violence and so forth

 People get so upset about violence and shootings... "people shouldn't solve their problems by shooting someone"
I agree.
Yet, this is exactly what we do.

Where do people get these ideas of solving things with war?  That killing another person is okay?

How about... society?
Children playing violent video games, watching violent movies and TV shows, listening to music about crime, violence, and sex.
Maybe that's where they get the idea.


Maybe that's where.

Now, I don't mean to come off uptight (I like me rated R movies and sweet video games), but if we really think about it logically, isn't it messed up that we can see someone be killed and not think twice about it?
I, personally, hate gore and violence (in movies, games, etc.).
Where do people learn to stomach that stuff?
It is absolutely unnatural.  We are conditioned to be okay with it.
When we turn a certain age we don't immediately decide that seeing people decapitated on screen is fun.  And, I am pretty certain that seeing that as a small child would horrify you (and if not, we have a bigger problem...)

My point is... people need to look at underlying reasons of things more often.  Critical thinking is a good skill to have.  I think so many of today's problems could be fixed through preventative measures instead of just complaining and trying to fix things on the surface.

On Wisdom...

"Cast away all negative thoughts and fears. If your will is yoked to wisdom, you can achieve anything."
-Paramahansa Yogananda

You get out of it what you put into it.

I was recently reminded of a piece of advice and given another.

The first was that in any job "you get out of it what you put into it."  I've heard this before, and absolutely believe it.  Moreover, a lot of things made me think about this with regard to life.

You get out of life what you put into it.
Investing your time into relationships with others to experience the joys of loving and being loved.
Investing your time in education and learning to become learned, insightful, and wise.
Investing your time in God, and understand love, grace, and being the person God created you to be.

Those are only a few examples.  Whatever it is you choose to do, you will get out of life what you put into it.  Life takes effort, something I think that most people fail to understand.  The world doesn't owe us anything.  We don't deserve anything on this planet.

So to you, sir or ma'am, I say stop dreaming.  Life is REAL, so we must be REAListic.

The second piece of advice I was given was that the secret of life is to enjoy it, and to have as much fun as possible.  This goes hand in hand with the former piece of advice.  What do you want to get out of life?  What will make you enjoy it more, realistically?  A secret that I've discovered about this, is that life definitely has little daily joys, and joys that come easily; however, life also has joys that come from hard work and perseverance, and I think many people fail to see that, and ultimately only taste a part of what life can offer.  Figure out what you want to get out of life, and then start pursuing the path that will get you there.  This realization can be tough to swallow, but I think it can be extremely motivating.

Here we go! (think mario kart)

Dear reader(s),

As it stands, I have 5 blogs, and I have decided to cut that down to 2.  This one will serve as the blog for anecdotes about life, things that make me smile, etcetera while Intrinsic Explorations will remain my creative writing blog (http://intrinsicexplorations.blogspot.com/).

I have quite a bit of time now, and much to say about everything (as usual) so I'll be writing more, which I am so excited about!  The past week/semester has been eventful, so more to come on that!

So follow my blog because it's awesome and so are you! :)

Jon