Removing Impact Blinders Archives - Page 22 of 26

Religiously Inspired Hatred

February 26, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

According to the good book, God hates the gays…

and the divorcees, and adulterers, and drunkards and a whole lot of others whose behavior often resembles, well, me (maybe you too?).

Funny thing is, Jesus never said a word about or against gays.

Yea there were a few passages inserted long after Jesus shed his mortal coil…

but Jesus himself…mute, mum, not a word.

He did have a thing or two to say about divorcees, however (ouch!).

It seems that gays are finally getting some well-deserved political respect.

And that scares the living shit out of bible-thumpers.

So much so that there’s currently a rallying cry for the adoption of so-called religious freedom laws that would allow businesses to refuse to do business with gays under the guise of protecting sincerely-held religious beliefs.

I vaguely remember, because I was very young at the time, the segregated south.

Years before blacks had also achieved some measure of political respect, via being recognized as actual human beings…

as opposed to just chattel.

A whole lot of good Christian folk were a bit upset about that. They were able to coax state legislatures to pass what became known as Jim Crow laws. Laws that allowed discrimination on the basis of, you guessed it, sincerely-held and arguably “religious” beliefs…chiefly the belief that whites were a superior race and that blacks should be kept separate and apart from it.

So, my question is this. If we’re going to use the bible as our guide to enactment of laws, why stop with the gays?

Why not re-enact the entire Old Testament Law…after all, Jesus himself said that not one “jot or tittle” should be disregarded, or something like that.

Let’s start stoning those nasty adulterers and divorcees (I’ll just remain in Costa Rica until further notice in that case).

And of course, then we can do much more than just discriminate against gays, we can do as the Ugandans do…get rid of them for good!

I read somewhere that the draconian law recently passed in Uganda (a country where the President actually said on the news that gays were “disgusting”) was also scriptural-ly motivated.

Or, we can look to another source for law. The one that begins with that well-known phrase of…

All men [and women] are created equal.

Shouldn’t that apply to gay ones and straight ones…even divorcees and adultering ones?

Sometimes the impact of a law can get lost behind the facade of a good constitutionally based rationalization.

Jim Crow laws were rationalized along the lines of “protecting” black Americans by separating them from whites.

Really?

And in Arizona, a state where Christian owned businesses can already freely discriminate against gays (since sexual-orientation is not on the no-discrimination laundry list), the reason for the law is protecting religious belief?

What’s this really about?

Sounds to me like it’s a lot less about religious freedom and a lot more about religiously inspired hatred.

Seems that we’ve been there before…didn’t we learn anything?

image credit: The Searcher via Compfight cc

There Just Aren’t Enough Rocks

February 21, 2014 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

From time to time you’ll see a movie related post in here.

It’s not that I’m so much of a movie aficionado…we do have one theater (or, cine) here in Perez Zeledon. They will only show the scheduled movie if at least four people show up for it. During weekdays you could end up paying for one or more “ghost companions.”

The joys of living in small-town, Costa Rica!

But occasionally a movie will really get hold of me. That happened years ago with this unique little film called Forrest Gump.

There was one scene in particular that always provoked a lot of emotion, but for a long time I kinda didn’t fully understand why.

So one day, also years ago, I put some thought into it.

Here’s what I came up with…

Was flipping through channels yesterday and there on number 347, or something, was Forrest Gump, one of my favorite movies of all time. I have probably seen it a dozen times, but each time there are certain scenes that really get to me.

I guess I identify with Forrest in ways, feeling like a sort of “detached observer” at times, but nevertheless finding myself unwittingly in the middle of awkward and difficult situations.

Gump handled those with an amazing degree of dexterity despite his surface level deficiency in the smarts department.

I would say that his approach to life displayed quite a bit of what one might call, Gump-tion.

He was also prone to some pretty good one-liners, usually attributed to momma.

I guess mommas are the source of a lot of our inherited wisdom.

I really like the scene where his beloved Jenny has returned, after many years of destructive wandering, to Greenbow, Alabama to be reunited with her lifelong friend.

They are walking along a dirt road when they stumble upon Jenny’s childhood home, a place of bad memories for her. Jenny begins to throw rocks at the abandoned and broken-down old house. When she exhausts the supply readily available she collapses and is consoled by Forrest, who in his movie narrator dual role makes the profound assertion that…

Sometimes, I guess, there just aren’t enough rocks.

That quote always seemed to convey deep meaning and I would find myself nodding my head in agreement, muttering in my mind, “you know, Forrest, you’re right, sometimes there just aren’t.”

