You are probably aware that one dollar is a hundred pennies. Ever imagined how many pennies that actually is? Or seen it? Now imagine ten dollars. That would be a thousand pennies. Whoa. But wait, a hundred dollars is ten thousand pennies. Where would you store ten thousand pennies? I think that would be enough to fill a small closet or something. A thousand dollars though, is a million pennies. A million pennies. Imagine, if you saved a penny every second, you would have sixty every minute, every hour you would save three thousand and six hundred pennies. By the end of one day, you would have saved 86,400 pennies. That is eight hundred and sixty four dollars you saved in one day. In 365 days, a.k.a. one year, you would have saved 315, 360 dollars. In just three years you have 946, 080 dollars in the bank, and should be able to live off a 1% interest dividend every three months. After all, that breaks down to a monthly dividend of 3,153 dollars, and sixty cents. That's twice what I ever made in the military. But what's the point of talking about saving 864 dollars each day, when most of us don't make that much in a month? Because it can be a reminder that each and every penny we drop onto the sidewalk, is another piece of your future retirement. Just think about how many pennies people let fall to the ground. "Oh it is just a penny, no real loss" they think. But if you drop a penny every second, it adds up to 864 dollars you 'dropped' in one day. Nobody would drop that many pennies in one day, I hope, it would be hard to have that many in your pocket to begin with, but the point is the same. You don't have to toss your change to the ground hoping it'll be found by those who need it. You can save it up until you can give it away in such large amounts that it changes lives overnight. Sometimes change is good, especially if provided in large amounts. Sometimes it is good for change to slowly build up until it is no longer needed and can slowly be used up. By the way, I'm not just talking about pennies or quarters when I mention change. Changes in our lives is a lot like the change in our pockets. We can use a few cents a day to change a life slowly, or save it up and pay for a book that will change someone's life overnight. There are so many ways to help others, whether with small change from our pockets, or just a change in our hearts. People can be compared to pennies. One person can change someone else's life, but may not be able to change the world instantly. Instead sometimes change will happen one person after another, like small donations over months that add up until the organization you donate to has enough to keep saving lives for another twelve months. Sometimes whole communities, whole nations will change drastically, within weeks or months, so suddenly the rest of the planet is shaken and has to adjust, or change, over years afterwards. Like a big donation that pays for hundreds of books sent into a foreign country to inspire hope and goodwill in people lost in despair and loneliness.
In the end, save your pennies, or give them to someone else who you know can use them to help others, or send them to me! But don't forget to accept the way your life can change for the better, and the ways you can change lives all around you. Even the smallest stone knocked loose can start an avalanche.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Comments!!
My wife has a quote she loves. We have summed a bible verse, which one I'm not sure anymore, into a phrase we use around here, "steady plodding". I could describe it as basically putting one foot in front of the other, long after you thought about quitting, trusting that sooner or later you'll see that you have, indeed, made progress even though at the moment, and perhaps for many moments before, you felt like you were simply walking in circles. Of course, if you finally realized that you had been walking in circles, the realization itself could serve as the progress you have indeed managed to make, and would prepare you to do something else, say, walk in a square...
Anyways, I've had this site since February (ironically, since before I got my job at a certain gas station I quit working at once before). Now I'm poised to work at a gas station, and take classes in college working on my computer engineering degree. It's been nearly half a year, or perhaps it has been half a year since I've been leaving little 'encouraging' thoughts online here, and finally, today, I got online to find that my work has indeed left an impression upon, well, at least two people. That's wonderful news! I think my wife would agree that indeed, though for half a year or so it would have appeared that even though I mentioned this site to different people here and there, nobody saw it, or indeed, had nothing special to say about it to the creator. I'm one of those people who if I see something I like, I want to tell the people who had a hand in making it happen, or building it, or whatever. I wish I had a bank account large enough I could reward people I think are doing a good job. Perhaps in the future. Speaking of which, it is long overdue for me to get another set of Golden Fuzion coins to share with the world locally.
Steady plodding makes me think of the very first post I made. Never Give Up. Sometimes even when we see nothing happening, it doesn't mean we are not getting something done, it just means that perhaps the effects are too small to notice at first, and that given enough time, we just might see a little magic. That should encourage us to keep plodding, and look forward to seeing even more magic later! I hope all of your ventures will grow great and mighty, and that your life will become more and more what you hope and dream it will be.
