My wife and I were having a conversation today and I had sort of an epiphany about myself. In my late teens and early 20’s, I realized that all I cared about was my own self. I wanted to be the smartest. I wanted to be the best. I wanted everyone to know and to see that. I actively searched for situations where I could grow my pride and my associated ego. I succeeded at my search and I felt pretty good about myself. My self-serving needs were being met and my pride and ego were about as massive as I can ever remember. I was insanely proud of myself.

However, sometime in my mid to late 20’s, I realized that my selfish needs were simple and short lived. I realized that life is better served by caring for other people and putting their needs ahead of mine. At this point in my life, I began to actively search for someone I could spend the rest of my life with. I was ready for commitment. I was ready to grow up. After serving myself for so many years, I now understood that to truly fill your being with an unending supply of personal nutrients for growth, you needed to focus upon those you care about in your life rather than your own existence.

I was lucky enough to find my wonderful wife around this time in my life… my selfish mentality had changed and I was ready for her to enter my life. The 9+ years since have been continually getting better.

As I look back, I know that if I had continued down the path of pursuing my individual needs of pride and ego, I would have missed my opportunity to meet my wife. I would have solely focused upon myself and missed the path in my journey that led to true happiness. We are all given a chance in our lives to make the choice between pride and ego or caring for others. Where are you at in your life? In all honesty, are you pursuing your own selfish desires or are you pursuing what will truly make a lasting difference in your life? Relationships and family are the lasting differences in our lives.

Being that we live in America, we are all taught that we can do and be anything. We are at the center of our known universe. Serving and satisfying our own needs has been taught to us as our primary goal from the beginning of human consciousness in our generation. We can make anything happen if we truly want it. I’ve even seen books tell me that if I truly believe in something that is going to happen, the good vibes in the universe will provide me my wish. You may have heard of a bestselling book touting this idea, “The Secret.” I hate to tell you, but that’s simply not true.

These days, I still have the urge for the prideful event and I always feel the twinge of my ego wanting to grow, but I do my best to keep these chains of desire out of my life. I have found that my life is much happier serving the needs of my family than serving the needs of myself. I’m sure many of you know exactly what I’m talking about and I’m sure there are those of you out there that are still in the self serving mode. In the end, we all have to live through our own trials and errors and if you can be honest with yourself, you will realize that pride and ego are actually some of the chains that will continually hold you down and feed depression and unhappiness.

Serving pride and ego are some of the worst things we succumb to doing as human beings. Break the chains and realize that serving the needs of others is where true happiness is found.

Primarily in my life, I am in constant competition with myself. Sometimes to a fault, I compete against myself in an effort to achieve perfection. As a result, there are certain competitions that I will never undertake and/or complete because I know perfection cannot be achieved and therefore I am left in a state of paralysis. I also have the mentality that if I am going to do something, I am going to do it right. Half right is an utter failure of competition for me. Competing against my own self rules my senses in almost everything I do… I attempt to win at everything I do.

I am a very sports oriented person too. That means that I am also very competitive against groups of people. It doesn’t have to be sports though. Any group that I interact with, I want our group to be perceived as the winner. Winning brings the stamp of approval amongst your peers does it not? Nobody ever crowns the losers do they?

I do not compete with possession. In my young adult life, that statement would not have been true… but these days, the more mature and self confident version of me doesn’t need worldly possession to tell me I’ve won the world’s possession competition. What do you actually win anyway? More bills, more stress, more stuff… great, can you take that with you when you die? Well, nobody really wants the ancillary issues that come along with possession competition… they only want the “stuff.”

Do you compete with your spouse? Sometimes I do, but only in a loving and friendly way. If I do compete with my wife, in actuality, it’s a competition that I want us both to win. I’m not looking to beat her or dominate her and win some hidden achievement. I’m looking to enter into a competition that we both will win. This is what I call a friendly competition.

