The thought of becoming homeless to some may be a horrific idea. Most people think that you become homeless from not being able to pay your bills, including your mortgage or rent payment. Some people choose to be homeless for a plethora of reasons. I ask you the question, “What type of homeless person would you be?”

The question is an interesting one. It makes you look at your life and truly think about who you are. I have basically narrowed down homeless people into two unique categories: Urban and Rural. There are the urban homeless people that you interact with, you see on the side of the road, you give a dollar to, etc. There are obviously many types of urban homeless people, but these are the people that choose to live in the streets. Then there are the rural homeless people that you rarely see. These people live in a unique area that is away from people. They enjoy having a simple life, whether it’s living in the trees in a forest or living on a deserted island.

The rural homeless people decide to be nomadic. They live in the trees, build a shelter with what surrounds them. They survive on the fruits of the land that surrounds them. They hunt for their food, find their own fresh water, and travel where the food is. The rural homeless people don’t have a chance to leave their nomadic lifestyle. They don’t worry about money. They don’t need anything artificial nor do they want to live with society.

The urban homeless people decide that they can get their life back in order by panhandling, working day to day, or accepting their life on the street. Being an urban homeless person you live on the streets. You live in a cardboard box, in a homeless shelter or in a very low class apartment. You do have the ability to better your life and save your money and potentially make a name for yourself.

So you decide. Whether you would accept the life in the woods living in a solid shelter, hunting for you own food, and living away from society, or to live on the streets, make ends meet, and hopefully save enough money to get back on your feet.

Now I’m not too sure what the type of homeless person you choose to be and how it relates to your life, but I thought that this was an interesting way to look at what’s important. A stable shelter, stable food, and no social life, or a struggle to survive, having to work extremely hard, and have the potential to get back on your feet. In the end it is your decision.

In life you have defining moments such as, when you get your driver’s license, when you become an adult, when you leave home for the first time, when you have to actually grow up, etc. I have a theory that in life you reinvent yourself depending on your surroundings. The different stages of life bring new dilemmas, new knowledge, and new experiences. With these astounding new additions to your life you create a new you. When you leave high school and go to college or begin the workforce you have the opportunity to create a new you. You have new friends, new daily rituals, and new obligations. The ability to redefine your life is exciting to me.

Think about the ability of being whoever you want to be and having the ability to change your life in a single moment. Becoming whoever you want to be. It’s the same way when you travel. If you go to Las Vegas for a week you can become a high roller in the casinos, live lavishly and eat the best food. You can travel to Europe and become a random tourist in the cast of shadows and fit in with the rest of the English speaking foreigners enjoying the extravagant architecture of Rome and Prague. It’s exciting to have the ability to change who you are just by changing your surroundings.

This theory applies to your everyday life as well. It might not be an eye opening moment that gives you the opportunity to create a “better” life. It might just be that you are tired of living in the status quo. So you meet new friends that have great jobs and are ambitious. You begin to participate in new activities, like sailing and golf. With every new person you meet you have the immediate ability to become the person you actually aspire to be. This brings me to the resounding thought behind this theory, the people that surround you create your life.

If you surround yourself with people that are ambitious and outgoing, you’re going to become that person. If you place yourself in surroundings that have you being a part of illegal behavior and crime; you will be submerged into that same lifestyle. However, I always believe you have the ability to relinquish yourself from that lifestyle with one single moment, meeting the person you want to be. You have the ability to reinvent yourself at will, just by meeting a new person who you aspire to be.

The point of this is to look at your life and decide whether you’re content on what you have created, and if so keep doing what you are doing. If you’re not happy, reinvent yourself.

Reflecting back on an influential time in my life, I remember a speaker that came to talk about the pursuit of happiness and where it begins. Developing your definition of happiness, I believe starts with identifying your passion in life. There is a common statement in our society that one should do what they are delighted doing, that is determining what your passion is.

