Inspireshine

G-Rated Deathless Versions of the Star Wars Saga

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:10:26 GMT

Does anybody remember the cartoon G.I. Joe? It had fun stories and characters and cool plane, ship, and vehicle designs, and neat battles. It was good for kids in that it didn't have gratuitous violence or violent deaths, or any deaths, although that was lame in itself. Every show had a big battle and no one ever died. Pilots parachuted out of exploding planes, men ran out of bombed tanks just before they blew up, anybody who was shot at surrendered without getting shot, and Cobra Commander always carried out attacks which caused a lot of destruction but never seemed to take any victims. If 100 planes were shot out of the sky, 100 unhurt pilots jumped out in the nick of time with parachutes. It was unrealistic, but good for kids I guess, and still funny to watch.

I can imagine if Star Wars was filmed in that comical manner. None of Leia's people died because they were all on vacation when Alderaan was destroyed. The rebels on the blockade runner all surrendered when the Stormtroopers overcame them. Vader didn't strangle the officer, he slapped him and said mean things to him. Leia didn't shoot and kill the stormtrooper, she scared him with her gun so he ran away. Han didn't kill Greedo, he threw his plate of lemon merange pie in his face and ran out the back door. And of course, just before the Death Star exploded, a million life pods took off in all directions.

In A New Hope, Ben and Luke found the trashed Jawa Sandcrawler on their way to Anchorhead. Luke saw the Bantha tracks and assumed that the adolescant Tusken Raiders had vandalized the vehicle. The unhurt Jawas were bustling about picking up their litter from the ground and washing the graffiti from the sides of the crawler.
The graffiti said, "Don't do business with these Jawas...they stink and they root for the visiting team." Ben told Luke, "Sandpeople don't have handwriting as neat as that. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are that precise." Luke looked at the droids and realized that the Stormtroopers had tracked who they were sold to, and rushed home.
The Lars homestead was ransacked and litter was everywhere. Graffiti on the walls announced that the Lars were messy neighbors and lousy dancers and shouldn't be invited to any neighborhood barbecues because they never returned borrowed power tools. Luke saw Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru standing outside their defiled home, holding hands and crying. Beru told Luke, "We're the laughing stock of the town now and nobody trusts us after what the Empire said about us. Your uncle and I are fed up with this frontier life. Where are those droids Uncle bought yesterday? We need to sell them so we can buy tickets to Miami and retire."

In ROTJ, when the Imperial Biker Scout crashed into a tree during his chase with Luke and Leia and his bike exploded, Smokey the Bear showed up and told the shaken Imperial when he got to his feet undead and unhurt, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Only YOU can prevent forest fires."

Vader told Luke on the Cloud City catwalk thingamabob in The Empire Strikes Back, "If you're going to hold it like a pansy you don't deserve to have a lightsaber", and slapped it out of his hand. Luke began to cry over his lost lightsaber and clung to the side of the thingy-ma-bob he was on, wailing "No, that's impossible! That was my favorite saber! You're not a nice person!"

And early in the saga, in The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul didn’t run Qui-Gon through with his lightsaber, he merely tied his bootlaces together and caused him to fall on his face. But how did Maul manage to tie Jinn's laces together in the midst of a saber duel? He suddenly pointed overhead and yelled, "You're forgetting one thing, what the hell is that?" And while Jinn looked up in all angles for what Maul was on about, Maul dropped to his knees and tied the laces together. When Jinn realized there was nothing up there to see, he tried to pursue Maul again and tripped.

Obi-Wan screamed, "Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

"You've been made into a buffoon! Get up before you make us all look bad!"

In the 2nd Death Star, the Emperor did not try to get Luke to kill Vader, he told him instead,
"How many birthdays did he remember? How many times did he take you to the backyard and show you how to catch a ball? Did he teach you to drive your first landspeeder, repair your first droid? Young fool, only now at the end to you understand...your feeble misguided love is no match for the lack of interest he's shown in you previously. Forget that fool excuse for a dad...join me and I'll be a better dad to you anyday of the week."

Luke contemplated that for a moment. Palpatine added, "And was he around to teach you the ropes when you kissed your first girl? Of course not, and we know the outcome of that little crush, don't we?"

This is about how the G-Rated non-death version of Star Wars would have been, in a saga where death scenes are unheard of and are instead depicted as deathless G-rated outcomes.

The Philosophies of Slide I and II, Combined

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:53:35 GMT

Easy as Pi

The trouble with asking a mathematician for dessert is that when you ask for a slice of pie, they give you 3.14 slices instead. Some things just get taken too literally.

Hurricane Holiday

We get too many hurricanes in Florida. Almost every year they come for us, the Hurricane Haven of the Atlantic, the place where all young hurricanes, apparently, aspire to go to. Ask a SuperBowl-winning football player what he plans to do once he'd won, and they say "I'm going to Disneyland!". Ask a young hurricane, once it leaves the birthing ground of the east African coast, and it will say, "I'm going to Disneyland!"

I suggest we pull the plug at night during hurricane season to turn off the power to the state. I suspect that the 'canes are being attracted like moths to the light. Yeah, that's what it is.

"A Door is Ajar."

Many classy sedans have the automated computer message that talks to the driver in a monotone pitch, alerting him or her to errors or the like, such as when the seatbels need to be fastened, or the door being open. I always found that rather odd to hear the robotic voice stating with such certainty, "A door is ajar…a door I ajar." But how can that be? A door is a door, not a bloody jar! You put jam in a jar, or pickles, but you can't use a jar for a door, can you?

A door is a door, and a jar is a jar…for Pete's sake! Now close the damn car door before the jar of pickles you just bought rolls out!

From the book: "The Art of talking So that People Will Listen" by Paul W. Swets, it is quoted:

"Listen to me for a day…an hour…a moment, lest I expire in my terrible wilderness, my lonely silence! O' God, is there no one to listen?" –Seneca, 4 B.C.

"The bible tells us that Samson killed 10,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. I am convinced that an even greater number of conversations are killed daily with the same instrument." –Paul W. Swets, 1992 A.D.