Other things and people we all have a competition with involve our job, our families, and even inanimate objects. Competition is everywhere in our lives and sometimes we completely miss the point and focus on the wrong things while trying to achieve success. If we simply focus upon winning, then our attention isn’t necessarily in the right place. Focusing upon winning can lead to a win at all costs attitude and will inevitably create issues along the way.

Sometimes, we forget that while on the path to achieving success, others are on that same path. We cannot simply brush them to the side or crush them on the way and assume that it’s ok. We must compete with a fair and friendly attitude. Remember, nobody wants to be associated with a jerk. A winner who competes to win at all costs is in fact, a jerk. Ask their “friends.”

Now that I’ve told you who I compete against, are you much different than me? I think we are all competing amongst ourselves. The only difference is how we go about it and what we truly view as success. I used to compete with the mentality of crushing all opponents, a sports mentality. But in the real world, competing in such a way will not work and in the end, it will leave you as the loser in life. As the new year begins, I have entered into many new competitions. I intend to be successful, but my focus will be upon achieving success without destroying those around me. Competition done fairly and effectively can help everyone and not just the so-called “winner.” So, go compete, but be fair and friendly.

Is the motivator in your life something physical, spiritual, or emotional? Can you quantify your particular motivator? More often than not, I would bet my money that the motivators for most are emotional and spiritual. Physical motivators are fleeting and are vastly overrated. Shooting from the hip here, I would guess that the physical factors for most are money/wealth, physical attributes/looks, and possessions. These are things people can easily touch and quantify. They are also things that are very shallow and volatile. For the most part, physical motivation does not last and only creates a continuous need for more because satisfaction can never be achieved without having more and more.

On the other hand, we have spiritual and emotional motivators. These factors can also create a constant state of dissatisfaction because many people cannot honestly express themselves and sacrifice their true needs for the needs of others or for fear of public retribution or humiliation. There are also situations where these needs can mimic that of a possession motivator. They can be a never ending hole that cannot be filled for whatever reason.

What makes me tick? At one point in my life, I can honestly tell you that physical possession meant more to me than anything. I wanted the best and more of it. I wanted the top of the line and wanted better than anyone else. I wanted it, I needed it. Many, if not all of us, probably go through this period of selfishness and greed in our lives.

Later in life, I entered an emotional motivator focus on life. Within this segment of life, I was specifically motivated by appreciation received from others. I would do anything as long as I felt that I was being appreciated and respected for my efforts. If I felt that I was being taken for granted or slighted, I would be immediately angered and become very aggravated. This emotional motivator is a very sharp two-edged sword. Very rarely is there balance or a middle of the road. I lived a hot and cold life while focused on my appreciation motivational ticker.

Now, I believe that I am entering a new stage in my motivational life. My life has become more motivated by my spiritual relationships. I still cling to the remnants of physical motivation. I don’t think any of us can truly be rid of our basic sense of want, not 100%. I am still holding on to my appreciation motivator too. I am trying to temper those times when I feel like I am underappreciated. Even with those still hanging around, my single most motivating factor in my life is becoming my spiritual relationships.

That truly makes me tick these days. As each day progresses and my previous motivators diminish in relationship to my core motivator, I feel more at peace. My spiritual relationships alters my outlook on the world we live in and provides me the necessary buffer against the damaging emotions other motivating factors bring with it.

My relationship with my wife and my Savior are my two most important motivators in my life. As I focus on these types of relationships, the other motivators become meaningless. I believe my progression through physical, emotional, and spiritual motivation is the path most of us walk through as we mature. Some may experience these motivators earlier in life or in a different order, but I feel that spiritual motivation is the pinnacle of life.

That’s what makes me tick. What makes you tick?

One very important aspect of retirement to consider… on average, people are living longer these days. No longer is retirement lasting for 10-15 years… it may last 20-30 years. If someone thinks they are going to need 80% of their maximum yearly income during their later years in life, what exactly are they spending their money on? Won’t lifestyles change as you age? I would surely think so.