Growing up you have your dreams, you might want to be a doctor or an engineer, but these are dreams that you feel at a young age will make you happy at the time. When you grow older, you establish a calling that you understand may be the best for yourself to accomplish. This might happen as you being a teacher or a physicist because you feel that you are good at those industries. I believe you should work or have an occupation that truly makes you happy. One thing that I am passionate about, just for an example, is developing people as leaders. I had no idea when I was a teenager that this idea makes me content, but it does. Witnessing the development of an individual’s character and ability to guide others impacts my life in a way that makes me so jovial that I want to continue aiding others.

I charge you with the task of ascertaining your passion. Passion is defined as an intense feeling or strong emotion, to many, but I characterize passion through, you guessed it, reason. You have to realize what creates such a strong emotion in yourself to urge you as an individual to persistently continue on accomplishing the same task. Some might say they are passionate about helping people, but what do you want to help people do? Do you want them to become a more intelligent human? Do you want people to be more caring and understanding of people’s emotions? This cognitive process is important in your ability to drive yourself. Your pursuit of happiness must start with the determination of your fervor in life.

The idea of passion is so strong that it is one of the few values in life that should not be driven by a monetary gain, but by the improvement in you. I believe that when an individual is truly accomplishing their passion, they are driven by the infatuation of becoming a better individual. At least, this is my understanding. You learn at a much faster and deeper rate when you are happy; you are happy when you are passionate about what you do. Never allow for your passion to be driven away from you, because someone says it is not financially efficient. Passion should be about you and the individuals you are serving, that is why you work towards your exuberant craze.

Today, I’m going to think out loud about people (myself included) and our inability to just go down a path in our lives without a plan. I try to help my friends with some of their problems or dilemmas in life by saying, “It’s ok. Just roll with it. Just go with the flow.” In a sense, I’m being contradictive to what I actually do in my life, but what I would really like to do is just “wing” things and go with the flow of the river. This action or actually, lack of action is incredibly hard for me and it turns out that many other Americans have the same problem. We can’t make those split second decisions, and we can’t go anywhere without a plan.

Do I really believe that not having a plan is a good idea? At times yes, but for an interesting reason. I have been trying to learn to do this more. I have been attempting to innately make decisions without a plan. This idea is a great form of testing yourself. Testing your judgment skills, and how they have changed since you have been learning new talents, which you should every day of your life. It is an awesome idea that one can train their self to make these split second decisions because of their ability to make accurate cognitive judgments, repeatedly. You form a habit of making intelligent verdicts incessantly, which in turn gives you more confidence to not think so much when encountered with a decision that needs to be made instantly. This is an awesome theory. You don’t need to think because you have thought so much in the past.

Still I have not come to that point. I still think entirely too much (that’s what my friends say). I reason every possible pro and con of any situation, and come to a conclusion based upon these results; however, I theorize that one day, hopefully soon, I will be able to innately make these decisions on a habit forming basis. That would be an awesome time in my life and in yours if you agree with the same idea. The basis of this theory is to get your feet wet. Just give things a try. Don’t be afraid to attempt things without thinking sometimes. Anything you do can be a new experience you will learn something from. You never know about your lack of decision making skills, if you fail to even make a judgment you might miss out on something so important in your life. At minimum, make A decision.

I’m going to leave you with this poem I wrote. I’m not sure if you are going to like it. Let me know.

“Lost”

“At times I’m lost
The other times I’m trying to find my way
I don’t know the direction
I don’t know the way
Guide me to the right lane
The fork in the road is split
But the way is lit
For once I have options
For once I have a plan
But how should I execute such a plan
Maybe investment
Maybe time
Probably in the end, getting my feet wet
Before the river runs dry”

Ever since my senior English class in high school, where I had an anarcho-capitalist as a teacher, I have pondered the meaning of almost everything existing in the world. A huge topic that really does bewilder me is justice. Justice in itself seems so simple, but try to think about justice without punishment. Is it possible? I believe it is. I search books and quotes of individuals to try and pry at their minds in order to establish my own definition of justice. I suggest you do the same.

