Corruptful

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever looked at the world and seen all the pain? Have you taken a moment out of your day to look at the hate, the regret and the suffering in the world? Everything from pregnant teens to druggy guys to abusive husbands to children starving in Africa to the homeless in New York City. Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever considered it? Have you ever looked into the mirror and realized how amazingly, abundantly blessed you truly are? I’m not a rich guy, but I see how rich I am when contrasted to the vast majority of the worlds population: and it makes me sick. When I see these people trying and failing and yet I don’t even have to try to “suceed.” It’s a horrible experience. How can I eat my good, rich, clean, American food and walk in my good, rich, clean, American shoes and wear my good, rich, clean, American cloths when many many many more have none of the three?

Many of these people have basic needs. They have physical needs of shelter, clothing, and food. Then they have emotional and spiritual needs of love and hope and Jesus christ. There are so many needs in this world and so much that I - and each of you - have to give. Yet we don’t. I suppose we more or less choose not to. Oftentimes we simply don’t know how; but if we don’t know how could that be an excuse? Could it simply be that we’re unwilling to seek out a way to aid those in need? To help the less fortunate?

For me it’s a burden of sorts. It’s something that I must find a way to do. To achieve. To help. I can’t help them all, but I can try. I just must figure out the means to the end. I simply cannot take pleasure in my well being when others cannot. If you think about it, it takes away the happiness of it. I simply cannot live life to the fullest when this world just keeps dying.

I suppose these few paragraphs are more without a crystal clear point, but I do have one. I suppose that it is 1) To realize how abundantly blessed each of us are. 2) To see those in need, notice them, and to open our hearts to them. 3) To take the initiative to help the helpless.

Please, don’t just consider my words. Find a way to act on them.

Thank you for listening.

Have you ever considered how things influence you? Well, if you haven’t, consider it. Virtually everything influences you. You’re parents, school, peers, politics, the weather, movies, music - everything. I’m going to briefly (nothing’s ever brief with me, mind you) about music.

Basically what I’d like to say is this: for the average person in my age group, music is something you can’t get away from. It’s something you love, something you enjoy and something that is continuous. You probably have a CD or MP3 player and/or listen to music in your room, on the PC, in the car, et cetera. It sorounds us. There’s no escape.

For me, for the longest time, music shaped me in a very negative way. To be straightforward, it was hate music. Needless to say it was extremely depressing and it pulled me down in every aspect of my life; in my relationship with God, with my friends, and with my self-esteme. Eventually I was able to ward out the music that I knew was having a negative impact of my life, but it was difficult. The fact is, in my case, the vast majority of music simply is depressing. Even if it’s not intended to be. You have your songs about hate and pain, which are clear in message. Then you have the wonderful songs about ending the hate and pain, making things better, making things right. In my case this only intesified the mood. Why? Because I’ m a realist. I knew that no matter what people did, people would still kill, would still die, and would still cry. Bombs would still fall. Terrorists would still create terror. People would still starve. It’s a simple reality. I suppose in one aspect it was a good reminder of how blessed I am - but in another way, it’s a curse. Then there’s the music that talk about hope, about love, about freedom and about sucess. The downfall of those songs in my eyes was that I simply thought I could never have them. I could never be loved; could never love someone. Hope was an idea, not a reality. Freedom? Cut that down too. Sucess? I’m a failure. It tormented me.

Anyway, as per usual my point isn’t exactly clear. I’m not sure I have one. Perhaps it is simply for you to realize what influences you (such as music) - because even if you don’t realize it, it can shape you into a person you do not want to be come.

Too many times in our life we let someone else live it; we let someone else make the decisions contrary to what we really want or believe. Advice from such people is perfectly fine, but when they begin to call the shots we loose control.

I see this daily. Things such as school, work and hobbies are things that should be pursued, but not when one no longer desires to pursue them. We shouldn’t make these priorities to the extreme. If we don’t want to take a certain class at school then we simply should not take it. If we don’t want to work 30 hours a week, then we simply must take a stand and speak for ourself and get better hours. If someone pushes us to pursue something we don’t want to, then simply don’t.

The first thing you need to be able to take such a stance is to simply know what you want. Make a plan. Know what you want in life. Know what you want to do, who you want to be with, where you want to go. If you know you don’t want to work 18 hour days at work when your 30, then don’t start by working 12 as a student. Likewise, pursue what you love. Don’t hold back. Find security. If you want to be a famous singer then don’t let someone else tell you you can’t. You can.

Don’t hold back.

Now first, before I go further, let me clarify. I’m not saying you shouldn’t care about anything or anyone. Apathy can kill a man. What I’d like to write about and ask you is: why do you care so much what people think? You should value their opinions, but not to such an extent that you’re doing things so they’ll think better of you.

First, seriously consider that question. Why do you care what your friends, family, and co-workers think? Why?

I’ll answer that for you. It’s because you want to fit in. Fit into what? Fit into a label society has given you. To fit in, in more cases than not, into an organization of self-centeredness.

Now comes the next question: why do you feel the need to fit in? How many times have you wanted to stand up for something you believe in, only to give up because you don’t want to break the mold?

What if you didn’t care? What if it made no difference to you if you sat by yourself at the lunch table? What if you weren’t ashamed of your passions or beliefs? Has there ever been a situation in your life in which you knew you should say something, you knew you were supposed to say or do something, yet you didn’t? What if you had said or done it? Things could be different.

Image yourself at such a point that you value other people’s opinions, yet you don’t care what they think of you. I’m at such a point, and it’s such a blessing. This isn’t a point where you do drastic things to prove that you don’t care – that is showing you do care that they think you don’t care.

To not care what people think mentally of you is to be free from the shackles that pervious bound you. A burden is lifted. When you’re not bound, it’s as if you’re free and open to your true potential. When you don’t care, you take away their control. As an individual, nothing is more satisfying.

I suppose that my point is that too many times we don’t say or do things that need to be said or done, because we’re ashamed. We want to, but because we’re afraid of what others will think, we don’t. Don’t be such a person. Don’t give up control of your life.

I hate it when a girl starves herself, convincing herself it’ll make her look attractive.

I hate it when a guy gets so depressed he thinks life is no longer worth living.

I hate it when a man abuses his wife and children.

I hate it when a woman cheats on her husband.

I hate it when a woman feels she needs a man to bring her happiness.

I hate it when someone feels they need the acceptance of their peers to have any true worth.

I hate it when a person thinks someone elses life has more or less value than their own.

I hate it when parents hate their kids.

I hate it when adults show favoritism and hypocrisy.

I hate it when a teen takes drugs for temporary satisfaction.

(I think I can confidently say I was thinking of at least one person as I wrote each sentence here… the world is a sad, sick place.)