"I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what you meant!" –Anonymous

I had a girlfriend once who never stopped talking. Yackity-yack, yack; yada yada yada…blah blah blah. One night she stopped talking and it was a frightening moment, albeit short. See, I thought I had suddenly gone deaf!" –Me

Super-Solid Supes

I have a question far more profound and important than anything yet discussed in this blog. If Superman's skin is hard as rock, so that needles can't pierce, blades can't cut, and bullets can't penetrate but simply bounce off, how is it that Lois enjoyed a soft kiss when she kissed him? Wouldn't it be like kissing a statue? Obviously he never needs Viagra, but that's a whole other topic.

State of Confusion Clarification

I was born and raised in the state of New York. I spent a lot of time in my teen years in the states of Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Now I live in the state of Florida. Yet, I often feel more so like I am living in a state of confusion. Yes indeed, my state of mind is a state of confusion.

Yet, confusion itself is not a state but a commonwealth. That's right. It is common, and some like me have a wealth of it. But referring to it as a state is somehow more fitting than calling it a commonwealth of confusion.

You dig it? I knew that ya could.

Buying the Farm

It is always so sad, not only when a person is killed, but when a person is killed while trying to help another. It is always the good Samaritan who buys the farm. I suppose that is why so many farmers are good Samaritans.

A Whole Lotta Bytes

I've been pondering deep thoughts lately, and you know that can be dangerous. I was thinking about computers. Since Megabytes are a million bits, and gigabytes are a billion bits, there should be another type larger than a gigabyte, and it should be called a biggabyte.

And megabytes should really be called Migabytes, the Mig designation not to be confused with the Russian fighter jet. Then computer storage amounts would be designated Migabytes, Gigabytes, and Biggabytes.

Special programs to dig through data and uncover buried info would use digabytes. Those who eat while typing and get food on their keyboards would use pigabytes. And those who drink while at their computers could use swigabytes. The Irish would use jigabytes. Not to leave out mathematicians who would input and store their triangles with trigabytes. And if Liberaci were still alive I'm sure he'd use wigabytes.

Some more random philosophies and observations:

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A man may avoid talking to others he considers inferior, when he thinks they have little to contribute to him.

Or he may do so for the opposite reasons, feeling inferior himself, and fearing he has little to contribute to them.

Not everyone who seems isolated does it to be rude.

"Chunky" peanut butter defeats its own purpose. I mean really, that's just nuts.

If the shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn't, maybe you need a different foot.

A riter lives to rite, but he is bloo when he's not red.

Irony is a vegetarian falling into a coma, with no detectable brain activity. Think about it.

Someone asked me if I had a beef with him. I assured him that my comment was purely vegetable-based, with just a little broth added, and no meat products.

Matt Damon had the fortune to meet the late Alec Guiness before the classic actor passed on. Being a lifelong Star Wars fan, Damon was quick to refer to him as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The surprised Sir Alec replied, "I haven't been called that since oh, before you were Bourne."

You know what they say about the bumps in the road of old age? You are only as old as you drive. It may be time to get some new shock absorbers.

I enjoy sarcasm and irony, often finding wit within the irony I see around me. I enjoy it even more when I find irony amidst irony itself. Even more ironic about this irony of finding irony within irony is that ironically, my name is Ron. So in saying that "I, Ron, have posted an irony," I have ironically included my name in the word itself. Perhaps what I enjoy about finding myself in an irony, is finding myself in the very word, only adding to the irony.

There was once a fire in a skyscraper caused by faulty electrical wiring leading to a clothes drier owned by Judy Meyer. Nobody was hurt, but many had been in danger until firefighters were able to evacuate them.

Essentially, the situation was dire in a higher spire when a wire to a drier caused a fire, turning the floor into a pyre; and Judy Meyer was saved by Captain Pryor who I'd be a liar to say I didn't admire.

What do you call a heterosexual politician? I don't know, but how can he be straight, if he's crooked?

This is not a philosophy but an observation. October 13^th of 2006 was a Friday. Friday the 13^th. The numerical date was 10/13/2006.

10-13-2006. Separate the numbers, and add them together, and you get:

Not that that had any sort of cosmic significance. Or did it?

"Fire at will, fire at will!"

Poor Will. In every single battle, the enemy is always shooting at him!

I don't do karaoke anymore. My karaoke days are definitely behind me. Too many people critiqued my efforts, telling me it sounded like I was singing out my ass. I guess you could say, my karaoke days always were "behind me".

A motivating philosopher once said:

"If you take a single step toward positive change,
that divine energy will take a hundred steps toward you.
New worlds and unbelievable possibilities
will open up for you.
The synchronicities that will begin appearing in your life
will become a source of delight and amazement."

-Joan Borysenko
I agree with her statement. Only with me, because I have a bad leg, in the past if I took a step in a positive direction I usually tripped over my bad foot.

-Tyler Durden said, as written on the inside cover of the Fight Club DVD:

"Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned."

I love that quote. In Tyler we trust.

I say:

"The stars aren't as high up as you think they are...so reach up and grab them, and the world will be yours."

Woman with sticky fingers, has tasted from own cookie jar.

One man's lunch is another man's art. And one man's art is paying for lunch.

A seeker of knowledge came to ask me, "Is it possible, by simply reading the ingredients of chewing gum, to unlock the secrets of the universe?"

To which I taught him, from atop my mountain peak perch: "Yes, and the secrets of the universe are: Corn Syrup, Glycerin, Artificial and Natural Flavoring, Softener (Soy Lecithin), and Red 40 Lake. All the answers regarding the meaning of life and existence are right there for your viewing and chewing pleasure."

I told you this blog would enlighten you. Now chew on that data for awhile.

The male ants serve the queen ant, bring her food and keep her pregnant. Her whole life is spent fed, fat, and knocked up while the male ants service her. Is she really the queen, or the ho?

The government funded a scientific study to understand why people talk less on the phone in February than any other time of the year. The million dollar conclusion was that it was because February only has 28 days.

Brilliance comes with age and mileage. For me, the benefit of being a little overwieght is that aquired and formulated knowledge is stored in my fat cells for quick access.

Little Orphan Annie always sang "Tomorrow, tomorrow, it's only a day away."
I had always felt a certain comfort by the implications of that line, but only now do I realize that I have been misled. For at any given time that she sang that song, in relation to midnight, tomorrow was less than a day away! No wonder my days always seem so short.

Thanks for stopping by. See ya next time.

Are You a Loser? Who Said So?

