Pergo

So I was reading an article in the paper, and it was on about how we ought to build on our strengths and focus on those rather than our weaknesses in order to get through the daily grind. And I agree fully, I think that mankind should try and reach it's fullest potential. However it quoted a book written by Tom Rath and there was a statement in there that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Tom Rath said "You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a lot more of who you already are."

You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a lot more of who you already are.

Let that sink in a moment. Now he does have a valid point, instead of trying to force ourselves to do something that we're not very good at, we are much more productive at playing to our strengths, and I agree in the most basic sense of the phrase. Sure we can be more productive, but that also creates complacency, boredom, and stagnation if you're simply stuck in one thing. Where's the spice of life? The Adventure of Risk? I can see his perspective, especially coming from the Boy Scouts. When I was first made a Senior Patrol Leader in my community troop it was because I had developed those skills at a younger age, and my father was a great leader as well so I took from his example. A person might have suggested that I was a natural born leader but I disagree, I developed those skills through my upbringing. Regardless, as an SPL I was tasked with asking the boys to perform certain duties we had in the troop, especially during camps. One specific outing that comes to mind was our trip to the National Jamboree in 05. And when I made the assignments for my senior staff, I played to their strengths. Andrew was extremely organized and fantastic at keeping files together for one thing or another, so I appointed him as my Scribe. Stephan was similarly very organized and resourceful so I asked him to be my Quartermaster. Andy, while we disagreed a great deal on leadership styles, was very amiable and could reach people differently, and after a manner represented half the troop we were contingent with, since half of us were from different districts. And we ran like clockwork, because everybody played their strengths and did it well.

So yes there is wisdom in that.

Let me draw another example for you. I'm not an athletic person, ask anyone what knows me. I hike and enjoy the outdoors sure, but I'm no sports jockey by any means. So when I wanted to longboard because I wanted to snowboard because I thought it was cool and I was living in the Rockys, I was breaking VASTLY new ground. I had never done anything like it before in my life! But I wanted it so I went out and did it, and it was difficult. I spent the first week just practicing balance and mounting the board, nevermind taking it out at all and riding it proper. After I thought I had a handle on the situation, I tried coasting down the driveway into the street, and the minute I hit curb I was tasting asphalt. I took it easy and it took months. I started doing long stretches on sidewalks, not knowing that was actually step 3, I was supposed to try it in parking lots first since they're much smoother. That was where I went to post-sidewalks so I could practice carving and dismounting and whatnot. When it became too cold to board anymore I was happy with my progress. I changed something about myself, and it started with desire.

Now Tom definitely could say, "Well that's easy, obviously you have a naturally well developed center of gravity, and you're a natural longboarder, it's in your blood."

But I simply don't agree with that. You can't be whomever you want, WITHOUT DESIRE. That's the key, not this stagnant and non-progressive school of thought that tells us we don't have to change or improve. We're so complacent in the thought that we should just accept ourselves. While we should be happy with ourselves, don't get me wrong, we should always want to stretch ourselves too. Go out and do something you didn't think you could do. Another example, my hands are really small for being a tall dude, and it's really uncomfortable trying to learn the guitar. I do it anyway. Because I want it. If I wanted to be an astronaut, I could. Desire is your key, not acceptance. Because complete acceptance is simply a form of defeat, submission, surrender. It limits us because it gives us the sense that we cannot be anything more than we already are.

Ask yourself why the powers that be might want that of the lowly folk.

Operator Out

I Love My Sisters

Living in Utah has made me privy to some ideologies that make me nuts. Maybe that's the wrong word, but I don't want to call them heresies either because that's a bit harsh. Here's my qualms.

I'm tired of women being blamed for the wrong deeds of menfolk. Lately there's talk of the reasons why men take advantage of women and it being because of their apparel. Friends of mine that are women roll their eyes each time they're asked what they learned in Relief Society on the first Sunday of each school semester, because consistently, every year, Bishops and other priesthood leaders make it a habit of warning them to dress modestly because otherwise they are distracting to the men and cause them to have inappropriate thoughts. Two reasons why you should never listen to this fallacy. Number one, God has never said this is why he likes it when women are modest and chaste. He said it in the scriptures Jacob 2:28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.

In fact this entire time Jacob is yelling at the menfolk for acting like prepubescent teenagers without a single braincell because they're breaking the tender hearts of their wives.

Additionally this makes menfolk to look like nothing but sex crazed rage beasts! That we don't have deeper thoughts that what's under a shirt, so women better wear an iron maiden and a turtleneck for good measure because you don't want to give men the wrong idea.

Now certain prophets and apostles have mentioned that this is an added benefit of chaste and modest women being it helps the men, but instead members of the church have this infuriating habit of taking a few words and making it doctrine. It's like when my sister was being taught in Young Womens, over and over and over again, get married in the temple at all costs, that's what you want, get married in the temple. Instead it should be BE WORTHY to get married in the temple, be READY to get married in the temple, but you have people going in that ought not to and then after their married never go back!