I have trouble understanding how justice has transformed from a system of repercussionary justice and Hammurabi’s Code to system of harmony and mutual agreements to institutional law. Jeff Melvoin said, “The law is not so much carved in stone as it is written in water, flowing in and out with the tide.” Why is that? Does justice and how people should treat each other in society change with time? It might; I am just unsure of how it can. I think the basis of justice starts with prevention. You must prevent you as a person from harming other individuals and avert any harm coming towards yourself. Your actions will help create a solid form of justice. This type of anticipation can overly cause justice to influence others and become a movement; this idea does not involve punishment.

Who should control justice? Should it be left in the hands of the people or should society as a whole determine what is right and what is wrong? In the past, both have occurred, and both have functioned well. I believe it should be both, there are certain societal understandings that a person learns not to do as a child and throughout their life. Society is there to make sure these laws stay intact through education and learning, but ultimately justice relies on you making the decision between right and wrong. This choice is yours based upon your values, as we discussed, and what you believe in.

Continuing with your beliefs, some understand that religion sets laws and identifies the policies of justice in society. This I believe is on an individual basis wherein your religion teaches you certain policies that your faith tells you to trust in. I do not think this is a fallacy (we’ll discuss faith and reason at a later moment). I contemplate whether or not it should be my decision where a person learns there morals and values from, and that’s not on me to judge. Where ever a person realizes there values from is their decision; their life experiences are different then mine, so we are going to have different learning environments to gain knowledge from.

Finally, I do agree with the thought that justice is a concept of the fair and moral treatment of others, but “others” I mean everyone, in my opinion. I do not agree with treating any individual unfairly (as determined by society) in any situation. I am not going to judge why I should treat someone morally different than I would a family member of mine, that is not my decision to make. My decision is to administer fair and seemingly unbiased behavior towards any human, animal, government, or society. What gives me the power to persecute someone for their actions? Remember, a very important talent in life is to look within before you judge outwards. This idea of negatively treating someone, who might have committed a crime or persecuted you, is not justice, but maltreatment of a common individual like yourself. I guess I would say I believe justice is made by the people, whether this form of justice created is correct or not; it is up to society to rectify their decisions and be conscious of what effect they are having on the future. Justice should not go in and out with the tide, but stay on a course of improvement and towards its goal of perfection.

Let’s step back and take a look in the mirror. Are you the person you want to be? Facetious, don’t answer that. Seriously though, let’s take a glimpse at our mirror images and understand how important self-reflection is. For an individual to know where to go in life, they must first take a deep look inside and understand where they are. Which most of you know, but what I don’t understand is why people are so extremely inquisitive about other people’s flaws and misjudgments. How much easier is it for an individual to pass off judgment of their self towards their neighbor’s errors? Please people look inside yourself and take heed in your own problems and fallacies before you ever judge others.

Sorry for that tangent, I cannot stand when people pass judgment on others. Transitioning from individuals judging others to what you as a person should actually care about when looking inside oneself starts with the mirror. The mirror, as some people know, can be a crutch of superficial wonderment, but in this case it is my saving grace. I have learned throughout my years that there really is only one person to please, and that is the one looking back at you in the mirror. Self-reflection and even writing down what you would like to change in yourself is important to your overall attainment of excellence, or close to it. Excellence, to you, can only be defined by you. You’re the only one that can and should judge your route to your goals in life. The only thing you have to answer to is the image reflecting back in the mirror.

I have been through situations in the past where I have tried to prove myself to everyone that surrounded me; I wanted nothing more than other people to be happy with my actions and thoughts. I was continuously wondering what I could do to appease people. I was happy when others weren’t disappointed with me, but when they were judging me and saying I was an awful person, I was at the lowest points of my life. Now, I’ve realized but not yet fully developed thea theory that the only person that I need to make happy is staring back at me in the mirror. Why should I be worried or stressed about how others judge or view me, that’s their prerogative. I need to be focused on being myself and fulfilling my goals I plan to accomplish.

