Praise be.

"All Bibles Are Man-Made." - Thomas Edison



If there was a white room, with nothing in it. Just a white room. And one were to be raised in this white room from birth - say if possible. And food was to be slid underneath the door. That food slid underneath that door would become the only reality. If that is the only stimulation possible would they become fond of the door with the food slid under? Would that person begin to create a ritual around that door? Perhaps start praying to the door for the food. It is quite possible that door would become a God to that individual.

"There was a time when religion ruled the world. It is known as the dark ages." - Ruth Hermence Green

There is this concept about cargo cults. It is believed that especially after World War II that Western goods or cargo were dumped on islands in the pacific and the Island's natives believed that Western goods or cargo are created by ancestral spirits. They have been known to build airstrips in the jungles in the belief that planes would land with cargo. And even build airplanes out of bamboo and other materials to pray to.

What is your God?

"One man's religion is another mans' belly laugh." - Isaac Asimov

Passionnnnate.

"The passions are like fire, useful in a thousand ways and dangerous only in one, through their excess." - Christian Nestell Bovee.

Above explains one of my favorite concepts: self control vs. passion. The idea of finding a balance between what ones passionate about and staying within the perimeters of ones moral judgement. Passion is toxic. It is in the midst of passion that people lose themselves. Its only when we submit to our passions that we can consequently sacrifice our sense, in a sense. Think about it. The cliche "heat of the moment" between over hormonal teenagers wouldn't exist if this was not true... Terrible example.
So, it is finding a balance of passion within a permeter or reason.

"Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms. The passions may rage furiously, like true heathens, as they are; and the desires may imagine all sorts of vain things: but judgement shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in every decision." - Pg. 189, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre.

Challenges

"Storms make trees take deeper roots"

The word challenge has such a negative connotation. Weither its a mountain or a road block or an ocean. A challenge is always a test of endurance, strength, adaptation to change. Its everything humans are renowned for, our ability to climb that mountain and overcome that road block. But the pain-causing, strength absorbing, emotionally rollercoasting challenge seems so unbenefitial. I believe it was a philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, that said what does not destroy me, makes me stronger. But he attended an all boys school, so what does he know?

Challenges are hard to discuss. I neither search for pity nor gratitude. I do not intend to generalize people. But I find, as I grow. You watch some who haven't hit a roadblock. They float. Floaters. Never to feel a huge loss, never dealt with a huge disappoitnment, never needed to take on that challenge. One could assume they haven't the wisdom, the reality, the understanding, the endurance, the emotional threshold as someone who is constantly challenged. To the contrary, those constantly feel hardships and heartbreaks. - They crash. But gain this keen sense of survival.

As the storm ceases, as the summit of the mountain appears, as the road clears of blocks, and as the tide recedes - Understand for every challenge, a victory and a gain.


"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength"

"I don't care"

“Our obligation is to give meaning to life and in doing so to overcome the passive, indifferent life”

Why is vocabulary burdened with, "meh" and "I don't care." At some point we used to stand up for something we believed in, have a conscience, when something upset us, we didn't shrug it off, we confronted it.
Now why bother? Why bother at all?:
"Psychologists have determined that otherwise normal people who are overtly aggressive and those who are extremely submissive or passive suffer from the same thing: fear. "

The passive perfer to not care, being not caring inserts no emotional attachment to anything. If one doesnt care, then he/she won't be upset, because in the beginning they didn't care. And being upset, being discontent, we fear. Even I do, I fear being hurt especially repeatedly, by the same person.

....

For thought:
“In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.”

Let Go.

Our own attachment to things is our greatest downfall. Obsessive thoughts about certain 'its' can only pass if we acknowledge them as only thoughts. We can learn to appreciate things as they happen and as they pass, let them. We can avoid disappointment by avoiding expectations and promises, expecting the worst can lead us to appreciating more! By letting go we liberate space in our mind. I like this story because it reflects the concept:

A great Buddhist teacher has a beautiful vase in his room. Everyone who visited him admired this exquisite vase. One day a student came to visit and opend the door clumsily. The vase fell to the floor and smashed to pieces. the horrified student started to apologize, but noticed that her teacher was smiling and didn't seem upset that his beautiful vase was broken. the student asked her teacher why he didn't mind losing his precious vase. The teacher replied: "I always told myself the vase was already broken, so when one day it did evitably break I would not feel its loss. you too can learn to let go of your precious possessions in this way."

Choices.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Theres always choice, usually two. Whatever you want to call it: Good choice, Bad choice, Kind choice, Special choice.. You always have the opportunity to make a choice. Then you can unchoice the original choice but choosing a choice that goes against that choice. And another one after that. We have the right to choose any choice we want to choose.
No one makes a choice for you, you chose.