Ted Haggerd, evangelical minister of the New Life Church of Colorado, preached to thirty million followers during his career. He was loved and respected by his followers and his wife and children. He spoke of the necessity to follow the teachings of Jesus and resist the temptation to sin. His sermons were passionate and eloquent appeals to let the power of the Holy Spirit guide your actions and to allow Jesus into your life. He was a poster child of the new wave of Christianity which presently impacts tens of millions of Americans. At the height of his power and influence he was accused of and later admitted to using crystal meth and to having homosexual relations with his massage therapist amongst others.
When Pastor Ted was asked how come he did not tell his flock or his family about his actions he replied, "I didn't think they would respond in a positive way." Good thinking, Ted. After being banned from ever entering his church again and kicked out of the stae of Colorado he went on the road with his family, in exile as he called it. He tried to get numerous jobs but was constantly rejected. When asked about whether some one would hire him or not, his response was that it depends whether they Google him or not.
Finally after a year on the road and a three week counseling session he announced that he was cured of homosexuality. When asked about this experience his take on it was that when one sheep out of a flock of a hundred goes astray, Jesus takes the other ninety-nine to find the one lost one. He was the one lost one, the one that Jesus' teachings were primarily meant for.
It's not hard to see what's wrong with this picture. What is hard is to not judge, but recognize that to one degree or another we are all like Pastor Ted. This is probalby an unpopular view. I'm sure that this level of hypocrisy makes your skin crawl. It is hard to see that what this story is about is an extreme example of a level of being that is rampant in the world.
We all have secrets that we are afraid to reveal. We all have thoughts that we can never admit even to our closest friends. We all act in ways at times that would not stand the scrutiny of a jury of perfect humans. I mean lets be real. We all have weaknesses, flaws, and imperfections. Some of us gain positions of power or influence that magnify the effects of these flaws. Most of us only effect the ones closest to us.
The real story here is that Ted Haggerd is actually not a bad guy. I probably wouldn't want to hang out with him, but after watching a mini-documentary about him and doing a little research I can see that he has some good stuff. We all have good stuff, and some bad stuff. There is a race going on in the world right now between the good stuff and the bad stuff. The more honest we can be with ourselves and the less judgemental we can be about others, the greater the possibility will be that the good stuff will win. Take a moment to consider this. I mean really consider this. It is a good starting point for personal development.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Swine Flu Vs. Vitamin D
I would love to be able to write a humorous blog about the Swine Flu; how it is just another example of the endless brainwashing that we are constantly subjected to. However, I am too superstitious: maybe there really is something to worry about; and if I make fun of it I will be more susceptible to getting it and becoming one of the early casualties.
Matter of fact, I'm thinking about going out tomorrow and getting a surgical mask. I heard there was a case in N.J. I have been out of my house on occassion in the last week or two. More significantly, I have been working on a consulting assignment with a company that has an employee that reportedly lives with a Mexican woman, although her exact origin is unknown. What is definite is that she speaks Spanish and looks Latina.
This has triggered a long forgotten memory of my earliest childhood. I was living in Coney Island, about a block or two from the beach. My mother was afraid to let me go to the beach because she was afraid I would catch polio. I live a block from the beach now. This weekend was beautiful, close to ninety degrees and I spent a little time on the beach. I have been feeling a lot of anxiety. I wonder if this has anything to do with my mother's attitude and her instilling in me at this early age the fear of getting caught up in some life threatening epidemic.
My hypochondria has actually gotten better, although last week I thought I was a goner because of high blood pressure. I went to the doctor. He gave me an EKG. Everything was fine in his opinion but to be on the safe side he wanted me to monitor my blood pressure for a week. I had bought a blood pressure machine about ten years ago so I was already equipped. He said, Don't get fanatical. Take my pressure once or twice a day. I took it a minimum of fifteen to twenty times a day. I was so out of control with my blood pressure I couldn't think of anything else. After a few days of not getting a stroke or having a heart attack I began to relax a little. My blood pressure started to go low. I panicked again.
I finally went to the doctor to get the results of some blood work. I brought in my notebook with my blood pressure readings. He didn't even bother to look at them. He said my blood work was good, except my Vitamin D was low. He recommended I take a vitamin every day to supplement this. I instantly became worried and went home and googled the consequences of inadequate vitamin D. I can't understand how this happened but then I remembered I had been staying in my house after hearing these reports about the Swine Flu.