Any one listening will understand throughout this blog that I have learned from others. I learn from quotes, books and theories of other people that have lived in this world of ours. Here is a poem given to me from a great friend of mine when I was in a time of turmoil.

“The Man in the Glass” – Dale Wimbrow

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife,
Whose judgment upon you must pass;
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest.
For he’s with you clear up to the end,
And you’ve passed the most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years.
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be the heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.”

I briefly discussed excellence in my last post. Now it’s time to rehash that topic and continue on with trying to define it and determine how this value can be achieved. I truly believe in the theory of excellence. I believe this idea is my ultimate goal in life. The way I figure out how to define excellence makes me remember of a few conversations I’ve had with pledges of my fraternity in college. They might ask, “How do you define excellence?” I have a stepwise explanation that I give them that I will also give you. Excellence can be characterized by your actions, thoughts, and future. Preparing yourself for your future is imperative on achieving excellence. Your thoughts and actions go hand in hand with each other; you can probably understand why they are important in your acquisition towards excellence. Your thoughts cannot lead you in wrong routes if you control them; once you control them, your actions will become your epitome of excellence.

Then the question comes up, “Can someone achieve excellence?” I think a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but I do not believe it can. I theorize that excellence is an unattainable goal that everyone should have. You COMMIT your life to excellence; an individual along with society cannot realize excellence, or at least my definition of it. Excellence is perfection, but it goes farther than perfection. If an individual was to obtain excellence, they would be fulfilling the future before they complete the present. Take that in. A person who is flawless and complete would not have to “think” about the future in order for theirs to be prosperous; it would just happen without any internal thought just complete instinct that has been trained into their mind. However, a human doesn’t have that option. They are not able to instinctively process perfect thoughts at will.

Finally, the last perplexed question is asked, “So, why should a person have a goal for excellence if they cannot achieve such a theory?” This is where my fun comes in. I know goals are supposed to be achievable; however, the only reason they need to be achievable is in order for a person to be happy when they complete it. I am happy when I strive towards excellence; the chase on the way to faultlessness is awesome. You live everyday wanting to do nothing wrong, but when you do you learn from such an error and keep striving. For some people this may lead them away from the goal of excellence, because they would get frustrated never being able to achieve it. I thoroughly enjoy striving towards being a great person, and making myself better every day I walk this earth.

Is excellence achievable, in my opinion no, but I like to hunt for it.

Transitioning from mistakes towards what you learn from these mistakes implies that you better yourself as a person, but on what lines should you better yourself? I believe that your betterment stems from your values. Continuing to use the word “values”, irks me. What you value in life are your values, that’s what the name implies. Values can be completely different then your morals or ethics (which are different as well). So the question is asked, “What do you value in life?” Your family, your friends, or something completely different? I theorize a lot about values and how they are created in people’s lives; I believe different individuals have completely distinctive processes they acquire or discover their principles in life.

One view is that people learn these ideas based upon their experiences, which I do agree with. Another observation is that people acquire these inspirations based upon their family and their upbringing, which I also concur with. What I disagree with is that these values are innately instilled into your body when you are born; you must acquire these principles during sometime of your life, not in the prenatal condition. I just cannot feasibly reason how someone can be born with these in their “instincts.” You develop what is important to YOU during YOUR life. These ideas are your exclusive difference between you and the other 6.1 billion other humans strolling around this wonderful orb called Earth.

Now the question visits us again. “What do you value in life?” I personally have established that I have sets of values that drive me towards excellence and another different set that guide my current existence and have since I learned of them. One for example is “hope”; I believe an individual who has hope is unstoppable. Obstacles may arrive in one’s way, but moving around such barricades will build the person up enough to arrive back at the obstacle and breakthrough it. My life is guided by hope. I hope for my family’s safety and happiness. I hope that people I surround myself with will make me a better individual. I hope that I will live a prosperous life. Hope is something that drives me; this hope idea is rather tough to gasp, but the main gist of the idea is to allow hope to guide you but not deceive you. Hope allows me to feel confident in anything I strive to do, within the reasonable mind. I do not hope that I will one day stop all air pollution and float on a rainbow carpet to Mars, those are just impractical ideas to hope for. My hope stems from my parents and the way I live my life. I hope every day will be better than the next. I hope that I have all the talents needed to accomplish any task I desire to take on. If I do not I hope that I will learn such talents and rehash such task.

