I kneel to reflect upon the struggles of the past. 

I kneel to give thanks for the blessings that I have been granted throughout my life. 

I kneel to give thanks for the promise that is the future I intend to create. 

For these things and so much more, I am truly grateful. 

So tonight I take time to myself, and though I am not a big Tim Tebow or Denver Broncos fan, I share with you a link to a press conference he did  on September 27, 2008, while playing football for the Florida Gators. 

A friend recommeded I watch it and it echoes my sentiments at this moment exactly. 

Please watch or if the link expires check it out for yourself.

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Tebow Pledge

Have a wonderful, happy, and prosperous New Year!!!

2012 is a year of great change and promise.

In 2008, in the wake of political apathy and discontent, Presidential candidate Barack Obama created an unprecedented wave of enthusiasm in America and around the world by running a technically sound campaign fueled by the principles of hope and change.   Three years later, discontent and dissatisfaction are re-emerging as people begin to realize that their hope that change would be led from the White House appears to be a distant illusion. Instead political expediency and pragmatism have come to characterize President Obama’s administration, which is not quite the hope and change that millions of people expected.  

Many people are now left with the empty feeling of disappointment and are searching to make sense out of what happened.  Some folks are taking to the streets to protest meanwhile tensions continue to mount as many people find their incomes dwindling and their costs going up.  Others folks continue to hold on to hope that a second term for President Obama will stimulate change.   Even President Obama admitted in a recent BET interview that prior to taking office he was not informed about the depth of America’s financial problems.  It appears the reality of change and the marketing of change are a far cry from one another.

Keep Hope Alive.

However, other would be Presidential candidates don’t seem able to catalyze and harness the collective will of the American people as President Obama can, so they would likely be even less effective.  As a result, American’s, including President Obama have to have a gut check moment. 

Each of us has to ask ourselves, “Who am I really?” and “Am I willing to personally pay a price for change?”  “Or do I even care?” Let’s face it.  None of us wants to make the tough decisions.  We all want it over simplified.  We want someone else to analyze the problems thoroughly and implement the solutions for us. We want things to work out without putting ourselves at risk.  We prefer slogans and facebook comments over personal responsibility and personal action.  We have leaders that mislead us because we absolve the responsibility of knowledge, action, and holding our leaders accountable.   Hence, in some respects we get what we deserve because they reflect us, and we reflect them. 

Now as the pain from years of indifference, irresponsibility, and naivety increases, we have to look in the mirror to admit to ourselves that as a nation we need to make some changes, our leaders included. 

Let’s Move.

If a movement of change in America is what people really want then there will have to be many conscientious steps taken by millions of people to bring about that change.  Many of us love to romanticize the civil rights movement and shift all the credit for it on the movement’s leaders, but the reality is that the civil rights movement was brought about by thousands of people willing to put themselves at risk for a principle in doing what was right.  A real movement is built upon a moral authority, which is derived from individuals having personal integrity and courage.   It is not simply a media spectacle, or a sound bite, or a slick marketing campaign. It is an unwillingness to go along with what is wrong and a corresponding shift in personal behavior and action.  

During the Montgomery bus boycott, a defining moment for Dr King’s leadership and the Civil Rights movement, it was hundreds of domestic workers and working poor black folks who made the personal sacrifice to walk everyday or carpool for months, in spite of weather or losing employment that  made the effort successful.  Dr. King inspired their efforts.  He was their spokesperson.  But they took the steps.  They kept on their marching shoes.  The challenge today is whether a leader will emerge to define actionable steps for people to take that truly create constructive change for all or will we fall for slick words and political marketing campaigns, and acquiesce to a dwindling status quo which is no longer delivering to a growing number of American people. 

This is a gut check moment for a nation that has marketed democracy all across the world and now must take inventory to determine whether or not we can deliver on our own ideals.

We are experiencing a public national reflection with dire consequences.  May God bless us to find the best that is within ourselves and have the courage, wisdom and strength to live it.  This is truly the face of change.

