Questioning Age, Wealth, Good, Wisdom, and Choices

 

“A true teacher would never tell you what to do. But he would give you the knowledge with which you could decide what would be best for you to do.”

-- Christopher Pike

Do you have any regret in your old age? Probably because you feel you should have or not done a particular thing in a certain way.

I regret wasting 25 years of my life with a woman who, by her own admission, never loved me and only used me to escape her family. I regret my stupidity of not listening to our friends and I regret letting her turn me into what I became for the majority of those 25 years. I do not regret, however, the two children she had with me who are so not their mother. My daughter became the mother her own could only wish to be, and my son has found himself a life partner who is all of a friend I wish I had met. They are, for better or worse, more like me than her.

How do I manage financially at the age of 20 and over?

Work hard, invest, and stay out of debt.

What is your opinion on the most romantic relationship ever?

When you love someone so much you feel can’t tell them. But, that’s okay, because just being in love with them is enough. Being around them makes you feel there is so much meaning to life. God forbid, if the love was requited, your head would probably explode. If you’re in the most romantic relationship, ever, you wouldn’t be able to state a clear opinion of what it was like.

"Never give up" is the formula for success?

“Never give up” is the formula for attaining a goal. “Choosing to be happy always and in all things, regardless of your circumstances” is the formula for success.

When you tell your child "I was the one who wiped your stool", what will you do when your child tells you "If you want to get a reward from me because you do your responsibility then your reward is my stool"?

I will admonish myself for not explaining to the child why I accepted the responsibility, and why I was not an “absentee father” in their life. I would apologize for not teaching them better manners and respect, and for not ensuring they were intelligent enough to understand why they exist. I would apologize to them for raising an ungrateful child.

My mother gave me 18 years of her life. I recognize that responsibility, and what it cost her to accept it, and to actually be a real mother, to mentor and to love, and not just be a gene donor with an “anchor” to take care of. Now that she is 88, and in failing health, I can repay her for years of loving service to my upbringing by taking care of her.

“Mentoring is an archetypal activity that has timeless elements which can connect us to the universal ground where nature renews itself and culture becomes reimagined. Youth and elder meet where the pressure of the future meets the presence of the past. Old and young are opposites that secretly identify with each other; for neither fits well into the mainstream of life.”

-- Michael Meade

In your lifetime, is it important to you to make a positive difference in another person’s life?

Very important. We are here to learn and to pass on what we learn, and why. If we don’t mentor others so they can be better than we are, we have wasted our opportunity to move civilization forward in the smallest and, yet, the most meaningful way.

Is being an individualist good?

Yes! Ask anyone from a socialist or communist country trying to come to the United States, or who is already here.

Are you happy with your finances in June 2022? What changes are you striving for?

No, but, then, I didn’t vote for the current “waste of space,” or his handlers, that are destroying my country and my stock portfolio. I’m striving for energy independence, a strong economy, strong country borders, a strong rule of law that is actually applied, and lawmakers who actually respect the Constitution they swore to uphold. You know, America. 

Is anyone actually strong and independent?

I don’t think I was until I joined the military and retired. They made me strong and taught me how to be independent and have a purpose for my life.

Can scientific knowledge go beyond the epistemological limits of knowledge?

An impressive multi-syllable word, but I’m not sure knowledge can be held back from knowledge, and I’m also not so sure there can be “limits” to the epistemological theory. The moment we think there is will be the moment someone will prove us wrong. The word itself refuses to be tied down to limits when we consider it relates to theory, methods, validity, scope, belief, and opinion, all of which can change and grow beyond any limits. When we think we know it all, we find out we don’t.

“Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans. . . If reality differs from person to person, can we speak of reality singular, or shouldn't we really be talking about plural realities? And if there are plural realities, are some more true (more real) than others? What about the world of a schizophrenic? Maybe it's as real as our world. Maybe we cannot say that we are in touch with reality and he is not, but should instead say, His reality is so different from ours that he can't explain his to us, and we can't explain ours to him. The problem, then, is that if subjective worlds are experienced too differently, there occurs a breakdown in communication ... and there is the real illness.”

-- Philip K. Dick

How has your definition of success changed over time?

Oh, my! Yes! Success is nothing more than making the conscious choice to be truly happy always and in all things, regardless of your circumstances. What I thought was “success” was nothing more than attaining the goals I had set for myself. The goals made me happy, but they never made me truly happy. True happiness is a choice we make for our lives, and, as a choice, it is sustainable until you make another choice… which would be stupid if you’re truly happy. Better we make the conscious choice for true happiness and stand by it through thick and thin.

How can I tackle a behavioral assessment question in an interview, "Are you what you think you are"?

The answer is, “Probably not. Are any of us?” All of us have plenty of room for growth and improvement. If someone answers “yes” to this, they are so full of shit.

Is forcing someone to do good justifiable?

