ChangeForge: Control the Airwaves

ChangeForge is a nationally recognized blog that normally has high standards for their content. Today, they have lowered those standards a little and posted a piece written by yours truly. Please give it a look and leave a comment on their blog for me! http://www.changeforge.com/2009/02/05/control-the-airwaves/

Invictus

Below is my favorite poem, ever. I like poetry that rhymes, I like poetry that makes me feel something, and I like poetry that can make an impact on my life. This poem does all of that. Invictus is a poem that I have revisted many times over the years, and it maintains its #1 spot. It reminds me that at the end of it all, I am the only one responsible for myself. Ultimately, I cannot blame anyone for my failures and I cannot expect someone else to bring me what I want or need. This poem also reminds me that it is never over until it is over; no matter how bleak my situation appears to be, there is always hope. Please enjoy an oldie but a goodie; Invictus by William Ernest Henley:

Out of the night that covers me,

Back as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the Bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Leitmotif and Emerson

I do not have time to write a real post right now, and I could not do better than Mr. Emerson at any rate (even if I have a less-unfortunate middle name), so I will simply post a good quote today:

"Is it so bad to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Will you allow me to share a rare and interesting English word with you as well? Let today's word of the day be:

Leitmotif (n) 1. A short, recurring musical phrase. 2. A dominant theme or underlying pattern.

I hope your day is everything you created it to be.

The Examined Life

If you are paying attention to my tags at the bottom of my posts, you will find many of them are tagged with "The Examined Life". Those of you who have some classical training probably get it immediately. For those of you who wonder what it means, at least to me, read on.

Socrates is credited with the principle of "The Examined Life" and the idea that the unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates is famous for asking questions. He asked fantastic questions in context, but it is not the questions he asked that made him great. It is the fact that he asked questions as his method of learning that made him great.

Socrates asked questions in situations where he probably knew, and knew that he knew, the answers. The act of questioning was often Socrates' method of arguing. There was nothing he could have said to convince his opponent of their errors, but by questioning them he could help them see their own errors.

How many people have you crossed paths with who were living a shallow, trite existence and slowly killing themselves while avoiding the opportunities that would provide them with happiness and fulfillment? These are people who are not examining their life, who are either not looking into their motivations and considering the consequences of their actions, or who have not asked and answered the right questions yet. Conversely, perhaps they are examining their life but not accepting the answers.

I have always lived the examined life. I have always looked inward and questioned if what I was doing and where I was going lined up with my value system and intentions. I have always questioned and updated my value system. Examining my values, motives, actions, thoughts, goals, past, present, and future has not prevented all possible mistakes, though.

I have made many mistakes because I was not experienced and knowledgeable enough to ask the right questions. I also made mistakes because I refused to examine areas of my life, or refused to accept the answers I found there. I knew for a long time that my drinking did not align with my values and goals, and that it was in fact deterring me from my goals, threatening my freedom and family, and making me fat and lethargic. It wasn't until I accepted those facts that the examination of my life paid off.

By examining my mistakes, I have accelerated my knowledge. I now know more about myself, my strengths and weaknesses, my "real" values, and my habits and tendencies. I can better predict outcomes, and I can leverage myself to set better goals and ensure success. I would argue that I have learned more by examining my mistakes than I have from any person, book, system, institution, or other source.

The examined life is one of freedom. I know, for a fact, that I have chosen my path, every step of the way. I will not look back on 80 years full of regret, pondering all the missed opportunities. I take satisfaction from knowing fairly well what I am doing, why I am doing it, and what the result will be. I have expectations of results, I have goals, I have desires and preferences; I am better assured of achieving the life I desire and creating my preferred environment by examining my life.

The examined life has spiritual ramifications. I believe that all spiritual belief systems have at least one idea in common. Whether the system is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Humanism, or Ethical Atheism/Agnosticism, these systems all aim to limit our negative impact and increase our positive impact on our fellow humans.

In addition, this is the aim of most political movements, to include American liberalism and American conservatism (contrary to each movement's claims about its opponent). By regularly examining our life as a habit and a spiritual/political/ethical/philosophical exercise, we avoid regretting our actions to others, and we get warm, fuzzy, satisfying, fulfilling, self-actualizing feelings by discovering opportunities to benefit others. The added benefit is that, due to the symbiotic nature of society, when we benefit others we also benefit ourselves.

I do not know for a fact if the unexamined life is worth living or not. I have never lived it, and never intend to. I do know that ignorance is not bliss; you eventually find out areas where you were ignorant, and that is a horrible realization. I hate finding out later that I was butt of a joke, or that everyone was talking behind my back about my choice of shirt. I really pity that guy who is madly in love, while we all know his girlfriend is...friendly. In that light, I seek to discover as much as I can about how I live my life to avoid such disturbing revelations.