So now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should I risk Swine Flu or should I brave going out so that I can get enough Vitamin D. This whole thing is starting to affect my blood pressure again. Plus I feel a tickle in my throat.
What is the purpose of a surgical mask?
Does it really make a difference?
I think I'll google it, maybe get some real answers. I am trying to establish some credibility with my blog. I hope this post doesn't give anyone the wrong impression.
Matter of fact, I'm thinking about going out tomorrow and getting a surgical mask. I heard there was a case in N.J. I have been out of my house on occassion in the last week or two. More significantly, I have been working on a consulting assignment with a company that has an employee that reportedly lives with a Mexican woman, although her exact origin is unknown. What is definite is that she speaks Spanish and looks Latina.
This has triggered a long forgotten memory of my earliest childhood. I was living in Coney Island, about a block or two from the beach. My mother was afraid to let me go to the beach because she was afraid I would catch polio. I live a block from the beach now. This weekend was beautiful, close to ninety degrees and I spent a little time on the beach. I have been feeling a lot of anxiety. I wonder if this has anything to do with my mother's attitude and her instilling in me at this early age the fear of getting caught up in some life threatening epidemic.
My hypochondria has actually gotten better, although last week I thought I was a goner because of high blood pressure. I went to the doctor. He gave me an EKG. Everything was fine in his opinion but to be on the safe side he wanted me to monitor my blood pressure for a week. I had bought a blood pressure machine about ten years ago so I was already equipped. He said, Don't get fanatical. Take my pressure once or twice a day. I took it a minimum of fifteen to twenty times a day. I was so out of control with my blood pressure I couldn't think of anything else. After a few days of not getting a stroke or having a heart attack I began to relax a little. My blood pressure started to go low. I panicked again.
I finally went to the doctor to get the results of some blood work. I brought in my notebook with my blood pressure readings. He didn't even bother to look at them. He said my blood work was good, except my Vitamin D was low. He recommended I take a vitamin every day to supplement this. I instantly became worried and went home and googled the consequences of inadequate vitamin D. I can't understand how this happened but then I remembered I had been staying in my house after hearing these reports about the Swine Flu.
So now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should I risk Swine Flu or should I brave going out so that I can get enough Vitamin D. This whole thing is starting to affect my blood pressure again. Plus I feel a tickle in my throat.
What is the purpose of a surgical mask?
Does it really make a difference?
I think I'll google it, maybe get some real answers. I am trying to establish some credibility with my blog. I hope this post doesn't give anyone the wrong impression.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Community Action, Esoteric Ideas, and Eavesdropping
I just got back from a meeting of a community action group whose purpose is to train inner city kids in life skills. In attendance were two black muslims, two women, and two community organizers. I was the only white guy. I had previously met with the organization head, one of the woman. I had seen a sign outside her building advertising life counseling. I was cold calling on businesses to introduce my consulting services and decided to check out whether there might be an opportunity for me to get some work. After explaining my background to her (I was a social worker and teacher in the ghettoes of Brooklyn) and giving her a copy of my book she decided that I might be a good addition to her board. She thought I could add diversity so she decided to invite me to the board meeting. In the spirit of not having anything better to do I decided to check out the meeting.
One of the first things I noticed was that I did not feel at all like an outsider. I had spent the entire day at another business discussing the communication and personal problems of the business owners and the employees. The environment at this center seemed a little more upbeat, friendly, and positive much more to my liking than the business I had just left or the average businesses I observe. These people were optimistic and hopeful, opposite of what you might think would be the case in a ghetto business devoted to solving the most difficult of family and children problems
I did notice from the amount of Obama pictures on the wall and from eavesdropping on some of the conversations as I was waiting for the meeting to begin how significant Obama's elections was to the world view and attitude of the members. By the way, I am a professional eavesdropper. After years of practicing this little known art I have perfected it and have learned to eavesdrop on multiple conversations simultaneously. What I have noticed is that most people talk about nothing of relevance.