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:46:26 GMT

Have you ever considered yourself a loser? Who laid this claim on you, or had you convinced yourself?

I have a question for you to think over. In the 1975 film “Rocky”, who was the villain?

Was it:
A) Apollo Creed, who wanted to knock the lesser fighter out to put on a show, make a fortune, and protect his ego?
B) Apollo's manager, who wanted the Champ to finish “the bum” off?
C) The fight promoter who offered Rocky the chance to fight Apollo, and made loads of cash from the fight?
D) Mickey, who had treated Rocky with disdain until he got his big break and then wanted to be his manager?
E) Other?

I saw Rocky as his own worst enemy. From the start of the film people called him a bum, and in some ways he felt like one. He went through life feeling like a loser; perhaps having been convinced by society, or perhaps having convinced himself. He told Adrienne, the night before the fight, "Nobody ever went the distance with Apollo. All I want to do is go the distance. When that last bell sounds, and I'm still standing, I'll know that I wasn't no bum, that I am somebody."

There you have it. The true enemy was himself. His insecurities and his shaky past led to him being his own worst enemy. Apollo won the fight by rounds, but as far as I'm concerned, Rocky defeated the true villain at the end of the film, when he went the distance and proved himself, not only to the world, but mainly to himself.

Here are some fitting quotes that caught my eye from different places:

"Your self image prescribes the limits for your accomplishments."
--The Daily Guru

"Your only limitations are those you set up in your mind, or permit others to set up for you."
--Og Mandino

"Your mind sets your limits. Everything is possible when you believe it's possible. What you envision you can do, you can do. What your mind can conceive and believe, your mind can achieve. Success is actually a state of mind. Start thinking of yourself as a success. Know in your heart that you can do the job you've set out to do. Believe in yourself. If you think you can, you can."
--The Daily Guru

So who is your biggest villain in your struggle to do better, and be happier, in life? Are outside forces holding you back? Or are you holding yourself back from within? Are you wishing upon a star? The stars aren’t as high up as you think they are. So reach up and grab them, and the world will be yours.

Are you ready? The ball is in your court…the next move is yours.

I Have a Burning Thought Hot in My Mind

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:30:36 GMT

What more a disappointing life is there than to be a match? You have only one job to do your entire life, and as soon as you succeed you are already burned up; and then your life falls to ashes.

Somebody inspire me! Put a spin on my philosophy and help me change my way of thinking! =)

A Streetlight Flickering on a Cold, Dark Night

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:13:59 GMT

A Streetlight Flickering on a Cold, Dark Night

by Tov

There's a streetlight flickering on a cold, dark night
A battle for survival between the dark and the bright
The dark is driven back by the reminder of the light
But then the dark overwhelms; it's an endless fight

Too few good days behind, too many dark days ahead

With each sunrise a little more of me dies

Too often it's too hard to even get out of bed

I'm getting thinner on cheaper dinners

Too many meals of butter on week-old bread

My brakes are slipping on a steep incline

My confidence is weak; it’s like I don’t have a spine

I had many dreams I had to leave far behind

If I still had the fire, in the darkness I'd shine

There's a streetlight flickering on a cold, dark night

A battle for survival between the dark and the bright

The dark is driven back by the reminder of the light

But then the dark overwhelms; it's an endless fight

All that I’ve worked to gain was denied me with a shove

All I have left to offer are just the dreams I still love

They’re all I have left; I don’t know if it’s enough

To push aside the gray and bring out blue sky above

But yet…

The flickering light grows stronger still

Even amid the dark it has its own will

Even before the coming of another day

Even in the night, it finds a way

The willpower survives and returns to stay

The light comes back for good and drives the dark away

For all the things I aspire to be,

For all those things, it's up to me

My dreams light the way they're my inspireshine

I see the light, and the world is mine

It's a struggle to achieve but I don't fear the fight

I’ll let the cold dark waters yet still excite

I’ll tackle the scary seas with sails unfurled

I won't fear to face change, and conquer my world

There's a streetlight flickering on a cold, dark night

A battle for survival between the dark and the bright

The dark is driven back by the will of the light

It’s still within me, determined to win the fight

It’s a battle you don’t just decide to try to win

It’s a victory of the heart and it’s already within

I’ll still pursue the dream; it will always be mine

I’ve drawn on the light within, my inspireshine

There's a streetlight flickering on a cold, dark night

A battle for survival between the dark and the bright

The dark is driven back by the will of the light

It’s always within me; always set to win the fight

The Laundry Pile of Life

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:46:07 GMT

Do You Believe IN Yourself?

"We cannot rise higher than our thought of ourselves."
-- Orison Swett Marden

What do you believe ABOUT yourself?

If you are experiencing a lack of something in your life, chances are that you hold a belief in your subconscious that says you aren't worthy of having that quality. Write in your journal the answer to these questions for yourself:

- Where are you not good enough, not worthy enough?
- How willing are you to receive?

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."
-- E.E. Cummings

*************************************************************************
These quotes are supplied courtesy of Higher Awareness. They offer inspiring, thought-provoking self development programs to help you clearly understand how life and natural laws work, whilst enhancing intuition and creating the future you desire.
Click Here For More Information: http://www.thedailyguru.com/higherawareness.htm

(Bold emphasis added by me.)
=========================================================================

From the daily Tovor:
This is an ongoing theme that I have been posting about in my journal. Like I wrote on my profile info page, I am a negative person dealing with a lot of negativity in my life and my thoughts. But despite the negativity, there are occassional brief spurts of positive thoughts, wants, and beliefs that come into my clouded mind like a ray of hope--or intent--shining through the settling smoke of emotional defeat. Many say, regarding defeat, that you are defeated only when you accept defeat, or are unwilling to rise above it to fight harder. Within myself, while one part of me feels defeated and want to (continue to) surrender, there is another part of me that really wants to rise above it all and seek those things which mean much to me.

Yes, while one side of me is too tired, drained, and unconfident/insecure to try to wash the dirty laundry pile of my life, and would prefer to raise the white flag of surrender...the other side, though weaker in comparison, doesn't want to raise that white flag due to how dirty it is; dirty from being among the dirty laundry pile of my life that I've been too tired and weak to wash. Maybe that's my poetic justification for not giving up completely. There is a side of me that feels, ironically, that I can't surrender with a dirty white (dingy gray, actually) flag of surrender, not until I can at least wash the linens to produce a clean flag of surrender...

...because, perhaps subconsciously I know, once I have finally managed to wash that laundry pile and white surrender flag, there will be the victory of a clean laundry pile which would negate any reasoning for surrendering at all.

Does that mean that I've already won, by refusing to raise the dirty white flag? Perhaps yes, from a certain perspective, but more accurately no, not yet at least. There is still the chance that I would raise the dirty flag regardless. But there is still the chance as well, that I might find enough laundry detergent to wash the entire pile...and a book of matches to burn the flag to ashes.

I need to take the problems analogous to that dirty laundry pile and Shout it out, seek a Fresh Start, find the Method to Surf the rough waters and turn the Tide, pound with my Arm & Hammer rather than Gentle Care and Wisk the obstacles away, Win the battle, Lift Off the weight of regrets, feel Joy and all-temperture-Cheer in All areas of my life, Bounce back from negativity and be a Dynamo of inspiration in a new Era of positive thought, live in a Good Home of satisfaction, Spray & Wash the stains of discontent, find the Oasis of comfort, Gain the Simple Pleasures everyone wants, and eventually, finally, find that special someone to Snuggle with. And despite life giving me lemons, a little bit of lemony scent wouldn't be so bad, would it?

Heh. And people say I have a dirty mind. Hey, not everyone has clean sheets you know. =p

Trapped Between Dreamscape and Wakemode

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:54:20 GMT

http://www.ghostweb.com/sleep.html

Ever heard of Sleep Paralysis?
I've gotten that a lot, and it is pretty scary sometimes. And yes, while still half-asleep I have thought that there were demons holding me down, denying me motor control of my body and mind. I'd struggle to wake up from the "dream", feeling like I was stuck in transition between dreamscape and wakemode. I'd be laying there completely powerless, unable to move, unable to move my head and snap out of it...and I'd struggle until I finally woke up.

I imagine that when I first began having these episodes, that I had bad dreams of demons just before or during, leading me to feel at first that the nigthmare was real and the demons really were attacking me. When it happens now, though, I know that the demons are not real, and the whole thing is mind induced. So I fight it, and win. If the demons are real though, I think I may start sleeping naked...so that they can kiss my ass!

Left Brain, Right Foot, uhhhh...whoa

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:43:33 GMT

This is so funny that it will boggle your mind, and you will keep trying it at least 50 more times to see if you can outsmart your foot. But you can't! Note: If you are left handed - do this with your left foot!

1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction!!!

I told you so... And there is nothing you can do about it.

Philosophies of Tov Part I

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:33:00 GMT

-A man may avoid talking to others he considers inferior, when he thinks they have little to contribute to him.

Or he may do so for the opposite reasons, feeling inferior himself, and fearing he has little to contribute to them.

Not everyone who seems isolated does it to be rude.

-"Chunky" peanut butter defeats its own purpose. I mean really, that's just nuts.

-If the shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn't, maybe you need a different foot.

-A riter lives to rite, but he is bloo when he's not red.

-Irony is a vegetarian falling into a coma, with no detectable brain activity.
Think about it.

-Someone asked me if I had a beef with him. I assured him that my comment was purely vegetable-based, with just a little broth added, and no meat products.

-Matt Damon had the fortune to meet the late Alec Guiness before the classic actor passed on. Being a lifelong Star Wars fan, Damon was quick to refer to him as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The surprised Sir Alec replied, "I haven't been called that since oh, before you were Bourne."

-You know what they say about the bumps in the road of old age? You are only as old as you drive. It may be time to get some new shock absorbers.

-I enjoy sarcasm and irony, often finding wit within the irony I see around me. I enjoy it even more when I find irony amidst irony itself. Even more ironic about this irony of finding irony within irony is that ironically, my name is Ron. So in saying that "I, Ron, have posted an irony," I have ironically included my name in the word itself. Perhaps what I enjoy about finding myself in an irony, is finding myself in the very word, only adding to the irony.

-There was once a fire in a skyscraper caused by faulty electrical wiring leading to a clothes drier owned by Judy Meyer. Nobody was hurt, but many had been in danger until firefighters were able to evacuate them.

-What do you call a heterosexual politician? I don't know, but how can he be straight, if he's crooked?

-This is not a philosophy but an observation. October 13^th of 2006 was a Friday. Friday the 13^th. The numerical date was 10/13/2006.

10-13-2006. Separate the numbers, and add them together, and you get:

1 + 0 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 6 = 13.

Not that that had any sort of cosmic significance. Or did it?

-"Fire at will, fire at will!"

Poor Will. In every single battle, the enemy is always shooting at him!

-I don't do karaoke anymore. My karaoke days are definitely behind me. Too many people critiqued my efforts, telling me it sounded like I was singing out my ass. I guess you could say, my karaoke days always were "behind me".

-A motivating philosopher once said:

-Joan Borysenko
I agree with her statement. Only with me, because I have a bad leg, in the past if I took a step in a positive direction I usually tripped over my bad foot.

-Tyler Durden said, as written on the inside cover of the Fight Club DVD:

"Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned."

I love that quote. In Tyler we trust.

I say:

"The stars aren't as high up as you think they are...so reach up and grab them, and the world will be yours."

-Woman with sticky fingers, has tasted from own cookie jar.

-One man's lunch is another man's art. And one man's art is paying for lunch.

-A seeker of knowledge came to ask me, "Is it possible, by simply reading the ingredients of chewing gum, to unlock the secrets of the universe?"

I told you this blog would enlighten you. Now chew on that data for awhile.

-The male ants serve the queen ant, bring her food and keep her pregnant. Her whole life is spent fed, fat, and knocked up while the male ants service her. Is she really the queen, or the ho?

-The government funded a scientific study to understand why people talk less on the phone in February than any other time of the year. The million dollar conclusion was that it was because February only has 28 days.

-Brilliance comes with age and mileage. For me, the benefit of being a little overwieght is that aquired and formulated knowledge is stored in my fat cells for quick access.

-Little Orphan Annie always sang "Tomorrow, tomorrow, it's only a day away."
I had always felt a certain comfort by the implications of that line, but only now do I realize that I have been misled. For at any given time that she sang that song, in relation to midnight, tomorrow was less than a day away! No wonder my days always seem so short.

