Often writing about the Department of Veterans Affairs leaves my mind dark and argumentative. My solution is to write something more uplifting, taking a mental break from the drudgery of bureaucrats abusing people. Thus, this article was born from a desire to uplift, guide, and offer hope during a confusing, chaotic, and calamitous time.
In junior high school, I was first exposed to a proverb, saying, blessing, curse, or Chinese expression, “May you always live in interesting times.” I like this saying and consider it a gift. How boring would life be if we lived in uninteresting times? More to the point, consider all the opportunities found when living in interesting times. Opportunities to learn, grow, help, and more, all because we have personally learned to ride the whirlwind of interesting times. With utmost sincerity, I hope you also will always live in interesting times.
Ken Blanchard offers some guidance:
“Asking for others’ guidance helps you see what you may not be able to see. It’s always important to check your ego and ask for help.”
Two things about this quote stand out:
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- Ask – Asking for help, guidance, or support is one of the toughest things a person can do. Unfortunately, point number two is always getting in the way.
- Check your EGO! – How often have you asked for help, only to find the support provided clashed with how you thought, and time was wasted not listening, not doing, and not trusting the information provided?
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I do not know about you, but I need to check my ego, lock it in a box, and listen more reflectively a couple of thousand times a day. Apologizing to the person rendering guidance after wasting time not believing the advice the first time is even more difficult than not heeding the support the first time and having to ask a second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. time. Instead of exemplifying myself, learn from my scars, listen, check ego, and ask for guidance.
I offer the following as an appendage to guidance:
“Train your mind to see good in everything. Positivity is a choice. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.”
Our minds require training; this is a universal principle applicable to every mortal. Training happens through the choices we make and the consequences natural to each choice. Emotion is a choice, feelings are a choice, and thoughts can be controlled through training. Can someone make you mad? No! You choose to respond to external stimuli based on how you judge the social situation and your desires. Hence your inner peace and mental well-being are a choice.
In affirming the choices and emotions/feelings, let me succinctly express that what you eat, drink, think, listen to, watch, etc., all plays roles in how you train your mind. Choosing to see the good in other people will never happen if you surround yourself with negativity. Feeling depressed, anxious, or worse, start within yourself. What are you reading, watching, listening to, eating, drinking, etc., that worsens your depression, anxiety, or ability to enjoy good and feel good? In psychology, this is called “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT),” and the research is fascinating on the application and self-help through taking charge of your inputs to change the outputs and outlooks.
I am not trying to negate the need for professional help in extreme cases, and before making medication changes, please talk to your mental health provider. While there, discuss CBT, and do some research on this topic. The quality of our lives depends on our thoughts, and the quality of thoughts relies entirely upon the inputs into our brains. I struggle with depression, anxiety, and PTSD, but when I am more intentional about what goes into my brain, the less these issues can affect me. Often, I have to take my inputs on a minute-to-minute basis to maintain positivity. You can take charge of your brain and train it to output more positivity.
On my second trip through fourth grade, I was encouraged to learn the following and make a choice:
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
The author was unknown, but the school principal made the challenge after a visit for being a jerk. My principal explained that what I was exemplifying, being a jerk would mean that the world would be a jerk back. So, if I wanted to be treated differently, I had to be what I wanted returned. A tough lesson in fourth grade, even more difficult to remember as time passed, even though I accepted the challenge to change.
What do you want to see in the world? Unfortunately, a colloraly question demands attention: is what you want to see in the world positive or negative? For example, a person I met wanted to see more violence in the world and worked exceedingly hard to create more violence around themselves. Unfortunately, violence has a way of escaping control, and this person received more violence than they started. Call it Karma, Murphy, or something else; the universe seems to have an excellent boomerang device, and what is sent out many times is multiplied and delivered in such a manner as to inspire changing values when returned to you.
Hence, while guidance might be akin to a small tea light, everything might not become apparent immediately, but your next step is clearer than the darkness. Ask for guidance, check ego, and be the change you want through mental training, but first, believe you can do this!
Hope is an interesting power. Hollywood made this clear when a demon on Angel (a TV Show spun-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1 Episode 14) made the following comment:
“I had given up… Hope.”