After a lifetime of working and spending money to survive, priorities change, tastes change, and expectations of life change. A retired couple isn’t in the market for a massive house with multiple bedrooms, four car garages, large lawns, and pools. In my mind, a retired couple is looking for a quaint lifestyle with a nice cottage, a vehicle, and a nice front and back yard to relax in. Even if you are in the upper echelon of wealth, the “perks of life” are meaningless once you reach a certain age. Practicality supersedes possession at some point in a rational existence does it not?

Rational to me means retirement is achievable with much less money than the “experts” are projecting… for normal people that is. Yes, we can always assume that prices will always increase and that must be accounted for. But, we must also assume that our lifestyle will change and our costs of living will decrease because our purchase decisions will be affected by our changed mentality. Will a 70 year old man still want to spend money on frivolous things like a young man would? Will a 70 year old woman still be making purchase decisions like she was still a 30 year old? I would hope not. Not meaning that age removes the freedom of living young, but I’m saying that our mentality truly changes… our life’s focus changes.

If I ever reach retirement age, I can guarantee you that my tastes will be different when that happens and my purchase decisions and spending habits will change accordingly. I will not WANT a big house. I will not WANT a new car in the driveway. I will not WANT a large yard to manicure and take care of. I will not WANT all the latest gadgets and devices that are pushed upon society.

Do you know what I will want? What I will want is what I want now… more time to spend with my wife and my family. I want more freedom to serve my Church and my spiritual calling. I want more of what life offers and not what possession offers. I want LESS. I want LESS possession. I will HAVE LESS… ON PURPOSE!

Our retirement analysts push the same mentality for our seniors as they push for our young and middle aged investors, more, more, and more. We all must have MORE! At all costs, make more, buy more, earn more, and HAVE MORE! Somewhere in there, time is lost, sacrificed for the all important more. Time with your family is lost. Your life is lost. You retire and yet you never lived. But hey, your retirement will sure be a fancy one won’t it?

I say forget about the money, focus upon saving for a retirement of practicality. We must live life without sacrificing today for a future that may never exist. Be practical yes, but be rational. If you feel that you must have more even in retirement, what need are you fulfilling in your life that requires your sacrifice of time today? Is your family paying the price for your perceived reward? Are you really costing yourself and your family more than the return in a potentially nonexistent future?

The eyes of the American public have been pried open by what some may equate to how an experienced torturer may open the eyes of his victim. People are losing their retirement savings in an instant, many families are being forced from their homes, and individuals are losing their jobs that they once thought were safe in a hustling and bustling economy. Nothing is safe at this point. The news reports the demise of the big three automakers in Detroit and their pleas for Congress to help bail them out. We hear daily reports of financial institutions going under with their only hope to survive being federal takeover or submitting to a takeover from a rival company. Employees are finding out that their jobs are not safe each and every day as companies are cutting their costs by sacrificing jobs. Home values have declined to the point where more people have no equity in their home than ever before in our history.

All of these things have combined to generate a horrific downward spiral of events that cause the next major collapse or economic downshift. The net effect is that there is less money to be spent by both the individual and the business. Less money in the economy at all levels – national, state, and local – means that people are going to face even worse times in the future. Things may appear bleak at the moment, but we are only riding the first wave of issues that are pounding our economic beaches. However, right now is the time of giving, the time of holiday shopping, the ultimate time to spend money… the Christmas shopping season is upon us and Black Friday opened our eyes to the “necessary” products we must have for ourselves and to give to others.

Forecasts for the holiday shopping season are generally conservative and if people do not spend as they have in the past, the economic fallout will be felt in the coming year. But, given that jobs are becoming more scarce, corporate profits are down, and the stock market isn’t generating instant millionaires at the rate is has in our recent past, where is this holiday shopping money going to come from? Do people have hundreds or thousands of dollars in cash stuffed under their mattress? Do they have a savings account or trust fund to dip into to satisfy their Christmas “giving” needs? Where exactly is the money going to come from?