Thanks for stopping by. See ya next time.

The Philosophies of Tov Part II

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:25:54 GMT

Easy as Pi

The trouble with asking a mathematician for dessert is that when you ask for a slice of pie, they give you 3.14 slices instead. Some things just get taken too literally.

Like Moths to the Light
We get too many hurricanes in Florida. Almost every year they come for us, the Hurricane Haven of the Atlantic, the place where all young hurricanes, apparently, aspire to go to. Ask a SuperBowl-winning football player what he plans to do once he’d won, and they say “I’m going to Disneyland!”. Ask a young hurricane, once it leaves the birthing ground of the east African coast, and it will say, “I’m going to Disneyland!”

I suggest we pull the plug at night during hurricane season to turn off the power to the state. I suspect that the ‘canes are being attracted like moths to the light. Yeah, that’s what it is.

“A Door is Ajar.”

Many classy sedans have the automated computer message that talks to the driver in a monotone pitch, alerting him or her to errors or the like, such as when the seatbels need to be fastened, or the door being open. I always found that rather odd to hear the robotic voice stating with such certainty, “A door is ajar…a door I ajar.” But how can that be? A door is a door, not a bloody jar! You put jam in a jar, or pickles, but you can’t use a jar for a door, can you?

A door is a door, and a jar is a jar…for Pete’s sake! Now close the damn car door before the jar of pickles you just bought rolls out!

From “The Art of talking So that People Will Listen” by Paul W. Swets, it is quoted:

“Listen to me for a day…an hour…a moment, lest I expire in my terrible wilderness, my lonely silence! O’ God, is there no one to listen?” –Seneca, 4 B.C.

“The bible tells us that Samson killed 10,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. I am convinced that an even greater number of conversations are killed daily with the same instrument.” –Paul W. Swets, 1992 A.D.

“I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what you meant!” –Anonymous

Suped-up Supes

State of Confusion Clarification

Yet, confusion itself is not a state but a commonwealth. That’s right. It is common, and some like me have a wealth of it. But referring to it as a state is somehow more fitting than calling it a commonwealth of confusion.

You dig it? I knew that ya could.

A Whole Lotta Bytes: I've been pondering deep thoughts lately, and you know that can be dangerous. I was thinking about computers. Since Megabytes are a million bits, and gigabytes are a billion bits, there should be another type larger than a gigabyte, and it should be called a biggabyte.

Left Brain, Right Foot, uhhhh...whoa

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:06:27 GMT

Note: If you are left handed - do this with your left foot!

This is so funny that it will boggle your mind. And you will keep trying it at least 50 more times to see if you can outsmart your foot. But you can't!!!

1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction!!!

I told you so... And there is nothing you can do about it.

Slide on the Ice

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 07:12:53 GMT

My other MySpace name is "Slide on the Ice". I had chosen it because of the impression the phrase left on me when said by the character Sidney Freedman, in the TV series finale of M.A.S.H. He referred to facing and handling stress and dealing with obstacles, when he told them,

"Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice."

I was never very good at handling stress and obstacles, so it appealed to me profoundly that sliding on ice was how I wished to get through my darker days. Far easier said than done, however.

In the novel and film Fight Club, the main character is urged, when facing fear, adversity, or pain, to go to his cave to find his peace; to "slide", as he is instructed by a penguin in his dream as it stood atop a frozen incline, proceeding to slide on the ice.

But what were Sidney Freedman, author Chuck Palahniuk, and later myself, expressing through the notion of sliding on ice?

When you're facing hardships and speed bumps, make them in your perception as smooth ice, and glide over them. It will be cold for a while on the ice, but eventually you'll get to the other side of the frozen lake where the grass is growing and the sun is shining.

No matter how difficult things get, no matter how uncertain they look, remember to slide. Just slide; slide on the ice.

From A to B in Life

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:03:12 GMT

Have you remembered:

Who you were meant to be...
Who you expected to be...
Who you hoped you'd be...
What you had always thought you were about?

Are you in the occupation, position, status, or place in your life you dreamed when you where young?

Are you the person/personality you wanted/expected to be?

What are you missing?

What are you waiting for?

What are you still trying/hoping to achieve?

What are your plans/hopes/thoughts to achieve your transition?

I don't have the answer. Do you?

Are you looking for the answer?

Food for thought: The ABC of Life...

(A)What It Is
|
|
|
|
|
|----------------------------- C)How would you make this transition happen?
|
|
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(B)What It Should Be

Well...
Are you ready?

Matters of Time, and Time Combined

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:33:01 GMT

Cause & Affect
Theoretically, time is dependent on perception. Remove object and effect, and you theoretically remove time, but since there's no way to test that one, we have to use what we have.

Time is either real or merely man's perception of the sequence of events. Is time truly part of the equasion of the universe, or a definition to explain what man perceives as events unfolding? Now I am left pondering, "If Cause and Affect were eliminated, would time also be denied existance?"

A Theory of Time Divided, Time Intertwined

You may have to take a Tylenol after reading this brain-boggler. Or before.

I have oft said that God is outside the realm of time, that he exists in the past, the present, and the future at the same time. While not to suggest that we are on the same level as God, I present my deep thought that maybe we too exist in a realm where there is no time, where the past, present, and future exist as one and our definition of “time” is just a translation or analyzation or perception of what we are within.

To understand this strange new concept of time or time-non-existent, we must think for a moment about light and color.

White light is the equal amount of red, green, and blue light. When we look around us outdoors under the sun we see everything illuminated by white light. Daylight is white light. Though it does not appear as "white" to us, it is nonetheless white light. White light is made up equally of the 3 main colors of the light color spectrum, red, green, and blue. Our atmosphere is hit by white light from the sun but it only allows the color blue to pass through, while red and green are deflected. That is why the sky appears blue. You can also look through specific color filters which inhibit one of the colors of white light and then see an object cast in the color of the other colors remaining in the spectrum of white light. So any or more of the primary colors of white light can be blocked to enable us to see the other two colors instead, but without such method it appears as white light and not as 3 separate colors, red, green, and blue. Just white.
We can easily see red on its own, green on its own, and blue on its own, but put them together, as in red, green, and blue light shone on the same point or along the same line, and we see only white light and not the three that comprise it. Ponder this hypothetical:

What if we compared time to color? Let us say that red was the past, green was the present, and blue was the future. In our existence we can see the red (past), green (present), and blue (future) as 3 separate colors easily distinguishable. But what if in reality, time was like white light, equally comprised of the 3 colors blended together to exist as one? In other words, like within white light, the past, present, and future were three equal things co-existing at the same exact time with no separation, wholly unset apart from each other. But how could that be possible, one might ask? How could one accept something like that anyway? Hold that deep thought.