Here's my humble opinion. Women should be chaste and modest not because men are pigs, but because it makes God happy. And if there's anyone that you should care about is happy, it's Him. If you upset the whole world, it matters little if you've at least made God happy, because frankly only He matters.

Now men, stop being pigs. And I mean this in the sense that some of us say, "Well I can't help it, it's in my nature." Yknow I'm tired of our society perpetuating a culture of acceptance in the sense that we simply let things go for that same excuse, 'I can't change who I am and I should be proud of who I am.' The natural man is an enemy to God, and that's the laziest excuse I've ever heard. What you're giving is a thoughtless cop-out to allow yourself to be whatever you want regardless of how damaging it is around you. Whatever you naturally are is found when you're living to your fullest potential. And what's worse about this lie of "I can't change who I am," is people around you start to believe it because it's easier to rationalize than be hurt. I had a woman whom I was very good friends with tell me she doesn't blame her husband for leaving her and her kid. "It's the natural order of things, the male of a species is supposed to procreate as much as possible, it's a survival tactic, and he can't do that if he's tied down. I have no shame in that." I gagged. Maybe it was a survival tactic when we were still classified as Afarensis! Before we had cogent sentient thought and feelings and emotions. What is wrong with a world that's ok with zero accountability and complete and total acceptance of everything, for good or ill? You're talking about entropy and I believe in a higher power than that.

Ok I'm done ranting. But sisters try and see my point of view. Be modest because it pleases God. He's told us that much. Not because of what menfolk may think if you dress otherwise. And menfolk, stop blaming your carnal urges on womenfolk and how they dress. It's called read a book. Do some pushups. Meditate, something that will get your mind off it, and you'll be a better man for it.

Operator Out.

We hate haitus..es..ies? Haiti? No that's a place. We like Haiti.

It's been almost a year since I last wrote. Shame that, since I've written a gripload of things in my journals and whatnot. Though nothing's happened since I last talked to you in March. Absolutely jack. Yeah I wouldn't buy that either, but I'm not going to regale you with tales of my triumphs over the krakens and giants of our day. Instead I'm going to try and entertain you. Because who want's to hear the boring drivel of a twenty something who's mildly miserable yet rioting at life? IT'S CALLED FREAKIN LIFE.

 Aiight (which is the proper spelling, just so we're clear) so you right now currently have something in your possession, an object, that is near and dear to your heart. Why is that? Right now on my keyring I carry a blue carabiner, which if you don't know what that is, then we don't deserve to be friends. Seriously, GET OFF MY FOLLOWERS LIST. Actually I'll tell you, it's a little clip that climbers use regularly to attach things to themselves like rope, a harness, other climbers, more rope, their chalk bag which helps reduce moisture in their hands, and rope. Like a frak ton of rope. You can get them in every truck stop if you look hard enough, and while you're at it get a Slim Jim.

So this carabiner I got while on an adventure and it was what carried my Nalgene bottle at my side so it was easy to access. Iteresting that adventure was because drinking water became as natural as breathing, it was just part of how you moved and thought. So afterwards I used the clip to carry random things on my backpack during my mission. That makes this carabiner almost a decade old. After the mission I landed a job I didn't deserve at a credit union and it carried my vault keys, because I was constantly forgetting them. Same thing at a bank I worked at back home, and now again at a new credit union I'm working at. And I look at this crummy thing, the paint's almost gone, should've broken by now, but the spring is as tight as it was the first day, and I think, I'd be really sad if this thing broke.

WHY? And I had more thoughts. We place emotional value in everything around us. Well maybe not everything, but we personify and anthropomorphize (YES THAT WAS IN MY IMMEDIATE VOCABULARY STICK THAT IN YOUR JUICE BOX AND SUCK IT) a lot of our everyday objects that if damaged, lost, or stolen elicit an emotional response.

My brief stint in an Anthropology course taught me a piece of the puzzle. Perhaps it's because we're extremely social creatures and can't stand to be alone. That when human interaction is stifled by one reason or another, we place emotional value in something around us that is stable and constant. It's been proven that we need interaction, but I found that interesting, that it could be the source of our best friends, the everyday objects that mean something to us and no one else.

Food for thought!

Since we're on the topic of anthropology, there was something else that caught my eye, there was an article about a city or town or neighborhood that was seeing increased crime in areas where children lacked a paternal figure in a family social circle. And I thought, well yeah, there's no competition, of course the upstarts are going to try and usurp authority to create an idyllic environment their minds have cooked up, pieced together by their desires. Additionally the lack of training from a wiser and older leader creates an entropic youth. Where's my proof for the hypothesis? Look at your teenage years, I don't know about you but it was freakin chaos for me. Without a guiding figure, which don't get me wrong my father is much more to me than simply a figure head, I would have been lost in the foray of finding one's self. Give your old man a hug, is all I'm suggesting.

Aiight Operator Out.