THINK ABOUT IT.. .A DUALITY Look (or Forget about it.)

I wrote on Facebook earlier... " It is always the Community! Who will bury the "ideal" "Rugged Individualist"??" And I wonder about our nation and world in these times of The Virus... the Coved-19 virus... invasion! The community .. and the idea of "herd immunity' is THE way to improve/address the situation. It is THE way to fight this and other invasions... THE COMMUNITY... imho. Individualism is a good thing, too, as long as we understand the great web of inter-elationships. Even the hermit gets supplies from outside his/her island in many cases or from the beginning of the isolated life supplies and tools are used to start that kind of life. Thoreau even had an iron ax and other tools he had not made or INVENTED himself.  We ARE all connected... REALLY.... As Chief Seattle is quoted as saying:                 " Humankind has not woven the web of life.     ...

I looked at my first cup of coffee one morning after I finished drinking it and starws at the bottom of the cup. I then thought -- there is always a bottom to a cup of coffee.. or any liquid for that matter... (unless there is a break and it is no longer a cup or vessel). Next I thought - is there always a bottom to things and I thought - YES -- there is always a bottom.... an end...  There is always a base on which to stand and proceed. On the other hand - what about the top? Is there always a top? Where is that top? On Earth mountain tops have limits but as we go beyond our little blue planet the Universe seems endless, topless, infinite. While this sense of infinity may have some limits... or maybe it circles and cycles around and around forever... we mere mortals, when we know of The Universe, do sense INFINITY. There are finite bottoms and ends... BUT looking up and away -- all is limitless, endless, infinite. So - keep looking up!

What is tolerance? What is prejudice? To tolerate means to accept with an understanding that what is tolerated is difficult to simply accept and live with. To be prejudiced is to make judgments  which are not likely to change no matter what the evidence... before, during, or after you see all data. It is belief in spite or information. I like to think I take in new information and change as necessary relative to new information. Sometimes I find myself hearing, reading, etc.. new information and going with that current presentation and set of ideas... uncritically. NOT GOOD... Being critical is important and something I need to do .It requires remembering old information and comparing it to the new. It does require holding on to that old information if the new is better. But new is not always better and improved no matter what the commercials say. Prejudging which is the basis of prejudice is to not give what is here and now a chance to prove itself worthy. And things and...

You may not know.. but some of these "titles" were questions I came up with a while back and am not always sure what they mean... today. I assume they meant something when listed.... For THIS... it seems related to THE issue of past, present, and future... regretting a past which cannot be changed or worrying/being anxious about a future which truly is basically unknown. That leaves the present which is where we are, for sure, and about which it behooves us to be awake (the? new term) or mindful (a recent and probably current term) or aware. The present is THE gift/present we all get each and every moment. And that is my basic first rift on the title of this post. I might also have been thinking that I often look back to the past and focus on certain negative aspects, memories, etc. about that past. I could also look back for joyous moments. Which are more important? What is really true, in sum, about my past? I think it must have been GOOD - essentially since I have a ...

NOTE: Today is many days, perhaps three months, since I started the post below... Certainly other posts are dated early January, 2020... and today is April 10, 2020 - the second day of Passover, the 2nd day of the Jewish New Year of Spring, and the day I have asserted (promised) I would write in a regular, routine, disciplined fashion. Here I go... again ! ======================================== Am I forgiving? Forgiveness is considered a good thing to do. I didn't quickly come to a word or two for its opposite. A simple search of google quickly suggested -: merciless and vindictive to be the opposite of forgiveness and a link to many, many more words/ideas that are the opposite of forgiving  . T ry this , too.  Another look might be to consider the word forgive and what are its opposites and synonyms? HERE at Word hippo are many options! AND today (as of this new writing) -- Holding a GRUDGE seems to be an opposite and one can do that by acting out and attacking ot...

OR - are you rich or are you poor? Really - who is rich and who is poor? Talmud says: Ben Zoma says: Who is rich? The one who is appreciates what he has… (Talmud—Avot 4:1) THAT is something to consider. Contentment, acceptance - easy reality. So - who wants what? What is more? What makes us think we are rich or not rich. Poor or not poor? Anxiety comes to mind... IF I am worried about where my next meal is coming from? or where will I lay my head? OR will my family have their needs taken care of and maybe some mere wants! There was a statistical assertion that after a person/family made about $80,000. - that more money did not have a big effect. At that level.. or some such level (depending on where you live and size of the group of people supported by some number of dollars) - more money did not make a big difference in how a person felt. Security of that income is of prime importance.  Generally - one is rich ... or rich enough - if anxiety is lacking in his/her ...