Create The Noise. Change Your World.

To be a teacher does not mean simply to affirm that such a thing is so, or to deliver a lecture, etc. No, to be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner. Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner, put yourself in his place so that you may understand what he understands and the way he understands it.  - Kierkegaard

There he was, a young boy who looked up to me and wanted to learn everything that I knew. He thinks I am a genius with secret knowledge that no one has. Anxiously, he sat in the chair and waited for me to start. I began to talk and try to dispense my information, but the student just gave me a funny look. I knew the information. He knew I was giving it to him, but he couldn’t understand my technical jargon.

Get Rich Slowly is a finance blog that I frequent sometimes. I have gotten a few good resources such as clearcheckbook.com from them. They provide sound financial advice for those who desire to acquire more wealth without any schemes. Today I read a post about where our money goes when we invest in low-risk investments like money-market accounts, CD’s and savings accounts.

I admit it. I’m a lazy father when it comes to spiritual practices such as praying. Its not that I think praying is a waste of time, life just flies by and another day is over without praying.  I suppose there are some young families out there that have a solid prayer life, but I haven’t found many. From my experience, nearly every young family whom started marriage by routinely praying has since ceased.

No, I’m not going on a pessimistic rant about the death of family in America. My wife and I fall into the category of a spiritual shallow family. We had higher hopes. I am actually optimistic about the potential of the family in America. Unlike the generations that have come before us, we realize that we need the help of someone larger than us.

Do you know the first thing that Jesus said in the gospel of John?

If you were like me a week ago then you would probably say, “no”. It is not a hobby of mine to collect random facts about the Bible and I don’t think many of us really have the time for it. This factoid is different. I actually came across it on accident and was blown away by it. “What are you looking for?” is Jesus’ first sentence. Not really profound, you think? Read it again.

The Context

Last week, my wife and I were broke. Our checking accounts were bounced and savings completely depleted. From Monday until Thursday we were living on $15 in cash and we needed diapers. Thankfully, the boys did not get sick and Erica was on vacation. The money was so tight that I went to shops to sell my guitars.

I learned a lesson through it all about living simply. Especially when I went to sell a guitar. I have two electrics, two acoustics, two basses, and one 12 string. I havent even taken my telecaster out of the case in nearly a year. Two weeks ago, Erica and I moved into the new apartment and I realized we have way to much junk. I collect alot of junk. Our lives collect alot of junk.

A few minutes ago, I was reading Dumb Little Man’s post on  12 Ways to Jumpstart your life. As the title suggests he gives 12 simple things to get you more focused and going in your life. All of the tips are very good, but I really liked his second one. I really cant get passed its application.

It might be because of the word mantra or he got the idea from Guy Kawasaki, but I want to blog on this. I think creating a personal mantra is good. A few catchy words sewn together to help focus your life on possibilities. But, I want to take it to the next step.

This morning I started pondering on the purpose of life. The same lame question that everyone thinks about occasionally on a given day. We should really be asking ourselves “Why am I asking whats the purpose of life?” I really don’t think it is a question that can be answered in the same way one asks “What is your favorite flavor of ice cream” or “What was the score of the Devil Rays game last night”.  If the answer was something factual like a baseball game, then we wouldn’t all still be asking it. If the answer is an opinion then we enter a circle of contradiction and are asking the wrong question.