Tag Archives: Kindness

6

My Answers for A Stranger

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This week I met a stranger. We talked for 30 minutes or so and then went on with life. In the course of that conversation I was asked a few questions I have thought a lot about. I think you might benefit from thinking about them too.  They came from the heart of young thought and made me look at life and what is important.Each question was really asking about my basic fundamental attitude about life and the belief I have about the goodness of things.  Life has a way of teaching you what you need to know in order to achieve all of those dreams you have circulating around in your head. We ask for many things in life, and often we don’t see the guidance that comes to us because it is not written in clear English.  Guidance comes in experience, feelings and in people you meet every day.  Indulge my answers for a stranger.   Maybe you can take something from it. Maybe you can’t but let’s give it a try.

How do you make life good?

When life happens, we naturally evaluate every experience. We rate it as good, bad, excellent, horrible or anywhere in between. The fact is the things that happen are just things and we assign the value to them. So making life good is a choice of how you look at things. Things are going to happen which are painful, people die, relationships end, injuries and accidents occur every day. It would be difficult to assign a good label to any of these things but if you look at things from a broad perspective and see what comes out of them there is almost always something positive.  It is the stories we end up telling ourselves about the situation that brings the value.

What lessons did you learn? What can you be grateful for? If you lost a loved one, be grateful for the time you had together and the things you experienced.  If a relationship ends, seek the message it is teaching you about what you need to do better in the next relationship. Life always brings challenges because that is its job. To push you and prod you into becoming better. When you ask for things in your life, often times some of the biggest challenges we face drive us in the direction we need to go. We make life good by enjoying the small things along the way that provide joy. There are things every day which do this.  Look for them and appreciate them. Life will be just as good as you decide it should be.

How do you start again when a dream is lost?

When is a dream really lost? Sometimes you will have to start over in order to get where you want to go.  For example, a person had a scholarship to a prestigious college. Due to several poor decisions the scholarship was removed and the dream of attending that fine institution was removed as well.  One could look at the opportunity gone and cry over it. But there are two reasons this will do no good. One, no matter what you did or what happened you can’t travel back in time. And two, if you could have done better in those moments, you would have.

Let those experiences of failures, poor behaviors, and disappointments of the past stay right where they are because the only way they can affect you fully today is if you decide to let them define you.  Others will think what they will and we all have to bear the responsibility for all things in our lives, but to relive the mistake, over and over is going to stop you from finding and achieving the next dream.  More than likely the lessons you learned will allow you to achieve great things in life.  Stop dwelling on what is gone and focus on what is ahead while enjoying the life you have right now. New dreams will arrive in your mind, drams afe what makes life great.

Is life always this hard?

Sometimes it seems like life is a very difficult experience. When you experience loss and you suffer, it can be a very hard thing to deal with. When a person allows their focus to be on one particular thing, it can be devastating when that is taken away.  Life is as hard as you make it and usually it is what you believe about yourself and how you do life.  Take a moment and look for the good around you in any situation. I don’t say this is easy because sometimes when you are hurting  it is hard to see or feel your way around it.  But there is always good sitting there waiting for you to notice it. Nobody can force you to do this only you can make that decision.

Once you have made the choice to stop feeling sorry for yourself and accept responsibility for whatever you are facing, you will start to grow from your situation and understand there will be other battles to fight, challenges to face and joys will find you.  Understanding that life is a long play and not a quick hit wonder will give you the perspective to see the hard isn’t permanent. It may not even exist at all unless you choose to allow it.  Life is not always hard, it provides all of the joy, positivity and kindness you can handle. You have to be willing to look for it and see it. Have you looked for it today?

So as I walked away from that stranger that day, I started to look at my own life and some of the people that are a big influence on it. I am not perfect and allow myself to drift into negativity some times, but there are many dreams I am still chasing on the personal and professional front.  I have experienced some disappointments but I try not to let them affect me all that negatively, and I know that just as the sun goes down every night allowing a chance to rest and rejuvenate.  The sun will rise again in the morning and the new day will bring its opportunities for accomplishment. You can’t grab new experiences if your hands are grasping tightly to the past and it is gone.  Look at your opportunities to follow your dreams in the actions of your day.  Keep a positive frame of mind and look to your personal beliefs about what you can do and expect in life. Each day is a chance to build a dream or tear one down.