The easiest and most fruitful places for eavesdropping are restaurants and security lines in airports. These conversations for the most part are nonsensical. Restaurant conversations are mostly about gossip, health problems, or the state of the participants material possessions, especially their homes. Airport conversations are usually boring recounts of places that have been visited or worst of all businessmen checking in with their offices to make sure that assignments are getting done or that arrangments have been made. What annoys me most about these conversations is the urgency and importance that are being attached to these conversations even though most of the products are non-essential and evenly irrelevant. I mean people act like shipments of corkboard or specifications for lampshades are critical to the planets survival.
When the board meeting was actually started one of the Muslims, Juwanda, was asked to present his background and how he felt he could contribute to the board and the organization. He was about my age and told his story about his life on the streets as an activist dealing with prisoners and drug addicts and how he had developed experience in life skills training especially from the prisoners. He mentioned that people in prison have the time, space, and will to actually think about things and because of the this are often in the best position to come up with good ideas about self development and helping the community. The women leader objected a little to this saying that even though she was tremendously busy she found the time, space, and will to come up with good ideas also, and had never been in prison.
I was then asked to tell my story. I explained to the group without the slightest bit of nervousness or even self-consciousness that I had spent the last thirty years working in the business world attempting to bring spiritual values to business. I mentioned that in order to do this I had to understand what were spiritual values. I expressed my view that at the core of all religions was a similar truth, that we were all created from the same source, that we had lost our connection with this source, and that spiritual work in all religions involved returning to the source from which we came. This return began with self-study and getting to see the truth about ourselves and our condition. I said that I believed that all effective self-development programs had to include this element of self-awareness training.
I also expressed the idea that the world was changing and that the old ways of running businesses and becoming successful based on greed, competiveness, and aggression were no longer working. What was needed was a more sincere, sharing, and caring attitude. This leveled the playing field and provided an equal opportunity to motivate ghetto kids and rich kids from white suburbia. They liked this point. One of the muslims pointed out to me, though after I finished my talk that he was not willing to take money from the casinos, no matter how much they were offering. I had no idea why he even said this. For the first time though I had a little self-doubt that he might know about my gambling background, although I had never met him before.
When I got home and reflected on what had happened at the meeting I was happy with the way I presented myself and saw that I can impact people with my ideas, although I wasn't sure that I could really help this group or that I wanted to. I woke up though, in the middle of the night with the idea that a way to help these kids was to create workshops in which the kids are asked to present basic esoteric ideas through art, theater, dance. poetry, song, and story telling. I thought of the Wizard of Oz , the Emperor's New Clothes, and West Side Story as examples of performance and creativity being used as vehicles to express deeper lessons about life. This is not a new idea and has been incorporated within most traditions since the beginning of history. The hard part is to organize it and develop a structure and process through which the kids can be motivated to spend their time creating and expressing themselves in ways that will enable them to get to know themselves better.
I think I'll send an e-mail to the director telling her about this possibility. I'm still not sure whether I want to get involved or not. I'll have to think about it.
One of the first things I noticed was that I did not feel at all like an outsider. I had spent the entire day at another business discussing the communication and personal problems of the business owners and the employees. The environment at this center seemed a little more upbeat, friendly, and positive much more to my liking than the business I had just left or the average businesses I observe. These people were optimistic and hopeful, opposite of what you might think would be the case in a ghetto business devoted to solving the most difficult of family and children problems
I did notice from the amount of Obama pictures on the wall and from eavesdropping on some of the conversations as I was waiting for the meeting to begin how significant Obama's elections was to the world view and attitude of the members. By the way, I am a professional eavesdropper. After years of practicing this little known art I have perfected it and have learned to eavesdrop on multiple conversations simultaneously. What I have noticed is that most people talk about nothing of relevance.
The easiest and most fruitful places for eavesdropping are restaurants and security lines in airports. These conversations for the most part are nonsensical. Restaurant conversations are mostly about gossip, health problems, or the state of the participants material possessions, especially their homes. Airport conversations are usually boring recounts of places that have been visited or worst of all businessmen checking in with their offices to make sure that assignments are getting done or that arrangments have been made. What annoys me most about these conversations is the urgency and importance that are being attached to these conversations even though most of the products are non-essential and evenly irrelevant. I mean people act like shipments of corkboard or specifications for lampshades are critical to the planets survival.
