But guess what? Stepping out of your comfort zone opens whole new worlds. Step out of your protective shell and what you'll discover will be exciting and enlightening.

What you'll discover will be ' Yourself '. Not the you that others taught you to be, or that you evolved into. Not the you that you or others think you should be. But just you, creative and wonderful you. You may not be a fool, but you must be willing.

As Tennyson once wrote:
The shell must break before the bird can fly.

Been Done Wrong?
by Boogie Jack

Has someone done you wrong?

It happens to all of us. The thing is, some let go and prosper while others hang on to it indefinitely - and suffer all the more. When we hold a grudge against someone we don't hurt them, we allow them to keep hurting us.

To move on we need to forgive, but not forget!

A favorite saying of mine comes from that venerable fount of wisdom, Gomer Pyle. "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" proclaimed Gomer. That's extremely wise.

Forgiving is necessary for us to move on in a healthy and prosperous way, but that doesn't mean we have to make the same mistake with the same person. It doesn't mean giving the house keys to the burglar who got caught robbing you.

Forgive others for your sake, and remember the lessons learned for theirs. Why for their sake? You don't help them by letting them repeat their offenses against you. You help them by forgiving them, but holding them accountable for their past actions.

"The old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

DREAMS
by Boogie Jack

To accomplish great things, you must dream great dreams. But dreaming alone isn't enough, you must believe in your dreams and you must act. Without action, even the most grand of dreams evaporate into the ether when left un-nurtured in the misty realms of the mind.

Do you dare to be a dreamer? Prepare to go it alone. Dreamers build bridges between the known and the unknown. As you dance your dreams into reality, those who can't hear the music may think you a fool. Pay no heed to those who would kill your dreams, small minds always do that. Great minds will encourage you that you can become great too.

Afraid you haven't got what it takes? Then get it! Feed your mind.

There was a dog breeder who had two dogs that raced every weekend. He took bets and always won. One week he'd bet on his black dog, and the black dog would win. The next week he'd bet on the white dog, and folks seeing the black dog win the week before would bet, but this time the white dog would win. Why? One week he'd feed the dog he wanted to win a grand diet, and just give the other dog enough to survive. The dog that was well fed was stronger and would always win the race.

Your mind is the same way, it grows stronger or weaker with what you feed it. The diet of the mind is what gives you the confidence, courage, knowledge, and the direction you need to succeed in your dreams, or keeps you from them. You can build your mind up or tear it down. The choice is yours and you make it every day.

Have you been flying through life looking for the Airport of Happiness?  Happiness is not a destination, it's a way of life. The main ingredients are having something to do, something to love, something to believe in, and something to hope for. And if you really want more than your fair share, then make a habit of random acts of kindness when there's nothing in it for you. This is the stuff of happiness and the bridge to success.
This is how dreams come true.

Here's how you'll know if you've become all you can be: If you're alive, you haven't.

"No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped
possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born."
- Dr. Dale Turner

A Different Kind Of Generosity

When the word 'generosity' is spoken of someone we usually think of a person who shares their time or material goods. We're taught to share as children. We took turns, shared our toys and other things; and often did so begrudgingly because we had to, the big people told us to.

There is another equally important generosity that isn't taught nearly as often, and the world would be a better place if it were. I'm talking about a generosity of spirit.

I think we're all guilty from time to time of acting in a less than generous spirit. Someone cuts us off in traffic and we blast our horn or even flip 'em the bird. Or how about the fast food server who messes up your order -
have you ever whispered to your spouse about how stupid they are?

Having generosity of spirit is simply giving someone a break. I receive email every day asking me how to do this or that. Most people start off with a greeting and often say something nice. But some just write and demand answers without even so much as a hello, thanks, or signature.

No hello, no signature, no thanks in advance. To me, that's pretty rude. My first temptation was to tell them to write back when they learn some manners...

...but then, I remembered to be generous of spirit and pointed them to the instructions on my web site.

