entire community. Many real estate folks are also afflicted with this disorder. They travel to far away locations and attempt to persuade people to relocate to their area. Some local business owners are also under the delusion that community expansion will benefit them.
I lived a few miles outside a small town in Arizona in 1986-1992. It had a population of about 3,000 and seemed like an ideal place to live, especially after having spent nearly 12 years in Los Angeles.
However, it didn’t take long to sour on the place.
The city council was made up of bankers and real estate brokers. They had this simple-minded notion that bigger was better and that if they didn’t do something drastic the world would pass them by. Their idea of progress was to attract industry so they could grow at a much faster rate than would normally take place.
Their first course of action was to spend huge sums of taxpayer funds building an industrial park near the airport. Naturally, as bankers and land brokers, they all got a piece of the action.
When no one would build a business in their overpriced industrial park, they spent huge sums of taxpayer funds promoting the fiasco, including expensive advertisements in business publications in such places as Taiwan and Hong Kong. To date, the industrial park still remains empty.
During another brainstorming session, the city council determined the town would be more attractive if it had “funky” pink sidewalks, just like the ones in a popular ski resort town in Colorado. Tons of taxpayer dollars went into the project. All the concrete sidewalks in town were ripped up and replaced with pink, inlaid bricks. When the dust finally settled, it looked like cowboy town with pink sidewalks.
Progress, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. One person’s idea of progress is another person’s nightmare.
Promoting business and encouraging population growth should not be a function of local government, which has enough problems simply keeping up with the natural flow of change.
The flaw in this thinking is obvious. As more industry is added to an area, more people will move there to take advantage of the expanding economy. Suddenly, you’re back to the same old problem of needing to add more industry to support the growing population.
Local business won’t benefit from this ploy. As the area grows, new businesses will pop up, creating more competition -- a bigger pie with smaller slices. Eventually, local businesses will become overrun by national chains.
Nothing will be improved -- there will just be more of everything, including more traffic, more crime and a need for more solutions, requiring more tax revenue.
Most people live in a certain area because they like it there. For those who yearn for a larger community, it would be easier to move elsewhere than scheme to make the area grow faster than it would otherwise grow naturally.
Rather than move on, Growth Addicts insist upon spoiling things for everyone else. Bringing more business, more industry and more people into a community doesn’t benefit anyone, including those who have an insatiable urge to hasten progress.
Most areas will grow at a nice steady pace without Growth Addicts forcing their will upon the natural flow of progress.
Perhaps, Growth Addicts dislike their community because they subconsciously dislike themselves. Instead of taking responsibility for their own happiness they manipulate the world around them in a vain attempt to alter a reality they blame for their own perceived misfortunes. If so, Growth Addicts are in dire need of psychological help.
Some of my best friends are growth addicts. Even members of my own family are infected with this insidious malady. They can’t seem to help it and don’t even appear to be aware of their dysfunctional condition.
If you’re not a Growth Addict, read no further.
An intervention is a confrontation, usually initiated by family and friends, directed toward an addict in an attempt to rid the addict of his or her harmful addiction.
Consider this to be an intervention.
I am your friend.
You have a serious mental disorder.
I want to help you get well.
STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT.
We don’t need your guidance and control.
You’re obsession for growth only makes things worse.
More industry means more people, creating more problems that will be solved by bringing in more industry. Then more industry will attract more people, requiring even more industry, which will again attract more people, and so on, and so on.
This is a vicious cycle without end.
Bigger isn’t better -- it’s just bigger.
You have an unhealthy addiction.
It’s unhealthy for you and everyone around you.
Get over it.
Your problem isn’t the size of the community; your problem is you.
If you have a compulsion to make changes, look inward.
Stop and smell the roses.
Or move to a bigger city.
___________
Quote for the Day -- "Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it." Milton Friedman
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where work is a four-letter word.
___________
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-
Monday, June 6, 2011
Superstitions
A superstition is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance. It’s also evidence that mankind hasn’t exactly reached the peak of intellectual potential.
