Open-Mindedness: Lesson #1

I grew up as a true-believing Mormon, and did everything (I mean everything) that a good little Mormon boy was expected to do. Since I no longer pretend to adhere to the Mormon dogmatic/doctrinal/
"whatever you wanna call it" belief system, I'm often asked where I stand in relation to religion - or even ... dun-duh-duh ... God. I'd like to say, "I don't believe in God" which is, I admit, the truth. But usually I'll say something like, "I'm not sure what to think." I do this to avoid a long and pointless debate about the supernatural. Sure, you might think I'm avoiding the issue so I can save face, and this may be true, but it's mostly because I want to save time.

There are times however when I do admit the truth - like when I'm chatting with someone on a bus or a flight who I just met for the first time, or with someone who doesn't enjoy being a judgmental bastard, or with someone who prefers to listen and understand (imagine that!) Regardless of the precautions I take, I never know exactly how people will respond when I open up to them.

Some people will accept what I say and even make me feel completely normal for my having no belief in God. But then, there will always be some people who think that "not believing in something" equates to "knowing that something is not true." Some think that I'm too much of a "scientist" and that I have to have proof to accept anything. Others think I should be more open-minded and consider all options. Well, in that vein, I found a very well-produced video on youtube today that explains the importance of understanding what genuine science and open-mindedness really are.

Whether you believe in a higher power or not, open-mindedness and critical thinking are absolutely invaluable assets. Lacking one or the other means you're either short on creativity or you're just really gullible. Then again, if you're close-minded, it doesn't really matter if you possess critical thinking skills because you've closed yourself off from new ideas that would require them. If you choose to be open-minded and critically evaluate ALL information, you may find that science and the natural world have more meaning than you expected.

You can see the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI

Gose-bussuhs!

Since I'm married to an Asian woman, I feel perfectly fine highlighting some of the amusing jokes I come across (especially since I usually come across these jokes through her or her family). There will be more of these I'm sure.

Knecht Gym

The kids are going to make me ripped! It seems like every other day, Daniel and Maddie want to have a competition with me to see who can do the most pull-ups and push-ups. I'd like to say I always win, or that I let them win, but Daniel actually beat me last time. On our second rep on the pull-up bar, he did 10 and I did, seriously, 9 and a half. I just couldn't make it that extra little bit. I guess I could reason through it by saying "he only weighs 45 pounds" to make myself feel better, but that's just not productive.

This is the way it works. I do 14 push-ups. So Daniel has to do 15. Then I'll do 16, etc. It works the same on the pull-up bar, but this is little more difficult for me than push-ups. I think the most I can do in a row (right now) is 11. Give me a couple months, and a couple extra workouts per week when the kids are asleep, and it'll be smooth sailing. One can hope.

Guitar Hero

So yesterday morning I was trying my best (on the beginner level) to follow along with the TV prompts. I played for about an hour, and throughout the entire thing, first Maddie, then Daniel and Elena would say "Now!" every time I was supposed to strum the guitar. Halfway through it they decided that they would each pick a color and help me with that color, so someone was on Red, someone else on Green, and someone else on Yellow. Toward the end though they were all just yelling "NOW! NOW! NOW!" and I was just standing there smiling. It was cute how they thought they were helping, so I just let them "help". But man, did that screw me up or what!? I had to concentrate about twice as hard. Good times.

"Your focus determines your reality"

The valuable words of Qui Gon from Star Wars, episode 1. I'm not a big fan of the new prequels to the original Star Wars trilogy, but this phrase stuck with me the other day when I was talking to my friend Brandon.

I remember telling someone years ago (which I mentioned to Brandon a couple days ago) that, in my opinion, someone who is clinically depressed is usually more aware of the true state of his environment. The environment is that person's "world", or what he perceives as his "world", and is everything that surrounds him or has an affect on him. I know some people would disagree, but I still cling to that theory.

A problem with depressed individuals, beyond the fact that many have neurotransmitter imbalances, is that they are not focusing on the issues that they have control over. In Cabo Verde, I remember Senhor Pond telling us to make two lists. The first list should include all the problems we had no control over, while the second should contain all the problems we could control. He then told us that we should cross out the first list and focus only on the aspects of life that we had control over. Very insightful and memorable - that was over 10 years ago.

While talking to Brandon, he agreed with me about depressed people being more aware of their world's problems, and he reiterated basically the same thing Senhor Pond had said, but then he added the quote from Star Wars. It all makes sense to me, and I'd like to combine these ideas together.

Being more aware of the state of your world is a good thing, but you have to take into account a little thing called "perspective". Yes, you can be aware of things as they truly are, and this can be mind-opening, but at the same time, you can choose to focus on those things that are important, productive, and able to be controlled - by you. If you spend your time focusing on things you can't control, you will only make yourself more miserable, because your perceived reality will include all those unproductive, depressing and uncontrollable aspects of your life. The point here is - Being aware of something is different from being emotionally and psychologically attached to it.

The - what is real, and what is not - depends largely on perspective, and if you can just acquire a proper perspective on your world, and if you can choose to focus on those things that YOU can control, you'll be in a much more contented place.

Greta loves her Daa-ee

This morning I went upstairs to see if Meimers was awake and ready to get up. I snuck into her room and leaned over the crib. She was laying there with her eyes open looking out the opposite side of the crib and singing, "Daa-ee, Daa-ee, Daaaaa-ee". It was adorable - SHE'S adorable. Then I whispered, "Good morning Mei-mei" and she flipped around and said, much louder than before, "Daa-ee, my Daa-ee!" and gave me one of those big "good morning" hugs and held on to me for a minute or two like she does every morning that I get her up. That girl is so cute I can hardly stand it.