Don't get me wrong, I have my moments when I will tell someone where to park their little red wagon, but I feel better about myself when I remember to be generous of spirit.

You will too, it's in our nature.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Circle

An online friend, as good a friend as you can make without actually having met in person, wrote to thank me for helping her dream again. She said she'd given up on hoping for anything better than she already had, and had even begun giving up on life itself. She credited me with reviving her hopes and dreams, and even her will to live.

That's a pretty powerful confession, but honestly, I didn't do anything extraordinary. All I did was encourage her and offer my sincere opinion on her issues. The seed of hope was there all along, I just watered it with a little
encouragement to help it grow.

The point is, words are very powerful. You never know when one tiny thought will take root and grow and make a real difference in someones life. Conversely, you never know when one thoughtless remark will hit a tender spot and cut to the bone. Either can affect someone for years to come.

If there's someone in your life who's helped you through a hard time or helped you grow as a person, take a moment to thank them. It sure makes my day.

Her thank you reminded me how grand it feels to really do some good in someone elses life. It's so easy to get caught up in daily living that we often neglect the truly important matters, like that of nurturing others and our own souls.

So, we've given each other a precious gift. Another goodie of life, passed from friend to friend and back again. It completed a circle, wherein, the good you do comes back to you - sometimes when you least expect it, sometimes when you need it most.

There is a destiny that makes us brothers
None goes his way alone
All that we send into the lives of others
Comes back into our own.
- Markham

Open Minded... Or Mindless?

Being open minded is usually associated with good things - like being fair, unbiased, receptive, amenable, tolerant, etc. All good qualities when used judiciously. Open-mindedness can, however, also be a negative trait.

Allow me to present what the politically correct movement doesn't want you to know. Open-mindedness can be synonymous with cowardice and an inability or unwillingness to form an opinion and/or stand up for what you believe. This can be equally as useless and destructive to the fabric of society as being maliciously opinionated.
It enables dependence and creates apathy and passivity.

Using an extreme example for emphasis sake, while listening to a talk radio program I heard a caller defend a convicted multiple murderer. The murderer had killed an entire family of four in their own home. He didn't know them, they were just in his way.

The caller was hypothesizing what childhood trauma may have caused him to commit this heinous act. She explained how society was to blame. She wondered how 'we' could passjudgment on him (even though he confessed to the crime after he was caught). This is open- mindedness to the extreme, and she was oh, so politically correct.

Throughout her rantings were all the markers of the brainwashed. After she spouted her PC views, she was unable to answer reasonable questions from the host. That's because her opinions were adopted rather than found through her own intellectual processes.

It's clear to me that had she truly thought about it, her own opinion would have been different from her politically correct, open-minded (adopted) opinion.

As John F. Kennedy once said...
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

That's what the pc crowd hopes for, and she was a good student. She followed all the hypocritical pc rules of non- judgementalism toward the criminal, yet managed to assign blame to society, conservatives, the murderers parents - just about everyone except the murderer himself!

Where she failed was in applying her brain to the grim reality of the situation. Had she truly considered how it would be to have her own family killed in her own home by a total stranger, the unstable foundation of her extreme open- mindedness would have eroded.

I say 'unstable' foundation because it can be no other way if you build your house of beliefs on someone else's foundation of thoughts. You can start with someone else's thoughts, but unless you think them through to
your own conclusion, they are not yours and you will draw little strength, faith and comfort from them, especially in times of need.

Being open-minded is still a good quality to strive for, but not at the expense of sacrificing your own brainwork. Criminals must be held accountable. Unfortunately, personal responsibility and accountability have been eroded by soft-hearted, soft-minded movements based in feelings and fantasy instead of reality based thought.  This direction will only increase crime and dependence and decay our society further.