When the board meeting was actually started one of the Muslims, Juwanda, was asked to present his background and how he felt he could contribute to the board and the organization. He was about my age and told his story about his life on the streets as an activist dealing with prisoners and drug addicts and how he had developed experience in life skills training especially from the prisoners. He mentioned that people in prison have the time, space, and will to actually think about things and because of the this are often in the best position to come up with good ideas about self development and helping the community. The women leader objected a little to this saying that even though she was tremendously busy she found the time, space, and will to come up with good ideas also, and had never been in prison.
I was then asked to tell my story. I explained to the group without the slightest bit of nervousness or even self-consciousness that I had spent the last thirty years working in the business world attempting to bring spiritual values to business. I mentioned that in order to do this I had to understand what were spiritual values. I expressed my view that at the core of all religions was a similar truth, that we were all created from the same source, that we had lost our connection with this source, and that spiritual work in all religions involved returning to the source from which we came. This return began with self-study and getting to see the truth about ourselves and our condition. I said that I believed that all effective self-development programs had to include this element of self-awareness training.
I also expressed the idea that the world was changing and that the old ways of running businesses and becoming successful based on greed, competiveness, and aggression were no longer working. What was needed was a more sincere, sharing, and caring attitude. This leveled the playing field and provided an equal opportunity to motivate ghetto kids and rich kids from white suburbia. They liked this point. One of the muslims pointed out to me, though after I finished my talk that he was not willing to take money from the casinos, no matter how much they were offering. I had no idea why he even said this. For the first time though I had a little self-doubt that he might know about my gambling background, although I had never met him before.
When I got home and reflected on what had happened at the meeting I was happy with the way I presented myself and saw that I can impact people with my ideas, although I wasn't sure that I could really help this group or that I wanted to. I woke up though, in the middle of the night with the idea that a way to help these kids was to create workshops in which the kids are asked to present basic esoteric ideas through art, theater, dance. poetry, song, and story telling. I thought of the Wizard of Oz , the Emperor's New Clothes, and West Side Story as examples of performance and creativity being used as vehicles to express deeper lessons about life. This is not a new idea and has been incorporated within most traditions since the beginning of history. The hard part is to organize it and develop a structure and process through which the kids can be motivated to spend their time creating and expressing themselves in ways that will enable them to get to know themselves better.
I think I'll send an e-mail to the director telling her about this possibility. I'm still not sure whether I want to get involved or not. I'll have to think about it.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
What Are We Afraid Of?
Some people are fearful of the possibility that computers some day will be smarter than humans. People who know about these things predict that if technology continues to advance at the same rate we will reach the point, in approximately 2035, when computing power will be greater than our brain. This is called the singularity--a singular moment in history when the world will change forever. What will this mean to our lives?
First of all, in order for this to occur we must still be in existence. This likely will be the case. Secondly, technology must continue to advance at the same pace. Odds are that it will continue to advance; most likely at an even faster pace. As computing power increases, artificial intelligence becomes faster and smarter and then finally reaches the point where it is 50% as smart as man, then 75%, then 99%, then equal, and then slightly smarter. Once A.I. is smarter than humans it takes over the development of computing power and develops computers smarter than itself. This can accelerate geometrically so at first it will be twice as smart, then four times, eight times, and ultimately millions of time as smart as we are.
This is not speculation. This is very real and we most likely will experience this in our lifetimes if we are fifty or under. Why are we afraid of this? At the very least it will enable our physical lives to improve significantly. There is no limit to what we can imagine can happen. The progress that can be made in health, mortality, travel, communication, energy, and the ability to improve the standards of living of the world's population will be incredible. War for acquisition and control will no longer be necessary where everyone has what they want.
Actually we cannot imagine what the world will be like when we have the availability of an intelligence level that is beyond our comprehension. Immortality, space travel, penetrating the mysteries of death and sleep, creating fantasy parks in which we can experience our most secret and deepest desires are just the tip of the iceberg of what may be possible
Again I ask why are we afraid of this? What is there about living in a world where war, disease, poverty, and unfulfilling work no longer exist that stirs an uneasiness within us. Is it that we are attached to our suffering, that we need to struggle in order to feel meaning in our lives. Are we afraid of losing control to machines whose motivation will be to enslave us and destroy us? Are we so frightened of change that even when it offers us the hope of everything we have ever wanted we cannot accept it.?