Anyways, I've had this site since February (ironically, since before I got my job at a certain gas station I quit working at once before). Now I'm poised to work at a gas station, and take classes in college working on my computer engineering degree. It's been nearly half a year, or perhaps it has been half a year since I've been leaving little 'encouraging' thoughts online here, and finally, today, I got online to find that my work has indeed left an impression upon, well, at least two people. That's wonderful news! I think my wife would agree that indeed, though for half a year or so it would have appeared that even though I mentioned this site to different people here and there, nobody saw it, or indeed, had nothing special to say about it to the creator. I'm one of those people who if I see something I like, I want to tell the people who had a hand in making it happen, or building it, or whatever. I wish I had a bank account large enough I could reward people I think are doing a good job. Perhaps in the future. Speaking of which, it is long overdue for me to get another set of Golden Fuzion coins to share with the world locally.
Steady plodding makes me think of the very first post I made. Never Give Up. Sometimes even when we see nothing happening, it doesn't mean we are not getting something done, it just means that perhaps the effects are too small to notice at first, and that given enough time, we just might see a little magic. That should encourage us to keep plodding, and look forward to seeing even more magic later! I hope all of your ventures will grow great and mighty, and that your life will become more and more what you hope and dream it will be.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Where do you draw the line?
Where do you draw the line? I'm sure you have done something that you wish you had not, something you probably still do. Something that if only you had never started, you could imagine that even now you would not have begun to do it. But now you are stuck. You try and try and try to quit but find yourself finding one reason after another to do it again. You should have drawn the line back then, you should have told yourself that you simply would not, and could not cross that line, and that was the end of it. It would have been. Once you thought about drawing a line, then decided to cross your invisible line, you were set down a path you would struggle to find a way off of for your lifetime.
But how many others are there who have so many other lines they have yet to cross? Where do you draw the line? Where do you stop crossing lines that you never crossed before? When does your desire to do something or another take a back seat to what you know you will regret forever?
If you ever come across an invisible line, one you haven't crossed yet, or maybe even drawn across the sand yet, do yourself a favor. Learn this one lesson before you pay the tuition for the rest of your life. Don't cross it. Choose to never cross it. Not even once, not for a second. Because there is no taking it back. There is no way to ever go back and know for sure that you didn't cross the line once, not once. Not unless you never crossed it that first time.
This alone could be one of the greatest lessons in life.
Last night someone ruined my expectations of them. My respect, my ideals about their honor, their worth as a human. They ruined it pretty well. They ruined it for two beers. And five dollars. They lied, and cheated, and stole from me for five dollars and two beers. This will be recorded within the consciousness of all humankind and all beings greater than us who watch us daily. It will be forever known that this person treated another person as worthless, or at least, as worth less than two beers, and five dollars. Would you want to be the person who did that? Or the person who was treated like that? In the end, when all the universe knows about this, will it be worth those two beers, and five dollars to have disrespected a fellow being of this universe? Will it be worth it? But what are the odds he crossed this line long ago? Will he stop at two beers and five dollars? Or is this just the beginning? If he lied and cheated and stole for five dollars and two beers, what next? Will he rape? Will he kill for five dollars and two beers? Where and when will it end? Where will he draw the line? Or is it already too late, already over? Obviously two beers and five dollars are not enough for me to lie, cheat and steal for. No, I'd have to lie, cheat, and steal for much, much more. If I'm going to lie, cheat and steal, its for the big money. Like a thousand trillion dollars. But how many people will I lie to? How many people will I cheat? How many people will I steal from? In the end, everyone I meet, and most importantly my first victim, myself.
But how many others are there who have so many other lines they have yet to cross? Where do you draw the line? Where do you stop crossing lines that you never crossed before? When does your desire to do something or another take a back seat to what you know you will regret forever?
If you ever come across an invisible line, one you haven't crossed yet, or maybe even drawn across the sand yet, do yourself a favor. Learn this one lesson before you pay the tuition for the rest of your life. Don't cross it. Choose to never cross it. Not even once, not for a second. Because there is no taking it back. There is no way to ever go back and know for sure that you didn't cross the line once, not once. Not unless you never crossed it that first time.
This alone could be one of the greatest lessons in life.
