Our place in this world

I hope you have a great autumn!

For my entire life, it seems America has been divided between liberals and conservatives who label themselves Democrats and Republicans.  One side seemingly wanting to be progressive, to change the status quo, to be socially "liberal".  The other side seemingly wanting to leave things as they were, to be socially "conservative". I feel that over the past 10 years things have gotten significantly worse, being hateful and even violent at times.  Extremists from both sides are quick to curse, name call, demean, finger point, and threaten.  It's really awful.  Neither side is willing to concede or compromise.  Both sides want the government to control more and more individual behaviors. One of the problems, as I see it, is that the government is either unable or unwilling to truly govern.  Rather than Congress doing sound research, representing the people and then writing sound laws, we rely too much on the Supreme Court to decide what's ok and what's no

As I've written about recently, I had a bit of a blow-up with someone close to me.  I've been hurt, angry, disgusted, and even angrier.  I've tried to think of what my part in this blow up could have been.  I realize and have finally accepted that I did play a part as I was joking around and this person didn't take it well, leading to their blow up. Now that I accept that I did, in fact, play a role in all of this, I decided to apologize for the teasing.  I should not have expected anything in return but I did.  I expected them to reciprocate and apologize for blowing up, threatening, and belittling me--then we would have reconciliation.  But instead, this person proceeded to defend their position and behavior.  They took the position that they were in the right, and it was all my fault.  Now there is no reconciliation, I'm still hurt, and I still think they are crazy, but now also very selfish. So, here I am, blogging about "right or reconciliation". 

Anger noun a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility. I don't consider myself to be an angry person, and in fact, I consider myself to be fairly positive and even-keeled.  However, a recent event has caused me to become quite angry...literally over several days, I find myself still fuming a bit.  The event in itself has caused me to be angry and my anger for so many days is causing me to be angry.  Suffice it to say, I'm a hot mess. I'm angry because I feel I have been wronged.  And not just wronged but told that I am less than criminal...OUCH!  Why do words hurt?  It bothers me when words hurt others; I call those people "sensitive".  But now I am dealing with hurt feelings over <gasp> words!  Am I "sensitive"?  My recent discontentment would say yes.  Sigh. My wife has asked me why I'm still so mad.  She's asked me to think about what role I may have played in this.  She's asked me if being angry is doing any go

jealous jeal·ous | \ˈje-ləs  \ Hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage: ENVIOUS His success made his old friends jealous. They were jealous of his success. Jealousy is a curious thing.  To want what someone else has, or to feel entitled to have what someone else has or is.  I've experienced this to be sure.  I'm sure all of us have experienced this.  But to be jealous to the point of anger against that person we are jealous of, that seems a bit strange, immature, and wrong, don't you think? I can think back to a time, years ago when I was younger and less mature for sure, when I was still trying to be successful, to climb that ladder, and to make a name for myself. I would become jealous of someone to the point of feeling spiteful towards them.  But for some reason, one day, I decided that rather than be jealous of that person I should be happy for them, for their success, and for their things that I thought I should have. Now, I'm not nai

I began running again this year after returning from a binge eating trip across Europe, yes the food in France is every bit as good as you've heard.  I had let myself go over the past seven years and had put on 25 pounds!  So in April, I began running again in an effort to lose some weight but what I found is that I enjoy it.  Running to exhaustion clears my mind and burns up any cares I had before.  To be completely empty physically, emotionally and mentally is tremendous and makes me feel so good, even though my joints and muscles don't always agree. A month ago I was nearly at the end of a run when I strained my right hamstring.  I was able to hobble back to my truck and get myself home, but there was no way I could run.  I decided to rest until I could get moving again. Fast forward four weeks and I'm itching to get back out there.  I need that release, that empty feeling, to clear my mind and get a good sweat going.  My hamstring feels pretty good squatting and lun