The Day the Word Stood Still

Well, every now and then I have to take a word or phrase and check out its use and, often, misuse.  Updated epistle from years ago, for those paying attention to such matters.

Water, Water, Everywhere...

I confess that I was startled many, many years ago when I first witnessed a “fire” burning in a vacuum inside a space craft.  No up, no down, no peak for the flame, in fact, I don’t recall “flame” but a globe of burning gas.  Normal activities (on Earth perspective) are quite different away from gravity.

In this clip from the International Space Station, Expedition Commander Chris Hadfield answers the question many people, I’m sure, have lost sleep over:  What happens when a spaceman wrings a wet rag?

Who’d have thought...

Thanks.

It's Silly, of course...

...taking a day to "celebrate" Earth.  Perhaps celebrating a rising perspective of nature is appropriate.  Regardless,  bit of verse on behalf of Earth Day:

I knew a lady once

who never saw a tree

until later in life

when perspective set her free.

The trees were there all along,

smearing her landscape of distraction.

Earth presents its all,

unfettered unashamed,

restricted only

by the personal beast, perspective.

You see, I see, They see,

each according to value allowed,

no more no less

than appreciation comprehends.

Majesty and beauty abound

to those who see and hear

such delight,

confounding those who cannot.

“Where have I been,” she said,

noting the loss of time

to a skewed perspective

that robbed delight and joy.

No matter,

today perspective is clear,

appreciation is keen

and the trees are seen

along with so much else.

How To Be Happy

Abraham Lincoln remarked that “most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”  Honest Abe was on target with that observation of the human experience.  In a simple sentence he captures the link between emotions and thinking.  That’s a connection many folks have difficulty making even today.  The attention (thinking) precedes the feeling (emotion.)  It is the process of relating to people, conditions, and circumstances.  Relating = giving attention.

If what you observe is pleasing, you feel good.  If it is not pleasing you feel bad.  The emotion indicates the manner you interpret the world around you.  The operative word is interpret.  Greek Stoic Philosopher Epictetus noted over two thousand years ago that “men are not disturbed by things, but by the view which they take of them.”  Even more insightful was his observation that “Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable.”  How often have we heard this through the ages?  The bottom line appears to be that it is your thinking that establishes how you interpret observations and how you feel about them.

The question is what degree of happiness (comfort, good feeling) have you made up your mind to experience?  A wonderful exercise is to decide to appreciate something in every moment.  It doesn’t matter where you are or what you are doing, there is something you can appreciate and thus shift your thinking and interpretation towards better feelings.  Some appreciation can be basic:  “I love having hot water available to me when I want it.”  “I like having a crew haul away my trash and garbage each week.”  I appreciate the choice in foods that I eat.”  The more you find to appreciate, the easier it becomes – and the more you enjoy the process – which results in a more enjoyable day and (Lagniappe Alert!) a better night’s sleep.

Others may grouse and complain – that’s their choice of thought. You can’t control what they think and do anymore than they control your thoughts and decisions.  However, they might get curious about your confounding cheerfulness...   Abe got it right.

 There is a philosophy to being a happier Being:

The Mischief of Drug Testing

Similar images scurry around the internet, facebook, twitter and such, presumably to add pressure to require “drug testing” in order to receive “welfare” benefits.  Thoughts That Go Bump in the Night find this effort misguided.  It's a case of attempting to solve a "problem" with another, bigger, "problem."

Many, many, people who must endure a pre-employment drug screen and random screens from then on – for the privilege of working and earning a living - gaze upon the landscape and see a portion of their taxes (their earned compensation for their labor/talent confiscated by the government) given to people who seemingly do not work, or contribute to the public well-being.  At least, they think, those non-working (free-loading) people should have to prove themselves free of drugs to get their money.  The idea is to prevent abuse of “welfare” to buy drugs, by those who can’t/won’t/don’t work/support themselves.

What’s wrong with this picture?

It’s a class warfare manipulation to keep the employed (producers) focused on another population sub-group (those on “welfare”) rather than having the larger, more serious, issue show up on their radar - such as assaults on the Bill of Rights.  It’s a class-warfare divide and conquer strategy that has regrettable success.  The issue, as Thoughts sees it, is the drug testing itself.  Quick Poll:

Which of the following do you prefer?

1.  Welfare recipients must take and pass a monthly drug test prior to receiving benefits.

2.  No citizen of the United States shall be forced to take a drug test for purposes of employment, benefits, or other considerations.

Drug testing is a strategy from the “War on Drugs” which began in the 1970’s.  By any measure, that “war” is a hugely expensive exercise in futility that, because of the immense attention given, has actually increased “illicit” drug use and trafficking.  Drug-free workplaces are mandated by any business, government, organization, institution, or activity receiving federal funds.  Public schools are declared drug-free zones, thus, children are safe from exposure to drugs while at school.  Not.  As the saying goes, if you’re in over your head, stop shoveling.

Thoughts is not debating the right/wrong, good/bad regarding adult choices to use “drugs.”  These should be cultural norms, embedded in the beliefs and practices of people and not a decree from government.

Grousing about the unfairness of drug testing empowers, through attention, the undesired situation.  What is wanted, I suspect, is extinction.  That, is, when operant behavior that has been previously reinforced no longer produces reinforcing consequences the behavior gradually stops occurring.  In other words, when attention is withdrawn, the objectionable behavior recedes.  Something like ignoring the tantrum of a two-year old.  But, it’s impossible to “not think about” something.  The solution is to think about something else.  In this case, shifting attention from “welfare and drug testing” to civil rights for citizens.  It is the drug testing that is objectionable to most people, and as misery loves company, if the “working folk” have to do it, then everyone should do it.  But, the reality is that “it” is unnecessary and a violation of civil rights.