Last night someone ruined my expectations of them. My respect, my ideals about their honor, their worth as a human. They ruined it pretty well. They ruined it for two beers. And five dollars. They lied, and cheated, and stole from me for five dollars and two beers. This will be recorded within the consciousness of all humankind and all beings greater than us who watch us daily. It will be forever known that this person treated another person as worthless, or at least, as worth less than two beers, and five dollars. Would you want to be the person who did that? Or the person who was treated like that? In the end, when all the universe knows about this, will it be worth those two beers, and five dollars to have disrespected a fellow being of this universe? Will it be worth it? But what are the odds he crossed this line long ago? Will he stop at two beers and five dollars? Or is this just the beginning? If he lied and cheated and stole for five dollars and two beers, what next? Will he rape? Will he kill for five dollars and two beers? Where and when will it end? Where will he draw the line? Or is it already too late, already over? Obviously two beers and five dollars are not enough for me to lie, cheat and steal for. No, I'd have to lie, cheat, and steal for much, much more. If I'm going to lie, cheat and steal, its for the big money. Like a thousand trillion dollars. But how many people will I lie to? How many people will I cheat? How many people will I steal from? In the end, everyone I meet, and most importantly my first victim, myself.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Power Converters
If you look hard enough, you can find information to confirm just about anything... whether or not it is actually true may be one of those finer mysteries to life we'll have to wait until life continues somewhere else though.
Still, all in all, I've found to my delight that some of my 'cute ideas' I have tried to share with my wife may have more fact in them, than fiction.
Namely this idea, that you can transform your energy body (the whole thing, which I tend to call a soul, made up of the astral, causal, physical, emotional, and whatever other 'bodies' we have and are) into a 'power converter' of sorts.
What does that mean? It means you can train yourself a little every day to develop your soul to absorb any and all energy, converting it to 'positive energy' or energy you can use to uplift and refresh yourself and others. Instead of seeking out people who you enjoy being around because they seem to have a very 'positive' effect on you, you can turn into one of these people.
Earlier tonight I found a website which in a sense confirmed that my idea could be a very real possibility. It was all about centering, grounding, and shielding your soul, including cleansing your aura. One of the things it mentioned to cleanse the aura is to imagine a violet flame all around you. Violet as the 'highest' of the colors they said has the ability to transform (or convert) lower energies to higher energies ( to me that means that it could transform negative energies to positive energies).
So there, amazing things can come out of your mouth that you can only guess how real they truly are, and how much fact lies therein. Listen to yourself, learn for yourself, and be amazed at how much you know before you learn you knew!
After all, deep down inside each of us, is the eternal being connected to the rest of the universe, all of it, the 'temporary' and the eternal. All we have to do is learn how to maintain the best connection to that part of our being, and share what we can know with others who could use the help.
Still, all in all, I've found to my delight that some of my 'cute ideas' I have tried to share with my wife may have more fact in them, than fiction.
Namely this idea, that you can transform your energy body (the whole thing, which I tend to call a soul, made up of the astral, causal, physical, emotional, and whatever other 'bodies' we have and are) into a 'power converter' of sorts.
What does that mean? It means you can train yourself a little every day to develop your soul to absorb any and all energy, converting it to 'positive energy' or energy you can use to uplift and refresh yourself and others. Instead of seeking out people who you enjoy being around because they seem to have a very 'positive' effect on you, you can turn into one of these people.
Earlier tonight I found a website which in a sense confirmed that my idea could be a very real possibility. It was all about centering, grounding, and shielding your soul, including cleansing your aura. One of the things it mentioned to cleanse the aura is to imagine a violet flame all around you. Violet as the 'highest' of the colors they said has the ability to transform (or convert) lower energies to higher energies ( to me that means that it could transform negative energies to positive energies).
So there, amazing things can come out of your mouth that you can only guess how real they truly are, and how much fact lies therein. Listen to yourself, learn for yourself, and be amazed at how much you know before you learn you knew!
After all, deep down inside each of us, is the eternal being connected to the rest of the universe, all of it, the 'temporary' and the eternal. All we have to do is learn how to maintain the best connection to that part of our being, and share what we can know with others who could use the help.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Finding Eternal Hope in Mortal Life
The greatest adventure is discovering how we could possibly be an eternal spirit-being, or soul, experiencing a mortal life.
The greatest joy and hope is letting go of so much of our fears and doubts about life, because we accept it will be temporary, and limited, but we are neither.
The most wonderful thing to look forward to while alive, is the day we'll wake up, and think, "Wow, what a neat dream that was!" and then find out we lived that dream here, and when it was over, we awoke, and found something greater, better, and somehow, all that this dream seems to be missing.