But if you asked me point-blank what exactly Forrest meant by the statement, I would likely be hard-pressed to give a concise and cogent answer.

So in this post, I thought I would try to make some sense of why that particular Gump zinger was so meaningful to me.

Most of us harbor memories in life that aren’t so great. These can turn into resentments. If you hold those inside, as Jenny had apparently done, there may not be enough “rocks” to throw in the attempt to release those inner feelings of rage.

I know. I have a few myself.

Sometimes the thought of all that coming to the surface scares the hell out of me.

Green-tinted visions of Hulk-ish rage come to mind.

So best just to keep them buried deep down inside.

But is that really healthy?

I believe for Jenny her road to destruction ended with that pile of rocks. She’d been throwing them, in one way or another, all her adult life and I guess they just ran out.

The throwing ended with the realization that living her life in reaction to the past is a dead-end street.

How about you?

Still searching for rocks to throw?

Getting near the bottom of your pile?

Take a clue from Forrest Gump, drop those two in your hand you might be thinking of hurling just now…

make peace with your past and move on.

Link to Movie Clip

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Creativity Kryptonite

February 12, 2014 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

It’s well known that artistic or creative people are also prone towards self-indulgence.

We recently witnessed that, again, with the great actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Oh yea, I know it was an addiction…a disease that did him in. But the disease has its roots in self-indulgence.

I have always been a fan of the Doors…especially the shamanistic front-man, Jim Morrison.

Has there ever been a better example of self-indulgence in motion?

I have at times embraced the Morrisonian philosophy (originally found in the words of Blake) that “the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”

I am here to tell you…it doesn’t lead to any such place and that becomes increasingly clear to me as I get older.

And I believe one should consider that idea in conjunction with Blake’s later line…

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

Lately I’ve been re-discovering some old pieces that I’ve written that I feel really belong here.

Here’s another one…which also expresses the way I’ve been feeling recently…

Perhaps there are a few others out there who would echo a similar sentiment…

What Makes Me Weak

You know there is a lot I want to accomplish, but I just never seem to get around to it.

Why?

I think I have it…the answer, that is. And it’s not procrastination.

It’s self-indulgence…or the amount of time I spend engaged in that horribly unproductive state…

You see, I want to be selfless, but I always seem to sabotage that desire with self-indulgence.

I believe selflessness is the best path to creativity, productivity and, ultimately, impact.

Impact mindfulness is a selfless concept. But I am a poor practitioner of it because too much of the time I am not selfless…

I am self-indulgent.

Let’s contrast the two states for clarification…

Selflessness is inspirational and motivational…

Self-indulgence is depressing and immobilizing…

Being creative is the ultimate selfless act (in my opinion)…

Self-indulgence is the ultimate path to frustration, disappointment and disillusion…

So what exactly am I talking about with this term “self-indulgence?”

Well, I would say that any form of “dependence” is self-indulgent.

Co-dependency is really just self-indulgence.

Drunkenness is self-indulgent.

Drug use can be (and probably usually is) self-indulgent.

[afterthought: I’m really not referring to hallucinogenic use by the likes of the Beatles that inspired expression and connection culminating in Sergeant Pepper’s, but more along the lines of Joplin’s sticking a needle in her arm after leaving the stage in order to escape expression and connection.]

Being promiscuous is self-indulgent.

Being greedy is self-indulgent.

Worrying incessantly over economic security is self-indulgent.

Being dishonest (with yourself or others) is self-indulgent.

Being mean, or manipulative, is self-indulgent.

Anything we do that draws us inward as opposed to extending us outward is self-indulgent.

And it is a powerful impact blinder.

Self-indulgence is what makes me weak.

It is my Creativity Kryptonite.

And it always depletes my superpowers.

So why do I do it? Because in the moment, it feels right.

But that’s a long-term lie!

Morrison on stage, or in the studio, creating theater, music and lyrics the likes of which had never been seen nor heard before…now that was selfless and impactful.

Morrison curled up with a bottle and dying in a bathtub didn’t accomplish a goddamn thing.

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The Day I Thought I Had Made It

February 11, 2014 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

Life’s a journey, not a destination…

Joe Perry and Steven Tyler

Since this blog is about life and life is about stories, I thought it might be interesting to share a few personal and impactful ones.

The following certainly qualifies…

There’s one thing for sure…I’m a hard-headed SOB.

I tend to hang on…scratching to stay alive, as the song quoted above goes on to say.

Here’s a story of one of those times.

