Lessons learned?

Global nuclear war, the hole in the ozone layer, global warming, three ways that the human race has created the potential to have or actually had an extremely detrimental effect on the planet and subsequently, our own ability to exist. Are there more? It seems to me that while it is clear to us that we have the power to significantly alter the world to our own detriment, we fail to recognize the fact that we have to begin at some point to understand at all times the effect we are having.

I suppose that it is easy to simply argue that we can not be expected to walk on eggshells regarding progress or development in fear that we might be hurting our environment. But I'm not talking about walking around on eggshells and putting an end to or significantly stalling progress, I'm talking about developing our awareness of the things we take for granted and the effect we have on them. And I think that we will find greater progress through understanding the things we have to gain from this awareness and all of the many resources that are available to us and will continue to be available to us if we take care of them.

Interestingly or ironically, it seems to me that the answer lies with the Native American culture our society worked so hard to wipe out. The answer lies in their value of and extreme respect for the earth that sustained their lives. That is clearly not the only source, but I think its an important one.

Inside a flower its beauty grows
and when it blooms, its beauty shows.

The best teachers also learn and the best learners also teach.

Assholes and Angels

The first thing you should know is that everyone in this world is an asshole. Right now you should get over any idea you might have to the contrary. Everyone is an asshole, and that is okay. And this does include you. Now, everyone shows their asshole in a different way or in many different ways. Some of us are bigger assholes and show it in more ways than others. And all of that is okay. To a degree.

And just as everyone is an asshole, everyone is also a compassionate, caring, heroic person. Please note that this also includes you. So, while you are getting upset at the idea of everyone’s asshole, stop yourself and think for a bit about everyone’s heroic, caring side and begin to realize a very helpful fact: While a great many people wander around being one or the other all of the time, you get to choose which acts you allow to affect you. And not only that, you get to choose how they affect you. You can choose to focus on the good acts and in effect will be choosing to collect in your memory a set of good to great acts that will make you feel good about where you have been and what you have seen. This does not mean that you have to be blind to the negative things; it just means that you do not have to focus on them. You can see them and at the same time not let them affect you in a negative way.

I think we all have a responsibility to do something good when we see something bad Given that we have a chance to help. On a rare occasion this may mean that we have to be heroic. Here we need to make sure that we do in fact have the resources necessary to help, i.e. we need to make sure that we can help without hurting more. This includes ourselves, we don’t want to get ourselves hurt very badly while solving a simple problem. Be careful and good luck. I will let you debate whether or not this is a responsibility or an opportunity.

Knowing that everyone is an asshole and assuming that it is okay do a degree, you have to agree that it is okay for you to be an asshole. To a degree. It is okay for you to be an asshole on occasion simply because you are not omniscient and subsequently can not be expected to know every second of every day whether or not you are being an asshole. This is not to say that you at times will be perfectly aware of the fact that you are being an asshole. At those times you have a responsibility to stop being one and start being good. This will often involve apologizing depending on how much damage you have done while being an asshole.

There will also be times when you are not aware that you are being an asshole but others are and are willing and able to point it out to you. For this you should thank them, because they have given you an opportunity to do something good. Now, if someone believes that you are being an asshole and tells you about it, but you are unable to see it, lets hope that if they are right you will eventually be able to see it. If they do tell you about it and you see it and agree but do not subsequently do something good, please know that makes you an extreme asshole. That is very bad. If you find that a people are often letting you know that you are being an asshole, please try to learn to recognize it yourself and then subsequently spend more of your time doing good things.

Sometimes you may be told by someone that you are being an asshole when you really are not, but they are unhappy or just being negative themselves. Also, at times you may think that you are being an asshole when you really are not. In either of these cases, it does not hurt to get a second opinion. Ask someone you trust to help you understand whether or not you are being an asshole.

To sum up, acknowledge that you will sometimes be an asshole and that you will also sometimes be a caring, compassionate, heroic person. You have a choice regarding whether or not you focus on good or bad things, and you can see bad things without focusing on them to a point where they affect you negatively. When you see bad things and are given the chance, you have either a responsibility or an opportunity to do something good. This may mean heroics. Be careful. You also have a responsibility to be aware of and control your own asshole and to act accordingly when someone is able to make you realize that you are being an asshole. You have a choice. Choose to focus on good things and choose to be good. If you can do this, you will do very well with most aspects of life.