Initial reports from Black Friday estimated that Americans spent $41 billion during the Thanksgiving shopping period. That was up several percentage points when compared to last year. Forecasters have turned in their estimates and believe that even though they expect the lowest increase in spending in six years, they fully expect Americans to spend upwards of $470 billion during the Christmas shopping season. That is up from $460 billion last year…

In four days, Americans spent an estimated $41 billion shopping and are expected to spend over 10 times that in the next 25 days or so. How is that possible? Where is the money coming from? I can tell you where the money is coming from. It’s coming from the last remaining amounts left on consumers’ credit cards. People are willing to spend what they have when they have it because let’s face it, Christmas is important and everyone wants to have a good Christmas.

Also, the sense of spending it while you have it has entered many minds. Credit companies and financial institutions have been cutting the amounts they are allowing their customers to borrow. Rather than watch the credit line disappear, many people are using every last cent available to them to offset the current shortage of cash in their lives. Eventually, the credit lines will be tapped out and many consumers will be faced with very tough decisions. Without available credit and bills coming due, something has to give.

An easy way to make ourselves feel good when things are bad is to buy something. We fill a depressing need with a new possession. We spend some “future” money today in an effort to satisfy our decaying lifestyle only to see that we’ve made things worse. I believe that next year, if our economy isn’t treated to some kind of miraculous turnaround or unforeseeable bubble akin to the internet boom, bankruptcies will be the next statistic we hear about on a daily basis. Today, it’s bailouts… next year, it could be bankruptcies. There is only so much bailout money to go around and eventually, people and corporations will be allowed to fail. The economic fallout will be horrific. It could be our generation’s Great Depression. No, we likely won’t face 25% unemployment, but our standard of living could in fact be comparable to how our forefathers lived… day to day, worrying about the necessities of life being fulfilled.

Yes, we are/were in an age of excess, you cannot deny it. While your particular purchasing habits may not have been of epic proportions, society as a whole focused upon possession and more of everything. After so many years of living beyond our means (I’m at fault here myself), we are all paying the price of our past mistakes. We were all blindly led to believe that the future offered everything that would satisfy our monetary needs because our equity continued to build as we bought more and more stuff. We kept expanding and living upon the faith that a dollar spent today would turn into more than a dollar in the future. However, that future was expected to be the VERY NEAR future.

In between the buildup and that seemingly promised future, we have experienced a major issue, our economy buckled under the constant pressure of excess living. No longer do we have that “guarantee” of future monetary reward for our past greed. I say greed because what other term can you logically apply to how we were living? We were ALL at fault for living greedily. Blame who you like, but we are all responsible for our own decisions in the end.

Now that we are experiencing the cyclical nature of the free markets and the dire consequences of our actions, we are left with a very important decision to make. Are we going to try and persevere through these “tough” times and continue our previous way of life or are we going to change how we live and change our purchasing habits? I for one am going to enter what I call an Age Of Minimalism. My purchasing habits will be directed by a set of strict guidelines that focus upon need and not greed.

Do I actually need what I currently own? Of course I need a house and a vehicle, but do I need a huge house and an SUV to satisfy those requirements? Outside of food, shelter, and other life necessities, what do we truly need? Do we need multiple televisions? Do we need a library of books and DVDs? Do we need new furniture and all the knick knacks that make our home cluttered? You get the idea. Sure, there are some things that we do need, but there is a very clear line between things we truly need and those which we don’t. There is also a clear line between satisfying your need and EXCESSIVELY satisfying your need.

We have been inundated with the big box stores promoting greater savings by buying larger packages of stuff. Do you need a gallon of ketchup? Do you need 36 cans of Spaghettios? Do you need 48 rolls of toilet paper? If we are buying these things, we have to have a place to put them right? So, we need more of everything… more stuff that we “need” and more space to store this “stuff.”

