Questioning Right, Wrong, and Between

 

“There is a big difference between ‘America First’ and ‘American’s First’.”

-- Steven Magee

What are some good tips for getting back on track and staying on track after a big cheat day? It’s made me lose motivation.

I'll assume a diet?  Get on a scale. Look at “before & after” pictures of your ass, then ask yourself if you want to pack that around again. More importantly, you’ve proven you’re better than this, so rise above it and quit making excuses.

What advice can anyone or all give me?

Stay out of debt, work at a job you enjoy, each day you need to tell the people you love that you love them, and strive to be happy always.

Why do I always choose the harder option?

You love a challenge. Anybody can choose the easy route, that path is seriously crowded. You choose, consciously or subconsciously, to take the more challenging path.

“I must have a prodigious amount of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up!”

-- Mark Twain

What skills do we have as children that are lost as we grow up?

We are innocent and very open to the paranormal. As we grow up this ability is replaced by more “serious” concerns. We soon forget how to see beyond our own reality.

Why am I always facing failure even though I try so hard?

We all face failure, no matter how hard we try to avoid it. How we deal with failure, though, is the real question. Failure is nothing more than another opportunity to learn what we failed to do. Step back and look at what occurred and ask why you failed. What did you not take into consideration and why not? Take time to learn from the failure so you can mitigate failing the next time. Failure is nothing to be ashamed of, it is actually an opportunity to learn more than those who always succeed might understand.

If you could tell your young adult self three things, what would they be?

The same old refrain I always tout: Stay out of debt, enjoy what you choose to do, love deeply, and strive to be happy always

“The truly important things are those that make you happier if you share them, than if you keep them for yourself.”

-- Neus Figueras

What are some good ways of keeping from losing it after a bad break-up?

Focus on friends and family, and go out and find someone you are really compatible with.

Will I forever be 4’11 *sighs*?

Probably, and change the attitude. How tall you are is so much less important than what you do with it. If you feel 6′, act 6′. How? Well, if you just act like the real person you are, and those who are taller act like the real people they are, there is no answer except to just be yourself. I have a friend who is about your high, and he took on several guys outside a classy bar one night over politics. Yeah, he was a bit drunk, but this is who he is. He is real. His good sense wanders at times, but he is young, has a good job, is happily married, and has a few kids. He is comfortable in his own skin, and he is one of us.

DOES this work for you?

That would depend on what “this” is.

"To truly know what works, you have to learn what doesn't work first."

-- Chris Brogan

Is there anyone to blame but ourselves?

Sure. There are many people we can shift the blame onto, but when it comes to the truth we ultimately own the choices and decisions we make. If our choice is to let someone make choices for us, this is our choice. If we choose to be imprisoned against our will instead of fighting to the death for freedom, this is our choice. If the Cuban people choose peaceful protest instead of a revolution to gain their freedom, this is their choice. Everything we do or are made to do is a matter of a choice we make or have made.

How much is something worth?

How much is someone willing to pay for it?

Have you ever taken a calculated risk that paid off in your favor big time?

Yes. I bought 110,000 shares a penny stock, an “aquaculture” stock, for an average of $.06 per share. A big gamble on something I knew nothing about. I watched their videos, read the articles, did my “due diligence” and decided these guys seemed to have a plan. I started selling shares at $.86, made a buttload of cash to put into dividend stocks, and still have 90,000 shares. This will probably end up around $2-$4 per share. I can wait.

“If you keep taking calculated risks, you will keep getting considerable rewards.”

-- Amit Kalantri

When did you decide to step away from all of this madness and replace it with gladness and joy?

After my ex-wife ripped the guts out of our marriage. It took me five years to learn how to accept the apology I was never going to get. I forgave her, I forgave me, then I promised not to ever take life that seriously again. I finished 17 years with the company I was working for and retired to Mexico for a couple of years. I now live on the Gulf Coast, a block from the beach. I do what I want to do and I strive to be happy always. The alternative simply sucks.

What are the wrong reasons to be a leader?

Any selfish reason is a wrong reason. You become a leader to lead. You don’t do it for status, or glory, you do it because no one else will take the job, or because you know how to get the job done, or because you think you can do so much better at helping others than the current putz is doing. You learn to be a humble leader. You lead with tolerance and understanding. You learn to listen. And, if you’re really good, others will follow your lead. 

Why is it useful to keep in mind that not everything is as it appears?

Because it usually isn’t, especially in politics. You also can’t ever believe what you read or see on the news (refer back to politics). And, if schools continue on the current path, nothing they teach will be based in fact, either. We are playing with fire if we think the government has our best interests in mind by telling us what to think and believe. Socialism doesn’t work:

“The useful idiots, the leftists who are idealistically believing in the beauty of the Soviet socialist or Communist or whatever system, when they get disillusioned, they become the worst enemies. That’s why my KGB instructors specifically made the point: never bother with leftists. Forget about these political prostitutes. Aim higher. They serve a purpose only at the stage of destabilization of a nation. For example, your leftists in the United States: all these professors and all these beautiful civil rights defenders. They are instrumental in the process of the subversion only to destabilize a nation. When their job is completed, they are not needed anymore. They know too much. Some of them, when they get disillusioned, when they see that Marxist-Leninists come to power—obviously they get offended—they think that they will come to power. That will never happen, of course. They will be lined up against the wall and shot.”

-- Yuri Bezmenov (1939-1993), former Soviet journalist and KGB informant

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as a chaplain at the regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony:  tolerantpastor@gmail.com