Sometimes my values overlap both the route towards excellence and my guidance towards my existence. Not a problem, overlap in this case is probably a good idea. Excellence is my ultimate goal; however, this goal I understand is unreachable in a sense (this will be discussed in a later post). I ask you, “Have you defined your values, and what they are meant for in your life? Do you understand how you developed them? What event, or who helped you develop your principles you life by?” Answering these questions will be an epic discovery of who you are as a person, that you may want to define as well.

I know I ask a lot of questions, as my friends tell me, but they are all for the betterment of my mind and subsistence in life. Learning is the key. I believe every day I have walked this Earth, whether in solitude or accompanied with friends, I have learned something that will one day help me accomplish something, or this learned idea has already done so.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”

Believe in your values. Stay true to them, and you will live the life you ultimately would like to.

Mistakes in life are quite impossible to control. No matter how meticulously you work, errors will happen, that is why no human is perfect. I have found that I am impervious to mistakes, meaning I have had my mistakes and have not allowed them to affect my life. I persevere through such blunders and persistently strive for excellence. I can announce that my greatest fear is being unable to correct such missteps in life and fail.

My journey through mistakes is one I have found that accurately depicts how to live one’s life. I have tried and established that you must learn from your mistakes in your existence. One must understand the mistake, reason through it, and cognitively process how one may ascertain new abilities or alterations to avoid making such lapses to reoccur. This theory I have found no flaws with at this time, but it is still a theory not a law.

The biggest point in this process is the ability to have hope that you will become a better individual through the mistakes you make. You cannot allow these errors in judgment to hold down your life, but for them to complete you as an individual that is the epitome of success in this process.

This is a poem I wrote that sums up this viewpoint rather simply:

“mistakes”

definition, doesn’t matter
to the parties in question
if it happens
usually only one person feels guilty
the other is upset
learning, does matter
in order to change the way
if it happens
hopefully better heads will prevail
hopefully…
changing, is mandatory
if it happens
the possibilities are endless
depending on how the people changed

mistakes are my worst nightmare
failure is at the root of every mistake
but the process I live by
is to learn and change through every mistake
I can only hope that will be enough

The day I saw the Dark Knight and witnessed the epic portrayal of Joker by an infamous man, I asked myself, “Why so serious?” If you ever met me or understand a minuscule piece of how I operate, that question pesters me. Looking back through my childhood and my adolescence, I have had to be determined in what I have done. No course of action I have taken has been for a joke or going out on a whim. I have painstakingly thought through every step of my life; however, I enjoy accomplishing these meticulous tasks. I take pleasure in the ability to reason and seriously understand where my life is headed.

Although glimpsing toward the past, I rarely can remember a time where I have laughed out loud (Forgive me for the online speak). I really haven’t. Watching movies it’s all internal humor. Seeing someone doing a completely ridiculous stunt still no outward portrayal of a chuckle. Then I question my sense of humor, I believe it’s fully intact and functioning. So what is it? The question is asked again, “Why so serious?” I suppose the understood conclusion from my mental deduction is that I rarely take time to look at a situation and not reason through it, which may be a curse or a virtue I’m still unsure. Some would say that I have an inability to not use logic in situations in life. I believe that to be true. It may happen once in a while, but the bulk of the time I can’t live without logic, reason, or deduction.

Moving on from this might be a key to my happiness in life. I am a very happy person, most of the time, but this recognition of a flaw is an important feat in my existence. An individual should always strive to improve their life with every new day. On that note, realizing your imperfections is imperative to your subsistence as a person. I might be too serious, but what are your flaws? I won’t be the person to point them out to you, but I will be the one to help you reason through them and determine a route of freedom from your predicament.