Our nation is facing a turning point and I believe that either by choice or by economic force, our citizens are going to each have to make the choice and choose to live in an Age Of Minimalism. Our President Elect Barack Obama rode the winds of change to the White House based upon his promises for a better economy. However, his latest speeches have been ENTIRELY focused upon the need to temper our expectations about what can be done. He says things will likely get worse before they get better. He says it will take time to fix what years (a generation) have broken. Really… and here I thought his election was a magic pill for our economy and people would somehow wake up with thousands of dollars in their bank account so they could go about their business and merrily spend their money…

The choice we face could determine the long term existence of our country. If we fail to change our lives of excess, our economy could disintegrate and we would no longer be a relevant nation in the global economy. We must change from being greedy to being focused upon our needs. If we satisfy our needs and save our money, we will return our nation to economic prosperity and our lives will in turn become more satisfying. We are worried about our economy because we chose to live excessively. We are now paying that price and that price may destroy our nation’s long term economic success if we fail to recognize our ignorance. Change from greed to need and happiness will return, along with economic stability.

Have I become apathetic because I’m accepting the fact that we are going to be a nation led by the most liberal President ever in our history? Am I apathetic because the only other valid choice is an aged war veteran who has been manicured by Washington D.C. over 30 years of political “service?” Am I apathetic because our likely next President has issued statements over the last year indicating that his “faith in the American people was vindicated” only AFTER he won the Iowa caucus vote in the Primary race? Is it because our likely next First Lady issues a statement nearly nine months ago that “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” and that she is no longer “feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment…?”

The Obama family has consistently made statements such as these. Sure, every citizen at some point has become disenfranchised, disappointed, and angry with the state of our government, but when has our citizenship ever been called into question as a country? Obama feels that his “faith in the American people” was “vindicated.” Why did it need vindication? The citizens are not the problem with this country… it’s the politicians and the government who we have elected who were SUPPOSED to be working on our behalf that is the problem. Why has Michelle Obama only now become proud of her country because her husband has been placed on the political pedestal he currently sits upon? I have my issues with this country, but the fact is, I’m proud of it and always have been… even when we faced the international shame Bill Clinton brought upon us with his lewd behavior while in office.

The Obama family believes in change and supposedly offers the American society something different. What exactly are they offering different that hasn’t been promised to us for decades? People seem to disregard the Obama’s attending of a church led by a radical Black Liberation enthusiast for 20 years. Why do you think Barack needs the society to be “vindicated” and why do you think Michelle has felt “alone” and “frustrated and disappointed?” Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. has repeatedly utilized his pulpit to disparage America and brainwash his congregation with his liberation “theology.” After 20 years of supposed attendance, the Obama family should well in fact be frustrated and disappointed in the American citizenship and require its vindication because they have been TAUGHT this position.

I agree, we need change in our government but does anyone really think ONE person can effectively change the landscape which has been created over 200+ years? Does anyone think ONE person can fix our ailing economy? Does anyone think ONE person can fix all of America’s ills? This is what the Obama campaign has been selling. They SAY Barack is the one to bring about change and have utilized mass media brainwashing techniques in an effort to sway the public. In the end, it appears that the millions of campaign dollars will have just done that. After about a BILLION dollars spent, Obama appears likely to become our next President.

We are going to have a President who has never been an executive at any level of importance. We are going to have a Vice President with his only notoriety being that he is prone to make “public gaffes.” We are going to have a First Lady who has a lingering distaste for the public she will serve. We will have a Presidential family who has been spiritually taught and mentored for 20 years that they were oppressed by the American society which they will become in charge of.

So, I sit here apathetic, resigned to the fact that our country is being misled by someone we truly don’t know anything about. Sure, Obama promises us a better economy, more jobs, and lower taxes, but where does he stand on the real issues? Do we trust his moral and ethical values? Do we trust in him? Do you trust his family? Do you trust his past? Even though Obama has been on the campaign trail for two years, we still don’t really know anything outside of the same old promises that have been made by every politician I’ve ever seen.