My flight from San Jose (Costa Rica) to Charlotte, North Carolina landed around noon. I always left my car at an airport hotel that let me park there for free as a benefit of being a frequent guest. I took their shuttle from the airport and upon arrival, threw my bags in the back and headed for home…

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

This was a special day. It was December 5, 2003 to be exact. Forty-three years prior to that day, at Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina, I got my start in this world.

But today was special for another reason as well. It was, hopefully, going to be the culmination of the last two years of scratching.

For the three weeks prior to this fateful day I had been in Costa Rica holding the hand of my client as the final stages of our deal played out.

That client was the Costa Rican founder and president of Universidad Interamericana, a private for-profit university with campuses in Heredia, Costa Rica and Panama City, Panama.

I’d spent the previous two years orchestrating a deal by which this school would be sold to a large public company in the U.S.

And this day was supposedly going to be the big day…pay day.

Those last three weeks had been fraught with anxiety for both him and me. A last-minute glitch in the deal had prompted an escrow of the entire purchase price until it could be resolved.

Well, a few days earlier it apparently had been and now the only thing left to do was wait. I had vowed to myself that I would not leave Costa Rica empty-handed this time. I had worked too hard and taken too much risk.

But my wife had grown impatient waiting for me to return…it was time to come home. So I scheduled an early flight for the next day, my birthday.

And I hadn’t been paid…yet.

As I drove the long and monotonous superhighway that led me home I couldn’t help to obsess about all the things that could go wrong (after all over the course of the prior two years, about everything had).

Would William (my client) just refuse to pay me? He could do that you know. And if he did what could I do about it? Sue him for sure, but with what money? And how long would that take?

Not long after I crossed the border and arrived at a small town where a branch office of my bank was located I decided that I must put this to rest. I entered as nervous and fidgety as a first-time bank robber and made a b-line to the customer service desk.

“Could I help you?” the pretty young southern-belle sitting behind it drawled.

“I would like to know if there has been an international wire into my account today, please?”

She peered into her computer and after a few moments of punching keys looked up at me with a sheepish grin and asked,

“Would it perhaps be possible for you to give me a loan?”

At that moment I felt as if I’d levitated a few feet off the ground.

The rest of the day was spent floating on this cushy cloud of accomplishment.

I had done it!

I called my wife, my dad, my mom and my employees and let them know that “the eagle had landed.”

Everyone was happy for me, especially those in line to now, finally, be paid.

As I sat in my office the next day and stared at the number in my bank account, a number I had certainly never seen before, the idea of making a fast get away back to my personal paradise of Costa Rica with all that loot…just sort of disappearing…dawned upon me.

Then I came to my senses.

I decided to do what was right and start paying. By the time I was finished that number had diminished to one far less impressive.

What I had accomplished did display tenacity. I had hung on for dear life, perhaps longer than I should have.

I tend to do that.

Why?

The cushy cloud I referred to above evaporated and I fell back to earth with a thud. That great sense of accomplishment was replaced with a feeling of…

“okay, so now what?”

And isn’t that usually the case? Especially when the end of your game is all about you.

Why had I worked so hard and for so long?

What was “this” really all about?

In a word…ME.

I had been driven by ego more than anything else. I had to prove my worth to the world and closing this deal had become the means to that end.

It certainly had not cured any financial problems, but only created even bigger ones.

And in the wake of two years of this singular obsession, I had some serious personal issues in tow.

I had operated for those two years wearing “impact blinders” that only allowed me to see one narrow way…

my way.

I do believe that everything happens for a reason. Maybe that reason was for me to be able to write this. Write about the error of my ways.

Perhaps to help others not to make similar ones.

Before you become so committed to a particular course, it always pays to step back and really search inside yourself for the answer to the question of…WHY?

The title to this post is “the day I thought I had made it.”

However, the destination did not turn out to be nearly worth the trouble.

My Hidden Agenda

February 4, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Agendas…everyone has them…right?

Everyone wants to sell you something, convince you of something, lead you somewhere, indoctrinate you, hypnotize you, brainwash or proselytize you.

So, what’s my hidden agenda for this blog?

What’s the cost that it seeks to extract from you, the potential reader (and misfit)?

What should you be afraid of, be hesitant about, or run for the hills from?

In a word…nothing.

Unless, that is, you’re scared of thinking.

Because the hidden agenda of this blog is just that…to make you think.

DISCLAIMER: All the answers will NOT be discovered by reading this blog.

But many questions will be raised…and then it’s up to you to find the answer…your unique answer.

So, what’s in it for me, you ask?

Oh lots of goodies.

