Human – Page 14 – One Lifetime Blog

June 8, 2011

Live life instead of just trying to survive

I look back on my life and see the days,weeks and years I wasted in depression, denial and in self-deception. How many times I lived my day to please others or longing for approval by my peers. Always looking for my happiness through those around me and ignoring if not neglecting the one person that can make me happy, “ME”. Others may be able to contribute to my happiness along with my unhappiness but the decision to be happy is mine alone. The opinion of others can be a double edge sword for some will like you and others will either despise you or be jealous of you for some stupid reason or another. The only persons opinion you should care about when it comes to yourself is your own. If you do not like, love or appreciate yourself then no one else will either.

All that time I wasted worrying about if I met the standards of those I cared about and if I was good enough to be where I was in life could have been spent trying to be the best version of the real me. If a person does not accept you for who you truly are then that person is not one that will ever accept you and you should move on. Being we all have both good and bad points to our personalities and that we all make mistakes along the way I can see no reason why we all can’t just accept each other as who we really are. Too many masks we have to wear in our daily lives to satisfy the many people we interact with. Shed the masks and be yourself, succeed and fail as the real you and refine your better qualities while trying to control the less needed ones.

By being your true self you may find that people will like you even more than before and those that don’t wont matter as much to you once you accept yourself as is. One thing I do believe is each and every one of us are unique and possess our own strengths if not special qualities. Figure out your strong points and find your unique abilities and use them to their fullest. Live life instead of just trying to survive, enjoy the simple things and avoid making life more complicated than it really is.

Well that’s just some of my thoughts for you to think about.

Peace be your guide and be yourself.

Raymond Barbier

How to be Happy (socyberty.com)
Feeling Good Is a Learned Skill (psychologytoday.com)
quitters (positivelyinspiredrevolution.wordpress.com)
Take off the Mask (charityhutchison.wordpress.com)
Take off the Mask (charityjh.wordpress.com)
Life is Simple (allexcitedaboutnothing.wordpress.com)
The truth about settling… (ashleynguyenn.wordpress.com)
The Portable Nietzsche (socyberty.com)

December 23, 2010December 23, 2010

BE Yourself

Be Yourself, Never allow the opinions of others change who you really are. Each one of us are unique individuals and each of us have our own special way of interacting with life. Our uniqueness is what makes us human beings a creative species. Who you are is who you were meant to be, no matter what the society, government or religious institutions believe. We have flaws and we have blessings, that is what being human is all about.

Why try and change yourself to fit in what they call the social norm when who and what you are is far more special and unique than to be a uniform drone of society. Too many times I watched the bullies of the so called in crowed push down the unique and good people who where not social conformers. Too many times I watched some of the nicest people I’ve known be bullied until they repressed their true selves or felt they were inadequate and useless.

Some of them survived and thrived as time went on others had their futures squashed by low self esteem and poor self image created by society. If society does not like who I am it can go on without me, I will not try and conform to what their ideal person is supposed to be. In history if you look close it was the ones who were outside societies norm that made the great inventions and discoveries. They chose to walk their own path and discarded any social pressure to conform. This made them free to reach their full potential and bring some of the greatest world changing discoveries and inventions.

Peace to all and to all a Merry Christmas

Raymond Barbier

Meaning of Values and Norms in The Community (socyberty.com)
a journey to self acceptance (parwatisingari.wordpress.com)
Do Bullies Really Have Low Self-esteem? (psychologytoday.com)
Situational Pressures in Abu Ghraib (socyberty.com)
Teens Take on Bullying (tricitypsychology.com)
Kristen Houghton: The Sadness of Conformity (huffingtonpost.com)

November 23, 2010November 23, 2010

What kind of Legacy Do you want to leave for the children?

A sketch of the human brain imposed upon the p... — Image via Wikipedia

To walk the path of compassion and servitude to your fellow man/woman is to walk the path of being a true human. Humans are the caretakers of this world and all living creatures including other humans. We are the only species capable of creating change on a large scale. With our ability to adapt and to create tools and technologies we have surpassed all of the other species on this planet. With great knowledge and power comes even greater responsibility. This is our home and we should take care of it and all that is within it.