Open-mindedness must be tempered with judgment, discretion, reason, and a willingnessto take positions. The PC movement has convoluted the term 'open-minded' to mean non-judgmental, just as they have prostituted the definition of many words in an attempt to shame people into adopting theirpolitical agenda, or at least keeping their mouth shut and staying out of the way. Being open-minded, to them, means you must agree with them.

Any movement that doesn't allow for individual thought and dissenting opinion is cultism!

Open-mindedness should mean you have the ability and are willing to examine ideas and issues without prejudice in order to form an opinion, or to re-examine your opinion in light of new evidence. It is the doorway that enables us to entertain ideas to form an *enlightened* opinion that we *can* stand up for.

It does not mean you must be a garbage can for any swill someone wants to pour into your head. Being as open- minded as the lady caller, is mental laziness and spineless approval seeking...and that's my considered opinion.

Being open minded is usually associated with good things - like being fair, unbiased, receptive, amenable, tolerant, etc. All good qualities when used judiciously. Open-mindedness can, however, also be a negative trait.

Allow me to present what the politically correct movement doesn't want you to know. Open-mindedness can be synonymous with cowardice and an inability or unwillingness to form an opinion and/or stand up for what you believe. This can be equally as useless and destructive to the fabric of society as being maliciously opinionated.
It enables dependence and creates apathy and passivity.

Using an extreme example for emphasis sake, while listening to a talk radio program I heard a caller defend a convicted multiple murderer. The murderer had killed an entire family of four in their own home. He didn't know them, they were just in his way.

The caller was hypothesizing what childhood trauma may have caused him to commit this heinous act. She explained how society was to blame. She wondered how 'we' could passjudgment on him (even though he confessed to the crime after he was caught). This is open- mindedness to the extreme, and she was oh, so politically correct.

Throughout her rantings were all the markers of the brainwashed. After she spouted her PC views, she was unable to answer reasonable questions from the host. That's because her opinions were adopted rather than found through her own intellectual processes.

It's clear to me that had she truly thought about it, her own opinion would have been different from her politically correct, open-minded (adopted) opinion.

As John F. Kennedy once said...
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

That's what the pc crowd hopes for, and she was a good student. She followed all the hypocritical pc rules of non- judgementalism toward the criminal, yet managed to assign blame to society, conservatives, the murderers parents - just about everyone except the murderer himself!

Where she failed was in applying her brain to the grim reality of the situation. Had she truly considered how it would be to have her own family killed in her own home by a total stranger, the unstable foundation of her extreme open-mindedness would have eroded.

I say 'unstable' foundation because it can be no other way if you build your house of beliefs on someone else's foundation of thoughts. You can start with someone else's thoughts, but unless you think them through to your own conclusion, they are not yours and you will draw little strength, faith and comfort from them, especially in times of need.

Being open-minded is still a good quality to strive for, but not at the expense of sacrificing your own brainwork. Criminals must be held accountable. Unfortunately, personal responsibility and accountability have been eroded by soft-hearted, soft-minded movements based in feelings and fantasy instead of reality based thought.
This direction will only increase crime and dependence and decay our society further.

Open-mindedness must be tempered with judgment, discretion, reason, and a willingness to take positions. The PC movement has convoluted the term 'open-minded' to mean non-judgmental, just as they have prostituted the definition of many words in an attempt to shame people into adopting theirpolitical agenda, or at least keeping their mouth shut and staying out of the way. Being open-minded, to them, means you must agree with them.

Any movement that doesn't allow for individual thought and dissenting opinion is cultism!

Open-mindedness should mean you have the ability and are willing to examine ideas and issues without prejudice in order to form an opinion, or to re-examine your opinion in light of new evidence. It is the doorway that enables us to entertain ideas to form an  *enlightened* opinion that we *can* stand up for.

It does not mean you must be a garbage can for any swill someone wants to pour into your head. Being as open-minded as the lady caller, is mental laziness and spineless approval seeking... and that's my considered opinion.

"In order to keep an open mind, I am trying to avoid learning anything."
- Ashleigh Brilliant