DPT

Your Kindness Counts

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Kindness-the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

“Remember, there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” – Scott Adams

In every thought, in every word, in every action a person takes, there is an opportunity to practice kindness. It comes down to a simple choice to make life a better experience for someone else or to make it more difficult. You make this choice a hundred times a day. Look at all the interactions you have, either in person or even in the world of social media. Each comes with a chance to be kind or not, and you are the only person who can make that choice.

Ripple Effect

Much like casting a stone in the water, that water will ripple outward from the point of impact is clear and constant waves. You never know where those waves are going to end up. But they do exist and move out affecting the world in some small way. Kindness is like that, even though you may not be able to see where the ripples of a kind act land, they do exist and will land in some small or large way in the world.  So do the deeds of insensitivity, judgment, or meanness.

All of the actions you create are going to have an impact on the world. They provide energy to the lives of all the people that you interact with and to yourself.  Think about the effect you want rippling out from your life. Is it going to be positive or negative?  The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate has the power to make your ripples positively change the world.

All Things Get Better

Whenever you choose to practice kindness in your life, it will make whatever situation you are in becoming a better one.  You never know what struggles a person is suffering on the inside behind a happy front. Your choice of kindness may be the

Kindness makes all things better

thing that keeps hope in humanity alive for these people.  Being kind is not something a person does for what they can get, but because that is who you are.

No matter what choices you have made up until this point, today, you can make a change by being kind to someone else.  Kindness in its most basic existence is to see the humanity in someone else and put the happiness of that person as a priority.  It makes all situations more enjoyable, memorable, and fun. And again, we choose the level of kindness we spread in our lives.  Kindness is a gift we give expecting nothing in return. But we get a great deal in our soul, and that is not something that needs to be recognized by anyone else. It just is.

Be Kind Today

Make an effort today, when the situation arises, to give a compliment from the heart, to smile at someone to spread joy, to be supportive of another when you can. Stay away from speaking poorly of another, or gossiping about someone else’s situation. Rather than judge, accept. The life that receives the most benefit will be yours.  Take a moment and be conscious of the kindness you can give today

“Sometimes, it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.” – Jackie Chan

“Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” – Harold S. Kushner

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” – Princess Diana

Great Articles on Kindness

Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness Makes You Happy… and Happiness Makes You Kind

11 people whose random acts of kindness took over the internet

The Power of Kindness

Kindness News 

DPT

Positivity Project Day 1- Kindness

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This is the beginning of a video project that I hope will last 100 days. It has been quite a learning experience already and I hope to improve my consciousness, improve my confidence in speaking, become a better person, and to hopefully help other people raise their consciousness as well.

Day one of the Daily Positive Thoughts is about Kindness. Enjoy the video below and get prepared for at least 99 more in the future.

Life Lessons

Super Hilton

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Yesterday I had one of the most interesting visitors I ever experienced.  It was from my 10-year-old self and it was eye opening to remember how great that person was and even better to know that all of the great things about him

Super Hilton at a summer camp in the Maine, 1977. (back row 8th from left and right, dead middle)

are still there inside of me now 40 years later.

Today we live in a time where every moment is captured in pictures and posted on social media. It is difficult to fathom that events happened in our past which were never caught on camera and only exist today in our memories and thoughts. Over the years those thoughts get lost,  buried underneath the avalanche of experiences we have year after year. Positive and negative they work to change us.  I was a kid with hope and a kid who loved life and knew what a good person I had the potential to be. And I lived it every day.  I enjoyed people and the new experiences that every day brought with it.

Over the years those things that made us get lost,  buried underneath the avalanche of experiences we have year after year. Positive and negative they work to change us.  I was a kid with hope and a kid who loved life and knew what a good person I had the potential to be. And I lived it every day.  I enjoyed people and the new experiences that every day brought with it. At this camp, we did the usual stuff, archery, swimming, arts, and crafts, and in this case bible and Jesus stuff.

Here are a few of the lessons that he had me remember today.

Seek Your Joy

Enjoy each day………….. Or we should experience joy in each day, it is there for you. No matter what is happening there are things to be joyful about and allow yourself to embrace life.  Joy is in us all and there is an opportunity in every day to feel it through the things we do.