Citation: http://www.foxnews.com/

America is based upon a free market ideology, capitalism at its best. We are a democracy first and foremost. The citizen, your everyday average person, wields the power of our country’s direction in the form of a single vote. However, now that we seem to be in a seemingly “unfixable” situation created by years and years of borrowing at low interest rates without the income to repay in the future, there must be a way out of this. Try this on for size, tax everyone 100%. Hypothetical remember! I’m the first to be squarely against such a measure, but I’m just trying to rearrange some brain cells here and put forth an idea that could be quite scary when it comes down to it… because it would work.

Let me give you a scenario here and let’s see if it’s an ideal world you would “vote” for. You work at your job of choice, where you want, just like now. However, all income is taxed 100% by the government. In return for your work and taxed dollars, every single person in our nation is provided free health care, free public school, free college education, a state sponsored vehicle, a house determined to be “rational” for your family size, a guaranteed retirement in the form of social security once you reach 65, and enough food to feed your family healthily. Well, that sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Isn’t that what we all are basically looking for anyway… a life that includes education, healthcare, retirement, and no worries about survival?

One simple drawback, you don’t have much discretionary cash because the government allowance of “petty cash” is small when compared to today’s world (borrowed discretionary cash). This is from the employee perspective, but what about businesses, why would they agree to such measures? Well, let’s take a look at that. Let’s give businesses some built in “incentives” for their agreement to accept the plan. They are provided the same perks our current executives receive… luxury getaways, luxury cars, luxury housing, and all kinds of vacation time. However, in return for their “incentives,” they must agree to government regulation and fixed market strategies. Imports and exports are also controlled by the government.

Basically, the idea is to remove the “bad things” that come with a lifelong pursuit of money and possession. The average citizen is looking for stability for the family, peace of mind. The business owner is looking for power and social standing. In this hypothetical situation, both can be achieved. What cannot be achieved is greed. There is no reward for greed in this system. There would still be an incentive to work harder and be the best, but not for the sake of money.

I could go into much deeper detail explaining this situation by that’s not the goal. The goal is to think completely outside the box and get some opinions. What are your goals for life? Are you looking for the biggest bank account on the block? Are you trying to keep up with your neighbor’s purchases? Are you trying to own a small fleet of vehicles? You get the idea. Or, are you looking to simply live a nice, well cared for, life with your family?

I’m sure most of us are just looking for the answer to the last question. We want to live without worry about our house being foreclosed, our bills becoming insurmountable, and our child’s education. In this plan, everything would be provided… you just have to agree to a 100% tax on your income. Is it a fair tradeoff? Would you vote for it? If someone actually created a plan such as this, do you think it would receive the support of the nation?

Personally, I think such a plan would win by a landslide in our current economic situation. People fear having nothing and that’s a situation many families are staring at. Removal of worry is worth the cost in gold, if not being priceless, at times. After all this hypothetical talk about a potential fix, guess what this fix really consists of? It’s a form of communism. As I stated earlier, in no way shape or form, am I a supporter of socialism or communism. However, this article was written to open a few eyes, spur a few opinions, and get some thoughts from the readers out there.

Even though the situation sounds good in theory, would it be worth trading your true freedom in for the rewards of government sponsored living? Absolute government control is to be feared. Give some opinions, start up a discussion, and let’s see where it goes.

But, throwing a tool, hitting an object, or simply destroying it by your own hands is much different than firing a weapon at one. As the person in this story has learned, it’s not a great idea to place your tools at the mercy of your personal firing squad. Well, at least not in public. According to the report, this particular man proceeded to shoot his lawn mower because it wouldn’t start. He was arrested for felony possession of an illegal short barreled weapon and also armed disorderly conduct. His neighbor also alleges the man was intoxicated. A quote from the “criminal” goes as follows: “I can do that, it’s my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want.” Theoretically that is true. However, you cannot do that in a public neighborhood while intoxicated with an illegal firearm.

