Oh the Thin Lines!

am of the opinion that "it's a fine line" should be removed as a phrase from our lives. Why? Well because it applies to EVERYTHING!

Why is it that everything is a shade of gray? Why are there not things that are just inherently good? Or for that matter inherently bad? Everything is a judgement call, and to people like myself, who are seekers of truth, that is just downright exasperating. Oh, now I know what you say, that there are SOME things that are indeed absolute, at least on the good-bad scale. I beg to differ.

Faith? Good... unless it becomes zealotry.
Caring? Good... unless it's smothering.
Intellect? Good... unless it takes you away from possibility.
Hatred? Bad... unless it helps you fight the good fight.
Lying? Bad... unless it saves someone to do so.

So many things that are ambiguous and up to interpretation. Moderation seems the key, and yet there are people such as myself that say with moderation comes mediocrity, and that there is no forward motion in the world. I agree that in extremes good things can become bad, but I almost wonder if they don't become something else in that process.

Some people might disagree with some or all the assumptions I made above. And the truth is, even the greatest philosophers of all time have never agreed that there is a moral truth to anything. Even in what are considered things set in stone, man's mind interprets. Let 10 people read the Bible, and they will tell you it means 10 different things.

I am not a scientist, but I love the clean truth that lies in it. It amuses me that math is my least favorite subject, and yet it seems that it is the only aspect of life which I can truly find the truth that I look for always. Math only becomes more complex and understood, it never changes. 2+2 ALWAYS = 4. No one ever changes it. Our understanding may change, and new methods may be found, but it is TRUE. Nothing else seems to be that way. Why on Earth would anyone like me be born with a desire to seek truth?

Well, that was a fun rant. Perhaps next time something more substantive.

Mind Over the Perception of the Human Heart

The mind is indeed an amazing thing. With the right frame of mind, people can accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or endure hardships that should break a man. There is one thing that the mind has an incredible time overcoming: The Human Heart.

The heart seems to be one of the forces able to tear down all of our defenses and break through any control our mind is able to place on our world. You can overcome a lot with your mind, but when it comes to the affairs of the heart, even those who are a master of "mind over matter" can find themselves completely ill equipped for dealing with the power of the heart.

There is another force that makes the heart and mind particularly difficult to reconcile and control: Perception. Wow. That is an amazing thing. I have often said that one person's worst day is just as bad in their mind as anyone else, no matter what their relative problems may be. Someone who has never starved scientifically feels the same way after a single day without food that someone who is constantly starving feels after missing a week. To an outsider, they seem nothing alike, but to the human mind, which can only comprehend what it perceives, they are the same.

Moving to a more obnoxious example, is when you are presented with something that you didn't have, and then you lose it. Take when you are a kid, and you think that you are going to get this special toy for Christmas. When the day comes, you realize that you did not receive what you thought you had. Now logically, you can see that there was nothing actually lost to you. Your heart however doesn't feel this way and you feel loss that at such an early age may seem incredible. The same thing holds true throughout our lives. Say you meet someone and you think that you hit it off well. You think that there is potential there. Perhaps you even agree to another date. Later that date is canceled, and there is no further progress made with that person. Technically you really didn't lose anything. You didn't have a relationship, or even a date before, but that doesn't keep you from getting upset, and depending upon the strength of your affection, it doesn't keep you from getting really hurt. In your heart and mind, you perceived that you had gained something, and feel the resulting loss. Aggravating indeed.

I like to, and traditionally do, have a great outlook on life. It frustrates me when I can logically see the reason that I shouldn't feel some specific way, but can't seem to shut off the feelings that I don't want. Maybe I am just not yet a master of the craft. Or perhaps the stronger you are as a person the stronger your heart becomes as well, and so there really is no way to ultimately win. Eh, food for thought.

Your -ness Factor

Tonight I saw You, Me and Dupree. I know, a comedy. It was indeed funny, but that isn't what I am writing about. In the movie, Owen Wilson's character (Dupree) keeps talking to his friend (Carl) about his "Carlness." He explains that it is that part of him that won't back down and makes him the person he is. At the end of the movie, he is talking to many people, asking them what their name is, and asking what their -ness is. "It's just your name with "ness" at the end of it. It's who you are.

What a great idea. This simple thing speaks quite succinctly to what I fervently believe: that you should be the best version of yourself possible. How do you do that? Now I think I can easily say that you should find your inner -ness. Each person has that thing that makes them who they are. Deep down, what is the highest form of your own essence? What is your inner -ness?

I certainly am excited to carry this thought forward and see how far it takes me.