Occasionally, we look at the things we like to do and worry about what others think. That will rob from your joy. If you are functioning from the view of your true self, and nobody else is being harmed then don’t waste energy worrying about others judgments. It is none of your business and really of no consequence, what is the joy that you get from what you are doing. That is all that counts.

Be Yourself

Each of us is unique and that is what makes us great and identifies us as the one of a kind human beings that we are. Don’t apologize for it and don’t ask anyone else to be different than they are.  All of us have a light in us and when it shines, so do we.  Life has a tendency to cover the light with the shade of experience or the fear of not being accepted.

Let your light shine and those who appreciate it are welcome to visit and those who are negative toward it or you are unimportant and clearly, need to work on themselves. Let them do that someplace else.

Understand and Support Others

All people have their struggles and challenges. The experiences each of us have leave wounds and scars and fear of the pain they cause lead to behavior that is reactionary, mean and sometimes hurtful.  Don’t judge others too harshly because under that behavior is a light that is uniquely theirs and is probably seeking someone to recognize it, accept it and love it for the beauty that it provides.  Allow them the chance to shine when you can.  Some people are jealous of others talents and abilities. Don’t be one of these people.  There is more than enough darkness in the world and it needs light. The more people who are living up to their true selves the brighter and more exciting the world will be.

Just because you are kind doesn’t mean that you are weak. Never let other people dim your light because of jealousy, envy or because they don’t appreciate you.  Not everyone is going to like you and that is their problem, not yours.

Super Hilton

The signatures on the back of the picture. I am Super Hilton, written in cursive.

There is no doubt that as a 10-year old, I had a vivid imagination and really had a lot of confidence in what I could do in life. On the back of that picture, all of the kids in the cabin signed their names. I signed mine as “Super Hilton”. Since I just started to master writing in cursive, it was written in perfect 5th-grade cursive writing.  There was a confidence in that name I lost in life.  10 year old me has been living with me for the past 40 years and he has made many appearances, but only for a brief moment and not for nearly long enough.

It is my goal to bring more of Super Hilton into my life each and every day. Being more confident in who I am and what makes me happy. How to treat others and what behavior I accept are all the things this visit from the past reminded me.  I believe each of us has the ability to be great, and I feel sorry for all of those who have forgotten or don’t believe this about themselves.

In the words of Super Hilton, “I  am the man”.

Life

Lessons Learned From Camp Caribou, Part 1

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caribou staff photo 93
A staff photo from one of the years I worked there, I think 93. Big Bill in the middle, our fearless leader.

There are places you experience in your life which leave an indelible mark etched on your soul. You may even know it at the time but I am not sure you can appreciate it until years later.  When I was in college, I had the great privilege to work for four summers at a summer camp in Central Maine called Camp Caribou.  To describe the whole experience would take a book, but suffice it to say I learned many lessons of life there I still think of today.  Bill and Martha Lerman were the owners and operators of the camp and they were the major lesson teachers there. I am sure that thousands of young people have benefitted more than I have from their kindness, honesty, and consistency, but none appreciate it more.  These are a few of the lessons I learned at Camp Caribou in Winslow, Maine.

First, to set the scene, Camp Caribou is located on a peninsula on Pattie’s Pond. To access the camp you have to travel down a half mile long dirt road. I remember the first time I drove down it, not really knowing what to expect, a little fear and excitement mixed together. What story would this road reveal? I am sure that every kid of all ages felt something similar the first time they traveled that road.  It is windy, and people honked as they got to some curves to alert anyone coming the other way.  And then suddenly out of the woods, it opens up and brings you into the middle of the camp.  A playground of fun, with all kinds of activities kids, love.  It was enchanting and my education was just beginning.

Leadership Bill Lerman Style

Leadership is a skill some come by naturally, and others develop through experience. I know that I learned how to be a good leader from Bill Lerman. It is a story I tell often about digging a ditch. If you want to get five people to dig a ditch, do it quickly and enthusiastically, you get in the ditch with them and work like hell for about 5 minutes. All the others will fall in line and dig like hell too. Then you can back away and let them finish because the momentum is already set.  I was fortunate enough to observe Bill do this with me as one of the workers, and to later be able to lead others to the same ditch digging task. (different ditch)  Lead by example, and never ask anyone else to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. That lesson has proven to transcend all of the many careers I have participated in over the years.  I am continually grateful for the lessons Bill taught me. It has proven invaluable.