"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue." Voltaire
Some superstitions are peculiar to a particular country.
1) In Ireland, it’s considered lucky to kiss the Blarney Stone, but unlucky to spill a drink.
2) In Nigeria, it’s bad luck to sweep a house at night, but a thorough sweeping in the morning gets rid of evil spirits.
3) In Japan, killing a spider in the morning results in the destruction of a human soul.
4) In Scotland, it’s bad luck to stand with your back to the edge of a door, and the sight of three swans flying together is a precursor of a national disaster.
5) In Malta, church clocks have two faces, one showing the correct time and another with a false time to confuse the Devil about the time of the service.
The world of show business has its share of superstitions.
1) If an actor uses a bar of soap belonging to another actor, it’s believed that some of the luck will rub off on him.
2) But if an actor leaves soap behind in the dressing room, he may never be employed again.
3) To open an umbrella or drop a comb onstage is bad luck.
4) Actors never look over the shoulder of a colleague into a mirror
5) Set designers avoid the color yellow.
6) The most egregious act occurs when someone whistles in the dressing room. Surely disaster will soon follow.
Gamblers are notorious for being superstitious.
1) They always wear their lucky ring or shirt or whatever.
2) Many will rub or blow on the dice or cards.
3) Sitting in the right chair or standing in the right spot is a must.
4) True gamblers never cross anything, including their legs, and never place a bet before 6:00 PM on Fridays.
Professional athletes, particularly baseball players, are among the most superstitious people on the planet.
1) On game day, they will eat the same meal or park in the same spot or walk the same path using the same number of steps entering the clubhouse.
2) Many baseball players will always enter the playing field in the exact same manner each time, performing personal rituals such as touching the same base or crossing a line at the same spot.
3) When batting, most baseball players will take the exact same number of practice swings while making the same gestures to help bring them luck.
Being an astute observer of human nature, I’ve come up with my own set of superstitions.
1) If a black cat crosses your path, it usually means the cat is going somewhere.
2) Wearing cloves of garlic around your neck will ward off evil spirits. Except for goat farmers and residents of New Jersey, it will also ward off most people.
3) Finding a four-leaf clover is good luck. It also means you have nothing better to do than crawl around outdoors on your hands and knees, gazing at clover.
4) Three men on a match is bad luck, unless you only have one match and there are three of you, or you are French Canadian.
5) A rabbit’s foot is good luck, except for the rabbit.
6) If you crack a mirror, it’s bad luck. If all you were doing was looking at the mirror when it cracked, it’s time for some cosmetic surgery.
7) If your name is Usama and you have a towel wrapped around your head and have 4 wives and your hobby is mass murder, you will someday have unwelcome visitors from a faraway land with itchy trigger fingers drop in on you from above to remove you from this dimension and confiscate your collection of pornography.
___________
Quote for the Day -- "The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out -- without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable." H.L. Mencken
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where good luck involves indoor plumbing.
___________
-
-
"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue." Voltaire
Some superstitions are peculiar to a particular country.
1) In Ireland, it’s considered lucky to kiss the Blarney Stone, but unlucky to spill a drink.
2) In Nigeria, it’s bad luck to sweep a house at night, but a thorough sweeping in the morning gets rid of evil spirits.
3) In Japan, killing a spider in the morning results in the destruction of a human soul.
4) In Scotland, it’s bad luck to stand with your back to the edge of a door, and the sight of three swans flying together is a precursor of a national disaster.
5) In Malta, church clocks have two faces, one showing the correct time and another with a false time to confuse the Devil about the time of the service.
The world of show business has its share of superstitions.
1) If an actor uses a bar of soap belonging to another actor, it’s believed that some of the luck will rub off on him.
2) But if an actor leaves soap behind in the dressing room, he may never be employed again.
3) To open an umbrella or drop a comb onstage is bad luck.
4) Actors never look over the shoulder of a colleague into a mirror
5) Set designers avoid the color yellow.
6) The most egregious act occurs when someone whistles in the dressing room. Surely disaster will soon follow.
Gamblers are notorious for being superstitious.