The demon character spoke of the blackest pit, the harshest and most hellacious place they had ever entered. A mind devoid of light, humanity, and hope led the demon to give up hope and begin to fear, contemplating never being able to escape. While fiction, the point is clear, hope is a powerful tool, and with it, our minds can grasp, cling, and strive. Without it, there is a bottomless pit of black despair.
Hope is a relief to grief, music in a tuneless void, light on the darkest path, and a rescue rope flung to others. Yet, to express hope, society claims you’re a “cockeyed optimist,” all while society flails about without hope. Society will always scorn what they do not have; lacking hope, society will always try to negate hope in others while denying it to themselves. Why is training thoughts so essential; to shield your mind from the inputs of negativity. What is the shield you raise; hope!
Samuel Johnson, speaking about hope, said:
“Hope is itself a species of happiness, and perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords.”
Suzanne Collins expressed a similar thought stating:
“Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.”
But, many ask, what do we hope in? What do we hope for? Sure, Pliny the Elder is supposed to have said:
“Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man.”
Religionists will claim that what we hope in, and for, is deliverance from death. Others will claim we need to invest hope in a god, God, or gods. Yet, does this answer the question of what to hope for or where to place our hope? For some, maybe; for others, maybe not. I struggle with hope and would like to offer a couple of potential answers:
We begin with a firm understanding of what hope is. Hope is a desire coupled with an expectation the desire will be delivered. For example, in the dark of the night, we hope for sunrise. We expect sunrise to arrive eventually, and when it does arrive, we feel something as we witness a new day dawn — expectation coupled with desire, including a feeling upon delivery.
Some will contend, based on Plato, Socrates, or other philosophers and philosophies, that things hoped for are entirely outside the control of a person. Yes, the sunrise is outside a person’s control, but choosing to feel hope in something is entirely inside a person’s control. Remember the demon, who corrupts people for personal gain, felt hopeless and despaired due to external circumstances. You control the mind; thus, you are always in control of feeling hope – an expectation coupled with desire that includes a feeling upon delivery, often associated with feelings of uncertainty and defiance.
Defiance as an aspect of hope allows the prisoner to spit in the eye of the guards and accepts the consequences, which generally take the form of physical violence. Uncertainty will enable us to turn a light switch on to “see if the electrical power is back.” Expressions of hope come in many forms, but the central figure in expressing and feeling hope is our minds; we control, and thus we cling to hope.
Is hope optimism; no, and hope is also not faith. Distinct differences make hope individual, and we must grasp these differences to understand the power and grandeur of hope. The major difference between hope and optimism is centralized around significance that reflects a claim about ourselves. Pessimists possess hope because something is significant and valuable to them that they can hope for. Faith is a firm belief in things not seen but for which hope is invested and the faithful person will work to bring about. Thus, optimism and faith possess elements of hope but remain distinct and individual. The faith-filled person will find faith challenging to work towards lacking hope, and the optimist will find hope without significance difficult to possess. Hence we can deduce that hope is a type of power, and through hope, faith and optimism receive additional capacity in a person’s life.
Imagine Sisyphus for a moment; each day begins, and the rock he is to roll is at the bottom of a hill. Each day ends, the rock is at the top of the hill. The rock moves up the hill daily through his sweat and labor. Why does Sisyphus move the rock? He hopes to keep the rock on top of the hill. He recognizes that the task is arduous, but he possesses hope, and through hope, he moves the rock. The power of hope is an impetus to motivation, lifting any person to work and, through work’s drudgery, to hope for a future different from today.
Hope first lifts thoughts if we choose to allow it, and the person becomes empowered to do something from lifted thoughts. Do we catch the hinge; choice. The human is the one mammal on the earth that possesses the ability to hope, projecting hope into a future changed from the present. The lack of hope is despair, filling the individual with fear, but these are both choices. We choose, and in choosing, natural consequences follow. How we value those consequences determines whether we value or disregard the choice/consequence cycle previously, which leads to new choices and perceptions, producing more consequences and choices.
We invest hope in the future, for a brighter tomorrow, and for improved situations, employment, friends, family, health, etc. Too often, what we hope for is locked in our choices, thoughts, and inputs into our brains in training to make tomorrow different from today. Some people will add religion, and I am not disregarding the power of personally held beliefs that form the basis for religious tenets. Religion helps to lengthen the event horizon, formalize faith and hope, and provides more to hope in and for. Hope is a power fundamental to the human condition, of which all religions, including atheism, agree.