That is just one of many things that Bill taught. He probably doesn’t even know that he does it. He has a very unique voice and style of speaking so, his stories resonate with you and I do believe I developed a pretty good imitation of the man.  Pre-camp, before the kids came was a lot of work, getting everything ready for the kid’s arrival and training for the staff. All camps I am sure have some form of this, but with Bill, it was a one of a kind show.  Have a look at the video and listen to him talk.

Kindness Martha Lerman Style

One of the lasting memories I carry from my Camp Caribou days is the kindness that Martha Lerman always brought to everyone. And I mean every one. It didn’t matter if you were a camper or a counselor, she would find a way to make sure you felt like you belonged and were important to what was going on.  It could be taking the whole staff out to a movie during pre-camp when everyone had been working hard. Or making sure there was some kind of “treat” for the staff during staff

I am in this picture somewhere, but honestly have no idea where. My first year at camp.

meetings.  When I was in that first year of being a counselor, Martha often checked to make sure that I was doing OK.

It could be a run down the road with a kid who needed some encouragement, or just a quick conversation with someone who needed to be uplifted. Her kindness never shuts off.  I have seen the power of being kind over the years and its alternative.  I now try to treat people with the mantra of “kindness first”, and I have been fortunate to have many good role models in that area, but Martha Lerman was definitely one of the most powerful examples of consistent and powerful kindness I ever experienced, I am eternally grateful for that.

Brotherhood

There are two types of family in life, the ones you are born into and then there are the ones you grow into.  At Camp Caribou, it was the kind you grew into.  All of the staff members came from all over the world and had different skills, backgrounds, religions, and philosophies about life.  Yet, enter the peninsula of Camp Caribou and all that is washed away. It is your character and ability to work together that separates you. I value all of the people that I worked with and the unique skill set they brought to the table. Some were singers, some were great athletes, others got the job done every time they were called upon.  Above all other things, there were people who I could rely on for encouragement, a joke, to get out of the camp every other night, or to endure an evening activity or bunk night with.

Camp places you in a 24 hour, intense experience, so you bond with others quickly and it is a unique thing that will stay with you forever.  Two summers ago I was able to reunite with a few of the people I worked with at Camp Caribou. Although we are all much older, the relationships were still the same and the laughs just as genuine.  I learned the value of sharing an experience with someone and remembering the good things about them and it. All of my Caribou brothers are valuable, those I was close to and those I worked with for years. I see them now on Facebook and wish them all the best of everything that life has to offer.

There are too many lessons to include in just one day, so like the second half of the summer, tomorrow will carry us to the end when everyone will go home.

Life Lessons

No News. Is Good News!

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stop watching the news
Give it a shot, stop watching. What do you have to lose but fear?

I am tremendously grateful for a conscious decision I made  about four years ago to stop watching the national news and leaving the fear mongering and celebrity worship behind.

I don’t seem to be missing out on anything positive and am just as informed as I always have been, but the real benefit is the fact that I have not been subject to the consistent stream of negativity that comes from any of the national news outlets.  I think  this enables me to be happier on a daily basis.

Haven’t Missed a Thing

My initial reluctance to giving up my news addiction was that I would no longer be properly informed about current events.  Yet, using this week as an example, I am media_monkeysadequately informed about all of Donald Trump’s foolishness and how he and Hillary Clinton fared in their latest debate.   What I don’t have to deal with is the feeling the national media tries to build in you, that the world is going to end because of it. So be very, very afraid.

I have a hint for all of you, we will all still be here tomorrow and then the story will be something else and life will continue on.  It is not that I am apathetic to the plight of our nation and the fact that our politicians are really just highly paid corporate sell outs. It is a fact that as a conscious human being living on the planet, I recognize manipulation and brainwashing when I see it.

I don’t need the national media to fan those flames of fear.  Most often the fears they use are designed to get you to watch more and for the media to make more money from advertising.  With today’s lightning-quick social media, you learn of news without moving an inch, simply by looking at your phone you see today’s events and happenings as they are unfolding. There is no need for a media narrative to tell you how to think.