I get to do what I love most…write, create, contribute, share my thoughts with the world and maybe make a few friends in the process.

Fame and fortune?

Hmm…not really considering that as a distinct possibility.

An opportunity to make a difference…to change the world?

Possibly.

But that depends to a large extent on you…the reader.

And what you do with these ideas that I am writing about.

Because I can’t change the world alone.

These ideas aren’t mine…they aren’t novel, or new. They’ve been around far longer than me.

And that’s a pretty long time.

Perhaps their presentation in this blog is a bit fresh.

But the idea of making an impact did exist prior to Revolutionary Misfit, or even Costa Rica Guy.

Today there’s so much noise. So many people saying predominantly the same thing.

It’s all about success, happiness, fulfillment, peace, love, tranquility…and there are countless blogs with countless ideas about how to achieve all that.

And those things are all good.

It’s just that this blog comes at it at a slightly different angle.

The impact angle. With all that other great stuff as a byproduct of making impact the impetus.

Instead of the other way around, which seems to often be the predominant mode of thinking out there.

That is, make success driven happiness the priority and then impact will follow.

I’m not buying it…anymore.

Why wouldn’t that be the case?

Because that’s not the way it’s set up to be.

That’s not the way the universe deems it to be.

Because the real peace, fulfillment, happiness and success we find for ourselves will be driven in larger part by the peace, fulfillment, happiness and success we can impart to others.

Call it the law of reciprocal returns, the golden rule or whatever you want.

Here we call it impact mindfulness.

And we practice it by (1) prioritizing impact over self-interest, (2) embracing the Big US, and (3) removing impact blinders.

So, the only hidden agenda is to create a small army of revolutionary misfits who put this idea into practice.

And the world will never be the same.

There, that’s my hidden agenda.

Still hesitant, or scared?

If not, join us!

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Creationism or Creativism?

February 1, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

I came across an interesting post in one my favorite blogs the other day, Andrew Sullivan’s The Dish.

The post was entitled Creationism in the Classroom. It presented a map of the U.S. that highlighted states where creationism is taught in tax-payer funded schools.

The point was made, at least in Wisconsin, that creationist-taught students were performing more poorly than students in non-creationist teaching schools.

And then there is the case of Bill Nye the Science Guy railing against the teaching of creationism in schools…saying that it is not appropriate for children.

That erupted into a huge media driven controversy with fundamentalists condemning Nye as a third-rate “scientist” with a liberal anti-Christian agenda.

Should a creationist theory of our universe be taught in school to kids?

And why would we want to do that in the first place?

Well, when we say creationist theory what we really mean is a theory that explains the beginnings of the universe in a way that is consistent with a literal interpretation of the bible…

so really what we are talking about is a “christian-creationist” theory…as opposed to any other religiously inspired explanation for reality.

And one that flies in the face of everything we know to be true about that same universe…based on science.

So, the only reason that I can think of that explains why we would want to teach it is due to a serious case of impact blinders. That is, being consistent to a religious concept over prioritizes accepting known facts about our universe.

And that can be a scary way to view the world. Maybe comfortable for those who hold it, but scary as hell for the rest of us.

I once revolved in christian circles and I have heard many of these creationist theoreticians espouse their views. In my opinion…religious crackpots.

But having said that, I do actually believe in it…

creationism, that is…

WTF?

Yes, I do…just not according to a literal interpretation of the bible.

In fact, I believe it is highly illogical NOT to believe it.

Now, I know it can’t be proven according to science (at least not yet), but there are many things that escape absolute scientific provability.

After all, why would scientists dub the Higgs boson the “god particle?”

Good question, ey?

How is it possible that we live in a universe so vast yet so precise without some intelligent designer behind it all?

And I also believe that intelligent designer, or universal force, or god, or whatever you want to call it, has endowed us with a similar ability…

to create.

So why don’t we teach that rather than some ludicrous fantastical theory that is really just a disguised attempt to inculcate blind religious faith and produce robotic offspring programmed to do life the way we did?

I believe rather than be concerned with the teaching of bible-based creationism, why not teach creativism?

That is, a theory that accepts the universe as a created work, consistent with scientific facts as we know them…

AND one that encourages that our children duplicate that creative effort throughout their own lives.

The ability to create something out of nothing is unique to our species. And I believe it is the path to true success and happiness in life.

It’s the path of impact.

It’s how differences are made.

It’s how the world gets changed for the better.

It’s what the universe expects of us.

So why aren’t we teaching THAT to our kids?

What do you think…creationism or creativism?

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What Makes Me Weak

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