A Start

So, as I have been going through life, I've learned one thing: we are perpetually starting new things.

I know that I personally seem to have a more difficult time with completing things if I'm not terribly interested in them, but I can start lots of things. I start this, I start that, but then something else comes along that I find interesting, so I start that and leave the old project behind.

Sometimes I have to pause and wonder why it is that we are always starting new things and yet we so often leave so many things unfinished. It's true, not everyone leaves things unfinished, and not everyone enjoys starting new things all the time. I know several people who don't like starting new things. But in general, we are always starting something new.

My guess, and it's probably a well-known thing, is just that it's hard to hold people's attention spans. Everyone has a different span of time which they can easily pay attention to something. It's when that runs out that it becomes hard to continue on with whatever the project was before. It begins to require hard work and constant effort to complete. Some people are really good at pushing themselves to finish their projects, and some people are not so good at it.

There are many different directions one could take this idea, and the ideas that spring from it. A perfect example. I like this new idea here, so rather than finishing my exploration of the previous thought, I'm going to go chasing this one and see where it goes. Just like I'm doing now. Just like I've done several times already.

Where does all this come from in the first place? Well, it's a new semester at college. A new start. New people, new classes, (some) new instructors, new assignments, new callings (soon to come, hopefully), and many other new things. Sure, there are plenty of old things. But this is one case where I think making a new start is a good thing. Some things should be left alone once they are finished. But that's a thought for another day.

The Oasis of Location

You ever notice how a specific place can become something different, something special? Sometimes, even an oasis from the rest of the world? Each place in our lives has meaning, something different about it. And I don't meant different places in the world, though that can work too. Even places only as different as your bed to your living room couch to your backyard. Each is associated with different things, each different from the other.

People often advocate for staying away from your bed for studying, because your mind subconsciously associates bed with sleeping. Or at least should. If you spend too much time studying on your bed, you may find that you can't sleep on your bed easily. Same if you sleep a lot on your bed, you may find that you can't study well there without becoming sleepy. Each place becomes associated with different things, separate. Each is a specific type of "oasis," so to speak, from the rest of the world around it. Need some sleep? Go to your bed "oasis." Food? Off to the kitchen "oasis." There is an oasis of some sort or another for ever activity.

However, this can sometimes even be a problem. What happens, for instance, when you've long ago associated a specific location with a certain activity, but as the years pass, your interest in said activity wanes? When you go back to that location, that activity is what dominated you there, and that is what your interest there is. It becomes hard to do anything else in that location, because all your mind turns to is what you used to do there. Had a favorite spot on the couch where you used to watch TV, but now want to use it to read? Well, that might explain why your mind is constantly thinking about whatever TV shows might be on while you're sitting there, no matter how engrossing the book. The force of habit and association is a very strong one.

Every location in our lives is an "oasis" of some sort, but each can be a pitfall, too. It all depends on what we make it. Associations occur, so we should be cautious in our lives about what things we associate with certain activities. Sometimes it happens intentionally, sometimes purely by accident, and sometimes we don't even realized it's happened until we go back. You will find, though, that those associations do occur. So choose them well and make them good!

Faded Promises

Have you ever made a promise, forgotten about it, and then years later are reminded of it? Or a promise that someone made to you?

I had that happen to me today. I was up in our attic, looking for a book, when I found a box of old letters. Really old, from the summer of 2007. I began sifting through them, and found some from an old friend of mine with whom I've fallen out of contact. Of all the letters I happened to pick up and read, it was the one in which there was a promise of working to uphold our friendship.

Now I can't deny that my friend didn't try. There was plenty of effort put into our friendship, and it lasted for a good long time. However, life made its inevitable play and we have moved our separate ways. It simply struck me as ironic, that promise. A promise made with hope and determination, but one that time has proved to be rather empty.

I don't blame my friend for our distancing. In fact, I still count my friend as a friend of mine. Time has just pushed us different directions.

We each make promises each and every day. It truly is interesting to see just how few we are actually able to keep as the years move on. We make our promises, well-intended and full of determination and desire, but as the years wear on, we find that we are either unable or no longer wish to keep that promise made some time before. Perhaps, with this new thought in my mind, I'll be a little slower to make promises that I may not be able to keep simply because of the passage of time.

Personality Wars

Does it ever seem to you as though there are almost two of you? Two people, living in your body? I don't mean in the sense of a mental disorder, but somedays I really believe that in a way, there are indeed two of each of us, both within our own body. Our carnal side, and our spiritual side.