This scenario of our future world is not science fiction, although it is hard to imagine and take seriously. If humans are without souls or without the possibility of higher consciousness and a connection to beauty, love, and truth, then the picture I am painting still offers something to look forward to. If we are part of a creative process and more than just physical beings than we have nothing to fear from the delegation of the chores of our lives to machines or computers. This question about why we are afraid of this is an important one. We need to explore it carefully.
First of all, in order for this to occur we must still be in existence. This likely will be the case. Secondly, technology must continue to advance at the same pace. Odds are that it will continue to advance; most likely at an even faster pace. As computing power increases, artificial intelligence becomes faster and smarter and then finally reaches the point where it is 50% as smart as man, then 75%, then 99%, then equal, and then slightly smarter. Once A.I. is smarter than humans it takes over the development of computing power and develops computers smarter than itself. This can accelerate geometrically so at first it will be twice as smart, then four times, eight times, and ultimately millions of time as smart as we are.
This is not speculation. This is very real and we most likely will experience this in our lifetimes if we are fifty or under. Why are we afraid of this? At the very least it will enable our physical lives to improve significantly. There is no limit to what we can imagine can happen. The progress that can be made in health, mortality, travel, communication, energy, and the ability to improve the standards of living of the world's population will be incredible. War for acquisition and control will no longer be necessary where everyone has what they want.
Actually we cannot imagine what the world will be like when we have the availability of an intelligence level that is beyond our comprehension. Immortality, space travel, penetrating the mysteries of death and sleep, creating fantasy parks in which we can experience our most secret and deepest desires are just the tip of the iceberg of what may be possible
Again I ask why are we afraid of this? What is there about living in a world where war, disease, poverty, and unfulfilling work no longer exist that stirs an uneasiness within us. Is it that we are attached to our suffering, that we need to struggle in order to feel meaning in our lives. Are we afraid of losing control to machines whose motivation will be to enslave us and destroy us? Are we so frightened of change that even when it offers us the hope of everything we have ever wanted we cannot accept it.?
This scenario of our future world is not science fiction, although it is hard to imagine and take seriously. If humans are without souls or without the possibility of higher consciousness and a connection to beauty, love, and truth, then the picture I am painting still offers something to look forward to. If we are part of a creative process and more than just physical beings than we have nothing to fear from the delegation of the chores of our lives to machines or computers. This question about why we are afraid of this is an important one. We need to explore it carefully.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
American Truth
I heard this story about a women whose husband died on the day she was supposed to pay her utility bill. She had to make funeral arrangments so she paid the bill the next day, one day late. When her credit card company heard about this outrageous irresponsibility they raised her rate from ten to thirty percent. My friend Rochelle called me last week crying. Her credit card bill was lost in the mail. Her rate was raised to twenty-nine percent. These are not isolated stories.
This is what's going on today in a country that supposedly espouses Christian values, especially from corporate America and the banking industry whose executives extol the virtues of truth in lending, whatever that means. Obama talked to the credit card companies yesterday to tell them to be a little more reasonable in their actions. "Unbelievable," was the reaction of CNBC analysts. How could Obama interfere in the free market system. This was a direct threat to the American way of life. Capitalism was under attack. Are you serious?
There is one thing about America that will not change. There is one thing about America that is the essence of our culture and that no matter how much rhetoric there is to the countrary we do not have to be concerned about. America has been, is, and will be a nation of wheeler dealers, entrepreneurs, and free spirits whose primary focus is to make a buck and spend two on whatever the latest fad or gadget might be.
No matter what you read on the internet or hear on TV the American people give lip service to ideas, dogmas, or belief systems. What we believe in is whatever is to our financial advantage in the moment. There is no way Americans will become suicide bombers or fly planes into buildings, or fast for long periods to protest unfair practices. We may have theoretical conversations about higher ideals, or write books, or even produce moving documentaries and movies that support saving our environment and feeding the poor and homeless. But at the bottom line, these are all money making ventures.
Whenever I hear Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity harangue us about the deterioration of America and the growing threat to our freedom I think about going to Burger King for a Whopper or maybe McDonalds for a Big Mac. Or maybe I should watch Bret Michaels Rock of Love, or reruns of LA Law or any one of hundreds of other choices always available to me. Or should I play chess on the internet, or watch the latest porno e-mail sent to me by my sixty-six year old conservative friend ? How about taking a walk on the beach or a ride in my car? No one is telling me what to do or what to think.
