There is a time in life when you must actually grow up and stop learning to grow up. I am not certain what exactly occurs in the brain to make a person realize that this time has come but I know that it occurs later than needed for some and earlier than needed for others.
Being that I am a 25 year old single male I don't have many responsiblities. It was my choice to move out of my parent's house and rent an apartment with my friends from work. It was also my choice to quit college and begin my career at The Walt Disney Company. I can even say that it was my choice to pay my own cell phone bill and car insurance. For me it was simple to take on these responsibilities because I truly had no real responsibilities.
Currently, I live in a 4 bedroom apartment with 3 roomates. I take ownership of two bedrooms (I use 1 to house all of my musical equipment and the other as an actual bedroom). My close friend and his fiance' take ownership of the master bedroom and a friend from work takes ownership of the fourth bedroom. In total there are 4 "adults" living in this apartment. Even with four adults to share the workload, taking out the trash is never a simple task. Whenever there is a debate about who should take out the trash everyone wants to point fingers and blame one another. No one is on the same page. It seems that taking out the trash is a fairly simple task that requires little to responsiblity, if any at all. We all have full time jobs and bills to pay but no one wants to throw out the trash.
I had a converstation with my close friend who is engaged to be married soon. I told him that its funny how when I lived in my parents house I never really saw a full trash bag sit in the house for more than one day. Although my mother and father used to get angry when I would walk by a full garbage can without changing the bags they never allowed my unethical behavior to allow trash to build up in their house. I looked my friend in the eye and said, "You know something funny....today you and I can blame each other for not taking out the trash and its totally fine because we're friends and we don't have to stay with each other forever. But some day our roomates will be our family members and who will we blame for not taking out the trash? Family is an extension of one's self. Family members will take care of you even when you don't take care of yourself." He looked back at me and said, "When that day comes I will take out the trash everyday if necessary but in this apartment I don't think its fair that one person should do all the work."
I didn't think that my conversation with my friend would get anywhere but I learned a valuable lesson that day. Even if I never have family members as roomates I will gladly take out the trash whenever necessary because if I allow it to sit for too long it will get in the way of my life. And who can I blame for a trashy house and a trashy life if I walk past the trash and do nothing about it. I also learned that true lovers never ask each other how many times they took out the trash...they just do it.
You can't spend your entire life pointing fingers at people blaming them for not contributing the goodwill of the community. You will waste more time trying to identify who is truly in the wrong and you might be suprised to see how little you actually do compared to those around you. Besides, you must realize that trash has to come from somewhere. And while the roomates are busy complaining about the build up of trash, the chef of the house is running out of space to cook food. And what would happen if the chef begins to question everyone's contribution to the kitchen labor? Eventually every person of skill would only do for themself and the house would stand divided by selfishness.
In this year of wisdom, please, learn that there is always someone else who will do more than you do. And next time you see trash that needs to be taken out smile and say, "I guess it is my turn to take out the trash today."
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Patience is the passing of time
This blog will be short and simple but I hope it conveys the message properly.
Every teacher has been taught. Every fighter has been fought. Every speaker has been spoken to. In every thing that we do it has been done to us already. As the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote, there is nothing new under the sun. I believe that the shorter the wait the less learning there is that had to be learned. For those who are impatient it seems as if even the simplest life lessons are long learned but of course this is the very reason why the lessons are long.
How long will it take for the world to realize that history repeats itself in cycles? Time is a cycle. Every day has a beginning and an end to it but some people seem to miss that portion of the day...every day. The moment the world realizes that there is a definite beginning and end to each day, life will begin to move at the speed of eternity. That last sentance in itself is a lifetime long learning.
I believe that patience is the reason why one person can go from rags to riches literally overnight while another person has the same opportunities but never actually reaches that full potential. A wise proverb says that the poor stay poor because the rich steal their crops but who says that a poor man can't learn to be rich and teach others to do the same. It would take extreme patience for a poor man under those harsh conditions to learn to become rich but if he is willing to learn it is totally possible.
To conclude I should answer this question which was already answered in the title: What is patience? History always repeats itself because it is based on time which is cyclical. If you are willing to wait you can learn anything under the sun because there is nothing new under the sun. Even the poor may have their fill of riches and the rich their fill of poverty. But the wise shall become wiser and the foolish shall perish. But both have time in common and in the end patience is the passing of time. So maybe the best question to ask is, "Who has the patience to wait for time?"
Every teacher has been taught. Every fighter has been fought. Every speaker has been spoken to. In every thing that we do it has been done to us already. As the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote, there is nothing new under the sun. I believe that the shorter the wait the less learning there is that had to be learned. For those who are impatient it seems as if even the simplest life lessons are long learned but of course this is the very reason why the lessons are long.
How long will it take for the world to realize that history repeats itself in cycles? Time is a cycle. Every day has a beginning and an end to it but some people seem to miss that portion of the day...every day. The moment the world realizes that there is a definite beginning and end to each day, life will begin to move at the speed of eternity. That last sentance in itself is a lifetime long learning.
I believe that patience is the reason why one person can go from rags to riches literally overnight while another person has the same opportunities but never actually reaches that full potential. A wise proverb says that the poor stay poor because the rich steal their crops but who says that a poor man can't learn to be rich and teach others to do the same. It would take extreme patience for a poor man under those harsh conditions to learn to become rich but if he is willing to learn it is totally possible.
To conclude I should answer this question which was already answered in the title: What is patience? History always repeats itself because it is based on time which is cyclical. If you are willing to wait you can learn anything under the sun because there is nothing new under the sun. Even the poor may have their fill of riches and the rich their fill of poverty. But the wise shall become wiser and the foolish shall perish. But both have time in common and in the end patience is the passing of time. So maybe the best question to ask is, "Who has the patience to wait for time?"
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