What exactly is this man facing for his rage directed at his lawn mower? He is facing a potential $11,000 fine and 6+ years in prison if convicted. I can’t imagine him receiving the maximum sentence for this particular episode of crazed mania but who knows. Our legal system isn’t all that predictable. Think about this.  If he receives the maximum sentence, for a few hundred dollar mower, he could cost himself $11,000 in fines and the loss of 6 years of earnings. That’s a pretty hefty cost not to mention the prison time itself. He would have been served much better had he lit the mower on fire or beat it to death with a sledge hammer. The end result would be the same… a horrible lawn mower death at the hands of its owner.

Sure, what he did was wrong. First, he shouldn’t have an illegal firearm. That’s a no-no. Second, he shouldn’t have discharged a firearm in public (assuming he was within city limits). That’s also a no-no. And lastly, he shouldn’t have been doing any of this while drinking. He is in trouble for these issues and not the fact that he shot his own property. For the most part, if we own it, we can do whatever we want with it. The man, not thinking clearly, more than likely, due to alcohol went a bit too far in destroying his property and he will pay a price for that.

I’ve always been one to hit the tool that doesn’t comply. Or throw, or simply slam down on the floor (hopefully concrete so it creates as much damage as possible). Tools and other inanimate objects in a man’s life DESERVE to be punished at times. We are led to believe tools have no sense of being or cognitive capability. But, if you talk to any man who has used tools for any length of time, you will KNOW tools have only the worst intentions for owners. Don’t believe me? Have you ever listened to a man while he is working? That’s proof enough isn’t it? Among the things you’ll hear is a vocabulary never heard before littered with some of the most descriptive cuss words known to man. You’ll hear tools banged around, screams, and sometimes even laughter.

If you begin to hear laughter, be worried. This is the point of near breaking. One more insult from the tool and death could be rained down upon it in an instant. My weed eater is a testament to that fact. You may be thinking good natured laughter. No, not quite. I’m talking insane laughter or cackling. It’s quite similar to what you would think a nervous breakdown would be. In all reality, it is a minor breakdown. The tool has opened up the insanity lobe of a man’s brain by acting like a teenager hell-bent on arguing with his parents. Want me to start? Good luck. Want me to do something you need done right now? Nope. Not going to happen. Think I’m in the last place you put me? Not a chance.

Tools are alive I tell you. I have found that the nicer I treat my tools, the better they work. Even then though, they are very fickle. I don’t think a tool ever reaches a human age above maybe 7. They are controlled by instant gratification every second of their simple lives. If the owner doesn’t answer every single want or need, they will revolt and your garage and toolbox will become a mass of chaos and anarchy. Oh, did I mention that tools talk to each other? I’m not crazy, the tools are!

All kidding aside, tools are a great way to vent anger. They don’t hit back and most of the time, they are cheap to replace. Sometimes, they even go out in a blaze of glory (lighter fluid and a match will make that happen). But, don’t ever decide to go into your house, pull out an illegal firearm and proceed to shoot it in front of your neighbors while you are sucking down a six-pack. You are just asking for trouble such as the man in this story is in. The lesson is, if you’re going to place your tool in front of the firing squad, do it in a rural area, with a legal firearm, while not drinking. Have fun target practicing.

Citation: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080725/ap_on_fe_st/odd_mower_madness

I’m going to write about a product today that I ran across while surfing this morning. It doesn’t appear to be a “brand spanking new” product like the release of the 3G Apple iPhone today, but it seems to have reappeared for whatever reason. I’m even going to throw in an image, how do you like that? What is it? It’s a coffee cup with a locking plug in the side of it. The cup has been designed for the office worker who tends to have his or her coffee cup stolen/borrowed by other people. Having the “lock-cup” at work renders the cup useless for most people and thus ensures your cup will be available for use the next time you are in need of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate at the office. How awesome of an invention is that? (sarcasm)

Novelty items are all around us and some are funny and some are actually useful. While I’m sure there are office workers who are thanking their lucky stars because they now have a theft deterrent built into their coffee cup, the rest of normal society is looking at this product in wonderment. Has society regressed to the point where we need a key to “open” our coffee cup? We have locks on our houses, safes inside our houses, our computers, our gas caps, our hub caps, our cars, and now we can have locks on our coffee cup! Since when did a coffee cup become of such value, the hardened office criminals have began to devise clandestine plans to illegally appropriate someone else’s valuable mug property? I will hope for the sake of sanity this product is a novelty item only and not meant to be purchased as a means to end a “serious” office issue.