A person will wake up today and find out that their 60 years of smoking has led to cancer, or their drinking has lead to cirrhosis, or their unrestricted sweet tooth has lead to diabetes, or their neglect of their family has left them alone, or their neglect of their career skills has left them without options, or their neglect of their savings has lead to a bleak retirement, etc... Don't be that person. Wake up today, find your opportunities to improve your condition, and live The Examined Life.

Go To College

Something I have been thinking about lately is college degrees, partly because I am about to earn mine and partly because I am noticing smart, talented people who eventually will have to pay dearly for not having one. I received some college credit for training I received in the Marine Corps, but I didn't actually take a college class until Summer 1997, five years after I graduated from high school. The first class I took was Business Math at my local community college. It shows up on my transcript as an elective: I didn't learn anything important and it doesn't really count towards any degree requirement. However, I was interested in business at the time, but I knew I had a weakness in math. Taking a class I was interested in helped me make it through my first class, and getting an "A" in a class that I knew was a weakness increased my confidence. Now it is coming up on fall 2007, and I will be granted a Bachelor of Science in Management. It has been a long and eventful college career. After passing the summer course, I took a couple classes at the community college in the fall. I found it to be easy; it was so easy that I also enrolled part-time at another college: Devry. In 1998, I went to Devry full-time. However, Devry was difficult and expensive, and I got too busy with my career and dating, so I dropped out. I returned to the community college for a few semesters of the basics (Speech and History). In 1999, I started taking courses at Baker University, which had a unique program. I took classes one night a week, one class at a time, and half of the assignments were accomplished in a study group rather than individually. This was a great program, and I had a great study group. However, I got married, bought a house, changed jobs, and my ego was 100 miles wide that year. Therefore, I dropped out because I thought I was too good and too busy for Baker. In 2001, I got laid off for the second time, but this time the phone wasn't ringing no matter how many resumes I sent out. Was I being placed in the circular file due to a lack of a college degree? In 2002, once I got back to work for awhile, I began taking classes at National American University. The attraction there was that I was getting college credit for taking Microsoft and Cisco courses, which were relevant to my career. However, my finances and drinking were interfering with everything else, and I left National American before I got embarrassed. Somehow, my GPA was hanging around 3.7 through all of this, with mainly the Devry courses weighing me down. By 2005, I was getting my head screwed on straight, staying sober, watching expenses, paying off debts, and reading voraciously. It was time to get back to school and finish what I had begun. I began shopping the local degree completion programs which, in Kansas City, are many and varied. I finally decided to return to Baker University, since I perceived it to be the most prestigious and the most practical for my schedule, finances, and attention-span. I began Baker's B.S.M. program in February 2006, and we are two weeks from completing our studies. I have been with the same group the whole time, and that has made a big difference. When one of us is busy or burnt-out, the study group can help keep the momentum going. Having a built-in support group through college is indespensable. Not only that, but the program has crammed an unbelievable amount of knowledge into 18 months. I look back now and cannot believe how much you learn from experienced instructors and students. Our group has a wide range of experiences, strengths, and neurosis', which really accelerates and varies the lessons learned. Somehow, I have crammed life, career, and school together and made it work, getting straight A's for the last 18 months. Anyhow, I will soon be able to say I have that elusive degree, the lack of which has probably stunted my career. In the 10 year process of earning my degree, I got married, had two kids, worked for 8 employers, bought and maintained a house, suffered from alcoholism, got sober, suffered from depression and ADD, traveled all over the country for work and fun, and read for work, fun, and school. I dropped out for financial reasons, mental health reasons, and reasons of ego. And yet, I have found the degree attainable. I will graduate with about a 3.8 GPA, 150 credit hours, and an emphasis in International Studies. Moreover, I have honed my communication skills and discovered my passion for International Studies, especially Geo-politics. What I really want to say in this post is that if I can do it, anyone can. If you are 65 years old with little or no college credit, you can still do it. In fact, if you don't suffer from the same self-inflicted distractions that I do, you can get that degree in 4 or 5 years if you wish. If you are in your forty's or fifty's and you would rather do something else, or your future employment prospects are questionable right now, you really should consider getting started. Through my ten years of higher education, I have run into many people older than myself who were looking to secure their future, change their career, present an example to their kids, or just reach a personal goal. They realize now that they haven't saved for a long, healthy retirement. In addition, they realize that medicine and diet will allow them to work much longer than their parents did, perhaps into their seventies and eighties. They could have a whole second career in a completely different field after earning a degree. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Take a step by taking one class at your community college, and then build up the academic muscles, build up your momentum, and get a degree. If the U.S. is going to continue to be the greatest nation on the planet, we are going to need all the educated people we can get.