POSITIONING, CHOOSING SIDES & KEEPING SCORE

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TEXT IN DARK GREEN ARE LINKS: PLACE YOUR MOUSE OVER THEM & CLICK

THEY SAY: "IF WE FAIL TO STAND FOR SOMETHING WE'RE LIKELY TO FALL FOR ANYTHING." HOWEVER, KNOW THAT STANDING FOR A BELIEF DOES NOT MAKE IT TRUE. TAKING A "SIDE" ON ANY ISSUE WEAPONIZES OUR OPINIONS. IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE "FOR" ANYTHING WITHOUT FINDING OURSELVES BEING "AGAINST" SOMETHING ELSE! BEING RIGHT OR BELIEVING WE ARE RIGHT CREATES AND ESTABLISHES A "STATE" RELATIVE TO THE POSITION WE TAKE. NOBODY WANTS TO BE WRONG. AS A RESULT WE ARE INTRINSICALLY INCLINED TO SEEK OUR OWN JUSTIFICATION EVEN IF IT IS ILLUSIONAL. UNFORTUNATELY MOST OF US FAIL TO PRIORITIZE TRUTH ABOVE HOW WE PERSONALLY "FEEL" ABOUT BEING CORRECT OR RIGHT. THIS IS HOW BIASES WORK, WE ARE ALL BIASED. TRUTH HAS TO BE CONTINUALLY CHASED AND SOUGHT AFTER FOR ITS "REVEALS." EVEN THOUGH TRUTH EVOLVES, WHAT'S TRUE TODAY HAS ALWAYS BEEN TRUE. THIS DICHOTOMY CAN CREATE A LEVEL OF OBSCURITY. TRUTH IS HARDER TO DISCERN WHEN IT IS FILTERED THROUGH THE ZEITGEIST OF THE DAY. WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE PERMANENCY OF PRINCIPLES IN RELATION TO THE CHANGING OF TIMES TO PRESENT TRUTH IN ITS PROPER PERSPECTIVE. NO OTHER EVIDENCE NEED BE CONSIDERED IN TRUTH'S DISCOVERY; FEELINGS CARRY NO WEIGHT. TRUTH IS NEVER ONE SIDED! IT IS ALL INCLUSIVE! TO REMAIN TRUE, TRUTH MUST BE PRESENTED TRANSPARENTLY. ONCE TRUTH IS TAINTED BY PARTIALITY, FALSITY OR FEELINGS IT IS NO LONGER TRUTH. TRUTH IS PURE AND HAS NO SIDE. TAKING A SIDE LOCKS IN A POINT OF VIEW. LOOKING THROUGH THE SAME PAIR OF GLASSES IN THE SAME WAY RARELY FIXES THE PROBLEM. LOOKING FOR EVERY ANGLE AND LISTENING TO ALL SIDES OPENS PERCEPTIONS. NEW GLASSES CAN PROVIDE RESOLUTIONS PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN OR CONSIDERED. TRUTH IS TRUE IN SPITE OF APPEARANCE, LOGIC OR PERCEPTION. TRUTH CONTAINS NO COMPROMISES OR CONSIDERATIONS. TRUTH REQUIRES NO DILUTING, MIXING, PREPARATION OR PRESENTATION. TRUTH IS BEST SERVED RAW.

Falling short or missing the mark can be very discouraging. None of us are perfect and the lessons of life come without bias. How we feel about mistakes and failures contributes to how we deal with them. The process we chose for dealing with feelings profoundly affects our response to the circumstances and conditions we face. We have to learn how to stop "keeping score" on ourselves and others. This allows restoration, forgiveness and reconciliation. Working without a rear view mirror is liberating; it frees us from both guilt and revenge. Guilt lives in the past, revenge lives in the future but life is in the now. No matter how we look at it, life schools us and school teaches us. The methods may vary but the objective is the same. Remember, in school we are taught a lesson and then take the test. In life, we first get tested and hopefully learn the lesson. We must see ourselves as players on the field of life. The primary task is to play the position(s) designed for us. We are not referees, judges, officials or score keepers. Focusing on the job at hand requires our full effort and attention. There are three sides to every story and coin. A coin can show heads, tails or spin on its side. There is "their view," "our view" and "the truth." Each individual view points to and from a different perspective. We must carefully extrapolate truth BEFORE coming to our own shortsighted conclusions. Truth usually has three(3) points of support. Truth is always constructed and thereby supported by even more truth. Making "a" point, is one(1) performance strategy used for structuring an argument, creating strict habits, practicing rules or just keeping score. We make "a" point by emphasizing logically identical, repetitive and sequential factors on facts that build a case or conclusion. Points are generally tracked and collected. We are creative creatures; anyone can make "a" point. Points made by politicians, protesters and pundits carry the weight of their logic whether true or false. However, we should not operate through a "point system." We must draw our conclusions based upon a "truth system." Many of us navigate through life using shortsighted and single minded techniques. Unaware that we may be predisposed by our environment, genetics and teaching to think as we do. Truth does not appeal to our cognitive biases until words of truth do. The truth isn't tricky. Sometimes the truth is boring, so much so that many of us actually prefer an entertaining lie. Much of today's entertainment indulges deceit and tolerates mendacity (falsity). The truth will make us free but often it will piss us off first. We generally reject truth when it contradicts our beliefs, feelings or teaching. There is a spirit (personality) adept at talking about and around truth without ever speaking truth directly. This "spirit of deception," operates through abstractions; skillfully using round-about depictions and descriptions. Watch for phrases and words like these....absolutely, always, completely, everybody knows, you all know, total, obvious, outright and expressions of "utter" dimensions or proportions.