Seriously though, our lives are beginning to reach the point where we are trying to “lock up” everything we own out of fear of losing it. Over time, our society is continuing down the path of “castle mentality.” What I mean by “castle mentality” is that we are trying to build walls to keep everyone out of our lives and possession. These walls can be physical, mental, or just theoretical walls we put in place. Even electronic walls fit this mindset. Our country began as a nation of immigrants. Our nation was based upon open minds and diverse nationalities being welcomed into our melting pot. Society in the past featured communities where no door was locked and people were welcomed with open arms as if they were family. People were trusted as being honorable and trustworthy until proven different. How far has our country gone from the open mentality of those in the past generations? We are currently at the polar opposite.

Our nation is worried about closing our borders for various reasons. Our citizens are under constant pressure trying to protect the rights given to us by our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Our government continually tries to filter those rights for the so-called “greater good.” These are forms of walls. Does the definition of freedom have any reference to walls or limitations? The castle can be in various forms. Our government is a castle which those in power try their utmost to protect and grow its borders. Our house is our own personal castle which we are forced to protect. Our private lives are also our castle which we protect from those around us. Our electronic data is another castle we continually build walls to protect. Now, we even have our castle at our office. Not just the office desk, but even the coffee cup. Our nation has turned into something akin to what our forefathers sailed the seas away from.

We build our castle walls everywhere in an effort to protect our supposed freedom within. It is a constant effort to keep the walls from closing in and thus we see products such as the “lock-cup” created. Even if it is a joke, or novelty item, it is a product from the symptoms of castle mentality within our society. Now, I’m not saying there should be no locks, or there should be no government, or there should be no laws that we must abide by. I am saying rather than being forced to live in a protectionist society, we should be focusing on living in a society which was established over 230 years ago, a free one. We are the world’s beacon for a free society and we are slowly allowing our own freedom to be closed by various forms of castle building. How many walls do you have in your life protecting your freedom within? Are you continually maintaining them in an effort to keep the intruders out? Are you building new ones every day in an effort to expand your footprint of personal freedom? Who and what are you keeping out? Do you have a wall around your property? Do you have a wall around your office? Everywhere you go, there can be a wall. We choose to do this because we are afraid if we don’t build our walls, we will lose something of value.

We may lose possessions which are valuable. We may lose precious territory that “belongs” to us. We may be afraid to let people into our lives where we are in fear of being hurt or rejected. Our mentality of castle building affects everything we do. In a free society, where did this mentality creep in? It has crept into our society’s mind because over time, our freedoms have slowly been taken away from us in various ways. We have moved from a sharing society to a society of me. Our walls protect our selfish desires of what we want or feel we deserve. Rather than a community focus, we are focused on where we will be as an individual. If our country had the same mentality when our forefathers took the leap of faith proclaiming independence, I don’t believe the United States of America would exist today.

If we are going to build something, we should focus on extending the rights and freedoms of our country, not building walls to limit them. Removing the castle mentality from society cannot be done overnight or by one individual. It is something that would probably take generations to change just as it has taken generations to create. But, if we can stop the momentum and even reverse the trend, we can make an immediate impact in our current generation’s lives. Rather than building that next wall, choose to use your efforts in building something else. We have come a long way from a coffee cup lock to discussing a free society but I like thinking metaphorically. The “lock-cup” is a metaphor for someone’s castle wall and the walls of our society.