America is a great place to live. There are definitely flaws and room for improvement. But the critics on the left and on the right can't be taken too seriously. They are allowed to express their ideas and make money from disagreeing with whatever they find bothersome to them in the moment. In my opinion, they are entertainers, for the most part. who have found a shtick and are capitalizing on it. That's fine. Let's not get carried away though, unless we want to and find it pleasurable, with any of the glib talkers who have all the answers and are totally sure that their point of view is not only right but sacred. I'm really not worried about it though. I have to decide whether to watch the Sixers or the Phillies tonight after I determine whether I should call in for Italian or Chinese. When that changes then I will become concerned. But I don't see it happening.
This is what's going on today in a country that supposedly espouses Christian values, especially from corporate America and the banking industry whose executives extol the virtues of truth in lending, whatever that means. Obama talked to the credit card companies yesterday to tell them to be a little more reasonable in their actions. "Unbelievable," was the reaction of CNBC analysts. How could Obama interfere in the free market system. This was a direct threat to the American way of life. Capitalism was under attack. Are you serious?
There is one thing about America that will not change. There is one thing about America that is the essence of our culture and that no matter how much rhetoric there is to the countrary we do not have to be concerned about. America has been, is, and will be a nation of wheeler dealers, entrepreneurs, and free spirits whose primary focus is to make a buck and spend two on whatever the latest fad or gadget might be.
No matter what you read on the internet or hear on TV the American people give lip service to ideas, dogmas, or belief systems. What we believe in is whatever is to our financial advantage in the moment. There is no way Americans will become suicide bombers or fly planes into buildings, or fast for long periods to protest unfair practices. We may have theoretical conversations about higher ideals, or write books, or even produce moving documentaries and movies that support saving our environment and feeding the poor and homeless. But at the bottom line, these are all money making ventures.
Whenever I hear Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity harangue us about the deterioration of America and the growing threat to our freedom I think about going to Burger King for a Whopper or maybe McDonalds for a Big Mac. Or maybe I should watch Bret Michaels Rock of Love, or reruns of LA Law or any one of hundreds of other choices always available to me. Or should I play chess on the internet, or watch the latest porno e-mail sent to me by my sixty-six year old conservative friend ? How about taking a walk on the beach or a ride in my car? No one is telling me what to do or what to think.
America is a great place to live. There are definitely flaws and room for improvement. But the critics on the left and on the right can't be taken too seriously. They are allowed to express their ideas and make money from disagreeing with whatever they find bothersome to them in the moment. In my opinion, they are entertainers, for the most part. who have found a shtick and are capitalizing on it. That's fine. Let's not get carried away though, unless we want to and find it pleasurable, with any of the glib talkers who have all the answers and are totally sure that their point of view is not only right but sacred. I'm really not worried about it though. I have to decide whether to watch the Sixers or the Phillies tonight after I determine whether I should call in for Italian or Chinese. When that changes then I will become concerned. But I don't see it happening.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Women vs. Men
My sister and I have a lot in common. This is not surprising since we shared the same small bedroom until I was twenty and she was sixteen. One of our shared traits is that we both have had a number of long term close friends. Interestingly her friends and my friends would be hanging out in our bedroom at the same time and there would be no interaction or recognition of the other's presence. It was if we were in entirely separate locations.
I think her friends were aware, at least of the presence of my friends. My friends who were four years older did not acknowledge the exisence of my sister or her friends. There are definitely differences between men and women. My sister knows me better than anyone. This is because of the closeness of our living conditions, her nature as a people person (she is presently a therapist in Hollywood) but mostly because women pay more attention to personalities and feelings while men pay more attention to the physical and to things.
I once went to a workshop with a teacher, whom I respect, about the differences between men and women. The question that was being discussed was what do men and women want. What do they really? It seems that women want to be in service, to nurture, and to take care of others. What men want is orgasms. When women wake up in the morning their first thoughts are about their children or about what they need to do to take care of others. The first thoughts of men are about what they need for themselves.