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But in truth, I could answer that question entirely differently if I chose to.  Because the question is “How old are you?” and in order to answer that question I would have to know what is meant by “you”.   We have all heard expressions like “Grow up” or “Act your age” or “That child has an old spirit” and somehow we seem to know what is meant by these expressions. 

We have seen relatively “young people” who are stubborn, fatigued, and weak and “older people” who are active, vibrant, and inquisitive.  All of these dynamics point to a more complex truth about age.  Age can be a far deeper question than we previously understood.

Time

“Chronological age” is what is generally meant when one is asked his or her age.  A year is simply how long it takes the earth to travel one time around the sun.  So when someone asks your age, they are in actuality asking “How many times have you been around the sun?” This is suppose to tell the person something about you because presumably we all live under the same conditions and have the same body design such given the same number of years we should all be in roughly the same condition.  However, this is not always the case. It is a gross generalization that does not always hold true. 

As I said, time is what is being measured when one is asked their age.  One could very well be asked, “How long have you been on the earth?” But what makes the question of age relevant is that we associate certain conditions with certain ages.  If we did not, then the answer to the question would tell us nothing, except our number of times around the sun.  It is true that we all share an expected common life cycle and at different phases in this life cycle we expect different things.  This is what makes age relevant to us. We expect vitality, energy, optimism, fast learning, and risk taking to accompany youth and a gradual reduction of energy, vitality, and physical functioning as we age, and consequently more conservatism and caution.  In all honesty, the thing that is actually being determined when one is asked his or her age is “how much have you decayed?” or more politely stated, “Where are you in the life cycle?”

But what happens when the life cycle is not equal for all people?  What would the answer reveal then?  What if we where to distinguish our biological age from our chronological age?  What if we looked at the condition of our body and its vitality and determined where it was in the life cycle and scored it with an numeric value distinct and separate from our chronological age?  We would then have two ages.  One age would tell us our body’s condition and vitality while the other would tell us how long we have been on the earth.  Biological condition is different for each person based on genetics, nutrition, health maintenance, activity levels, exposure to stressors and toxins, and even the quality of our relationships and human interactions.  It is not fixed.  This explains why some who should look older and be weaker based on age, are not and others who should not look older and weaker based on their younger age, are.  The latest research on aging and health is revealing that biological age is different from chronological age.   So if we had both ages and viewed them as two distinct values, then together they would inform us on how well we had lived the life we were given.

For example, let’s say someone had a bio age of 90 out of 100, with a 100 being perfect sound health, strength, quick healing and recovery and 0 being completed dead.  Lets also say the person had a chronological age of 60 years old to accompany the biological score of 90, then we would likely be  quite impressed with how well they had maintained themselves for that period of time.  On the contrary if their chronological age was 20 and their biological score was 65, then we might then view the person as a reckless caretaker of their precious life. 

So we can conclude that we all have two ages.  One age or score for our bodily health and condition and the other number represents our chronological age.  The biological score tells us how vibrant and healthy we are and how far we are from dying due to health reasons while our chronological age reveals how long we have been on the earth.  When considered together it tells us much more and leads us to understanding other aspects of ourselves.

Mental age?  What is the strength and condition of your mind?  Have disorders and decay set in?  Has your rate of learning slowed greatly since you were a child?  Since we are more than simply a body, one could also determine a score for our mental health and condition.  By using the same measure of 100 being perfect mental health, strength, learning, and vitality and 0 being complete mental death we could build out a scale where lower scores reflect very little learning, mental disorders, and weakness while higher scores reflect mental strength, clarity, and rapid or sustained learning.  This could be considered a third age, which when considered in conjunction with the other two would reveal even more about us.  A mental score of 75 with a chronological age of 60 along with a biological score of 80 would be quite impressive.  Especially if contrasted with someone who had a mental score of 50, a biological score of 35 and a chronological age of  25.  We could really know much more if we understood what we actually meant by asking how old are YOU?

Then there is the measure of wisdom.  One could call this your emotional or spiritual age, depending upon how you view it.  We always assume wisdom comes with age.  This is true to an extent because wisdom often accompanies experience and experience usually accompanies age.  But again everyone is not the same.  Remember the expression “an old soul” in reference to a child?  Young people can be wise and insightful and long life does not always reflect a broad range of experience or learning.   If we were so inclined, we could create a relative scale to score the wisdom or spiritual age of a person.

We could create a scale where the most self centered, selfish, destructive, and detrimental behaviors, actions, interactions, and relationships would reveal a rather low spiritual age, while the more harmonious mutually beneficial actions, interactions, relationships, and behaviors would reveal a higher spiritual age.

Thus we would know how old someone is spiritually through the wisdom on display throughout their life.  Peace, harmony, selflessness, contentment, optimism, generosity, service and good relationships would reveal a high spiritual age and discord, conflict, bad relationships, unhappiness, selfishness, and aggression would reflect a low spiritual age.

These four ages or scores; chronological, biological, mental, and spiritual are in my view what reveal the condition of a human being for each of us is far more than just a lump of decaying matter.   We are multi dimensional; Mind, Body, and Spirit.

So this day, September 8, 2011 I offer to the world a birthday gift, a new reality in defining our age, 4 Ages. Ask yourself and determine: 

What is your chronological age?

What is your biological score?

What is your mental score?

What is your spiritual age?

And most importantly, realize that you can change all of them, for the better or for the worse, with the exception of your chronological age.  But no worries, take comfort in knowing this, that of your four ages, your chronological is the least important. J

Oh and how old am I.  I am guessing….

Bioligical…. Maybe 85 out of 100.

Mental …. About  90 out of 100

Spiritual….. at least 3 millennia (Lol)

Chronological …. 43, but that’s a secret  

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During the decline of the Roman empire the strategy used to contain the populus and win their political support was to ensure that they had food and to keep them entertained.  The politicians at that time entertained the masses with gladiator fights and circus shows at the coliseum and gave them free bread to keep their bellies full.  Because of that, this practice became known as bread and circus and it has been an effective means of gaining political support and maintaining order and control.

Today, over 1500 years later, bread and circus remains the dominant strategy for political power as it did during the Roman Empire.  Only now, the circus is light years more sophisticated than it was back then.  The circus now is more than sporting events and shows.  It includes all of television programming, popular internet sites, radio, movies, news, video games, and every little electronic gadget one can imagine.  We are inundated with entertainment and swimming in the high seas of distraction.  In fact, the news itself has become largely entertainment and sensational creative story telling, morphing itself in order for it to compete for the attention of viewers. 

But ironically, after having just watched Oprah Winfrey’s second to last show (LOL), I have to echo a comment I heard mentioned by Dr. Phil and ask the question,  “How’s that working for you?”

Well after living with years of bread and circus, ask yourself, “What happened to the people of ancient Rome? How did it work for them?”

Um, well, as you likely know, it didn’t work out too well.

“Why?” You may wonder.  For many reasons, but allow me to focus on one. 

Ultimately, there are consequences for being constantly entertained and distracted.  A mind that is perpetually titillated with sensational bits of information, folly, and entertainment will eventually reflect what it is feed. 

It will become feeble, lightweight, and incapable of critical thinking.  The consequence of having a large populace whose minds are in that condition is an electorate without the power to properly self govern.  Being incapable of true critical thinking, the populace will eventually become slavishly dependent on government and big institutions to define reality, make decisions for them, and lead them.

However, the United States in particular, is a nation that was designed for self determination and sovereignty among its citizens and for self government.  The very opposite of dependency on big corporations, big media, and an all powerful government.  However, the US system of government presupposes a citizenry that is enlightened on history, issues, truth, and on it’s own self interest such that they can participate and shape the agenda and future of the nation.  This is where we have fallen short. 

Unlike the early citizens of The United States who were very astute and rather economically independent, the current US citizenry, is in large part an unelightened mass, generally distracted, financially dependent, and easily mislead through creative story telling.  And under these circumstances, the US populace, as in the case of many people before them, are prime candidates for falling back under the rule of some form of gentle or soft tyranny.  

Only being so distracted, with bellies full from a hearty meal and drink, hardly anyone might notice or even care about what was happening because after all they had their Bread and Circus. 

My advice to all, smarten up, build some independence, and focus on making bread.  The circus will always be there for you, trust me.

But what is actually happening and how should these events be viewed?  This is what I will share with you now.

To be quite concise, this is a wave of change signaling that millions of people around the world desire a better life and are coming of age politically.  Millions of people who lived like children in relationship to their kings and rulers are now standing up to assume responsibility for the direction and governance of their nation and their collective future.

This is a wonderful, but difficult transition.  Anyone who has children or who reflects on their childhood knows that the teenage years are usually the most difficult.  Puberty brings about physiological changes in the body while an accompanying emotional transformation also takes place.  During your teenage years you experience an intense drive to be independent, self determined, and are often quite rebellious.  You get physically stronger and begin to have your own ideas about how to lead your life. 

Often there are clashes with your parents who up to that point had full authority, responsibility and control over your life and who then find themselves being opposed, maligned, and unappreciated.  I hope you are seeing the implications of this analogy because this is precisely what is occurring and will occur around the globe.  

Millions of citizens around the world are maturing politically and asserting themselves to assume the responsibility of self governance and self determination.  Much like any teenager that no longer wants mom and dad telling them what they can or cannot do, these citzens are demanding new laws and  a new system of self governance.  They feel stronger, more independent, and self determined.  This is a healthy and natural process but it can be quite dangerous as well.

To the rulers of the world:

You have an obligation to facilitate the legitimate will of your citizens for self governance.  Transitioning toward self governance includes both redefining how the nation is governed and creating an extensive government education and training process for your citizens.  This new process has to be open and available to every citizen who is capable and qualified.  You are also obligated to share the process of how the wealth of the nation is generated and to make public the assets and wealth of the nation.  I contend that these assets should belong to the people of the nation as its collective wealth and not be held as a personal treasury. Additionally, you should accept the legitimate right of the people to evolve and mature politically and not take a hostile, violent, or repressive position against their natural political evolution.  Asumming such a position is conterproductive and unwise, and will result in your defeat; and will permanently dishonor your name in your nations history.  Be wise and patient.  Together with your citizens, set a course for transitioning the nation such that your citizens are constructively engaged in the process of learning and gradually experiencing the complete responsibility of self governance. 

To the people of the world:

Be assertive, but be peaceful and be patient.  Your greatest challenge is not your leaders.  Your greatest challenge is development!  Ousting leaders is not necessarily freedom.  True freedom comes from development.  Intellectual, emotional, economic, social, military, political, moral, and even spiritual development.  Continue developing your citizens and your nation because development is what drives progress.  Rage and anger against an autocratic ruler will likely result in violence.  To bring a peaceful end to autocratic rule, follow the example of Ghandi who used civil disobedience coupled with self reliance as the path to India’s independence.  Before tearing down your leaders ask yourself;  How self reliant is your citizenry?  If the nation is not prepared for self governance then getting rid of your leaders is like a teenager who leaves home only to find he or she is unable to feed, cloth or shelter him or herself.  Be a student of history to learn and follow how such transitions take place.

Lastly, to the nations and people of the world with the greatest experience in self governance ie. The United States: 

You have an obligation to illustrate for the people of the world how these transitions are best handled and to educate them in how to administrate and govern their own affairs.  To idly stand by watching these nations fall into escalating conflict is hypocritical and selfish.  The Unites States has an obligation to uphold the values it preaches and defines itself by, even if that means losing a few ruling friends.  The instability caused by not offering leadership in this time of global political evolution will cost the United States much more in the long run than dissappointing some leaders The United States has grown accustom to supporting.

In times such as these, history will judge The United States as either a champion of freedom and self governence or as a nation that supported such values only when it was self serving.  I suggest the nation take the high road as it has in the past and help to facilitate the legitimate aspirations of the people of the world while maintaining the peace. It is the most responsible position to take.

This is the political landscape of the world today.  I must note however that this particular blog posting did not stress the real and most vital driving force in this wave of political change which is the peoples’ desire for a better quality of life.  That desire was addressed in the previous blog posting entitled Cash is King.  Please read it. 

I ask that you share the point of view expressed in this blog posting along with the previous posting (Cash is King) with as many people as possible to reduce the fear, confusion, and pessimistic forecast that can creep into the minds of people when they are unaware.  Recognize that these events can easily sweep across the globe as the conditions which exist in Egypt, exist in many nations, and it is only by taking an accurate viewpoint and a rational course of action that we can use this moment to create a better world.

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Listen to the rhetoric and speeches and one would conclude that it is all about politics.  They call for democracy.  They call for regime change.  They call for a change in their political process. They call for civil rights.  All of which are legitimate gripes.  However, what is it that they really want?  Well if you haven’t heard yet, I will tell you what that is; they want a better quality of life. 

President Mubarak has led the nation of Egypt as a veritable autocrat for nearly 30 years.  Other nations around the world are also led under the same type of authority.  An authority, in which a leader holds near absolute power for long periods of time and who are usually outside of or control the political process.

The American revolution was inspired by people who felt that they paid tribute or taxes to the King of England but received no benefit or value for those taxes as they were no longer residents of England and on their own in North America.  So they challenged the king and won. 

The civil rights movement in the South in America was in part for equal rights under the law and social equality, well the unjust laws were challenged and over time social equality rights were won. 

Now we see in Egypt, a country of immense historic and cultural importance as well as geopolitical value, similar cries for civil rights and an ouster of in essence, their king.  So what is it that Americans can share with Egyptians after having had both the American revolution and the civil rights movement?  If you haven’t already guessed it, it the title of my blog posting; Cash is the King! $$$$$$$$$

To the people of Egypt, what you want is a better quality of life.  This is achieved through economic development as a result of quite a few factors which include, small business activity, ingenuity, education, investment, legal fairness and freedom to earn.  These are only a few of the factors needed for economic activity.  To call for political change alone, I can tell you, will not satisfy you in the long run, even after Hosni Mubarak is no longer President.

After the civil rights movement, economics became the visible dividing line in America, because in truth, it always had been.  As a result, the people who participated in and benefited from the civil rights movement remain somewhat disssappointed to this day because after 40 years they have learned that what they actually wanted was a better quality of life and that it comes in large part from having money.

The false assumption they made is that the collective quality of life of Black Americans would improve with social equality or political change.  This is similar to the false assumption being made now in Egypt, that political change will improve the Egyptian people’s collective quality of life. 

However here is a little caveat for consideration, politics changes quality of life only to a very limited extent.  To the extent that conditions are made fair and ripe for economic development through law and government, and that investment is made in education, infrastructure, and research, then to that extent can politics actually in real terms improve it’s citizens collective quality of life.

Unfortunately here in America, many if not most people still believe improving the quality of life of people is the role of government and that quality of life is an outgrowth of the political process, democracy, and even more ludicrous, a byproduct of voting itself! 

You vote for the right person and your quality of life will improve.  The leader lottery!

Well everyone is going to have to learn together.  The protest in Egypt is but a symptom of the global economic crisis that became public in 2009-2010.  There are other countries whose citizens’ quality of life will also suffer and who may, in the coming months and years, take to the streets blaming government; but everyone will have to learn together.  It is not your voting.  It is not your leaders.  It is not your political process which determines whether or not you are satisfied with your society or govermnent.  It is your quality of life.  A better quality of life is what everyone wants and this is what we must alll learn to build and protect.  

In reality, there is one king that everyone pays homage to and his name is not Obama, or Mubarak, or Queen Elizabeth, or Castro.  The Kings name is Cash and he is the representative of our real economic activity.  And until we increase our collective real economic activity as nation of people then there will always be a political problem.  The fact is, since a better quality of life is what we we all want, then cash will remain the king. 

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   .

The children need to know what America is actually like as a society.  In America, you are responsible for yourself and you will experience the results of your actions, whether good or bad.  It’s tough love in this country and though there is a strong charitable and philanthropic impulse in the nation, it is not the way the society generally works.  Giving is a personal decision, while personal responsibility for your life, education, family, finances, and business etc. is the culture of the nation as a whole.  A reality which cannot be stressed enough. 

However, the truth be told, that message delivered today by President Obama is more suited for adults than children.  Children are by nature dependant on others for everything from guidance, to resources, to encouragement, to protection, to food, clothing, and shelter.  While adults on the other hand should be held almost wholely responsible for their condition and state of affairs.   

Ironically, we find in the popular American discourse that the message of personal responsibility is often only limited to folks who are at a disadvantage from the start.  And here is where I take exception. 

I am notorious for advocating taking personal responsibiltiy for one’s condition because ultimately it’s your condition.  It is a discipline that I live by, however the difference is that I include everyone in that equation.  I include small business owners, big business, wall street, banks, special interest groups etc..  All are responsible for their outcomes.

If personal responsibility, accountability, and consequences are the messages delivered to the poor, the young, and the disadvantaged then then those messages have to be delivered across the board to everyone.   

It is disingenuous to offer one group billions of dollars in aid, subsidies, bailouts, and tax benefits and then say to the another group “take responsibility for yourself and get up on your own two feet”.  It is inconsistent.  If everyone is responsible for their fate and condition then that includes everyone; even the banks.   I told you this was tough love. 

But if you help one, then you can help the other.  

And to President Obama’s credit or detriment depending upon how you view it, he has been pretty fair and liberal in his distribution of checks to the various segments of the country. 

I just wonder if that approach square’s well with the message of personal responsibilty for all. 

Because saying it and having the discipline to watch people and institutions feel the impact of their actions are two different things. 

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Michael Billion.

Why gives us the reason for something.  Why gives us the cause of something. And why gives us the purpose for something.  And this often leads to confusion about the word why because it serves different purposes. (No pun intended) The reason, the cause, and the purpose for something are not always the same. 

Your car breaks down one day, why? 

The cause of it breaking down maybe a mechanical failure due to a lack of maintenance. That is also the reason it broke down. 

But the purpose for it breaking down might be different.  The purpose for something is often the meaning you give to a situation to learn and grow from it, and that is a different kind of why.  In the case of the car, the purpose could be to teach you not to be cheap in the way of spending money to maintain your belongings.  This is not the actual cause for it, but you have given the situation meaning so that it helps you to learn and grow form it, to prevent it from occuring again. 

In all three cases, the purpose, the reason, and the cause for the car breaking down, you are still answering the question why, but in a slightly different way.

The purpose for something is the reason or the interpretation you give to something to explain why it occured.  The cause is what happened to bring soemthing about and it needs no interpretation, it just is.  When I use the term the Real Why in this particular blog, it means just that, the real why, not the fake one.  The actual cause is what you are looking for so that you can predict or control whether something can or will occur again.   In the case of the car, if you know the real why or (actual cause) of the breakdown, then you can possibly predict or prevent it from happening again.  If you don’t know the real why, it can happen repeatedly and you will never be able to prevent it because you never learned the cause.

The same is true for the purpose for it breaking down.  If you conclude that the purpose for it breaking down is that you needed to buy a new car then you will not learn or grow from the experience, you will repeat the same mistake of not maintaining the new car and soon it will also breakdown as well. 

This is the value of the Real Why.  The real why gives you power and control over your circumstances.  Without the real why (cause) of something, you cannot predict or control whether or not something will occur because you don’t know what caused it.  Also if you can’t learn the real why (purpose) for something that occured, then you will not likely learn or grow from it and you are subject to repeating it. 