I am grateful that I can leave it there.  I am sad for those who experience loss, I am sympathetic to those who suffer, but I do not let it consume my life because then I would never be able to contribute to a cure.

Being an Individual Is Hard Today

By not watching the national media and blindly absorbing the version of that story they feed me, I have found that I am much more clearly able to form my own opinion about events.

By looking at how I actually feel about something, I can more readily create ideas that are uniquely mine.  If we blindly follow the thoughts and presentations of others, we are doomed to have no unique and creative thought toward problem-solving.  Being an individual today is difficult because if you don’t think exactly like someone else, then you are going to be ridiculed. This is the first step in forced conformity, to discourage individual thought and force people to accept the “right” opinion about things. Isn’t our education system based on this practice? Learn how I tell you and don’t think for yourself.

Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

Don't fear the media
The media works hard to keep you afraid. The choice is yours

The national media makes people feel like there is something wrong with them if they don’t feel like they say you should.  Shouldn’t you be afraid of terrorism? Shouldn’t we dislike those who are different from us?  Shouldn’t we fear everyone we don’t know?  The questions go on and on, but the reason is simple.  If you are afraid you are easily controlled and if you are free thinking and problem-solving, there is no telling what you might do. You might even find a better alternative than listening to the Today Show.

Most people in the world are good, honest people who are kind to others, polite and helpful.  People do amazing things each and every day to help other people live a better life.  These actions aren’t often covered in the media because even though they are nice, they don’t grab attention.  Fear grabs attention and it doesn’t let go.  But once you leave that fear behind, you can enjoy life a little bit more.

You May Be the Answer

So today I am grateful for the conscious decision I made about five years ago to stop watching the news and to form my own opinions about the world. I encourage you to find your own path as well.  Who knows the answer to many social problems facing the world today could be solved by you.  It is up to you to decide to be your own person and think for yourself.

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Life

My Notes on The Four Agreements

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The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a book I read years ago, and I just came across my reading notes. I thought they were worth sharing. Each of us has to agree with the truth of a thought before it can affect us. Once we do accept, that thought will affect our lives positively or negatively until you choose to change it.  The book talks about fear and how fear dictates what we do, and what parts of ourselves we show to others.  The four agreements are the ones we should seek to create in our minds. Interesting thoughts.

Agreement #1 Be Impeccable with Your Word

Your words contain magic in them and the power to make your life like heaven or like hell. The magic that you wield through your words is either light or dark- a blessing or cursing yourself and others. Too many of our bad agreements about life were planted by the callousness of the words of others. And even sometimes our own.  We are all connected as one.

Agreement #2 Don’t Take Anything Personally-

All the people are living in our dream. You are but a bit part in another person’s vision. Most of what people say and do is because of their lives, NOT due to you, your value, or behavior. The best action is to stay away from the insult or adverse response. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.

Agreement #3  Don’t Make Assumptions-

 

All assumptions are fantasies made in your mind about the behavior of others. See yourself reflected in the faces of others. Deal with the facts using the pure nature of your words and that of others. Truth is desired; fiction can be left behind.

 

Agreement #4

– Always Do Your Best

A simple thought can change your life negatively or positively. In each activity, each day, in every moment, simply trying to do your best is all anyone can do. If you continually strive to accomplish your highest achievement: you will embody your best to all.

Other Key Thoughts from Notes:

 

-Be who you are NO matter what someone says about you, or whatever they do, don’t take their words personally, and it doesn’t hurt anymore.  You will no longer be afraid to love, to share, or to open your heart.  NO ONE ELSE IS LIKE YOU!!

-Most people are emotionally wound

ed and sick with fear. All people carry wounds in their minds, which are open and hurting. They make us afraid to be who we are.

-Shyness is a fear of expressing yourself, and you may believe you don’t know how to sing or how to dance, but this is just repression of the healthy human instinct to express love.

-We are born into this society, grow up in it, and we are condemned to be like everyone else in it. Playing nonsense all the time.

-Fear leads to injustice- we become full of emotional poison, which eventually we have to release in some manner. Telling someone how bad they are or about all of their perceived flaws. These actions allow the poison to move from one person to another.

