Daily Mood Quotes - November 22, 2011

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 202 – November 22, 2011

Hope is tomorrow's veneer over today's disappointment.

~Evan Esar

Today, I was going to do a blog about overcoming fear and achieving your dreams, then an article was put in front of me that begged to be talked about.

Thirty miles from Penn State University, a 17 year old student quit high school, because he was being “bullied.” Here the truly messed up message that is being sent, this student didn't do anything to become a target of bullying. It is what was done to him. The student is known as “victim one” in the case against Jerry Sandusky, the former coach at Penn State under Joe Paterno.

Now, I'm trying to wrap my mind around the reasons for this bullying and I can't. The student, person, “victim one” is a human being, he didn't ask to be a victim in Sandusky's alleged fantasy world, but he was, as were others. Now he has to deal with not just the media and the legal system, but also his peer group; any one of which could have ended up in the same predicament. But his bullies don't see that, they just see a vulnerable target for their anger over the fall of the Penn State football program. Hey folks it's not this kid's fault; its the fault of adults, who should have known better and failed to “do the right thing.”

Yes, I am fully aware “do the right thing” is a reoccurring theme in my blog and I make no apologies. I do this because it is so very important. We have a generation of unaccountable adults running the show and disaster follows in their wake. We have learned to look the other way, duck accountability and bypass the high road, on the way to immediate self gratification and more stuff. It simply is a cultural failure that cannot stand to continue. Here, we have teens acting just like saurians; preying on the injured in their own nests (read schools). Aren't we just so proud? We, their parents, their teachers and society have taught them nothing about what separates us as humans, from prehistoric reptilians whose brains were the size of marbles. This is a sad and enduring testament to misplaced values. The win, the program, the image. There is a common saying, “Image is everything” I use the word "common" to illustrate a deeper point here. Sure, image counts for piranas, peacocks and petunias, but aren't we supposed to be a bit more advanced; made of better stuff? Are we not after 2.5 million years of evolution (simply the facts here) and fifteen thousand years of supposed civilization, better than we behave. Surely, we have examples to follow from all over the globe and different points in time: Socrates, Jesus of Nazareth, Budda, Lao Tzu, Abe Lincoln, Gandhi and others have clearly demonstrated better behavior; what being human should be. But we keep on acting like “angry birds” It's just feakin' tragic. Common decency goes out the window for common mob mentality. It's sad enough that this young person has been victimized then  “outed” by the media (another blog in that one), but for him to have to bear the entire weight of a fallen system, is a travesty beyond any words I can muster.Although I have taken a pretty good shot at it.

And, to the 17 year old who drop out of high school, go back to school, hold your head high, you have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide. You are not the problem, Graduate from high school, be the better person and become the success you are meant to be; set a better example, the next generation is going to need it. Have hope, I for one believe in your potential.

How will you rise above the "common" today?

Tune int omorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quotes - November 10, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 190 – November 10, 2011

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

~Attributed to Harry S. Truman

What was it Master Chief said? Oh, I remember (I'm paraphrasing), “when you're 18, you know everything, no one can teach you anything. When you're 25, you realize that you know only half of what you thought you knew at 18 and by the time you're 40 you realize you know nothing and you are now open to learning everything.” I thought he was a nut when he said this, until I turned 40 and realized that what I knew was nothing, I went back to school at 42, and earned a Bachelor's Degree at 46. I will achieve my Master's by 48. The interesting thing here is when I started grad school, I made the assumption that it was going to be much like my experience as an undergrad. Boy, was I wrong. Soooo wrong. I never knew how much is involved in learning and how learning never stops.

In my undergrad work I got an overview of my chosen field, leading to a degree. That's just the way it is with undergrad degrees. I thought then that I was stuffed with information. But in my grad program we dig deeper into the subject of the specialization, the “whys” “the history” “the future.” I found an understanding about learning and myself, that demonstrated, "if you fail to stay open to learning, no matter where it comes from, then you doom yourself to fail." Life is a unceasing highway of information and we must travel it with our eyes, ears and hearts open.

I recently ran into a group of people who have been doing the same thing for a very long time and believed that they need no new input. I am all for experience, but like I once heard “If a carpenter hammers nails wrong for 20 years, it doesn't make him a master carpenter.” or something like that and I think it applies. It's so easy to get into routines and bad habits. They creep up on us like thieves in the night. We begin to generalize, then compartmentalize, then we begin to overlook things that run counter to our experience. That's when the trouble starts.

What do I mean? Simple, when we think we know it all: that's just about the time that we run into someone, or something that directly challenges our view of things. We have to choose to accept or ignore the new facts that have entered our life. Funny thing about fate, it usually doesn't offer “door number three.” So, we too often choose to ignore the facts right in front of our face, or information that others are willing to offer, because “We know it all, we've seen it all and who could possibly tell us anything?”... or something like that. Ego, pure and simple. Unfortunately, that's how little problems become very big issues in our life. And we invite them in on the wings of our arrogance.

I have only one question; if you know of a resource that is available to you and this resource could help in a challenging situation, why wouldn't you use it? It's amazing that information can come from anywhere, from anyone. We all have built filters, those filters can run against us and hurt us as much as they protect us. Much like in the movie Titanic when Brock Lovett (played by Bill Paxton) said to his team, “26 years of experience working against him. He figures anything big enough to sink the ship they're gonna see in time to turn. The ship's too big with too small a rudder. It doesn't corner worth a damn. Everything he knows is wrong.” I believe in experience, it has a lot to offer, but in some cases hanging onto self-generated dogma can be detrimental, not only to you but to those around you. Especially to those whose care you have been entrusted with. Just look at the current Penn State University scandal. Enough said about that.

There are so many cases where overlooking the information right in front of you has caused tremendous damage, in-spite of the opportunity to adjust thinking and change course. An old saying goes, “don't cut off your nose to spite your face.” What do you think?

How will you view new information today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading.