Bicycle comparison

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

-Albert Einstein

            When Albert Einstein said/wrote this I’m sure that he did not think of its relevance to someone living in Iowa almost 100 years later. I am a cyclist by nature and a philosopher, of sorts. To me these two passions rarely naturally go hand in hand; however, in this quote they are finally unified so well it almost brings a tear to my eye.

This quote could be no more correct. Life only continues when the one living is always moving in a forward direction. When you stop you will almost always fall down. Some people may seem to be traveling through life much faster than you are. Some people may seem to be traveling much slower than you are. The only thing that this depends on is at what speed you yourself are traveling. Obviously if you are standing still everyone would seem to be traveling much faster than you. Your point of view and attitude always directly influences things around you.

The bulk of the population travels at an average speed going in the same direction. Occasionally there is that fluke person who manages to outrun the pack and join a faster group of people. These “leaders” are the ones who are not better but the ones traveling faster. They may even be traveling at the same speed as you but for whatever reason they got a head start. They may get to where you want to be faster than the rest of your group does, but that is because they are generally very very determined. A true to form example of this type of extreme determination would be Lance Armstrong. He was determined and persevered through cancer to win the Tour de France an astounding seven times (hopefully eight wins after this year, I’m pulling for you).

The people in this elite group are those who never wanted to settle for the status quo and made sure to improve upon it wherever they could. They are not necessarily famous people, those with piles of money, or even those who are above you in the pecking order. They can be the semi-average people that for whatever reason have always been determined to improve. My parents are great examples of this elite group. They are both intelligent people that work very hard for everything they receive and already have. Those that get their fifteen minutes of fame I would never put into this category because as soon as their time runs out they fall back into the major group. The reason for this is that they are not used to the stresses of operating at the higher level and will always have to lighten up and fall back. They did not have to work to get there so they do not know the stamina required to keep up that the ones who worked to get there developed along the way.

I pray for all who do not accept the status quo to be determined to join this elite group. Not so that you can be better than anyone else, but so that you can help all of mankind by working hard for what you believe in. While you are on your breakaway up to the front please bring as many people with you as you can. The world needs many more hard working people in it. When anyone sees a job or a responsibility that needs to be filled I would ask all too please do it. I pray there will never be an abundance of jobs and a very high unemployment rate. When that occurs I will become a very sad person because I will know that it is motivation people are lacking rather than opportunities.

Civil Rights

“Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.” –Albert Einstein

 

          As stated in the United State’s Constitution every man, woman, and child has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, this statement was not totally true until the civil rights movement, women’s rights movement, and now LGBT rights movement. Before, these movements, my own countrymen were oppressed by laws that restricted every facet of their lives. Now the laws have been repealed that burdened these individuals. The only thing keeping all from becoming fully functioning members of our communities is our own opinions towards them.

          Our population still has not fully accepted all opinions, thoughts, and ideas presented. I myself am far from being fully incorporating and welcoming; however, I try to be more open every day. I believe that until the day we can all be open and loving towards all others, freedom for the oppressed will not occur. I will say that change is coming. The United States has an African American president, Homosexuals will be able to marry in Iowa in only a few days, and opinions are beginning shift to the more open. The words mentioned above, by Mr. Einstein, are finally becoming much more truthful.

          I will not say that racism is extinct, that women share equal rights to men in this country or the world, or that I believe the struggle for all people to have equal rights is over. The war is not over, that is for certain, but I feel the Waterloo of the war has occurred. By this I mean to say that the laws have been repealed and that the only thing left to win the war is the change of public opinion. The good will always win, the walls of prejudice will always crumble, and the remaining laws restraining our fellow countrymen will be abolished leaving a different task to be dealt with.

          Opinions change, beliefs can be altered, and these injustices will be corrected. The time necessary for this to occur is unknown to me and to most others. However, I feel that at some point in the future all men will look at each other and see not what is on the outside, but see into the depths of the one being looked upon. When this can occur then I will know that the war is over. This may not be able to take place without first understanding why we fear people different then we are. The unknown may be the primary fear. However, we may see similarities between those being viewed and ourselves that we do not wish to see. The only similarity that should be seen is the fact that we are all free people living out our time on this world. Our time on this world is very short, so I beg of you to make the moments shared with all persons on this planet as comfortable as we ourselves would like it to be.

Augustine Mandino Quote Response

“So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles of success; If I persist long enough I will win.”              – Augustine “Og” Mandino

Persisting and persevering are the two of the most important skills anyone will ever learn. If someone disagrees with this then they have never accomplished anything. When you persist you will always succeed. When faced with an impossible task the man that perseveres will always vanquish the one who cowers. In the quote mentioned above, by Augustine Mandino, winning does not necessarily mean the winning of a tangible prize. It has the deeper meaning of proving to one’s self that the goal was possible, however difficult, and that it was accomplished to the one’s liking.

When measuring success never use a ruler, for if you use such a small system of measure your successes will be less important than those who measure success by the mile. Always work for a goal that sounds to difficult at the time of establishing it. As you continue on this path you will find that your original goal will seem to become much more possible. Success is a very important aspect of our world in these times. Those who do not succeed are viewed as failures by all, whether that is a conscious or sub-conscious thought depends upon the one being viewed but is more influenced on the one doing the viewing. To some a failure of epic proportions is a success, and to others a success is a rather embarrassing failure.

For those who would like to succeed the only things necessary are the will to continue, the stomach to take the failures, and the persistence to see your cause to its end. Accepting your failures is one of the first steps to getting past them and continuing on the rode to success. Failure is a part of life that is impossible to live without. Those who succeed are the ones who not necessarily embrace their failures but see them in a different light than those who cannot get over the fact that they have failed.

No one person is perfect. Everyone has heard this but everyone expects that there is someone out there who is. Everyone see’s negative attributes about themselves. However, to some those negative attributes are the things that make that person most attractive. Those who get passed their failures are destined for success, but those who cannot will always see themselves as a failure even after accomplishing a great feat.

For all who are engulfed by a sense of failure I beg of you to accept your failure and work through it. For when you do this it will be as if the gates opened up for you. Everything will seem to fall into place as if you just figured out the key to the universe. However, this will not be accomplished until you have actually tried. All who try will fail occasionally but will end up succeeding more if they continue. Those who never try fail 100% of the time. So persist on until you have no more energy. When you reach that point continue; it will feel as if you cannot, but those who do will always win.

Einstein Modern Teaching Methods Quote Response

“It is almost a miracle that modern teaching methods have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of inquiry; for what this delicate little plant needs more than anything, besides stimulation, is freedom.” –Albert Einstein

 

One of Albert Einstein’s crowning achievements is the Theory of Relativity. However, the quote previously mentioned is the most basic truth shared with all students. The system in place is very inefficient. Students must go to school, do homework, and then try to have a little fun along the way. To too many students this seems the opposite of the “freedom” that was so eloquently expressed was necessary by one of the greatest minds in the past millennia.

Kids of the high school age often burn out, break down, or completely lose it under the pressures exerted upon them by the system. Most people would say that this is due to the fact that they are weak minded, crazy, or that they were bad kids to start with. This is completely untrue in most cases. Kids of the high school age often feel as if the weight of the world comes to rest upon their shoulders. Many often would be glad to have been turned to stone, as Atlas was by Medusa’s severed head as Hermes flew by.

Students need to feel free if they are going to grow in whichever direction that may be. Some student who wants to become a scientist in 8^th grade may grow up to work as a fashion designer. However, this would be the result of choices, necessities, and opportunities decided by and given to the student. The number one necessity of a student is freedom; however. If you do not believe this think back to when you were a child and think of what you wanted to be and do. Then look at the compromises that went into becoming who you are today. If you grew up to be in your 8^th grade desired profession then good job you stuck to your ideals, dreams, and hopes. However, I’m sure many of you did not become what you dreamed you would be which may be for the better for the world so we don’t have too many firemen, ballerinas, and astronauts.

If you had not bent under pressures exerted upon you by your parents, teachers, or friends you may have become anything of your choosing. Many of you may be quite happy with what and how you got to where you are. But I’m sure that many of you look back and wonder what could have been. But that is over and that is done and all you have now is your job, your families (communities), and your obligation to the human race to improve the lives of the next generations the best you can. Alas that is all the lot of us can ever hope to accomplish. We hope to make a positive influence upon our children, grandchildren, or other young people. Yet because of our need to help the following generations, we overwhelm them with too many rules, regulations, and often enough standards you yourself could not or would not accomplish. This need to improve and these rules imposed upon my generation, by previous generations, are the main causes of my peers to crack under pressure that would have been much less if we were given just an ounce more freedom.

My generation stands on the event horizon of a black hole as we pray to be on Earth’s moon under much less strain and pressure. To all who have imposed rules, set ludicrous standards, or created ridiculous regulations I call on you… No plead with you to let up on them before my generation is sucked into the singularity of life. Allow us a refuge from the weight of the world. Improve teaching methods to allow us more freedom and less stress or the new world will be full of lights are on but nobody’s home, burnt out, shells of people.

Augustin “Og” Mandino Somthing of Value Quote Response

“Make every hour count and trade each minute only for something of value.” Augustine “Og” Mandino

What does every person have in common with each other? This question has millions of answers yes, but many of which are ludicrous and/or completely obvious. The answer being searched for is the fact that the only thing we have is the time we are alive. To each of us nothing after we die will be of any importance, unless it some how harms our children or loved ones.

 Humans will always care about the people we are close to. Even when our world crumbles in on us and we start walking to the light we will always feel a connection to our loved ones. Unfortunately all things that have a beginning are doomed to have an end, and I know the Earth will someday come to an end. Whether that is before or after mankind has been disposed of is yet to be seen. Many believe that our planet will come to its inevitable demise in the year 2012. The ancient Mayans, Egyptians, and even readers of the Bibles speculate this year. Oddly enough they were all separated by distance and their respective time-period. I do not believe that the world will come to its end in the year 2012. I do believe that the world’s end will be by a human event, rather than a fluke cosmic event. Whether that will be by nuclear winter that makes life impossible on Earth, the fact that we pollute our atmosphere and water to the point life cannot continue, or ( as the Bible says) the antichrist and the four horsemen will end the world I do not care.

 I do know that it will end before the inevitable expansion of our own life giving sun will expand into its red giant stage. Oddly enough I see that for one body to live it must at some point destroy something else. Like our own sun’s need to expand and destroy humans will always fight, will always destroy, and will always kill. I see no way around this human action, so because of this human nature our world will be ravaged until it is utterly uninhabitable and we will all die, from what I can not tell.

I foresee the end to take place far into the future rather than the prophesized 4 years. However, the end of the world for me will take place in a much shorter time period. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow ending my world as it just begins, or I could live to be 130. The fact most of us live to be even 30 years old is a noteworthy accomplishment. For this reason we should all “trade every minute only for something of value.”

The time we spend on this Earth is the most precious thing to any of us and should never be traded for something that is not of great importance or something that does not enrich a life. Think of if Edison had not spent many of his years on creating his masterpiece, the incandescent light bulb, or if Einstein had not created his Theory of Relativity. They traded their times on this planet for things of great importance and are remembered for their sacrifice. If you had asked them in the middle of their lives they may have told you, out of frustration that the cost was much to steep. Yet I feel that if asked on their deathbeds the same question, the answer would have been that their only regret was that they could not do more. Time is the currency of most worth and should always be spent on life’s most enriching things.