what I've learned challenge

An e-mail came my way yesterday from Robyn at Brain based bizhttp://brainbasedbiz.blogspot.com/2007/11/thinking-differently-about-giving.html

"Now Robyn is a pretty smart lady, She hangs out with the brainiac crowd.. in ivy towers and marble halls. if you ever wanted to know what is going on in that thing that fills your cranium, Robyn probably has the answer or, she knows someone who does. " and she applies this inside info to the business world.



Anyway, an invite to participate in a "what I've learned" challenge By Robert Hruzek http://middlezonemusings.com/what-i-learned-from-the-world-of-sports/ seems something called "tagging" is going on. Now I don't know about digging and stumbling and what not so I hope they aren't counting on me for "exposure" lol

these are two separate challenges but since I have never been a big follower of rules (or a good test taker), at 50 i can't see starting now, I'll just try to combine both of these into a single response in the interest of time and efficiency..

It's not always clear or memorable the exact "how" I've come to learn something but surely "that" I have learned and "what" is pretty clear...

Many times in life, I've had to re-learn the same things over... and over... especially if I failed to use the knowledge that was originally gained. seems though that the harder the lesson was learned, the least likely i was to forget it... How crazy and inefficient to have to learn anything the hard way if i could have only used other peoples hard lessons as my own?

so, simply "having" the knowledge doesn't imply a "lesson learned""... Perhaps we only learn when the knowledge we have is put into practice and tested for validity. (the stove is hot but that's what you say... how do i know unless i touch it?) and maybe the ensuing burn is worth the lesson?

I also don't remember the exact "where" or at what point in my life that i learned:

Some friends come and go, you can love and hate at the same time (although moderation should be practiced in abundance) and you can't turn back time, their are no do-overs... there are "no returns" on words..

that blood may be thicker than water but that has little to do with "family" ...that everybody has the same blood and families don't have to be random or happenstance....

a person really can lose everything and sometimes that's what it takes to find themselves..... and that to experience the truest form of freedom, you truly have to have "nothing to lose" and how truly foolish it is to seek this very real freedom with all of the hardships that are inherent... and how truly self aware we can become if we do.

that the grass may "seem" greener on the other side and so what?... but try not to get run over if you decide to cross....

not "every" truth is true and not every lie is untrue, that their are social and personal issues that don't have a "right and wrong" that can't be determined by popular consensus or laws (natural or otherwise)...

How long ago did i come to the conclusion that in order to be at peace with the world, i had to find peace within myself and in order to do that, required honest self reflection and in order to achieve total honesty, i would have to experience complete freedom?

I've learned that you can be unread and discover philosophy, and spirituality for yourself. that you don't have to take any one's word for it... books aren't the only way to learn and class rooms aren't the only places to teach...

and sometimes it's better to learn from experience...sometimes not. where that lesson came from is not clear... nor "when" i learned that their is a big difference (night & day) between religion and spirituality.

I've learned that people are kind and generous and talented and that most people seem to know the same things although their instructions come from infinite sources... and I've learned that people can hurt and kill and destroy and capable of ungodly atrocities.. and even the worst people have "some" good in them. just as the best people have some bad. either way we are animals all..evolved as we may precieve ourselves.

what have i learned from a child's innocent remark or felt through the tear of a youngster... (volumes) they have infinite knowledge and wisdom...and if you look into the eyes of a newborn, you can see god. and if you look really close, you can see yourself.

I don't know at what point i learned that the older i get the less i know... i know other things as well... don't drink with Indians (i learned this from both a medicine man and by living with an apache hot shot crew) and be sure your firewood is cut and put away before winter... (yes, i learned this the hard way as well)

don't dive into the deep end if you can't swim and don't dive in the shallow end if you can.. Honesty is the best policy in "many cases" and a liar is a thief. and people lie to themselves and sometimes the only hope people have are a lie or empty promise getting them through the day. and, ignorance really is bliss.

it doesn't seem to matter the volume of your lessons but how you use them that distinguish people...

and of course, if you want to get real with the people, ya just gotta be real.

but what do i know? ... :)

John Kanzius world peace and envoronmental salvation?

If you haven't heard of John Kanzius by now, don't worry his name will be "household" around the world from mansion to mud hut. in short order. Iraq and all the oil in the world could be worth the same as a bucket of slop. every nation in the world could have limitless access to to raw energy as abundant as... well, as abundant as salt water.

OK Bob, what gives you ask... who is John Kanzius?

John just recently and accidentally discovered the seed that could bring world peace and prosperity for eons to come... I invite everyone to study this article and contemplate the ways this single accidental discovery could produce spontaneous world peace.




the single biggest threat to peace is power... Now, Imagine, every country in the world, every household, every car, truck, train, plane, boat powered by salt water and a radio. (well, it's not that simple yet) but if John's invention doesn't get buried by the Department of Defense his invention could be the catalyst needed tor spontaneous world peace and world prosperity never seen in the history of humans.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07252/815920-85.stm

OK, now your on the same page as I am.. what do you think? is world peace even possible? does the department of defense and energy have the courage to allow this technology to advance or will the big oil companies pressure them to bury it?

Can one single invention make such a difference in the world? What pare the possibilities for 3rd world countries? what happens to the middle east if oil becomes worthless?

come on people, let's hear what you think!