In the end, our real world is missing so much. So much is left out, so much is lacking, so much is incomplete. That so much is what we left behind, and we often live throughout life complaining that we didn't want to come here, and didn't want to leave all of that behind. Yes we did, who are we kidding? Ourselves, actually. But oh wait, here's the kicker. Yes we left it all. We went camping, leaving our mansion of wonders and joys beyond compare. We came out here, set camp, in the swamp, during the rainy season, fighting mosquitos and slowly starving because the fish don't bite when it rains. We not only came down here, we volunteered. Still, like they say, this little adventure will leave us with a deeper appreciation of all we left, when we get back. So suck it up, grit your teeth, and bear it out. Fight for your right to stay as long as you can, and endure all you can. After all, whether four years, or forty, or four hundred, as far as we can tell, it will eventually come to an end. Nobody has survived on this side of the 'veil'. Everyone who 'survived' and 'beat death' actually went to the other side, just like we will. They may not have had to suffer during that transformation, and for many of us, we may not have to suffer either. But in the end, they all went to the same place, where we'll go. Of course, some of us will come back, or perhaps go somewhere else, not earth but some place similar, to learn other lessons about how much we are capable of doing, and enduring. In the end though, the story is basically the same. We are prodigal sons, down here in the slums of the city, trying to have a good time and all the time missing our father's house. But in the end, let's not get too caught up in the end of the story. We won't enjoy returning home, until we run completely out of our personal 'inheritance' while away from home. Even then we should try to make the best of a bad situation. Look for work, try to find a job that pays the bills, and lets you eat without having to steal food from the company. After all, what we always can use more of, is different perspectives. Alternative ways to look at every situation. Only when we see them all, are we ready to move on to the next situation. Of course, eventually, when we tire of this game, and those watching over us know we won't learn any more from it, will we be reminded this isn't our home. Although for some of us, me included, I'm here to play this game to the end, and only after I see the clouds spell "game over" will I know it's time to shut everything down, and return to the 'real world'. Of course, I know its a game. That's part of what makes it funner for me, and it gives me hope that no matter what happens, it'll work out all right.
So here's to the Eternal, the Hope of all men, that we are more than mere mortals, but eternal souls having a 'mortal moment'. May we all wake up to realize we certainly put ourselves into the game, and won all the eternal treasures we deserve. Although, I'm sure many of us wish we could win a few more to enjoy here, before it's over!
The greatest joy and hope is letting go of so much of our fears and doubts about life, because we accept it will be temporary, and limited, but we are neither.
The most wonderful thing to look forward to while alive, is the day we'll wake up, and think, "Wow, what a neat dream that was!" and then find out we lived that dream here, and when it was over, we awoke, and found something greater, better, and somehow, all that this dream seems to be missing.
In the end, our real world is missing so much. So much is left out, so much is lacking, so much is incomplete. That so much is what we left behind, and we often live throughout life complaining that we didn't want to come here, and didn't want to leave all of that behind. Yes we did, who are we kidding? Ourselves, actually. But oh wait, here's the kicker. Yes we left it all. We went camping, leaving our mansion of wonders and joys beyond compare. We came out here, set camp, in the swamp, during the rainy season, fighting mosquitos and slowly starving because the fish don't bite when it rains. We not only came down here, we volunteered. Still, like they say, this little adventure will leave us with a deeper appreciation of all we left, when we get back. So suck it up, grit your teeth, and bear it out. Fight for your right to stay as long as you can, and endure all you can. After all, whether four years, or forty, or four hundred, as far as we can tell, it will eventually come to an end. Nobody has survived on this side of the 'veil'. Everyone who 'survived' and 'beat death' actually went to the other side, just like we will. They may not have had to suffer during that transformation, and for many of us, we may not have to suffer either. But in the end, they all went to the same place, where we'll go. Of course, some of us will come back, or perhaps go somewhere else, not earth but some place similar, to learn other lessons about how much we are capable of doing, and enduring. In the end though, the story is basically the same. We are prodigal sons, down here in the slums of the city, trying to have a good time and all the time missing our father's house. But in the end, let's not get too caught up in the end of the story. We won't enjoy returning home, until we run completely out of our personal 'inheritance' while away from home. Even then we should try to make the best of a bad situation. Look for work, try to find a job that pays the bills, and lets you eat without having to steal food from the company. After all, what we always can use more of, is different perspectives. Alternative ways to look at every situation. Only when we see them all, are we ready to move on to the next situation. Of course, eventually, when we tire of this game, and those watching over us know we won't learn any more from it, will we be reminded this isn't our home. Although for some of us, me included, I'm here to play this game to the end, and only after I see the clouds spell "game over" will I know it's time to shut everything down, and return to the 'real world'. Of course, I know its a game. That's part of what makes it funner for me, and it gives me hope that no matter what happens, it'll work out all right.