There is no question in my mind that women are overall smarter than men and are on a higher level. In the Jewish religion there are something like 611 laws that need to be followed by a practicing Jew. 608 of them apply to men and only 3 apply to women. Men need to be disciplined more than women. They need more rules to help them do what is right. Women are more inclined to create and support. Men are more inclined to destroy. Men need women more than women need men.
In spite of the obvious superiority of women, most of the great achievements of the world have been accomplished by men. It might be that on average women are superior to men but that the highest level of men are on a higher level than the highest level of women. Or it may be that men had more opportunities to develop themselves while women have had to take care of the home or family. This could be changing though.
It seems that if we are going to survive women need to given more power. There is definitely a masculine orientation in today's world. Our society is essentially patriarchal, controlled by men. The consequences of this are that we are more vulnerable to war and to destroying Mother Nature by our lack of discipline and inability to control our greed and lust. It would be to our advantage to enable women to be more in control. This probably won't be accomplished by a conscious effort on the part of men. Women are going to have to take the bull by the horns and demand the power for themselves. I definitely would support this. It would also be very interesting to observe how this unfolded.
I think her friends were aware, at least of the presence of my friends. My friends who were four years older did not acknowledge the exisence of my sister or her friends. There are definitely differences between men and women. My sister knows me better than anyone. This is because of the closeness of our living conditions, her nature as a people person (she is presently a therapist in Hollywood) but mostly because women pay more attention to personalities and feelings while men pay more attention to the physical and to things.
I once went to a workshop with a teacher, whom I respect, about the differences between men and women. The question that was being discussed was what do men and women want. What do they really? It seems that women want to be in service, to nurture, and to take care of others. What men want is orgasms. When women wake up in the morning their first thoughts are about their children or about what they need to do to take care of others. The first thoughts of men are about what they need for themselves.
There is no question in my mind that women are overall smarter than men and are on a higher level. In the Jewish religion there are something like 611 laws that need to be followed by a practicing Jew. 608 of them apply to men and only 3 apply to women. Men need to be disciplined more than women. They need more rules to help them do what is right. Women are more inclined to create and support. Men are more inclined to destroy. Men need women more than women need men.
In spite of the obvious superiority of women, most of the great achievements of the world have been accomplished by men. It might be that on average women are superior to men but that the highest level of men are on a higher level than the highest level of women. Or it may be that men had more opportunities to develop themselves while women have had to take care of the home or family. This could be changing though.
It seems that if we are going to survive women need to given more power. There is definitely a masculine orientation in today's world. Our society is essentially patriarchal, controlled by men. The consequences of this are that we are more vulnerable to war and to destroying Mother Nature by our lack of discipline and inability to control our greed and lust. It would be to our advantage to enable women to be more in control. This probably won't be accomplished by a conscious effort on the part of men. Women are going to have to take the bull by the horns and demand the power for themselves. I definitely would support this. It would also be very interesting to observe how this unfolded.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Spending Time Wisely
I used to be addicted to craps. It was a very expensive addiction. I never kept records, but I estimate I lost over $150,000 during my twenty year career. This is about $7500 per year, $150 per week. During that time my average income was $2000 per week or more. I am not justifying my losses. Just stating the facts.
I remember nights visualizing the roll of the dice, imagining different scenarios in which I would win hundreds of thousands of dollars. This relaxed me and helped me sleep. No matter what I was doing during this phase of my life I'd constantly think about heading down to Atlantic City. It never was an effort for me to drive two or more hours at any time of day or night to satisfy my craving.
Today I live under six minutes, if there is traffic, from the nearest casino. I have no desire to shoot dice at all. Matter of fact, I don't even enjoy going to the casinos. I'm addicted to poker. I play on the internet; I don't have to leave my house. I don't lose much money either. I don't win, but I estimate my losses are under a thousand per year. The main cost is the amount of time I play, forty or more hours per week. Actually, this is a little misleading. I'm usually watching TV or listening to music on TV at the same time. If I wasn't playing poker I might just be watching or listening to TV.
I'm addicted to poker. When I can't sleep I visualize hands I've played, or hands I imagine I'll play in the future. It helps me relax. The reason I need to relax is because playing poker puts me under pressure. First of all, especially on the internet, there are a lot of bad beats, hands that I am positive I am going to win but lose. Secondly, when I am not playing I feel compelled to play. This puts additional pressure on me.
