The Importance of Change

Change. It can be scary, it can be exciting, but most of all it can be rewarding.  It is scary because we don't always know what will happen next. We come to enjoy the way things currently are and fear that they might not ever be the same. It is exciting because we might see this change to be a good one, one that will make the future better. Now how can it be rewarding? My answer for this isn't quite as short as it was for the preceding two. I think change to be rewarding for many reasons. Change can be a catalyst for gaining experience, new perspectives, and an over all growth towards a more enlightened self.

How can something as simple as a small change help us gain experience? Simple. When we try new things (like poetry... or tofu!) we further our knowledge for those tried things. With this new knowledge we can now explain to others about our experience. I believe this to be important because people are always looking to one another for advice. The more experience we have in life and in miscellaneous ventures, the more well rounded advice we can give. This point can also be used to iterate the worth of traveling! When traveling we are imersed into new cultures, new people, and new ideas. My past two summers have been spent at "The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center". After arriving home from my first summer, people couldn't help to notice that I had changed, and I don't blame them because I certainly had. At first I thought this to be negative, that I was straying away from who I was. This was incorrect. I wasn't straying away from who I was, but who I was had changed. Upon returning I now had a new set of eyes to see the world in which I lived in, I had a new perspective.

Having different perspectives can help us piece together the whole truth. Since we all come from different backgrounds, upbringings, and have had different experiences, it only makes sense that we will differ in beliefs, likings, and which brand of water tastes best. I believe the key to start viewing life from a fresh angle is to change things up. We aren't ever going to be a dynamic person if we constantly put on our horse blind and restrict our views from broadening. I'm not saying to accept everything. I'm saying for us all to see everything for what it truly is, not just taking other peoples words. The only way to see all these things is to go out and try them for our selves. We mustn't be static, in other words, we must constantly be looking to see what changes we can make. After we start to accumulate many perspectives, we just might catch a glimpse of the whole picture.

Once we see the whole picture, there is no going back. I encourage all to do things they wouldn't normally do, to read books that you don't agree with, and to talk with people you normally would dismiss. Accompanying these actions will be growth, thus a more enlightened self. If we all achieve this level of insight I think we will stop caring about the minute differences between us. Once this takes place we can start focusing on what actually matters, that is: to love each other, care for each other, and begin the process of putting this world back together.

The Happiness Post

 I'm hoping this doesn't come off as a typical "Happiness" post. Despite my efforts, I'm sure that will be the case. Moving forward. I feel that happiness is one of the most talked about subjects. Just take a gander at a self help section in your local "Barnes and Noble" (I recommend used books stores, much cheaper) . There you will see loads of books on the subject.  To name a few: "The Key to Happiness", "Every Day A Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week", and  "The Happiness Project". The list could go on. Just for the record, I haven't actually read any of these books, but I have read others on the same subject. It seems that each book sports a new idea or secret key to this happiness that we all are searching for. What I'm about to say regarding happiness isn't anything new and I certainly don't want it to be a secret. The main reason I think it to be of value is solely because of its' simplicity. Happy reading.

In order to get a rein on our own happiness, we must first change what makes us happy. Is that even possible? I feel that we set our guidelines for being happy too high. It seems that we twist up our goals along with our happiness. At times we don't let our selves be happy unless we complete our goals. Being goal oriented is not bad by any means, but only being happy if we complete these set goals can be a heavy burden, especially if you have lofty ones. In our pursuit of happiness, we are forgetting to be happy. I mentioned in my last post the importance of winning the 'small' battles. Once again, I believe it's the 'small' things. If we can be happy with little, then we can happy with much. Like I said, this isn't a new idea. It has been said before. Now think about it. Who is likely to be more content in life? Someone who is basing their happiness on constant wants (New car, more money, bigger house), or someone who is just happy they had a mighty fine breakfast burrito this morning. Obviously the latter. If we accept happiness to be a choice instead of a result of circumstance, then it will be. If we accept to receive joy from the instances that happen often (a nice breeze or talking to a kind friend) then we will be happier more often. Is any of this making sense? It sounds too simple, but I think that's how it is meant to be. Maybe we have made it harder then it really is, we humans do tend to do that. Instead of making the choice to be happy later, or the choice for our happiness to be contingent, why not be happy right now?

Constant Strive

Most of you know that I recently traveled to Alaska. During my flight I read a book called "Further Along the Road Less Traveled" by Scott Peck. I recommend this book to all. Most of the thoughts from this post stem from this book. Also, below I briefly mention the struggle of keeping a humble mind set, something I have always dealt with.  Once again, criticisms are welcome. Let me remind you that I still have no idea how all this will pan out. Happy reading.

Striving to embody any virtue or ideal isn't something you just come upon. It is something you fight for every single day. I can't stress that enough. For instance, take someone who is striving for humility . Eventually, they will likely achieve this desired mindset, but here is the catch: Once one sees that they are being humble, pride could set in. It might set in so much that they may think, "Hey, I'm a pretty good person, look at how humble I am." Thus continuing the process of needing to further humble themselves. Being humble isn't just a way of acting, it is a way of thinking. Fighting to better your self doesn't only apply to virtues, but to other areas in life as well. Take being healthy for example. In order to be healthy you must eat right and exercise. What would happen if you had been living healthy for years and then decided to stop? Your health would slowly decline. So where am I going with all this? Whether we are trying to be humbler, healthier, or more loving it all comes down to the many small battles we face each day. If we continueally win these 'small' fights, habit will begin to set in. I'm starting to think it isn't the big moments that define us (there are exceptions of course), rather that every 'small' decision will chisel us into who we are.  This will be an arduous process. In order to find ourselves or reach our virtue goals, we must lose ourselves to this on going strive and pain. With all this strive will come growth. With all this growth we will come closer to reaching our goals.

If you would like to learn about the importance of winning the 'small' battles that were mentioned above, then I suggest reading "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business".

Why Am I doing this?

This is it. I'm starting a blog. Throughout this blogging experience I have a few goals. Goal number one is to be better at articulating my thoughts . As I grow in this area I will be better at conveying certain ideas to others, and even to myself. Another goal of mine is to encourage others to vent their thoughts as well. I'd like to think that if we all talked about our thoughts and ideas...or even our feelings , we might just see a glimpse of where everyone is coming from. Once we start to see where others are coming from, maybe...just maybe that invisible barrier that seems to divide us all will slowly start to fade. Some might call that wishful thinking, maybe it is. Actually, wishful thinking is believing that my grammar will improve throughout this process. Anyways. My last hope for this blog is that it will be of help to someone. I recently have been reading writings from an old high school acquaintance who is doing exactly this. Not only did it push me to do the same, but it was a pleasure to dive into the thoughts of someone I hadn't known. By no means do I think I'm a skilled writer or some awe inspiring person filled with wisdom. With that said, I do think some of my thoughts could help others, even the smallest bit. Or maybe you will read an upcoming post and down right disagree with me, that's good too. If everyone agreed on everything,  life would be awfully bland. I don't have any idea how often I'll post or how long I'll keep this up. Feel free to comment about what you like, dislike, or absolutely hate. My first actual post will be up soon.

DISCLAIMER: I do not think that the ideas, feelings, and beliefs that I will write about will all be concrete. What I mean by that is that I as a human am subject to change. With me changing this means that how I think and what I think will also be subject to change. In other words, I may write something and later come back only to recant it.