We humans have the gift of freewill and thus we can choose to or not to be guardians, keepers and healers of this world. Though the choice is yours I hope you can see that it is the future of not our generations I worry about it is the future of the teenagers, children and babies that I have concern for. We can leave them a legacy of a generation that strived for a better world in many ways or one of selfishness and consumerism.

What kind of Legacy Do you want to leave for the children?
Think hard about it, and make your own choice.

Enough of my Babbling for now.

PEACE
R. Barbier

How Philosophy Killed My Children and Why it Should Kill Yours, Too (3quarksdaily.com)
OUTLIVE YOUR LIFE By Max Lucado (pjsprayerline.blogspot.com)

November 20, 2010

Freewill, Evil and Human Nature

I have often pondered on if there is a God and he loves us then why does evil exist and suffering? The answer to each of those questions vary with whom you ask them. My thoughts are as follows, God allows evil to exist in order to allow us to enjoy the gift of freewill that he gave us. Thus the majority of the evil in this world if not all of it is solely our responsibility. Human beings are the source of evil here on earth as well as the source of goodness. If Evil exists here on earth it is due to our free choice to allow it to be a part of our lives. Unfortunately being such a large population it would be next to impossible to stamp out all evil in our society. The only way would to try and enlighten everyone and promote love, peace and understanding on a global scale. This is something I fear could never happen due to the people in power would reject and obstruct such a global movement. War one of the greater evils of mankind is the most profitable and is the thing most governments support as long as its not on their soil.

Far as suffering, it is no more than a side effect of the evil man creates. Greed and the lust for power fuels the leaders of our world either consciously or subconsciously. There may be many politicians and political leaders that are not evil by nature but fall to the wayside as a necessity to gain position or favor. So why does god allow all of this? Well its all the freewill thing, He gave us the reigns and only intercedes if asked or if necessary. Man must learn on his own that Sin, wickedness and evil are the enemy of life. Being a human myself, I face many faults within myself and fall to sin. The nature to be selfish and to be self satisfying seems to be a embedded part of human nature. To resist and to control it is a choice that one must make.

Well that’s my thoughts on the issue, right or wrong its here for all to see.

Peace and happiness to all
Raymond Barbier

The Problem of Suffering (smoodock45.wordpress.com)
Suffering, Time and God’s Omniscience (smoodock45.wordpress.com)
Philosophy Weekend: Does Evil Walk Among Us? (litkicks.com)
Morality: ‘We can send religion to the scrap heap’ (newscientist.com)
On evil (via countpierre) (hindiakoto.wordpress.com)
Is the Irish Ruling Class Evil? (politics.ie)
Walking by faith in Jesus Christ and under authority (fgbmfpenampangbaru.wordpress.com)
The Myth of Good and Evil (socyberty.com)
To Be or To Know (catholicanalysis.blogspot.com)

November 2, 2010November 2, 2010

The Voices of the Many and the Few

As we sit in our houses and buildings made of stone,brick,wood and steel looking out the windows seeing a concrete jungle surrounding us we miss out on all the wonders of nature and the beauty of this world we live in. Species after species of animal fade into extinction along with their habitats as mankind builds more and more cities. Progress and industry overrides the survival of both man and animal in this modern world we live in. So much we have lost on our journey through civilization and towards modernization. So much is missed and so little saved in the name of progress and conquest.

The once plentiful forests and bountiful oceans our grandparents enjoyed are slowly becoming diminished and are heading to the point of no recovery. No recovery in mankind’s timeline that is, once our natural resources are gone man will either become extinct by his own hand or will have to venture out into the cold of space in search of a new home. We can however save and or slow the devastation of our home called planet earth. This will of course not be an easy task and many decisions will have to made that may not be the most economical or popular. In the long run the choices will become an economical boom and benefit all that live here on this planet.