To understand this strange new concept of time or time-non-existent, we must think for a moment not just about light and color, but of vibration and sound.

If a tree falls in a forest but no ear is around to hear it, does it make a sound? No. The tree falling or hitting the ground makes vibrations; vibrations are detected by eardrums which translate into signals which are sent into the brain where they are understood as sound. So, if a tree falls but no eardrum is around to hear it, it makes plenty of vibrations but simply no sound. When an eardrum receives the vibrations and sends the signals into the brain for translation, the comprehension of the vibrations by the brain is that of sound. No ear to hear, plenty of vibration, absence of sound. You could argue that sound is not real at all, but merely a perception within the mind; the brain’s way of explaining to itself the meaning behind the vibrations.

Back to the deep thought. This is not an argument to prove that time does not exist, it is merely an exercise in deep thought. We have seen that white light is made up of red, green, and blue yet we can see the red, green, or blue parts of the white light only when some natural or human-made device is used to enhance one of the 3 colors or prevent us from seeing the other two. Thus within the white light the 3 colors are indistinguishable without a means to separate them. We have also seen that sound does not exist outside the mind, but that vibrations are translated and understood as sound within the mind, ergo just our imagination. It’s all in the mind. So to sum up, “sound” is the brain’s way of understanding vibrations, and white light appears as only one color until something is used to separate one primary color from the three to let it be visible to us.

So now imagine that “time” is only one present “now” rather than comprised of past, present, and future; and we exist in a space where there is no time behind us and no time in front of us, but only the white light which includes what we understand as the red light (past), green light (present) and blue light (future) all combined as one...while we have the eardrum and brain’s equivalent of intercepting and understanding vibrations into sound; and the light filter’s equivalent of separating and sensing the 3 main colors of white light, that intercept, separate, sense, and understand the combined oneness of time-unmoving. You did not begin reading this post 3 minutes ago (or 14 minutes ago for those who are slower) from now, and you won’t finish it 30 seconds from now. You are reading it now, you began reading it now, and you finished reading it now. But the passage of time was a trick of the mind, a tool or device, to separate the first now and the third now from the present now in order to give the reading meaning. You were born right now. You reached middle age now. You were married now. You turned 16 now. You had a child now. You saw your child graduate college now. You turned 4 years old now. You grew old and lost bladder control now. You died now. A person born “40 years after” you died (now) turned 26 now. Moses saw a burning bush now. President Lincoln was shot now. You brushed your teeth now. You had your first tooth now. You got dentures now. It all happened now, not before, not later, not then, not after, but now. Except that in your mind the now of now is like white light, and there is something that separates the 3 parts of white light into red, green, and blue so that they can be distinguished and enjoyed separately, understood separately. And so, time, like the sound that is understood after the vibrations are received and translated, is what is understood by living beings after the now is received and translated and the 3 aspects of it are separated to be understood. Without that understanding, time does not exist.

That is all for now. See you later. Or now. It’s only a matter of time. Or is it? That was my deep thought for today, that I had on a previous day in which now was then. Or now.

Heroes

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:12:25 GMT

On my Inspireshine MySpace profile, where there is a plce under Interests to list who your Heroes are, I had written the following, which everyone who visits my page can read:

HEROES:

Quote:

-Those who face the unbearable, and bear it anyway...
-Those who face the undoable, and do it anyway...
-Those who have no choice but to give up, and then dont.

-Those who remember their dreams and refuse to give up.
-Those who remind me of my dreams when I want to give up.

-Soldiers, police, and firefighters who risk their lives doing the things that we can't do...
...so that we can be free and safe to do the things that we can.

I had sent a friend request to a man the other day who I thought might be interesting to have on my list. He did not accept my friend-request, but he did email me a response to my statement quoted above ^

RE: soldiers and police:
'protectors' can become a predator in a second
dont fool your self
I sent him an email in response, just a few moments ago.
Quote:
So can police, firefighters, doctors, teachers, priests, politicians, parents, or anybody at all become a predator. What you say is certainly true, and we've certainly seen our share of soldiers dehumanizing and murdering civilians and dishonoring their uniform and country, but there are still a great many more who are honorable and decent, and I take my hat off to their service, their risks, and their sacrifices.

I look forward to his reply.
Quote:

Inspireshine on MySpace

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:46:09 GMT

Do any of my friends here have MySpace as well? If so, please add this to your page:

http://www.myspace.com/inspireshine

Thanks! =)

I'm not 100% certain that I am going to keep this LJ going. Inspireshine on MySpace will definately go on, no doubt about it, though. I definately like the blogging format, and the means for readers to see updates every day, better on LJ than on MySpace, but I do like that there I can add much more color and design to the layout, and that I'm interacting with more and more people who are interested in the content I cover. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate and value the readers I have here, but here I have but 17 readers and on MySpace I have over 80, in a matter of days.

So please, if you have MySpace, add me there as well.

Rewritten, Repolished, Reposted, Re: Rocky's Inspiration

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:37:36 GMT

I'm updating two blogs currently, Inspireshine the Live Journal, and Inspireshine the MySpace. And on the MySpace one, I made changes to the post that I'd posted here a few days ago. I think the edits make the narrative, and the message, stronger.

So here it is, redone:

It's not how hard you hit that counts, but how hard you can GET hit...and keep on going.
How much you can take...and keep moving forward."

--Rocky Balboa

I've been reminding myself of that line quite often. When I first purchased the DVD a week after it went on sale, I watched the end fight each night for a few nights in a row; just the last 15 minutes of the film.

In the film, Rocky told his son the above quote about halfway through the movie. Then while later fighting in the ring and struggling to stay on his feet, in fact to get up from his knees after being knocked down, he reminded himself of his statement, to push forward against difficult opposition. He reminded himself of the above message, as heard in the audio voice-over, and pushed himself to get up.