1) They always wear their lucky ring or shirt or whatever.
2) Many will rub or blow on the dice or cards.
3) Sitting in the right chair or standing in the right spot is a must.
4) True gamblers never cross anything, including their legs, and never place a bet before 6:00 PM on Fridays.
Professional athletes, particularly baseball players, are among the most superstitious people on the planet.
1) On game day, they will eat the same meal or park in the same spot or walk the same path using the same number of steps entering the clubhouse.
2) Many baseball players will always enter the playing field in the exact same manner each time, performing personal rituals such as touching the same base or crossing a line at the same spot.
3) When batting, most baseball players will take the exact same number of practice swings while making the same gestures to help bring them luck.
Being an astute observer of human nature, I’ve come up with my own set of superstitions.
1) If a black cat crosses your path, it usually means the cat is going somewhere.
2) Wearing cloves of garlic around your neck will ward off evil spirits. Except for goat farmers and residents of New Jersey, it will also ward off most people.
3) Finding a four-leaf clover is good luck. It also means you have nothing better to do than crawl around outdoors on your hands and knees, gazing at clover.
4) Three men on a match is bad luck, unless you only have one match and there are three of you, or you are French Canadian.
5) A rabbit’s foot is good luck, except for the rabbit.
6) If you crack a mirror, it’s bad luck. If all you were doing was looking at the mirror when it cracked, it’s time for some cosmetic surgery.
7) If your name is Usama and you have a towel wrapped around your head and have 4 wives and your hobby is mass murder, you will someday have unwelcome visitors from a faraway land with itchy trigger fingers drop in on you from above to remove you from this dimension and confiscate your collection of pornography.
___________
Quote for the Day -- "The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out -- without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable." H.L. Mencken
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where good luck involves indoor plumbing.
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011
The Flow of Life
Life is like a river of natural events -- it flows where it wants to flow, and there's not much you can usually do about it without an enormous amount of effort and a slew of unintended consequences.
Basically, you have 3 choices in The Flow of Life -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or change The Flow.
William Shakespeare was a very prolific writer who was mostly understood by snooty British intellectuals, high school English teachers and people with brain damage. Most of the rest of us who were forced to read his drivel back in high school didn’t have a clue what Shakespeare was all about.
One of his more famous excerpts comes in act 3 of Hamlet – “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; or to take arms against a sea of troubles…”
This is all a person really needs to know about life. Unfortunately, reading Shakespeare is a lot like reading the graffiti on the wall of a public restroom – it seems somewhat clever yet is often confusing, but you don’t really care because you’ve got better things to do than hang around and try to figure it out.
What Shakespeare was really trying to tell the world was that there is a choice in life we all face. We can choose to go with The Flow and suffer the consequences (suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune) or we can choose to go off in our own direction (take arms against a sea of trouble) and suffer the consequences. Choosing not to make a choice automatically puts you into the category of going with The Flow.
In other words, you can go with The Flow or follow your own path. Either way, there will be consequences to suffer.
Some people choose to go with The Flow. They elect people to lead them, obey the rules, pay their taxes and march off to war. They may not like it sometimes but they go along in order to get along. These are the followers of the flock of humanity and conformists who are obedient of authority, usually out of a sense of duty or fear of consequences.
Some people go off in their own direction, avoiding The Flow as much as humanly possible. Although often ridiculed by those who conform, they couldn't care less. And even when they’re alone they’re never lonely because they don’t need to be validated by others. These are the weirdoes who prefer to be different simply to gain self-respect within their own existence.
Then there are those who try to have it both ways, going with The Flow when it suits them and avoiding it when it doesn't. Most of the time they choose to go with The Flow, until The Flow takes them where they don’t want to be, then they rebel a bit. But taking arms against a sea of trouble requires strength and fortitude, forcing them to get back into The Flow when the going gets too tough. These are the flip-floppers who jump on and off of band wagons depending on which way the wind blows.