Knowing the Real Why, whether referring to the purfose for something or the cause of something, is the foundation of knowledge.   It is the prerequisite for living life according to your own terms.  It is a prerequisite for living the life you want.  If you live without knowing the real why of things you will likely live life as a victim. You will be subject to what appears to be random acts, and to fate, or to good and bad luck, or the wishes of the arbitrary gods.  But when you begin to always explore and find the real why, then you will empower yourself to be the keeper of what is or what is not allowed to exist in your reality.  You will have opened the door to discovering what causes something to exist. The real why.

I hope you understand a bit why the real why is so vital.

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Everyone is faced with problems.  Problems at work. Problems in relationships. Financial problems. Health problems.  Problems in life.  Problems in society.  Problems in the world.  This is the nature of our existence.  Encountering problems!

We all have expectations, desires, and preferences and often the reality of things doesn’t match what we expect, desire or prefer,  that is when we perceive that there is a problem.  That is a what a problem actually is. 

A problem is when a particular reality does not match what you perceive or think it should be or when the reality of something does not match what you want it to be.  That is the most accurate definition of a problem.  A problem is when someone finds a particular reality undesirable.  Hence, a problem is simply incongruence between what is and what you think or desire to be.  That is all. 

 The cube on the left can be called “what is”.  The cube on the right is “what we think or desire it to be” (which is in our mind).  When we recognize the one on the left could or should become the one on the right, then we recognize there is a problem.  The recognition of the difference  between what is and what should be or what we desire to be is the definition of problem.

Now just like with this cube, the reality of things is not always in agreement with how we see it or how we want it to be.  And if you have noticed that fact, then you have recognized some problems. Maybe this is true of your career. Or your bank account. Or your relationship.  But guess what? Whatever the case may be, you have to get accustomed to problems.  You have to get the point where you embrace and accept all problems as the natural way to live.  You have to accept that you will encounter problems.  And I dare say you have to come to love problems.

“What! Love problems? Michael you must be crazy”.  I’m not crazy at all.  This is wisdom for you to use for ever and to pass down to your chidren and their childrens’ children.  Problems are not bad.  Problems are natural.  And if you don’t get use to them, then you are likely to be in a constant state of unhappiness as you keep encountering problems and avoiding problems or even worse, reacting emotionally or unwisely to problems and thus making them WORSE.

Problems are the bridge between what goes on in side your head (your perception) and the objective reality that you live in.  Problems can bring you out of your virtual reality inside your head and into the “real world”, if you don’t “bug out” because of the problem. 

Problems lead us to act if we are so inclined.  The people who feel capable or empowered to do something about their problems, they will inevitably take action to bring reality and the way they want things to be, in harmony with each other.  That is to say they will attempt to solve the problem.  I hope I am not going to fast on this subject as it is quite profound.  My only attempt here is to expose a few key ideas that you can work with. 

For example, on  a small scale a person who has a problem taking care of themselves materially could be said to have a financial problem.  Once they identify the problem, any attempt at solving it will move them from where they are to another point.  They may ask for help.  They may read a book. They may go back to school.  They may seek another job. Whatever they do to try to solve the problem is greater than doing nothing.  They are in progress toward solving the problem. There is now activity.  There is now improvement. They have progressed. 

Thus one could ask, “Would I have made progress without first perceiving there was a problem?”  The likely answer is no.  Problems, as I have defined them here as the incongruence between our perception or desire, and the actual reality, fuels progress.  And it is the attempt at solving problems which creates the dynamic experience of life and eventually re-creates the objective reality of which we are faced.  Learning comes from making an attempt at solving problems.  Now don’t go around making problems as a way to “help everyone”.  That makes you a problem maker, not problem solver.  Problems really don’t need your help.  They will find you and others.

So if you happen to have any problems, then Hallelujah! You have an opportunity to learn, grow, make progress and improve.  That is if you understand that they are there for you to evolve.  Because could there actually be a problem, if there was no conscious being there to consider it a problem?  There is no problem without a perceiver.  Therefore the problem is actually all about you, the perceiver.   

So when you encounter your next problem, and you most certainly will, the first thing you need to ask yourself is “What can I learn from this problem?”.  This will take you in the right direction and eventually into discovering the real Why.  So as I began the next blog is….. The Real Why.

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