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COMMON SHARED VALUES ARE THE SUBSTANCE OF CIVILIZATION

Is right and wrong intuitive, instinctive or intrinsic? Is it inherited, innate, inbred or inborn? Maybe it has to be learned and taught. Right and wrong are relative measures or standards that can be determined objectively or with partiality! The word "interpretation," should also be described in terms of a how we present information. It's easy to twist and weave our biases, feelings and opinions into daily thoughts and reasoning. Right and wrong is simply a way of describing how we presently "feel" about a situation. The more facts and information available the stronger our conclusions are structured. Keep in mind, that during the development process, we form ideas but they are incomplete. These ideas may contain "errors."  Mistakes are generally discovered "after the fact," and as such make error unavoidable. Our current teacher is always our last mistake. If we're not making mistakes we're either playing it safe or not trying hard enough. Anger expressed towards, not about, error is useless. Errors are like diseases. It makes no sense getting angry at an illness. We should cure illnesses and correct errors.  Most of us are reluctant to admit error and so we disguise and hide error. In light of its inevitability, "error" will find us. Error will expose us to ourselves and others if we allow it to. Error is enlightening! Error strikes without warning, reveals its truth, discloses the damage and can teach us how to deal with the aftermath. Error then can be rejected or embraced. Either way owned or disowned error takes on a life of its own. Error never deceives us. We deceive ourselves. Error's are constructed in three stages. Error's are 1st executed, then exposed and afterwards examined. When we build error it is normal to observe it's expressions. Error is difficult to address without being expressed. Shunning or silencing the voice of dissension is often counterproductive where error is concerned. For error to be addressed; error must be both acknowledged and embraced as error. This will result in gladness of heart for knowing, sorrow of spirit for finding out and contradiction of  consciousness  from awareness. Revelations and discoveries are generally accompanied by joy or sorrow. Joy is an obvious expression of happiness. So the question becomes, what causes the sorrow? Are we sorry for what we did, or are we sorry that we got caught? Error is not our enemy. In fact error can serve as a guide. We cannot learn from mistakes if we allow them to be covered up. Whether they are committed by us or others, we need to learn what only they can teach us.  It doesn't matter who makes the mistakes as long as they can be seen and solved. Mistakes are like seeds that bear fruit. The error born out of a mistake manifests as either ripe or rotten fruit. Rotting fruit can be fermented into alcohol for fuel. Ripe fruit needs no further process to reap its benefits. Both fruit and error provide value by dealing with and learning from them. Nothing in life is useless. Extracting value from failure is no exception. Sometimes we find ourselves in a position that sides with emotional feelings or common sentiment. Memories and other scorekeepers may not allow us to live mistakes down. In life there are public crimes, errors, infractions, mistakes and offenses that we may have to wear like badges for a lifetime. Even if we make amends or pay a debt to society, forgetfulness is not a friend of  "forgiveness." Points must be made to keep a score. With or without our consent or readiness this spiritual warfare finds us. If we stay ready, we don't have to get ready. Even if we fail to keep track of our deeds there is a universal record. Forgiveness is both skill and substance. When we grant forgiveness to others it is likewise, in the same measure, imparted to us! When we "position" ourselves as life long learners and "side" only with factual truth, we no longer have a need to keep "scoring" right and wrong. As such we enable our lives to overshadow our errors and impact societies opinion and perceptions by our ACTIONS and WAYS. These are the trees that yield the fruit we bear!

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