Furthermore, some people attempt to manipulate The Flow toward their personal desires. They demand the right to create and enforce their own version of heaven on Earth. Many of them believe they are creating a better world, while others are simply attempting to gain power, control or riches. Either way, it is a form of selfishness. No one has the moral certitude to change the world into their personal vision of wonderfulness, because wonderfulness is always in the eye of the beholder.
People who choose to always go with The Flow are happy people. Occasionally, they suffer the consequences of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune but life is full of consequences and they don’t blame themselves for their suffering because they were merely caught in The Flow of the decision-making of others. Plus, the burden of making independent decisions is avoided because The Flow makes all the decisions for them.
People who choose to always avoid The Flow are also happy people. They go their own direction and follow their own path. They face lots of obstacles for not conforming to The Flow, but their suffering is of their own making and therefore more palatable. Independent people understand that suffering builds character, thereby making their way of life that much more endearing. Rather than allow the rest of the world to err on their behalf, they’d prefer to screw up their lives on their own.
Those who try to have it both ways are unhappy people. They have no direction in life. Rather than being comfortable within The Flow or comfortable outside The Flow, they are dissatisfied with both options and spend their days whining about how The Flow has ruined their lives.
People who try to change The Flow are also an unhappy lot. They tend to align with others who also want to change The Flow, exerting group pressure by forming associations and unions and political parties and religions and secret societies in order to manipulate The Flow in their favor. But no matter how effective they are at manipulating The Flow, they’re fighting an endless battle because there are always other interests attempting to manipulate The Flow in a variety of directions. And the ends rarely justify the means because there is no End to The Flow.
Flow Changers have been battling Flow Changers since the beginning of time. They are convinced their way is the correct way and insist everyone else conform to their notion of correctness, right down to the correct length of grass in your front yard and the correct state of mind from which you are forbidden to alter. Flow Changers are self-righteous, rebellious conformists who demand selfless, non-rebellious conformity from everyone else.
So if you want to be happy, accept the slings and arrows (go with The Flow) and fall in line like a proper obedient citizen (conformist). Or take arms against a sea of trouble (avoid The Flow) and follow your own path like a free independent thinker (outcast). One or the other -- you can't be both.
The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity.
The reward for conformity is everyone likes you but you lack the integrity (freedom) to be your true self. Even dead fish go with The Flow.
The reward for being an outcast is self-respect. It's better to avoid The Flow than to be swept away by it.
If you want to be an unhappy jerk, attempt to change The Flow and regulate the world. But always bear in mind that no good deed goes unpunished.
"You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A Wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow." Ursula K. Le Guin
There are only two things in life -- you and everything else. The only thing you can change is you.
Ultimately, you have 3 choices -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or bang your head against the wall.
___________
Quote for the Day -- “No two ideals were ever more incompatible than the security of conformity and the freedom of individuality. After the choice is made, the rest is easy – unless you don’t have the guts to stick by your choice.” Hunter S. Thompson
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Raoul Duke.
___________
-
-
Basically, you have 3 choices in The Flow of Life -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or change The Flow.
William Shakespeare was a very prolific writer who was mostly understood by snooty British intellectuals, high school English teachers and people with brain damage. Most of the rest of us who were forced to read his drivel back in high school didn’t have a clue what Shakespeare was all about.
One of his more famous excerpts comes in act 3 of Hamlet – “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune; or to take arms against a sea of troubles…”
This is all a person really needs to know about life. Unfortunately, reading Shakespeare is a lot like reading the graffiti on the wall of a public restroom – it seems somewhat clever yet is often confusing, but you don’t really care because you’ve got better things to do than hang around and try to figure it out.
What Shakespeare was really trying to tell the world was that there is a choice in life we all face. We can choose to go with The Flow and suffer the consequences (suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune) or we can choose to go off in our own direction (take arms against a sea of trouble) and suffer the consequences. Choosing not to make a choice automatically puts you into the category of going with The Flow.
In other words, you can go with The Flow or follow your own path. Either way, there will be consequences to suffer.