Religionists generally will place hope in something, eternal life, the Savior, a cross, enlightenment, etc., which hope easily leads to faith, and the works needed to obtain the hoped-for desire. How you invest your hope reflects a choice, a passion, centralizes thoughts, and produces an appetite that moves you to action. Recognize the hinge, choices remain central to using hope, and the natural consequences provide opportunities to choose whether that which is hoped in and for to become a reality or to morph into something else more desirable. Truly, we can understand how thoughts become things and the power of thoughts.
May this find you well and help provide new ideas for building your future.
© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.
Mountainview Medical, the surgical center in Las Cruces, NM., informed me politely that I was not welcome as a patient for my inability to wear a mask. Once my failure to wear a mask was resolved, I was welcome to return, but I was not welcome until then. This was made pretty clear to me today (27 September 2021). Regardless of a wet signature signed letter from my VA-provided primary care provider, I cannot wear a mask, irrespective of the fact that the VA had arranged this appointment and was paying the bill. I was persona non grata.
Now, America finds itself at the mercy of a person who considers himself a person of words and thinks others should be grateful to have his words on a particular subject. In psychology, this method of thinking is generally classified as narcissistic. A narcissist is a person full of pride and egoism, which shows extreme love for themselves and only for themself. I cannot think of a better adjective to describe Joe Biden. Thus, I wonder about the question posed, do you prefer a person of many words and little action, or do you prefer someone of few words and plenty of action?
An email in my inbox started me thinking of Johari Windows first thing this morning, and in the process of proving myself wrong, I learned some interesting things and figured I would share my journey of discovery. I am always fascinated when I prove myself wrong; I like it; mainly because it proves I am still human with a lot to learn!
As a kid, I was told to role model John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Colonel Sherman Potter, and even Father Mulcahy. I was told to despise those who weaseled on deals, liars, thieves, cheats, lawyers, and politicians. These people were necessary evils, but I never believed in a necessary evil. If you were evil, then you were not worth my time or support. I maintain that position to this day, and it disgusts me to no end when I have been hoodwinked by politicians I thought had integrity who turned out to be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Senator McCain, I am talking about you specifically, and I do not care that you are dead!
I guess it has been a couple of years now, I thought it had only been several weeks, but I had a conversation on the power of religion to improve integrity. I have found just as many atheists as religionists with integrity and just as many religionists as atheists without integrity; thus, I can only conclude that religion is a tool for improving integrity, but individual choice trumps religious flavor and fervor. Yet, religion does play a role in providing a moral background for building a solid foundation under a person with integrity. Seeing as atheism is a religion, I have no problems calling on religionists of the world to unite to provide a moral background to improve integrity where they currently live, work, and reside.
President Biden is utterly bereft of integrity, his children are also utterly bereft of integrity, and Hunter is the worst of the bunch. I do not wish to see how deplorable the grandchildren will be as they will be a millstone around America’s neck for a long time! Vice President Kamala Harris and her spouse are two people utterly bereft of anything approaching integrity, moral uprightness, or even common decency. They are joined by the Obama’s (including the children), the entire Clinton Machine, and the black hole of integrity has many others currently occupying seats in Washington DC for company.
Since we have so many examples of poor integrity, there must be examples of people with integrity. Thankfully the answer is yes, and they are easy to spot. Below are common ways to spot integrity, and I challenge you to look for and vocally support integrity where you find it. One of the best ways to show integrity is to appreciate integrity in others. Catch people doing good and vocally thank them. Send thank you cards. Send thank you emails. Remember them after the incident.
Several days back, I came across some incredible quotes from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. that started me thinking on several topics. I beg your attention as we discuss the fundamental truths of the following two quotes:
Worse, the government forces you to pay a tax to get married. By paying a licensing fee, the government taxes marriages, invades your privacy, and in doing so, provides you the ability to pay for the privilege of inviting the government into your bedroom. The moral development of the law to govern society hinges upon justices not legislating from the bench, judges who refuse judicial activism because the elected representatives of the government are moving too slow on an issue, and judges who remain dedicated to the limits of the law. Yet, the exact opposite has been allowed to occur by the elected representatives who abdicate their roles to the judicial branch, who refuse their duties as a co-equal branch of the government, and people who use the law for selfish ends and means.