What helps me relax is to not to play poker at all. When I take a few days off, maybe a week or two, I feel terrific. As if a large burden's been lifted; I'm free to do whatever I want.
Which eventually leads me back to playing poker.
(Even writing about it, looking forward to not playing is beginning to relax me.)
I know, this is a little ridiculous, but I don't think it's much different than the way most people spend their lives.
I could be living in a monastery and spending ten or more hours a day in prayer or meditation. I could be working in the Post Office, boxing mail. I could be in Africa with a spoon carefully digging forty to fifty hours a week with the hope of finding a bone or two. Or maybe I could be a doctor treating sick people sixty hours a week. Many doctors play poker on the internet to relax. What's keeping me from being a doctor is not gambling. I was never good at organic chemistry.
How about trading stocks, writing greeting cards, selling pocketbooks, counseling addicts or neurotics, driving a limousine, training race horses, making important decisions, fixing roofs, or walking across the Appalachian Trail? Would any of these activities be better ways to spend my time? My mother would probably think so. I'm not so sure. I just read that there are more blog writers who make money than lawyers. They spend fifty to sixty hours a week writing their opinions about sports, politics, sex, health, investing, exercise, or how to spend your time wisely. I wish I knew how they get paid. I'm not sure I'd want to do it anyway.
What I would really like to do is sit around with a group of wise men and women in a cafe discussing the meaning and purpose of life. Now that I think about it, though, I'd rather have these discussions in my house while I'm on the internet playing poker. If there are any wise men and women who are reading this and want to come to my house they are more than welcome.
I remember nights visualizing the roll of the dice, imagining different scenarios in which I would win hundreds of thousands of dollars. This relaxed me and helped me sleep. No matter what I was doing during this phase of my life I'd constantly think about heading down to Atlantic City. It never was an effort for me to drive two or more hours at any time of day or night to satisfy my craving.
Today I live under six minutes, if there is traffic, from the nearest casino. I have no desire to shoot dice at all. Matter of fact, I don't even enjoy going to the casinos. I'm addicted to poker. I play on the internet; I don't have to leave my house. I don't lose much money either. I don't win, but I estimate my losses are under a thousand per year. The main cost is the amount of time I play, forty or more hours per week. Actually, this is a little misleading. I'm usually watching TV or listening to music on TV at the same time. If I wasn't playing poker I might just be watching or listening to TV.
I'm addicted to poker. When I can't sleep I visualize hands I've played, or hands I imagine I'll play in the future. It helps me relax. The reason I need to relax is because playing poker puts me under pressure. First of all, especially on the internet, there are a lot of bad beats, hands that I am positive I am going to win but lose. Secondly, when I am not playing I feel compelled to play. This puts additional pressure on me.
What helps me relax is to not to play poker at all. When I take a few days off, maybe a week or two, I feel terrific. As if a large burden's been lifted; I'm free to do whatever I want.
Which eventually leads me back to playing poker.
(Even writing about it, looking forward to not playing is beginning to relax me.)
I know, this is a little ridiculous, but I don't think it's much different than the way most people spend their lives.
I could be living in a monastery and spending ten or more hours a day in prayer or meditation. I could be working in the Post Office, boxing mail. I could be in Africa with a spoon carefully digging forty to fifty hours a week with the hope of finding a bone or two. Or maybe I could be a doctor treating sick people sixty hours a week. Many doctors play poker on the internet to relax. What's keeping me from being a doctor is not gambling. I was never good at organic chemistry.
How about trading stocks, writing greeting cards, selling pocketbooks, counseling addicts or neurotics, driving a limousine, training race horses, making important decisions, fixing roofs, or walking across the Appalachian Trail? Would any of these activities be better ways to spend my time? My mother would probably think so. I'm not so sure. I just read that there are more blog writers who make money than lawyers. They spend fifty to sixty hours a week writing their opinions about sports, politics, sex, health, investing, exercise, or how to spend your time wisely. I wish I knew how they get paid. I'm not sure I'd want to do it anyway.
What I would really like to do is sit around with a group of wise men and women in a cafe discussing the meaning and purpose of life. Now that I think about it, though, I'd rather have these discussions in my house while I'm on the internet playing poker. If there are any wise men and women who are reading this and want to come to my house they are more than welcome.
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