Coming from a religious perspective, we are comprised of two parts - a physical body, and a spirit. Each has its different tendencies and desires, goals and aspirations. Each has different strengths and weaknesses. Together, they make an incredible team. It's getting them to always work together that is the hard part.

In my life, I've found that it often seems to be battle of one side verses the other. The carnal verses the spiritual, each fighting for control. When one side eventually wins, the other side won't be banished, only subjugated. It's a war for control of ourselves. Who do we allow to become our ruler? Our carnal nature, seeking the next thrill, thinking of pleasure and the short-term? Or perhaps our spiritual side, seeking our long-term happiness and success, endeavoring to make ourselves and the world better. Whom do we support?
So much depends on which side we feed. I ever love the story of the two wolves, battling inside of us. The one is good, the other bad. The one that wins is the one we feed. Our carnal side is easy to follow and feed - it pretty much knows exactly what to go for and how to get it. Our spiritual side takes work and effort. It is harder, but it allows us more freedom. The choice is ours.

What's in a thought?

Thoughts. Something so powerful as to have controlled human desire for millenia. Something so dangerous that people have killed over it. Something so simple as to take very little work. Something so incredible as to have created masterpieces.

We all think. We all have thoughts, and those thoughts shape who we are and what we become. What thoughts we allow to play in our head determine our actual play. What we think eventually becomes who we are.

It's such a simple concept really, but perhaps because it is so simple, people are afraid of it. They run from it. They fear it. Or perhaps they fear the responsibility for their thoughts. Who really wants to take credit for a base and lewd thought? Yet we are so often eager to take credit for our noble or inventive thoughts. Our thoughts are powerful.

Thoughts have been the cause of the rise and fall of many peoples, nations, groups, and ideals. We continue to have thoughts each and ever day. Even deciding not to think is a thought. Who we are and will become is shaped by our thoughts, be they clean and good and pure, or vile and base and destructive. Who do we want to be? What do we think about? Want to get to know someone? Learn what they think about, and you will learn them.

The Power of Words

Oh the wonderful power of words. Or, on the other hand, the destructive power of words. Or even just the simple power of humor of words. Words are everywhere, in everything. It's how we communicate. It's how we think. It's almost even how we feel. Yet one can easily wonder, what makes a word so powerful? What is a word, but a coherent jumble of squiggles on a piece of paper (or a computer screen, in this case)? What gives these "random" markings meaning?
Simply - we do.
We as people are always looking for meaning in things. What is something worth if it has no meaning? We attach meaning to almost everything around us. Our car, our house, our dog, our lawnmower, our family, our friends, even our hair (especially our hair, it would seem). Words are no different. They become something that we attach meaning to. However, words have a strong distinction from everything else. While our hair may mean a lot to us individually, someone else may not find the same meaning in your hair. But words share a common meaning. Generally. When I tell someone to "stop," that person (again, generally, because there are ALWAYS exceptions) understands that I want them to cease whatever they are doing. When I say "bus," an imagine of a large vehicle designed to transport large numbers of people quickly appears in our minds (and most often it is yellow in color, strange). Our words have meaning.
By giving words meaning, we also give them power. The oft-quoted phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword" might be said to apply quite well here. How many a person, strong in stature and powerful, has been easily crushed by a single word? How many young children on the playground have withdrawn into themselves at the teasing words of another? How many fights and deaths have resulted from the utterance of a simple phrase? How many persons have cheered and thrown themselves with unheard-of courage into the face of danger following the words of one person? There are countless examples of the power that words possess, both positive and negative. But it is imperative that we remember that words only have power through their meaning, and their meaning comes from what we give it. If I claim that "spunnnchis" is a word, who is to say I am wrong? If I attach meaning to that collection of letters, it becomes a word. And given time, that word can grow in power to mean something beyond what I give it today. Don't believe me that the creation of a new word can have lasting effects? Go look up the book "Frindle" and see for yourself.
I do understand that this is definitely not a new topic or thought. This simply came from a pattern of thoughts from a friend correcting me on my use of the word "y'alls," which is technically incorrect (for all concerned, the correct use is "y'all," as it is already plural, and therefore adding an "s" to the end would make it a double plural, which I don't believe exists). From one simple word came a lot of thought and thinking, which is only partially expressed here. So what meaning do you give your words? What power do you grant them? And how carefully do you choose what you say? You never know what one word might do.