End mandatory drug testing and there is no issue about welfare abuse - extinction.  Other issues may then surface which can lead to personal and social improvement.  But that’s a whole ‘nother blog.

More DUH!

You’ve done it, I know you have. Is there anyone, at one time or other, who hasn’t opened their hand, popped their forehead and said, or thought, “DUH!”

It’s intriguing, the “Duh” moment. The word may be contemporary, but the sudden awareness of “foolish me, I knew that!” is nothing new. The Duh! moment can be a very useful tool in managing thinking.
Duh! tends to show up in those moments when we’ve become overly focused on someone, something, or other distraction, and have mentally closed the quiet door to guidance. Often we’re in a rush. Consider the following:

“Where is that !%^#!! key?” I’m racing around the house looking for the key to the storage shed - there’s just enough time, this Saturday morning, to mow the lawn before heading out of town. The key, of course, isn’t hanging in its usual place. So begins the hasty search of all probable hiding places. Ignored, of course, is the quiet thought, “Hey, George, I’m in the kitchen drawer under the toaster.”
The errant key would not be there, of all places, so the search continues through rooms, dressers, the garage, tables, floors, counters... You know the scene. Finally, in a desperate moment, the kitchen drawer is opened, and voila! DUH!

Seek and Ye shall find. Finding is so much easier if the question is asked first, then followed with a quiet moment for the answer to reveal itself. It’s the second part of the process that often gets lost in the hustle and bustle of the daily adventure. Thank you, Duh! The key revealed its location. It just took a while for me to pay attention.

In matters great and small, the process is the same - ask - then shut up and listen. Occasionally, I think I’m fairly practiced with the listening part. How easily distracted I am. I suspect you are familiar with the experience. No matter where we are on the great spiral of spiritual evolution, there is always a degree of Duh! to assist us.

The cliche, “can’t see the forest for all of those trees,” is true. While searching for the forest of a solution, or an action, pesky perceptual trees may get in the way. It seems that while bumping into the endless array of mentally rooted trees, the focus - to see the forest - recedes to the back mental burner.
At such moments the persistent Duh! whispers “take a break, and look for the big picture.” The silent guidance is always there, but if I don’t take the mental and emotional moment to pause, and listen, I miss it or mistake it. The problem is not the elusive forest, but the distracted George.

Perhaps you’ve made a mental commitment to notice the good in everyone you meet. Why? To do so creates a more fulfilling experience for the moment - a blessing for the person, and a reinforcement of your desire to experience a joyful life.

Of course, there’s that idiot who cuts in front of you just as you drive towards your exit on the freeway. Without a Duh!, several blocks of less spiritually focused mental energy may be expended, benefitting neither the “idiot” nor you. Wailing and gnashing teeth may be symptoms of not paying attention to our highest desires. They may also indicate that we’ve temporarily lost sight of our chosen forest.
American mystic and philosopher Charles Fillmore put it as succinctly as anyone could - “If you’re unhappy with your life, change your mental habits.” Duh!

How often do we slip, unawares, from spiritually centered mental habits, to lesser thoughts of momentary impulse in reaction to a “freeway idiot?” That’s a case of bumping into the trees. Keeping a check on our thoughts is a simple process - being aware of how we are thinking at any given moment - and choosing to give attention to the thoughts we desire. Simple, of course, is not synonymous with easy.

An important aspect of this wonderful adventure on earth is mental and physical health. Mental and emotional focus on perfect health resonates with many people. In your mind’s eye, are you healthy? Many people strive to keep foremost in thought, the Truth of perfect health - despite contrary appearances. God is perfect health. I am a child of God. Therefore, I have inherited perfect health. That’s about as logical as it gets.

The interference, however, may be the accumulated “stuff” derived from old mental and emotional habits, that litter your expectations. There may be a negative, nagging, mental parrot perched on our thinking shoulder, whispering “I am sick...I am not well...that would be nice, but... That’s not discounting any circumstance or challenge - in greater and lesser degrees, we all have them - yet where is the mental force directed? Such a nagging mental parrot can subtly redirect thinking.

Are your powerful thoughts creating what is desired?   Or that which is feared and undesired? Enter, Duh!, a marvelous reinforcement for your preferred mental state.

Yes, even a child gets it!

Each night may end, and each day may begin, with focused acknowledgment that “Every cell in my body, every part of my being, is in perfect harmony with the healing vibrations of the Consciousness.” Not a bad way to end and start a day!

You know what can come next - pesky distraction tree thoughts, emphasizing the aches, the pains, the problems, and so on. And thus, the day may end, or begin, with semi-conscious rogue thoughts affirming, not your relationship with the Spirit, but with all that other stuff. At this moment Duh! might quietly work its way to the surface awareness and whisper “Time out!” Refocus.  Priority. “What do you want?”

It is reassuring to know that no matter how far, in whatever amount of time, we might stray from our preferred mental and emotional state of being, there is a “check for balance” that ignores the distraction.
Duh! is there, patiently nudging you to keep your thoughts directed towards your highest self, countering the nagging mental parrot of negativity. The beauty and magnificence of a spiritual consciousness is a “forest” at hand. It’s good to know that a part of you, Duh!, is on alert should you mentally stray into the underbrush and lose sight of where you are going.

But, you knew that already. Duh.

Danger!  Obvious!