Questioning Death, Quotes, Learning, Taboos, and Control

 

“But there is a fundamental difference between reading and being read to. When one reads actively, whether using the eyes or a finger, one is free to skip ahead or back, to reread, to ponder or daydream in the middle of a sentence―one reads in one's own time. Being read to, listening to an audiobook, is a more passive experience, subject to the vagaries of another's voice and largely unfolding in the narrator's own time.”

-- Oliver Sacks

How do I listen to 2-hour audio, without falling asleep or losing concentration?

Break every 15 minutes, get some fresh air, and review the recent segment’s info.

What is/are your ambition(s) in life?

To live beyond 90 years of age and still enjoy the occasional bourbon, cigar, and mahogany.

What should I do while listening to subliminal messaging?

Chant, in your mind, “I am my own person. I am my own person. I am my own person…”

What is something that you wish you could share with others?

How to choose true happiness for your life. Choose to strive for true happiness always and in all things, regardless of your circumstances. Oops! There it is… Yet, we find this so difficult. It is a simple choice. When you think about it, the alternative simply sucks, so… why choose that? 

What's it like being dead?

You’ll only get an “answer” from someone who has died. Death has tried to take me to the “big sleep” several times. Someone has my back.

“The best thing about being dead is that you don’t know about it. It’s like being stupid – it’s only painful for others.”

--Ricky Gervais

What is your favorite quote of all time? Why?

“It is what it is until it isn’t, and then, it is what it is... again.” — Me

Because it holds much truth.

What is the value you are unwilling to compromise?

Ethical conduct. I bend the hell out of it, but I try not to compromise it. A tough fix for someone in an Intelligence career. Being “unwilling to compromise” does not negate compromising. One has to understand the “nature” of the beast and make a tentative peace with it. 

How can someone stop analyzing their life and start living it?

If you’re truly living life, you will have little time to be analyzing anything but the mistakes.

In this world, is it more difficult to find the truth or to face the truth?

Facing the truth is easy. Finding the truth has become very hard. Truth has been obfuscated by politics and media. It is, almost, unrecognizable, even to the righteous. Even our Federal Bureau of Investigation, paragons of virtue, have started down the slippery slope of political influence.  

If a genie granted you one wish that had to do with knowledge, what would it be?

Answer to the question, “Why?”

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

How should I enjoy learning and not take exam scores to heart (good and bad)? I really like learning but I feel like I take my scores to heart and it really impacts me. How do I change my mindset to learning for life and not for an exam grade?

Exam scores are needed to move forward in the learning institution. You had better take them to heart or you’ll not graduate. The confusing part of this, if I understand you, is that you enjoy learning, but you don’t get good exam scores. It sounds like you learn the subject but the test locks your mind up. You might touch base with a counselor at the institution and see if an oral exam would be an option. If the exam grade is not important to you, let the instructor know this, and that you don’t take tests well. Honesty might just win the day for you, but you will know where you stand at any rate.

If you could have one thing you don't currently have, what would it be?

Unforgiving sex of a lifetime. 

How can I have a safe marital life after 60? I mean enjoyment.

Hope you married a loving, attentive, and non-violent man, the right man, and make sure he takes his Viagra. You’ll be safe, and you’ll “enjoy” life.

What are some things that psychologists know, but most people don't?

Cause and effect.

Why are we more motivated to prove someone wrong on the internet than to study for tomorrow’s exam?

“We” have our priorities out of whack. Proving someone wrong… I’m sorry… stroking our ego, is so much less important than the exams we need to take and get good grades on. Stroke your ego when you have free time to waste. Or, just let the dumbass go on thinking they’re right. Then being wrong shouldn’t make any difference to people who really shouldn’t care. Study for the exam.

“You would suffer for many things in life and misplaced priority is one of them.”

-- Bamigboye Olurotimi

What are the various taboos we came across in our life?

Death, and a lack of good ethics, meaningless sex notwithstanding, of course.

Does not wanting to celebrate certain holidays make me a bad mother?

Not if you explain your cogent reasoning to the child, and when they grow into an adult, don’t judge them if they choose to celebrate what you choose not to. If you really don’t have a good and cogent reason, you should be more concerned with that.

How can I say "shut the f#%k up" in a more polite way?

“Please be quiet.” Or, if you’re in the South, “Well, bless your little heart! Please close your pie hole.”

What can I do to believe in myself? Since I think I won't reach success like the people I think about; a few YouTubers with millions of subs and celebrities in a lot of work. Especially, when I don't believe my talent or art will get me far.

Then, choose true success, which many of these people probably don’t understand. Make the conscious choice to be truly happy always and in all things, regardless of your circumstances. Making this choice makes true happiness sustainable until you change your choice, which would be a bit insane. Once you are truly happy, you can start working on your life’s path. The difference will be, regardless of where your path now takes you, you will be always happy. The alternative to this… simply sucks. 

I usually forget everything even though I eat well and take care of my health. But for six or seven years I have had this problem that I forget every time. Is it a natural defect? Or moral inferiority?

If we knew the problem that you forget every time, it would probably help. If the problem is that you forget, what do you forget? Not enough information to go on.

“Let the past be content with itself, for man needs forgetfulness as well as memory”

-- James Stephens

What is a true but miserable fact to know?

I will never be an “Adonis” and have women throw themselves at my feet. Well, not in this lifetime, anyway.

Where do you come from, and what are your intentions?

The “other side,” via my mother’s womb, and I have always intended mischief.

How can I deal with other people controlling my life and making my decisions for me?

Why deal with it, just don’t let them. It is your life, not theirs. If they make a bad decision it is still on you for allowing them to make decisions for you. If they control you and, thereby, kill you, it is on you, not them. Your inability to take control of your life is your choice and, in reality, not theirs.

Are you aware of the power you have over other people, and how do you use that wisely?

Hard not to be aware of what you were trained for, and because it strikes me as unethical, I prefer not to use it.

What is the most immature thing that society needs to get over with, now?

Trying to stick it to Donald Trump. Our country wasted 4 years and millions of dollars, and the infantile politicians just can’t find their way back to the “people’s business.” It is really just sad.

“Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.”

-- Tom Robbins

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. 

I fervently 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