Create The Noise. Change Your World.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” Henri Louis Bergeson

Are you comfortable living in the moment.. or are you obsessed about having a plan?

Me? I must have a planned strategy for the order that I put my clothes on in the morning. I am not good with spontaneity. There was a time in my life where I welcomed the unpredictable, but that was before college. Now I must know everything.

I believe that a large majority of people are this way. They might not be as extreme as I, but we all want to believe that we have a larger purpose for our lives. We all start with a general trail that we have carved out for life. We then set up to define our success by following this trail.

“Grace makes beauty out of ugly things.” -U2 (Grace)

I believe we are at our most basic selves when we are driving. We don’t know anyone that we’re driving next to, nor do we even see them for a prolonged period of time. This lack of social accountability allows us to throw our higher human virtues out of the window. We don’t have to fold under the pressure of the virtuous crowd. We create a false sense of safety within our car that tells us it is the perfect opportunity to let go.

We can become the part of ourselves that we feel guilty for in every other situation.

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with some friends. We were discussing what we were doing that day which would have an impact on our lives down the road. I couldn’t think of much. My day consisted of going to work and then going home. The only other thing I had to get done was on the drive home, I had to return some keys to an apartment complex.

I couldn’t think of anything that was going to make a lasting impact on my agenda for the day.

My friends disagreed.

 Did you know that there are countless times in your day that you are connecting with God?

Yes, I am talking about as if they are allready happening. Yesterday, you were in connection with God.. Whether you knew it or not.

Every moment of our lives, we are connected with God. I don’t mean it in the way that we are all God and God is everything, but like you always have a cell phone turned on and connected with God’s cell phone. Our problem is that we just don’t realize it. We make such a big deal out of finding the right way to reconnect with God: the right prayer or the right environment. We try so hard that we end up getting burnt out on “getting right with God”, but it is not our job to reconnect with God. God has allready done it.

Chorus

Its getting lonely on this road

so lonely

finding

my own way

home  Verse 1

They try to tell me

the path I need

The road to take

to succeed But I wont go

and follow their lead

I’m going to chart

my own way

home  Chorus

Its getting lonely

on this road

so lonely

finding

my own way

home Verse 2

Do you want to succeed

is what they say

hoping that maybe

I’ll change my way  It hurts to see

that I’m alone

No one is here on

my own way

There is a corrupt file in our society. It has affected nearly every modern individual. We all know about it and we even try to talk about it. We label it as a natural part of life. We theorize that it is an effect of capitalism. Many call it consumerism and fight against it, but most do not understand what it truly is.

My Guilty Pleasures

I am not much of a video game junky.. except when it comes to two genres. Sports titles (Madden) and MMORPG’s are my vices. I was an original Evergeek in High School (97-01) and played some of Everquest 2. I havent committed myself to any video game in more than 3 years and its eating me up inside. I had and have too many responsibilites. Yet, I sit here with a trial version of World of Warcraft beside me. Evercrack has led me to a tougher addiction.

If you desire to try and make the world a better place, you will be left heartbroken.

I don’t know why I persistently preach that we can become a world of compassion and selfless sacrifice. It could never be true. It is a fight that one cannot win. There will always be someone taking advantage of us. There will always be someone that is out to hurt us…  There will always be that time when we are in it for ourselves.

Note: This is an entry into a blog competition hosted by three very well respected bloggers: Urban Monk, The Middle Way, and Zen-Inspired Self Development.

I knew she was hurting. You could see it in her face as the tears trickled down her bruised cheeks, but she had done it to herself.  Instead of looking for a normal guy, she sought after the dangerous ones.  If it was her first time getting into trouble then I could be a little more compassionate. This wasn’t even her fourth. Its a routine with her. I love hanging out with her because she is an excellent listener and has the most intriguing green eyes, but I’m near the breaking point in our friendship. I don’t understand her.