Consider this...

I came across this quote from Thomas S. Monson: "The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it." This quote got me thinking, as of course a quote is supposed to. I began to look at my own existence, and question if I have lived it's meaning, because Star War's Qui Gon Jinn said something very similar:  "Be mindful of the living force, my young padawan, but not at the expense of the moment."  Of course, there is also YOLO, which stands for You Only Live Once.  So I looked at everything and wondered if I met the requirements. What I found in my life is that I do not I spend too much time analyzing the past events that I have done. I do this so that I can discover the mistakes that I made in my childhood, that my parents made in their lives, mistakes that my friends and mentors have made, et cetera. I as I look at this, I realize that I am only meeting two parts of this. I am learning fro...

Have you heard of the new hot play out on Broadway called "Alexander Hamilton?" If not, you should at least look into it. I was recently listening to some of the songs in the play, and one that caught my attention one fine afternoon as I was driving was the following one: What made this one song stick out to me is because I don't remember ever reading or hearing George Washington's farewell address. So, I went looking and found the actual address. I read it. What was interesting about the address was that it was less like a farewell and more like a letter from dad to the kids. Allow me to give you a quick and dirty summary, as I understood it. The first thing that George mentions is that the relationship between the North and the South is a delicate relationship that is also deeply rooted in the dependence that each has on the other. Basically the role of the North in relation to the South was to provide the industry that the South needed to sustain and advan...

When I got home from work tonight, which was 7/10/2016 at 10:30 pm Mountain Time, my original intention was to close the chapter on the day and prepare for bed. I have this routine that I try to do every night, in which I complete the normal nightly things, like brush my teeth and whatnot. I also stretch out my back to align it and change its direction, then I plan the next day. Instead, something else happened. I stepped into the shower, preparing to do the things you do when you are in the shower, as well as meditate to relax my mind from the trials and tribulations of the day. As I crossed the thresh hold of the shower, It was as though I had crossed the plane of a waterfall. Thoughts rushed into my mind about the things that have happened this passed week, like swirls and rapids rush down the fleeing river looking for lower ground to rest. Time stood still in my mind, even though it continued to flow from now into the future around me. And as each thought entered my mind I could ...

When my daughter was 5 years old, we had a discussion on power while we were heading to school. This was another chapter in a normal exchange between us, where she would ask me deep question about the world and life in general, and I would do my best explaining to her a view that could be as objective as possible. Sometimes my views were more subjective than objective, depending on the subject that we were talking about. On this particular day, it required a holistic approach, or at least the best that I could give.  The conversation started out with questions related to government. Admittedly, I have slept a few times since then, so I cannot say that I remember the conversation completely. What I do remember was that the conversation took a turn toward what power can do to people. I remember telling my daughter that great old phrase from Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility." My daughter didn't quite understand it, so I explained it.  I said, ...

There was a video recently posted of a man who went to two rallies wearing a sign that said, "Free Hugs." If you haven't seen it yet on Facebook or YouTube, take a look below: So....why the different responses? What made this happen? Consider this... First of all, I am not saying anything specific about the candidates in this blog post. Well, as much as I can that is. My opinion about the candidates really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. You can request it if you are curious in the comments. With that out of the way, let us consider a few things.  The first and probably the most obvious thing to consider is that there are a ton of variables to name here. Variables like location, temperament, time of day, individual belief systems, personal histories, location histories, just to name a few. Keeping this in mind, I don't think you want to read an in depth study that would cover all of the possible social and psychological eleme...

One day a few weeks ago, I woke up in sheer terror. I had experienced what it was like to die. It was one of the most vivid dreams I had ever had in my life. The specific events of the dream apparently were not of grave importance, for I do not remember them as vividly as I do the events of other dreams. However, the feeling that I was left with upon the waking hour was important. I was supposed to learn a lesson here, and I think the message was received. Loud and clear.  Let me do my best to share this with you... In the dream, I lived in a house that looked similar to a childhood home from when I was in the last elementary school that I would ever attend. On the outside, it looked just like my current house (side thought: I wondered if it was maybe a T.A.R.D.I.S. at first since my current home is quite a bit smaller). I had just found out that I was terminally ill, and did not have very long to live. I do not believe that I had shared this with my family as of yet, beca...

Just before Spring Break, I had the chance to teach a subject to kids in my daughter's class. The subject was poetry, and we went over some of the more popular ones that they teach to that grade, or at least was popular when I was in school that is. Being in front of students and helping them learn something new was, for me, an exhilarating experience. Seeing the wheels turn to come up with something new and poetic gave me a sort of high. I left there after spending that time with a smile on my face, realizing that I definitely would have enjoyed doing just that if I was in a position to finish my degree. I bet some of you are scratching your head and asking yourself, “Wait…. What does he mean ‘if I was in a position to finish my degree’?” That is a subject for another time. The point is, I was very happy to do that, and I wanted to do more. Heck, it is part of the reason that I began these blogs. I wanted to get people to learn something new about themselves and the worl...