"You told the kid, it's not how hard you hit that counts, but how hard you can GET hit, and keep on going...how much you can take, and keep moving forward...Get up...Get up!"

Maybe I'd rewatched the final fight every night for several nights in a row because I enjoyed the boxing match so much. I did enjoy it then, and I've watched it a few times recently as well. But perhaps my subconscious has an interior motive. Maybe I am meant to be reminded of that message.

I cannot explain how difficult things had gotten over the last year, the last few months, the last few weeks. I hadn't updated my journal prior to that to show what point I had sunk to since the fall; when I had been poised to score in a failed business and finally be successful. Now I have nothing, and as much as I try to dig myself out of my situation, the more gets piled atop my weary head. The more I hit back, the harder I get hit in response. And the more I get hit, the harder it is to stay on my feet. I'm almost down for the count; almost ready to give up and suffer complete failure and defeat.

"But I will not go down without a fight. I will not go quietly into the night,"

(Now I'm paraphrasing Bill Pullman's speech in Independance Day).

Once a winner, always a winner. It's not an obstacle, only a speed bump. I was born a winner and I will die a winner. I may lose everything in between, but once a winner always a winner.

"Nobody can hit you as hard as life can hit you. But it's not how hard you hit back that counts, but how hard you can GET hit...and keep on going. How much you can take...and keep moving forward. Get up...get up!"

--Rocky

I'm trying. You have no idea. I'm trying.

"Try not...do, or do not, there is no try." --Yoda

I know, I know. I am not going to try to win, and I am not going to win at some point later. I already have won, because I've determined that I am not going to let myself lose again.

There are only two options in front of me:

Giving up, or pushing forward.

I don't think so. Giving up is not an option on the table.

"Get up!"

The Two Main Things That Shape Us

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:48:22 GMT

Who you are right now, what makes you who you are, what you are, and the way you are, is shaped by two things: The past and the future.

It goes without saying that we are shaped by the events and experiences of our past. But we are also shaped in many different ways, by the events and experiences of a future we already imagine we know. Our fears, our anxieties, our plans and preparations, our emotions, our moods, our actions, and more than that, are shaped and molded by what we expect to happen in the future.

From a knee jerk reaction in anticipation of the doctor hitting our knee, to eating a healthy diet, to assuming to anticipate a lover or spouses action or reaction, to dedicating yourself to getting that good job or promotion, to reacting to others based on what you think they will do or say in the future, to awaiting or fearing the future, to living your life to be known as a good moral person and feel proud of yourself, to shaping and molding yourself to be the person in the future you aspire to be, to being self-reliant and/or lack of trust toward others, the list goes on and on. But it all goes to show that we are who we are because of what we remember from the past, and what we expect of the future.

It is also the fulfillment or failure of things that we expected in the future, when that future is reached, that determine who we are and how we are in the here and now; and all because of how we shaped our lives and our expectations toward the future when the future was still just that.

It’s Already Been Said, Many Times, in Many Ways, But...

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:44:35 GMT

One of my new MySpace friends is a lady named Reyna. Her page subtitle, if I may quote her here, is:

"A wise girl kisses but never loves, listens but never believes, and leaves before she is left!"

That made me think, and I left her this on her page as a comment. This is an example of where something I come across, say, or hear, leads me to think in a new direction. My resulting conclusion, however, is not anything original and unknown to you or the world in general, but I still felt it decent enough to repeat and save it here. This conclusion, of course, applies to both men and women.

That may be so; however,
A wise girl lives where she is loved, and when she is loved, she is alive.

Okay, okay, I never claimed to be Confusious.

Life: The Movie

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:42:15 GMT

Life is one big movie. We are the characters acting out our stories, and God is the writer, producer, director, lighting technician, sound mixer, set builder, and casting director. Yes, every moment is a cell on a movie reel and we are playing out each scene as the film continues. Why would the universe implode if one went back in time? Have you ever had a VCR that ate and destroyed a video tape you were trying to rewind? Some things can't be run backwards for reviewing.

I'm certain Mel Brooks would appreciate this: Take a video tape of a movie. You have the start of the movie, the middle, and the end. While watching the middle of the story, the beginning was the past, and the end is the future. The story told in the movie has a timeline just like real life, with a past, present, and future. But turn the tape off, eject it, and step back and look at the video in your hand. The past, present, and future in the movie all exist at the same time right before your eyes. In fact, looking at the tape alone, it has no past, present, and future. It only has the NOW which exists at the same time in front of you. It is only when you watch the movie that the seperation between past, present, and future takes on meaning; otherwise it all blends together. Now imagine that that video is the universe itself, life and existance as we know it. Now imagine stopping the film, ejecting the tape, and holding it in your hand. Right there is the past, present, and future existing at once, as NOW. Like plugging into the Matrix, you turn on your awareness of time movement only when it is translated via some device. Otherwise, it is just NOW.

Here is YOUR deep thought for the day: Eject the tape and stare at it. See it in your mind, the beginning, middle, and end; past, present, and future, existing as now, as one.

Inside Out, Outside In

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:58:03 GMT

"It is difficult to see the picture when you are inside of the frame."
--Author Unknown

"What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself."
--Abraham H. Maslow

"Get to know the person behind your eyes."
--Sharon McCue

"It's ironic how the person on the outside doesn't really know the person on the inside. Someday, may you meet the person on the inside and find out how much you both have in common."
--Inspireshine

Silence the Lying Critics

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:55:38 GMT

"We tell ourselves so many lies and half-truths ... We listen and are duly impressed by these inner voices that turn into unseen judges that nag at us. We give each of these judges a seat of honor in our minds, all the while hating their guts and their never-ending supply of judgements ... We give the judges permission to accompany us on each journey of life, never daring to realize that we can park them, at least momentarily."
-- Eloise Ristad

"The Inner Critic makes each of us a child. As we become the child in our relationships, we lose our sense of self. We are no longer self-contained, self-respecting adults. We look to others for validation. Our self-worth is based upon their opinion of us. Thus, everyone around us becomes a mother or a father whose support and approval is desperately needed to protect us from the constant criticism of the Inner Critic."
-- Hal and Sidra Stone

"There is no location named "Nowhere". It exists only in our minds, our perceptions. When faced with obstacles and/or opportunities, the path to nowhere ends in our minds...right where the path to everywhere begins."
--Inspireshine

Of Riches in Store, by Both the Rich and the Poor

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:55:51 GMT

Here I will mention three things that I love. Chinese food, Japanese food, and fortune cookies. I sometimes go to the all you can eat Chinese Buffet with sushi bar, and after enjoying the food, mainly the sushi, which I eat the most of, I look forward to the fortune cookie you get at the end. Sometimes they are amusing or interesting when they predict something that really has occured to you (which is coincidence of course), or which does apply to your life, personality, or goals, etc. But the reason why I enjoy fortune cookies is because sometimes they give me ideas for concepts to ponder, develope, and write about. That is why I often save my tiny paper fortunes, because they inspire ideas like the one you are about to read.