Almost anything can be justified in one’s mind, but, is it right? I can justify goodness all day long, but can I argue that it’s right? Take this proverb, for example, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” I can argue all day that forcing someone into giving the man food is justifiable, but isn’t teaching him to fish the right thing to do, for his lifetime? Charity is like socialism, it lasts until you run out of someone else’s money. Teaching him to fish removes someone else's money from the equation.

What do you have to be grateful/thankful for?

I wake up every morning. Any day on this side of the dirt is a great day to try to excel in life. The alternative simply sucks. 

What's the biggest fail you've had while performing in public?

My last classified briefing for the Command Post staff. I came home from leave just in time to catch the beginning of the Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI). I walked in the door of Intelligence and they handed me a stack of viewgraphs. The briefer wasn’t back and I excelled at briefing so I had five minutes to get to the Command Post. It would be my last briefing as Wing Intelligence NCOIC, in the U.S. Air Force.

I asked if all the viewgraphs were appropriate. They said yes. Two mistakes I made, right here. I never make mistakes. One, I asked them, expecting to get the correct answer. Two, I did not personally confirm their answer, because these were my people. Not one of the viewgraphs had been filled out. I was standing behind the podium, ready to begin the briefing, and I had no information. The blood drained from my face. I was screwed. I was pissed. But, I’m the king of bullshit.

I calmly put the stack of viewgraphs back in the pouch, welcomed all the commanders and staff, and informed them that this briefing would be “general information” only. I had done this briefing for 22 years, so I fell back to punt. I took questions when I was finished, most of which I would get back to them with the answers. Briefing done.

As I was leaving, the Wing Commander leaned over, smiled, and whispered, “Great briefing. Blank visuals?” I cocked an eyebrow, smiled, and replied, “Glad it was obvious. This will be the last ass-chewing I’ll get to do on active duty.” We shook hands and he wished me good luck in the civilian world.

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

-- Randy Pausch

Why is there an economic turmoil in Sri Lanka even though China has invested billions of dollars lately in Srilanka?

Graft and corruption. Where did the money really go? China is, for all intents and purposes, buying a country. We all have to remember, that China and freedom are like oil and water, they simply don’t mix, and throwing money at it won’t make that happen.

Why can't I seem to get it through my head that no one is coming to save me?

You have much faith and hope, but it blinds you to the fact that you are your own best hope. Have faith in yourself. 

How can I be more content with my abilities?

Never be content with your abilities. Life is all about learning. If you settle, you learn very little. Never settle, but, also, always strive to be happy always and in all things, regardless of your circumstances.

What is wrong with the therapeutic model so that it does not work for me?

Are you certain it’s the model? 

What can be the long-term results when you follow your own wisdom?

Wealth from silver, gold, marijuana, and dividend stocks. Now, my wisdom has me holding 140.000 shares in an aquaculture stock looking to list on the Nasdaq this year. Wealth enough to pay me another retirement check each month. I bought the majority of my stocks on the cheap and sold them all for a significant profit. So far, my wisdom has given me no reason not to continue listening to me.

“Be inspired by others' ways, but don't follow others' ways; create your own way, follow your own way!”

-- Mehmet Murat ildan

How would you define a successful person in today's society?

How truly happy they are always and in all things, regardless of their circumstances.

Why is it that after I make a choice I seem to have chosen the wrong option? Is this a fallacy of some kind or is it true?

Maybe you’re not taking enough time to do critical due diligence before making a choice? Life is all about learning to make the best possible choices and decisions for our lives. Critique the choice. Is it truly wrong? Ask yourself why you think it’s wrong. If you can, correct the choice. If not, learn why you went wrong and be prepared for the next choice. In the words of Thomas Edison, you haven’t failed. You’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.

As far as success is concerned, if you are truly happy always and in all things, especially when 10,000 ways don’t work, you are already more successful than most other people.

What’s your limitation to how far you take things?

Perseverance and time. I am limited by how far my perseverance will take me before I become bored with the process and find a better way to attain what I want. I only fail when I quit, not when I stop.

Are humans inherently obedient? If anyone believes this is true, then is this why we can’t decipher whether we’re inherently good or bad because it depends on the rules or norms we live under?

Not all humans are “inherently” obedient. If this were true we’d all be submissive to any dominant personality that came along. If rules make sense, we obey the, if not we change them. The majority of us don’t vote for some putz because he offers us a free cell phone. We don’t vote for the color of their skin, their religion, their sexual preference, or because someone wants us to think that only black lives matter when all of us really matter. Most of us are capable of thinking for ourselves. We take the free cell phone and vote for the better candidate. Most of us are inherently free-thinking humans. Just because some of us fall prey to radical bullshit doesn’t mean the whole of humanity is bad.

How is the solution for a problem built upon the foundation that matter is based on?

Reality.

"Be sure of the foundation of your life. Know why you live as you do. Be ready to give a reason for it. Do not, in such a matter as life, build an opinion or custom on what you guess is true. Make it a matter of certainty and science."

-- Thomas Starr King

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, finally, a senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Western 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 the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

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