-Love is not about concepts: Love is about action.  To practice love is the only way to master it.

-Bad, complicated, unhealthy relationships are based on fear, drama, and the war for control.  The battle for control = no respect and selfishness, not love. “I have to control you because I don’t respect you. I have to be responsible for you because whatever happens to you is going to hurt, and I want to avoid pain.

-Team players play together but not against each other, and you are playing because you want to have fun.

-Track of love- you are giving more than you are taking. You love yourself enough not to allow selfish people take advantage of you.

  • Everyone dreams of their dream. You can control your half but nothing else. Or partner in a relationship is responsible for their half.
  • Know what love is and what is fear: you become aware of how you communicate your dream. The choices you make in each moment determines the quality of your communication. Just by catching the awareness of the track of fear, you can change it. Merely changing your attention can change your world.
  • Love and happiness come out of you. There is no dependence on anyone else for feeling this way.

This book allowed me to look at my dream and how I was not myself in some ways. Following the four agreements can give you freedom. Just the fact that most people are not treating you a certain way because of you, but because of them has been great for my personal growth. It is being a better communicator to other people, not assuming and asking questions and being impeccable with my word and honest with all, and doing my best. The level of my best can change from day today, but I try to give it all, whatever that tends to be on that day.  I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking personal growth and understanding.

Quotes from the Four Agreements

“To be alive is the biggest fear humans have. Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we are. Just being ourselves is the biggest fear of humans.”

“We don’t see the truth because we are blind. What blinds us are all those false beliefs we have in our mind. We have the need to be right and to make others wrong. We trust what we believe, and our beliefs set us up for suffering. It as if we live in the middle of a fog that doesn’t let us see any further than our own nose. We live in a fog that is not even real. This fog is a dream, your personal dream of life — what you believe, all the concepts you have about who your are, all the agreements you have made with others, with yourself, and even with God.”

“Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves. All people live in their own dream, in their on mind; they are in a completely different world from the one we live in.”1

“The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth.”

“All the sadness and drama you have lived in your life was rooted in making assumptions and taking things personally.”

 

Questions

The End of The World

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If you knew the world was ending tomorrow, who would you make sure you visited today?

end of the world
The Mayans thought it was going to happen in 2012, yet here we are!

by Jonathan Hilton  Day 54

Knowing the world would end tomorrow would make me want to see a lot of people today, for a number of reasons, but I think that this question is good motivation to look at how we value people and how we let relationships drift away into indifference for a multitude of reasons.

So I am going to split the people into categories and explain the reasons for each.  One thing is for sure it would be one busy day.

Family First

First of course there would be family that I would want to see, so that I could make sure that they were ready for the impending destruction.  I would want to say thank you for all that you did in my life and that I am very grateful for the kindness and that I love them all very much, ask if there was anything I could do for them on that last day.

Each relationship in that familial web is important and I would hope that I could get to them all.  I know how much I miss the ones that are gone already, they are with me every day and I am not sure about what would happen if the world ended, but as long as I was able I would be carrying them with me.

Forgiveness
I have a clear conscience in this area

Friendship Is Important

Second I would want to visit all of the friends that I have met over the years to say good bye and reminisce about good times shared, and all of the funny memories we had, so that I could tell them how much I appreciated spending some time on this journey with them.

There are many friends from all of the different phases of my life and I guess I would have to use Skype to talk with some of them, but if I could I would talk to them.

The people I grew up with are as dear to me today as anyone, because there is a shared experience of childhood that could not be faked or manipulated.  We knew each other, both the good and the bad, and there was a support and caring there that still exists today.  My high school friends shared a different time with me, but still significant.  The ties you make as a youth are strong even if you don’t see each other on a regular basis.  They don’t break easy.

I went to two different colleges and there are two distinct groups of friends there but they are the people that I really grew up finally with and started to learn about the world.   I have nothing but smiles and great times to share just one more time before the world ends.

Then of course as an adult, there were a lot of people I met through the jobs I have had, but not a lot of them were friends, they were coworkers for the most part.  These “friendships” were clearly only for a short time and they did teach me something, but it is the past where I have found my true friends.