One night I had gone out for sushi. My name is Tov and I am a sushiholic. I just can't get enough ot it. But enough about that. This entry is about philosophy, not sushi. And this philosophy I am about to discuss was inspired by a profound statement that came out of a simple fortune cookie. So I opened my fortune cookie and what did it say? It said, "Wealth belongs to those who create it."

Of course it does. That's why the wealthy get wealthier and the poor stay poor. Like Micheal Corleone said in Godfather 2, "This contempt for money is just another trick of the rich to keep the poor without."

But is wealth only about money? One can have a wealth of knowledge, of imagination, of creativity, of memories, of love, of friends. There are those who give of themselves to others selflessly; who have a wealth of kindness and compassions, a wealth donated in abundance. There are those who have a wealth of joy and inner peace. All of the above have wealth in life, and wealth in soul.

May you create such wealth. In every day. In every way.

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:47:48 GMT

"I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there
all the time."

Anna Freud (1896 - 1982)
Austrian psychoanalyst

The quote above reminded me of a message I wrote a while back, to a friend going through difficult times, about finding the strength and courage within him to face overwhelming difficulties. I repost that message here, editted to generically apply to everyone facing hardships and struggles. Because quite simply, it literally does apply to everyone. In the message I make an analogy to the Force from Star Wars, because I am not only a deep thinker, I am also a geek.

Strength and courage. They are just words. Not so easy to apply and make real. But you need to strive toward those ends and build them up inside you. If you need strength and courage in order to build up your strength and courage, then so be it. Again, they are just words and not so easy to feel them within you. But think of strength and courage as the Force. It guides your actions, but it also obeys your commands. Just as the Jedi has to believe in the Force in order to increase its power within him, you have to believe in your own strength and courage in order to feel it and build it up inside you; to increase their power within you.

When I was 14 and was nearly killed, and my father later died, people asked my mother how she was able to hold it together, remain strong, and be a support toward me and my dad without falling to pieces, and she told them that she had no idea where her inner strength came from. She said she did what she had to do because there was no alternative, and somehow the strength and courage that she didn't know she had was there inside her, controlling her actions, but also obeying her commands. When I was her caretaker people asked me how I held it together and I didn't really know because to be honest I felt like I was going to fall to pieces at any time. But somehow I did not fall apart, because somehow, someway, I found the strength and courage within me. It controlled my actions, but it also obeyed my commands.

Maybe you've heard the story of the 90 pound woman who's child was pinned under a large heavy object, an object much larger and heavier than the mother, and somehow she was able to lift the object up in order to free her child. Somehow, despite the enormous weight of the object, she somehow found the strength and courage to overpower an overwhelming weight and overcome it. She did it because she had no alternative. Her strength and courage controlled her actions, but they also obeyed her command.

Strength and courage. Again, they are just words. Or are they? Descriptive words are only that, words, until we make them real, in and around us. Believe in them, and make them real. Let the concept of those words control your actions and obey your commands. I can't tell you how to have them. I can't tell you exactly how to find them. I can only tell you that Luke Skywalker always had the Force within him but he only became powerful with the Force when he believed in it and made it real and grow.

You can't find strength and courage on a map or in a box. But like the example of the Force, they are already within you. You have them inside you, unfocused but awaiting your command. You have to do, try not, but do, believe in them within you to strengthen them to make them strengthen you.

All fanboy geek babble aside, you have the strength and courage within you already, but in your pain and confusion you don't see or feel them. But do what you have to do, because you have no alternative, to focus on them, build them up, and use them to strengthen yourself and those around you.

Strength and courage are merely words. But so are the words fear and confusion. Focus on the first two, and find them you will. They are really not just within you but all around you, waiting to be touched and felt. Between you, me, the rock, the tree, the X-wing...well, you get the idea.

Yo Rocky, Inspire Me!

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:23:32 GMT

(Reposted from my other LJ, written a few months ago.)

"It's not how hard you hit that counts, but how hard you can GET hit...and keep on going.
How much you can take...and keep moving forward."
--Rocky Balboa

I've been reminding myself of this line quite often. Since getting the DVD a few days ago, I have watched the end fight each night. Just the last 15 minutes of the film, each night after coming home from work, while my dinner cooks in the micro.

In the film,Rocky tells his son the above line about halfway through the film. Then while fighting in the ring, and struggling to stay on his feet, in fact to get up from his knees after being knocked down, he reminds himself of the above line, to push forward against difficult opposition. He reminds himself of the above message, as heard in the audio voice-over, and pushes himself to get up.

"You told the kid, it's not how hard you hit that counts, but how hard you can GET hit, and keep on going...how much you can take, and keep moving forward...Get up...Get up!"

Maybe I've rewatched the final fight every night for the last few nights because I enjoy the fight so much. I do enjoy it. But maybe my subconscious has an interior motive. Maybe I am meant to be reminded of that message.

I can't even explain how difficult things have gotten over the last few months, the last few weeks, the last few days. I hadn't updated my journal prior to that to show what point I had sunk to since the summer; when I had been poised to score in the failed business and finally be successful. Now I have nothing, and as much as I try to dig myself out of my situation, the more gets piled atop my weary head. The more I hit back, the harder I get hit in response. And the more I get hit, the harder it is to stay on my feet. I'm almost down for the count; almost ready to give up and suffer complete failure and defeat.

"Nobody can hit you as hard as life can hit you. But it's not how hard you hit back that counts, but how hard you can GET hit...and keep on going. How much you can take...and keep moving forward...

"Get up...get up!"