Looking back

Have you ever looked back into your deep memories to see what you saw so long ago? Are your memories real? Philosophy tells us that the only real time is the present, and I honestly have to agree. The past is gone, it is only a dream, and time that can never be completely recovered. I have written journals, taken pictures, and even recorded short videos. Records extent your vision into the past, but nothing is the same about those memories. I miss the good times and I am ashamed of the lapses in judgment, but the only thing real is the present.
It makes me think, what will I be writing or thinking in 20 years? Will I be looking back on this dream I currently call the present. When you have a small child, people with older children look at you and say, "It'll go fast!" I smile and think, "It goes just as fast as any other time, only now you look back at your foggy memories and wonder where the time went."
Past, present and future are all the same, you decide your future by changing in the present because of what you learned in the past. What does the future hold? just memories of the past.

Ears

As I was flying across the country I began to realize that planes are very loud, and the people talking on the plane are even louder. As I closed my computer, I began to be jealous of the easy way in which it slips into hibernation. For some reason, we cannot just sleep whenever and wherever we want. We say, "I am going to sleep." We close our eyes and try to find a comfortable position and then nothing. We wait for some unknown chemical reaction to take place in which we move from awake and alert mode to sleep and subdued mode.

What is so bad about religion?

There are two points of conversation almost all people want to avoid, well, at least the ones that are trying to make friends: politics and religion. I can write about both, but hardly talk openly about either.
Yes, religion is a personal matter, but what you believe about God and life is what makes you who you are. Some believe in nothing, some don't care, some can't believe in anything, some hate the category they would be put in if they believed something, some actually believe in something, some don't care what they believe as long as they a different than everyone else, some don't want to believe anything for fear of additional work, and some gave up believing in anything. What you believe instantly sets a standard by which you live. And it is your privilege to act according to your belief. That is one of the beautiful things that makes America great. You cannot expect someone else with a different belief or even a different understanding to act the way you do. With that said, however, there is a slight catch to the Christian belief that drives everyone insane. Once you belief in Christ, you want to and, to a degree, are required to give others an opportunity to believe in Christ also. So basically, there are a bunch of well-meaning Christians out there who want to give others an opportunity to know God in the way they know. Tack on the fact that everyone has both a varying levels of understanding as well as different points of doctrine, and you have a difficult jungle to weave through while talking about religion.
Here is my opinion, discussion of religion can lead to confusion and frustration or greater clarity. So get out and have a discussion (discussion occurs when at least two people interact in an exploration of a subject) about religion, the conversation will go three ways, one doesn't want to talk about it (queue to change topics), you will become more confused, or you might both just learn something.
But for all those preachy types, remember, no one was ever forced/pushed into heaven.

A whole month!?!

Did I really let a month go by without posting? I guess that lets you know just how busy I am.
A few words of wisdom from a friend: "When you don't like doing something, people can tell." He said it almost off the cuff without giving much thought to it, but the idea stuck with me. You can't hide your thoughts about how you feel, but on the same note, you can hide how you feel by changing you thoughts. Let me explain with an example. When you don't like doing something, you wear your expressions on your face, in your body language, and most especially, in your excitement (or lack thereof.) But if you change the way you think about the things you are doing, you can honestly change your expressions. I don't like cleaning our bathroom, but I do like seeing Grace happy because she loves a clean bathroom, so I will happily clean the bathroom. Or I don't like doing paperwork, but I do like getting paid, therefore, I will be happy doing paperwork in order to get paid. The moral of the story is: don't get grumpy when you have to do something you hate; think about something you like while you are doing the something you hate :)