The Squeaky Wheel

As an individual, a nation, and a culture, we choose the future of our world and society.  Our voice is heard even when silent.  Apathy is a choice with long-reaching effects.  The vocal minority rules the apathetic majority on many occasions.  To avoid such an outcome, let your voice be heard.  My mother emphasized this sentiment when she said, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."  The spirit of democracy is not to control people.  Freedom to choose, even poorly, is a right we all desire.  Protecting that choice has resulted in wars, heartache, and sacrifice throughout the ages.  Sadly it remains a necessary endeavor even today.

Recommit to Virtue: Part 5 of 10 - Courage or Cowardice

Gandhi identified commerce without morality as a common societal mistake.  It requires courage to uphold moral values.  When we face our fears and challenges, we display courage.  Commerce, on the other hand, is capitalism, and by its very nature, if it goes unchecked, will lead to cowardice as displayed in corruption, abuse, manipulation, squandering, hording, subversion, and greed.  Business has become a religion for many; it is powerful, defiant, and worshipped by devout believers in the cause of making money.  The executive call of “fiduciary responsibility” places an amoral directive to unethical practices.  Depersonalized and debased, executives practice the craft of business, and then overcompensate themselves accordingly.  They tout ennobling mission statements without integrity and without morality.  They lack courage as they succumb to their passions.

Recommit to Virtue: Part 1 of 10 - The Courage to Choose Virtue over Vice

We all have lofty aspirations for success and peace, but lying side by side are the impulses of immediate pleasure.  Virtues are desired behaviors or skills that are earned through practice and discipline.  A vice is the byproduct of habitually following impulses and desires. Virtues are uplifting and inspiring, whereas vices are generally negative and behaviorally limiting.

Recommit to Virtue: The Struggle Within

There is a story told of a Native American warrior in the sunset of his days, who is passing on life truths to his grandson.  He begins, “A fight is going on inside of me.  It’s a terrible fight between two mighty wolves: one with beautiful flowing black fur and the other radiant white.”  He explains, “The shadowy one is Evil.  He is vanity, wrath, envy, lust, cowardice, greed, gluttony, sloth, and fear.  The glowing one is Good. He is humility, courage, cleanliness, obedience, industry, integrity, wisdom, gratitude and peace.  Son, you have this same fight raging inside of you.  So does everyone who has ever occupied this ground.”  The boy looked confused, and after a moment, asked, “Which wolf will win, Grandfather?”  There is a story told of a Native American warrior in the sunset of his days, who is passing on life truths to his grandson.  He begins, “A fight is going on inside of me.  It’s a terrible fight between two mighty wolves: one with beautiful flowing black fur and the other radiant white.”  He explains, “The shadowy one is Evil.  He is vanity, wrath, envy, lust, cowardice, greed, gluttony, sloth, and fear.  The glowing one is Good. He is humility, courage, cleanliness, obedience, industry, integrity, wisdom, gratitude and peace.  Son, you have this same fight raging inside of you.  So does everyone who has ever occupied this ground.”  The boy looked confused, and after a moment, asked, “Which wolf will win, Grandfather?”  The old warrior counseled, “The one you feed, son.  The one you feed!”

Families, Like Earthen-Filled Dams, are Vulnerable to the Waves of the World that Seek to Destroy Peace

The earthen-filled dam is a cost effective method of preserving spring runoff for use during the hot summer days. Without it there would be no crops in the deserts of the earth. Relatively inexpensive to build when compared to the over-engineered concrete structures that hold back massive river flows, these irrigation reservoirs dot the countryside of the farming communities of the world. Early spring rains sustain the young crops naturally, but just as the peak demand for moisture is reached the rain stops abruptly.  Within days the crop is lost to the dry hot sun if not irrigated.

A Monument of Courage and Resilience in the Midst of Catastrophe

There, alongside a heavily traveled trail in the woods stands a mighty pine, distinctive from all around it. It represents a unique life lived in spite of similar circumstances to its sister pines.  By trunk width, it is one of the largest around, a testament to its ability to survive and endure nature’s challenges.  Shorter than many of its peers, it has compensated by the breadth of its canopy.  Upon closer glance it is discovered that five distinct trunks have formed about 10 feet above the ground, protruding horizontally at first, and then abruptly, all advance vertically.  Enormous masses initially entangled in confusion, these trunks unite to eventually stretch skyward.  Deep within the center of the entanglement stands what is left of the original trunk, that is now withered, gray, cracked, and dead.

Avoiding the Acquisition Race by Taking Charge of Life and Finding the Courage to Change our Level of Contentment

AS A SOCIETY WE HAVE BEEN DECEIVED!  Playing upon our vanities, the marketing folks have convinced us all that bigger, newer, faster, and safer is always better.  They have successfully sold us, amid our ever-growing egos, on the belief that satisfaction and contentment are directly tied to acquisition, impact, achievement, and control.  This just isn't true.  History shows that it never has been true and the current world condition indicates that it won't be true in the future either.  Discontent is the byproduct of this type of reasoning.  Thinking this way ensures that we never feel that we have enough: enough money, enough toys, enough possessions, enough security, enough attention, and enough significance.  As such, we all compete for limited resources in an attempt to feel safe and appreciated.  The reality is that there is sufficient for all.  The reality is that contentment and satisfaction are not found in things.  The reality is that contentment is a state of mind attained only through discipline and determination.  Happiness is not secured through ease, but through self-mastery.

Meaning in Society

Where two or more individuals exist in a given environment, a society in the loosest form has begun.  Personal, professional, and social relationships are the foundation of this society.  Such a civilization is based upon mutually agreed upon self-benefiting rules.  Basic and often unspoken, these rules define the conditions of membership.  A society carries with it an identity.  Members individually determine that it is advantageous to adhere to these rules for their own safety, security, and collective identity.  Self centered impulses and desires are controlled through the promise of greater success tomorrow.  Once the basic needs of food and shelter are secured, the desire for social interaction, attention, achievement, and attainment arise.  All of these are driven by the need to control, and control of self is regulated by the ego.  All relationships have a common denominator and this is “you.”

The Challenge of Life

Born self-centered and self-absorbed, we all react either consciously or unconsciously, to the need for survival and the desire for personal gratification.  From our first breathe of life, impulses surface as environmental situations are presented to us that challenge our very existence.  Resilience to such challenges is the key.  This primal level of survival concerns itself with self preservation and stimulation. Left completely unchecked, most of us will become self-serving, gluttonous, and lazy. 

Courage to Change

Never in the history of the world has there been a greater time for people to embrace a life of virtue. A life based upon time-proven values can be easily overshadowed by the clamor and turbulence of schedules and deadlines, of economic worries and stress, and of environmental and equality issues.  Virtue-based training must be re-established within our hearts so that we are able to positively influence the rising generation, the children of the Millennial Generation, a generation who will lead us to greater peace. Peace begins one individual, one family, one community, and one nation at a time. We must commit to change;  change that will enable us to see ourselves as we really are, to love ourselves as we really are, to cherish our fellow travelers for who they truly are, and to embrace the peaceful life we deserve. 

Change a Life - Teach Resilience

As a father of a large family, I know the value of teaching children to be resilient.  Resilience is the ability to cope with stress and adversity.  Resilient individuals learn the process of ‘bouncing back’ after stressful situations or of ‘steeling oneself’ against difficult circumstances.  This process is most effectively learned through the intervention and support of family and community.