Some people choose to go with The Flow. They elect people to lead them, obey the rules, pay their taxes and march off to war. They may not like it sometimes but they go along in order to get along. These are the followers of the flock of humanity and conformists who are obedient of authority, usually out of a sense of duty or fear of consequences.
Some people go off in their own direction, avoiding The Flow as much as humanly possible. Although often ridiculed by those who conform, they couldn't care less. And even when they’re alone they’re never lonely because they don’t need to be validated by others. These are the weirdoes who prefer to be different simply to gain self-respect within their own existence.
Then there are those who try to have it both ways, going with The Flow when it suits them and avoiding it when it doesn't. Most of the time they choose to go with The Flow, until The Flow takes them where they don’t want to be, then they rebel a bit. But taking arms against a sea of trouble requires strength and fortitude, forcing them to get back into The Flow when the going gets too tough. These are the flip-floppers who jump on and off of band wagons depending on which way the wind blows.
Furthermore, some people attempt to manipulate The Flow toward their personal desires. They demand the right to create and enforce their own version of heaven on Earth. Many of them believe they are creating a better world, while others are simply attempting to gain power, control or riches. Either way, it is a form of selfishness. No one has the moral certitude to change the world into their personal vision of wonderfulness, because wonderfulness is always in the eye of the beholder.
People who choose to always go with The Flow are happy people. Occasionally, they suffer the consequences of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune but life is full of consequences and they don’t blame themselves for their suffering because they were merely caught in The Flow of the decision-making of others. Plus, the burden of making independent decisions is avoided because The Flow makes all the decisions for them.
People who choose to always avoid The Flow are also happy people. They go their own direction and follow their own path. They face lots of obstacles for not conforming to The Flow, but their suffering is of their own making and therefore more palatable. Independent people understand that suffering builds character, thereby making their way of life that much more endearing. Rather than allow the rest of the world to err on their behalf, they’d prefer to screw up their lives on their own.
Those who try to have it both ways are unhappy people. They have no direction in life. Rather than being comfortable within The Flow or comfortable outside The Flow, they are dissatisfied with both options and spend their days whining about how The Flow has ruined their lives.
People who try to change The Flow are also an unhappy lot. They tend to align with others who also want to change The Flow, exerting group pressure by forming associations and unions and political parties and religions and secret societies in order to manipulate The Flow in their favor. But no matter how effective they are at manipulating The Flow, they’re fighting an endless battle because there are always other interests attempting to manipulate The Flow in a variety of directions. And the ends rarely justify the means because there is no End to The Flow.
Flow Changers have been battling Flow Changers since the beginning of time. They are convinced their way is the correct way and insist everyone else conform to their notion of correctness, right down to the correct length of grass in your front yard and the correct state of mind from which you are forbidden to alter. Flow Changers are self-righteous, rebellious conformists who demand selfless, non-rebellious conformity from everyone else.
So if you want to be happy, accept the slings and arrows (go with The Flow) and fall in line like a proper obedient citizen (conformist). Or take arms against a sea of trouble (avoid The Flow) and follow your own path like a free independent thinker (outcast). One or the other -- you can't be both.
The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity.
The reward for conformity is everyone likes you but you lack the integrity (freedom) to be your true self. Even dead fish go with The Flow.
The reward for being an outcast is self-respect. It's better to avoid The Flow than to be swept away by it.
If you want to be an unhappy jerk, attempt to change The Flow and regulate the world. But always bear in mind that no good deed goes unpunished.
"You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A Wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow." Ursula K. Le Guin
There are only two things in life -- you and everything else. The only thing you can change is you.
Ultimately, you have 3 choices -- go with The Flow, ignore The Flow, or bang your head against the wall.
___________
Quote for the Day -- “No two ideals were ever more incompatible than the security of conformity and the freedom of individuality. After the choice is made, the rest is easy – unless you don’t have the guts to stick by your choice.” Hunter S. Thompson
___________
Bret Burquest, author of four novels, has recently published THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (esoteric knowledge) and 1111 HAPPY TRAILS ROAD (humor) -- available on Amazon. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and the ghost of Raoul Duke.
___________
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