This One Goes Out To You

Next I would find the three people who I was ever in love with in my life.  It might be awkward because I haven’t seen any of them in years.  but I would want to tell each of them that regardless of my actions, I take responsibility for them.  They had an impact

peaceful lake
A nice peaceful place for the end of the world

on me and I have carried it with me for my entire life.  Not the bad things but the good times the memories that made me a better person. They still are making me better today.  I am grateful that we shared whatever we shared.

Forgive Everyone

Time is getting short so I would want to at least call some people I feel like there are unresolved issues with.  To tell them that I forgive them and am sorry for my part in any pain they experienced.

Life is full situations that provide you with a choice, I made some that were universally good and some that might be construed as bad for everyone.  Whenever the end does come these petty things are not going to be on my mind. I send best wishes to those who are angry and hope they find happiness before their ending.  I forgive them for anything they did to me.

Finally

That being done, if I had any time left I would go to a spot that was special to me, there are several and await the end of the world with anticipation, and not be afraid in the least bit. What good would that do? The world is ending and there isn’t anything you can do about it, might as well enjoy the spectacle.

Is there any other song appropriate for this post?

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 Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

by Jonathan Hilton  Day 40

37When I read this question I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. My answer is neither  but not because I have anything against genius or even anything against a simpleton, (whatever that means).

 I assume the question is designed to make you feel like genius comes with worry and if you are a simpler person you will experience joy. I reject the question as biased and borderline offensive.  Here are my thoughts.

Worry is a Choice

First lets look at the word worried. This is always a choice, you don’t have to do this.  This question seems to assume that only intelligent people worry and only people with no 923246_642439195781583_1059462715_nintellect are happy. This if offensive to me as a human being who strives to find a way to be happy, am I merely a simpleton looking for my natural state or am I a genius doomed to failure?

Worry has never made anyone more successful in anything.  No matter how much you work something over in your mind, dread it or want to avoid it, you still can’t stop it from occurring.

Any random, run of the mill genius should realize this, so if you are spending your life as a worried genius then you are, in my opinion only half right.  There are choices every day that people of all intellectual levels have to make which directly reflect on the experience they will have.  Just like kindness is a choice and what thoughts about life you pay attention to are choices as well.  I do not know much but I do know that  an intelligent person would be able to choose a better recourse than to waste their time worrying.

Why Judge?

There is a judgment in this question that should be ignored and pointed out. Who am I to differentiate between a genius and a simpleton. Suppose I am a member of the latter

I like these guys. Am I a simpleton? Or just a fan of comedic genius?
I like these guys. Am I a simpleton? Or just a fan of comedic genius?

group, I assume I would lack the skills to understand the question.

If I were in the former I suppose I would be too worried to function and display my genius appropriately.  I guess I don’t know why anyone would ask such a question.  These distinctions are all relative anyway to the intellect of others.

 I may be a genius to some and a simpleton to others, that distinction has absolutely nothing to do with what type of person I am, or how much I worry or am happy.  Not one bit.  We spend too much time in life labeling others and placing them in categories to feign some sort of understanding.

 I may be a simpleton which means I would be a little slow on the uptake but I know that we are all connected and the more time we spend dividing us the unhappier we are going to be in the end, no matter if we think mighty thoughts or nothing more significant than the batting average of a baseball player.

I have been fortunate to know many great people in my time, and intellectual ability has never been a factor in how I felt about them.  It was the kindness, the giving,  and the value they provided.  I have enjoyed conversations with people all of my life there is no intellectual entrance level of intellect.

The Worst Question in The World

Just reading this question I think makes the world just a little more of a difficult place.  I

I can't bear to listen.
I can’t bear to listen.

apologize to anyone reading it, because I feel like just considering the labels of genius or simpleton makes us all a bit more narrow-minded.

 I hope to embrace all of my fellow human beings, not just some endowed with high levels of intellectual capacity, but all of them.  The phrase joyful simpleton is along the lines of ignorance is bliss.

 They are designed to demean portions of the population. Who are these simpletons? Where do they live? All of us have parts that are intellectual and others that enjoy the simpler things in life.  There is no reason to intellectually slander anyone for this.

Accept all people regardless of their intellectual capabilities,  if you think yourself a genius then start hanging around with smarter people.

Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

We Are All Awesome!

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