What is more precious to you, government benefits, granted by the courts and purchased from taxpayers in another area, or privacy, freedom, and liberty? How you answer this question should be revealing to you and a reminder of your obligations as a legal citizen of these United States of America, a free Republic (if we can keep it). Freedom has a cost; the cost involves being involved in elections, voting smarter, watching and scrutinizing those elected, and monitoring the actions of judges and lawyers.
In Proverbs, Old Testament, we find an oft-quoted aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” If we first accept this aphorism as truth, then the following from James Allen, from “As a Man Thinketh (1903)” can also be presumed truthful. “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. As the plants springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.” Bringing into sharp reflection the connection between how a person thinks and their character.
I once met a professional soccer player; we shared a bus trip from Salt Lake City to Vernal, Utah, as he traveled to catch a plane in Denver, Colorado. While I do not envy him, his travel scheduler, we had a very interesting conversation on how thinking builds character. Professional sports players have similar mental walk-throughs as a regular part of their daily exercises. Here I had always been under the impression this was for non-professional sports players and was pleasantly surprised to hear his experiences.
The tools of education became the chains of bondage and weapons that left him without passion. His thoughts had turned his desires in his chosen field into a trap, where he thought his only way out was doing something radical and “out of character.” Except for those who knew him, his character was always bent towards being a soldier, but he had not thought thru this character aspect himself. His thoughts had already revealed his character, but he had not become cognizant of this aspect of himself. How many times has this happened to you?
How did I finally kick the cigarette habit, so the mental addiction could no longer tempt me to smoke; I change my thinking. Instead of allowing myself to find second-hand smoke delightful, I began seeing it as something to avoid. As I changed my thinking, my body stopped reacting in a manner to claim a need for the cigarettes. It was not easy, but I had physically quit smoking 10-years before my mental processes, and mental addictions were finally conquered. The power to correct my body’s behavior towards cigarettes was always mine to claim and apply, but first, I had to change how I think about cigarettes, then my mental needs changed, and then I was free of the mental addiction. Changing thoughts and time, experience, was required, and slowly my body obeyed.
The New Testament records, “He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” To which James Allen has added, “… for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.” I remember reading about a famous diamond mine in Africa, the largest diamond mine in the world, and how even with technology, the mining process continues to be one of patiently gathering, carefully digging, and unending repetition to haul diamonds from the dirt. In L. Ron Hubbard’s book, “Battlefield Earth,” one finds the same pattern in digging for gold. Patience, careful gathering, unending repetition, and still the results are teaspoons of gold for the tons of rock and dirt shifted.
Choices have natural consequences, enough consequences pile up, and a lifestyle is produced. For example, research reflects that the majority of Americans will never pick up a book, let alone read one after K-12 graduation. Even those going onto additional education will barely read, and upon graduation, will still not pick up a book to read. I had the misfortune of being treated by a Neurologist who last picked up a book in the 1970s when he graduated with his medical degree. He never touched the research constantly flowing in his field, never read for fun, never read to his children. When he treated me in 2016, I knew more about his field of study than he did. Why? Because I desired to know what the neurological issues are in my body. Here he is, chief of Neurology for the Albuquerque VAMC, and his residents and patients knew more about current issues in neurology than the chief. Now, some may contend this is bogus or a singular incident; choose to believe as you will. But, I talked to other patients who had similar experiences with this doctor and comparable results. I sent this doctor research and was told the research was to be disregarded until another doctor, not a neurologist, suggested the same treatment as discussed in the literature.
As a kid, I chewed on everything. Pens, pencils, markers, if I could fit it into my gob, I chewed on it. Then, as a teenager, I started smoking, and all of a sudden, I stopped chewing on things, stopped needing something in my hands to play with; cigarettes gave me a tool I needed, and my mind was clear for the first time. I loved smoking; I wanted to learn how to smoke a pipe, for I thought that might be a better option than cigarette smoking, and I could move further along in controlling and quieting my hands, mind, and mouth.
Thus I learned a valuable lesson, and when James Allen discussed the power of thoughts on health, I knew the lesson well from personal experience through smoking. “The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts, the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts, it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty.” Continuing, James Allen reinforces the following idea, “Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought.”
DNC-Consulting 