The past, the present, the future.

What is the most important?

The past?
The past is our memories.
Without memories there is not much point in life. At least not to us humans. Nature has its own ideas but that's another post.

The present?
As youth we have the feeling of invisibility.
Why care about the future when what matters is NOW!

True. But NOW is not only the present but also the future.
In fact the most important NOW is probably a moment that not all of us will encounter.

Lying on your death bed what will be the most important things to you?
The amount of money you made?
The adventures you had?
The ones you loved?

The NOW is the most important part of life.
The NOW will be your memories of the past.
Your NOW in the future will be your most important moments.

Do retirees give up the ghost 'cos they are old?
No, they still have lives to live.
Do they regret not taking it a little bit more easy on the wild lives they lived?
Depends. Probably if their joints are all warn away.
Or their brain is addled due to too much recreational drug taking.
But not if they have lived life to the full and still have the energy to due so, if at a slightly slower pace.

Live for the NOW! But remember you have to plan for your NOW then too!

A bird was found with a hook in its mouth.

It made the front page.

We all feel sorry for the bird.

We then go fishing.

Who feels sorry for the fish?

Maybe if we bashed the birds head against a rock and took it home to eat we'd feel better about it?

Apart from the obvious, birds fly in the sky, fish swim in the water, feathers & scales etc... what is the difference between a bird and a fish?

Maybe its because we've decimated most of the birds habitats that we feel sorry for them now?

Maybe one day when we've decimated the oceans we'll feel sorry for fish too?

Out of sight, out of mind?

Birds and fish.
Both beautiful creatures.
Both of same intelligence.
Both live their lives in exactly the same way, only in differing environments.
And yet we treat them so differently.

Why?

It's a shame that religion can't take a leaf out of its own books.

Religion does so much good in the world.
People help others in the name of their god.

But then they also do so much damage in the name of their god.

Unfortunately the people at the top of the religion tree use the beliefs and fears of their people to get what they want.

Flock is a very apt word.
People are sheep.
They follow their shepherd regardless of the sheep they trample over on the way.

We all know right from wrong.
Why do we need a book to tell us this.
A book that manipulates and twists in its interpretations.

Respect mother nature, respect your fellow man & woman.

Believe in yourself.

You don't need a book to tell you how to live.

Saying that, the book I once read has some dam good stories and makes a lot of sense.

But at the end of the day, they are stories....not the gospel truth.

When man first became aware of himself and his place in his surroundings he sort assurance in his life.

There were many things that scared him and many things he did not understand.

The orange ball that rose from the land each morning was one of these things.

He believed it was magical. 

It gave him light to see with and heat to keep him warm.

It also burnt him and hurt his eyes.

It was something to be feared and revered.

It was a God.

When the Day God disappeared the Night God came out to watch over him.

He asked his Gods for guidance, shelter and delivery of sustenance for life.

It gave him confidence and assurance that if he was good, the gods would help him.

But if he was bad they would punish him.

He passed this knowledge on to his family and they in turn did the same.

Safe in the knowledge that if they were good, their gods would protect them.

Over time other gods were discovered. They all had their purpose and helped mankind on its journey through time.

As time progressed so did man.

Soon man could write down what he thought and so the Word was spread.

Do not anger the Gods or they will strike you down and you will go to Hell.

Please them and their kind and you will go to Heaven.

As man became more intelligent and learnt more about his surroundings he realised that the earth he stood on was part of the night sky he had gazed upon for thousands of years.

His gods were not in fact gods but part of nature and all its wonderment.

This posed quite a quandary.

Who was going to give him the assurance he needed to continue his journey through life?

Who would be his guiding light?

However the word soon spread that the gods had not deserted them.

They had been there all the time, looking down on their children from the heavens above.

Man breathed a sigh of relief.

Some men had been writing down their encounters with gods.

Myths & legends were formed.

Books were written.

Eventually man came to the conclusion that there was only one god.

After all that's what it said in the book he was writing.

Many stories and editions were added to the book.

Some saw it as their duty to make sure the book became law.

Others just sort comfort from it.

Over time the god that had given man his assurance in life grew strong in the Word of the book.

Man needs assurance that what he wants to happen will happen.

He needs to know that he is being looked after.

He needs to be sure that bad men will be punished for their sins.

After all, why should they get away with things he can't do.

So, God has always been around in one shape or form.

It's a good job too.

God forbid we might have to rely on our own courage to get us through life!

When a child or adult for that matter is picked on for their personal point of view or opinion we call it bullying.
Take a classroom view of a group of kids. One is being picked on for liking Ed Sheeran.
"Why like Ed Sheeran? Eminem is much better!" and the group agree with the bully. No one wants to be the next target.
But why is Eminem better than Ed Sheeran. Is he? Not in the opinion of the child being bullied.
The child being bullied eventually says "OK, Eminem is better."

Lets look at in another way.

The child being picked on believes 2 + 2 = 4.
"You think 2 + 2 = 4!" says the bully, "it's 3 you idiot."
The child being picked on doesn't back down so easily now as he knows 2 + 2 = 4 and nothing can change that.
But he also knows Ed Sheeran is better than Eminem, in his opinion.

My point is that we should never back down on our opinions & ideals. We are right to believe what we believe until proven otherwise, not coerced or bullied.