Wal-Mart Wisdom

                                     "Claim truth where you find it” ~ Rob Bell                                                                                                                       

 Anyone who’s close to me knows that I take great pride in my psychological journey toward calming myself in emotional situations. The process of behavioral change has almost become addicting….

Change one thing about myself…. and then proceed on to another. 

But….even through all my Philosophy, Buddha, Tolle, and endless psychology readings, my ugly monster will occasionally reappear.

Especially at Wal-Mart!

To make a long story short…I went in to Wal-Mart last Sunday at 5:00 pm, only to come out at 7:00 pm.

Now you’re problem thinking, “two hours….that’s normal”….and in most cases that’s true…but for me, that was for a bag of Dog Food and one container of coffee.

The rest of the time was spent waiting 25 minutes at the sporting goods area…20 minutes at the jewelry department…and 25 min in the 20 items or less line…only to have the lane closed when I reached the checker.

"I’m sorry sir…It’s my lunch break”

At this point, there were not enough positive affirmations in the self-help world that could sooth the rumblings of my childhood beast.

I took a deep breath… and then proceeded toward the checker lines from hell.

There was a lady in front of me with Planet of the Apes’ tattoos all up and down her arm (of course Cesar was prominently displayed at the top).

In front of her was a small child of about 10 years old (this is sarcasm) jumping up and down in a buggy. His mom was frantically feeding him a package of sugary skittles to calm to down.

You guessed right…it didn’t work.

Amongst all this chaos, I couldn’t help but notice the checker. She was a small sweet looking lady with an extremely peaceful look on her face.

Throughout this whole process….. Kids jumping…..mothers with the wrong coupons….money change needed…. she never broke her smile.

I finally arrived at her station with my one bag of dog food and my one container of coffee and said, “Whew….I don’t know how you do it!”

She replied, “Do what?”…..she seemed very confused by my statement.

I replied, “Work in all this chaos”

She returned to her sweet little peaceful smile and replied, “It only affects you if you allow it”.

All I could say was thank you.

This “Aha” moment was a great reminder that real peace is being able to accept what is. Acceptance simply means recognizing your “ugly monster” voice and rejecting it.

Acknowledging that the only person we can change is ourselves enables us to do this.

There is a lot of negative energy and craziness in this world, but we can all learn to live with inner peace.  If your intention is strong and consistent… it will happen.

Outwardly, nothing changes… peace comes from within.

 

The Four Noble Truths of Buddha

~ Anguish…Life is Pain

~ Acknowledge…Acceptance

~ Cessation…Stop

~ New Path…Peace

 

 

 

The Paradox of Truth

“People don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed” ~ Nietzsche

I am, by nature, a very caring, compassionate person, so I really hate to kick dirt on the flame of hope with science. But what I really care the most about is what’s actually true, even more than what I hope is true… and this is the dilemma I find myself in.

I am occasionally accused of being arrogant, sarcastic, cynical, jealous…. or the popular modern term, “hater”.

I have been told to be quiet… don’t say anything… you’re going to look like a trouble maker… let it go… and people aren’t going to like you.

My question is why?

Why should I be quiet…why should anyone be quite?

The typical response is usually…. “Because people will be offended”

Ricky Gervas said it best… “Just because you’re offended, doesn’t mean you’re right.”

I have to admit I completely agree.

I am a huge proponent of speaking your mind. I believe there should be absolutely no topic off limits to discuss.

The only way we evolve and enhance humanity is by strongly talking about what we believe and why we believe it.

If you disagree… then I think we should talk about why you disagree.

We don’t have to insult each other… we don’t have to agree with each other…but through critical reflection and rational dialogue we begin to move from a place of wishful thinking, into the arena of rational understanding.

I believe the only way to do this is by employing reason…the kind of reason that manifests in reality….the kind of reality that manifests from science.

Many people have a flawed belief that science strips life of meaning and purpose…it’s quite the contrary. Science cleans up our lives by providing a clear cognitive path to a much richer understanding of the world we live in.

I look at science as a temporal cleansing that enriches our reality, relationships, families, friends, communities, and how we treat one another.

All of us are trying to make sense of the world through a combination of our biology and our environment. This unique human combination tends to form biases based on experiences and emotions, which in turn can create beliefs that are based on hopes rather than facts.

Don’t get me wrong…I want to believe…but I also want to know. So if any proposition is made pertaining to Diets, Religion, Politics, Bigfoot, or Space Aliens…….ask questions.

The truth is out there…it may be hard to find… it may conflict with cherished beliefs…it may make you mad…but it is always better to face reality than to comfort ourselves with delusions.

Science may make you uncomfortable, but it is the best method for seeking the truth.

 

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool” ~Richard P. Feynman