So here's to the Eternal, the Hope of all men, that we are more than mere mortals, but eternal souls having a 'mortal moment'. May we all wake up to realize we certainly put ourselves into the game, and won all the eternal treasures we deserve. Although, I'm sure many of us wish we could win a few more to enjoy here, before it's over!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Transformation
I've been reading a lot lately. Many good books. Many books that I believe are a part of me, just like the rest of the universe. These books are already deep down inside of me, and as I read them, I am only reminding myself of what I am capable of. If that doesn't make sense, then let me apologize. It hardly makes sense to me. But it is going to work.
I'm reading these books so I can let myself accept the truth. The basic truth that everything is made of energy, that this energy is basically eternal, universal, and infinite. That I am made of this energy, and through this energy, I am connected to everything eternal, universal, and infinite.
The next step after accepting this, is beginning to live it, and see it change everything in my life. I have to live like I'm connected to this computer, and the trees outside, and the fire my wife wants me to build when I post this. In the end, I plan to fly like an eagle, soaring through the sky, carried on wings of light, or another word for light, energy. I plan to age like a tree, for five hundred years, then reverse the process and grow young over the next five hundred years. Then I'll be '40', but physically I plan to stay about 30.
I believe that we can all be super-human. I believe we can be eternal humans in an eternal body. I believe the only thing holding us back is ourselves, and thousands of years of telling ourselves either "never" or "not yet". But why would we do that? Or, what are we waiting for?
I'm reading these books so I can let myself accept the truth. The basic truth that everything is made of energy, that this energy is basically eternal, universal, and infinite. That I am made of this energy, and through this energy, I am connected to everything eternal, universal, and infinite.
The next step after accepting this, is beginning to live it, and see it change everything in my life. I have to live like I'm connected to this computer, and the trees outside, and the fire my wife wants me to build when I post this. In the end, I plan to fly like an eagle, soaring through the sky, carried on wings of light, or another word for light, energy. I plan to age like a tree, for five hundred years, then reverse the process and grow young over the next five hundred years. Then I'll be '40', but physically I plan to stay about 30.
I believe that we can all be super-human. I believe we can be eternal humans in an eternal body. I believe the only thing holding us back is ourselves, and thousands of years of telling ourselves either "never" or "not yet". But why would we do that? Or, what are we waiting for?
Monday, April 7, 2008
friends online
Recently, my efforts to share my time online with others has produced a growing group of friends on myspace. People I have actually never met, who still have heard pieces of my mind, and decided to be friends. I don't know how many of them have seen my blog here, which I mention to just about anybody sooner or later, but to all of them I want to say Thank You.
Thank you for reading, thank you for chatting, thank you for giving me hope that the things I do online do impact lives, and can do more good than they may seem to do at first. I hope you all will also remember that, and thank those who help you through anything you go through.
I also want to thank family and friends new and old for their time, energy, and whatever else they have given to me over the years or days, those especially who I face everyday or less than once a month. Thanks to each of you.
Today's thought for eternal hope is this: Life is most enjoyable with people who you can trust and enjoy it with. But you have to believe you can be someone people will trust and enjoy life with and believe they can be too. Not everyone will be trustworthy, or truly enjoyable, but like any diamond among coal, finding even one true and enjoyable person to spend your lifetime with is a part of life you will want to keep forever. In fact, I'm certain that all of my friends and family are worth a Thousand Trillion Dollars each. If only I could give them their worth. But I might have to give them their worth in Golden Fuzion Coins...
Thank you for reading, thank you for chatting, thank you for giving me hope that the things I do online do impact lives, and can do more good than they may seem to do at first. I hope you all will also remember that, and thank those who help you through anything you go through.
I also want to thank family and friends new and old for their time, energy, and whatever else they have given to me over the years or days, those especially who I face everyday or less than once a month. Thanks to each of you.
Today's thought for eternal hope is this: Life is most enjoyable with people who you can trust and enjoy it with. But you have to believe you can be someone people will trust and enjoy life with and believe they can be too. Not everyone will be trustworthy, or truly enjoyable, but like any diamond among coal, finding even one true and enjoyable person to spend your lifetime with is a part of life you will want to keep forever. In fact, I'm certain that all of my friends and family are worth a Thousand Trillion Dollars each. If only I could give them their worth. But I might have to give them their worth in Golden Fuzion Coins...
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