As a precaution maybe mankind should gear up our space exploration and concentrate on finding another inhabitable planet or invest in the technologies that would make it possible to implement terraforming. Space stations are fine for a starting point but to be able to sustain life for any length of time in such an environment would be a hard task due to limited resources available in the emptiness of space. Mankind’s number one priority should be the survival of his race and then the preservation of his home. Though the likeliness of another inhabitable planet in the universe is highly probable, with the lack of technologies to reach such a planet in a human lifespan makes it an unlikely option for the time being.

The human race is a very inventive and adaptable species so we have a good chance of escaping total extinction if we are wise enough to be aware of such a danger. The biggest obstacle in the way of true human progress is our inability to cooperate with each other for any given length of time. Our difference of beliefs and opinions stands in our way for the most part, The differences we have also make us a very unique and gave us our ability to thrive. So that which makes us strong also can be our worst enemy if we do not learn to cooperate for the common good of our species.

So the natural world of earth slowly changes and dies as we adapt our environment to suit our liking. We ignore the facts and take no responsibility for the damage we have done nor the consequences that we will have to face. It is this ignorance and arrogance of mankind that may be our undoing. Luckily not all of mankind is blinded by ignorance and arrogance, but unfortunately the ones that are usually are the ones in power. The destination of mankind is in the hands of the people not the few in power. The voices of many will eventually overpower the voices of the few.

November 2, 2010November 2, 2010

Faith, Science and the Modern world.

In this modern world mankind is heading away from faith and belief in a creator and or god. Seems to be two forces at work and in battle for the hearts and minds of mankind.Which side will be the victor, the side of logic and science or the side of miracles and faith? Depends on the individual you ask, Faith is a very strong teacher and healer but so is science. Though many think science and religion are incompatible with each other they compliment each other quite well at times. Religion is pretty much a constant, the basic belief system and the scriptures remain pretty much the same through time. Science on the other hand is ever changing and evolving as we learn more and dismiss scientific theories of the past. So what science sees as truth one day could be dismissed as false on the next.

Science has been doing this for as long as it existed, from the belief the earth was the center of our solar system and universe to the world being flat. This is not to discredit science in any way, one must learn to crawl before one can learn to run. Science must change and adapt as our species increases its knowledge and understanding. Religion on the other hand teaches principles and morals that never go out of date. What is wrong or right never changes, just the public opinion of what is right or wrong does. Thing is mankind has the inclination to lust for and do what is wrong while we desire to do what is right. Sometimes I wonder which is harder for us, To do what is right or to abstain from what is wrong.

Familiarity breeds acceptance and indulgence, To be surrounded by immoral acts and mentality will eventually lead to the declination of the moral fiber in almost any person. The more we are exposed to something the more we become numb and accepting of it. Very few strong willed individuals may be able to resist the effects of being in a pool of immorality. Those will be very few and far in-between. Being social creatures by nature we tend to follow the crowd and strive to indulge ourselves in what the crowd sees as right and or popular. This is also true in the opposite, what the crowd views as wrong or inappropriate one will adopt as their own belief.

Seems humans are very susceptible to the mob mentality and easily get enthralled by any group mentality. I guess this is a leftover from our primal and survival instincts that linger in our subconscious. It is very similar to stampedes in cattle where danger incites fear then a mass fleeing reaction. Fight or flight instinct is the main cuprite behind this kind of behavior in humans and animals alike. The main difference between a human and an animals is that usually a human can override and or ignore their instincts. We have the mental capacity to be an individual and choose to or not to follow the group and or mob.

Freewill is one of the greatest gifts God has bestowed upon man, It is also one of the gifts that can bring the greatest rewards and or penalties. Having freewill is to also have the responsibility for your actions and the effects they have upon others. Follow the golden rule and use common sense to avoid the pitfalls of having freewill. Walk with compassion and understanding towards and for all others to be a person of peace and integrity. Keep faith in your heart so that the trials of life do not wear you down and forgive both yourself and others for the mistakes or misjudgments that happen in life.

May Peace and Love be your guide
Raymond Barbier