I Robot

I just read an article where a scientist believes we should be aware of our acceptance and dependence on robots.  He believes the more we trust and like robots, human beings, as we know them today, will change.  Kids will grow up being guided by their robots not their parents. People will have robot companions instead of live pets. Seniors will be using robots for help instead of care givers. People won't communicate the way they do today. Face to face relationships will degrade.

I say, "what's it my business?" My phone is important to me.  I communicate more because of its many features.  I'm more in tune with what's going on in the world because its connected to the internet. I can listen to the songs that make me happy because of its many features. I can instantly recall pictures of a happier time because of its many features.

Stop watching Si-Fy movies where robots are the enemy not the ones who will make our lives better. Robots will not make war. Robots are not political. Robots will become what we the people want them to become.  

We have the power of the vote.  We have the power to vote our pocketbooks. Robots will become what we want them to become. Because I believe "happiness is the forgotten ingredient in life", robots in the future will have a positive impact in my thirst for happiness.  I see the future as better than today.  Therefore, I believe robots will make the world better.

The people who believe the future will become worse than today, believe robots will destroy mankind. In my opinion, these people, if given the chance, will create a self-fulfilling prophecy. In my opinion, negative people will always see the future as bad, never the future is good.

The automobile changed the world. Airplanes changed the world. The iPhone changed the world. Electronics, including robots, will change the world. Human kind will change from what it is today to what it will be in the future. However, why do most people assume it will be for the negative not the positive?

I personally can't wait to see how the world and human kind changes in the future.  I won't be able to see it all, but I'm sure it will be interesting and fun. I'm sure the kids of tomorrow will be better than the kids of today. I'm sure adults will adjust in a positive way just like we adjusted in a positive way from the way our parents (and their parents before them) lived.

I will use the new stuff to my advantage. I'm sure I will embrace all that is good and disregard all that is bad.

Most of us like to watch negative stuff like the news. However, almost all of us will not go out and buy things that will make us unhappy. Corporations want us to buy stuff because that's how they survive and prosper. The James Bond "Specter Corporation" whose only goal is to destroy the world, can't exist in a society that wants happiness in their life.

Making this world a happy place starts with YOU!  When you're happy others become happy. If enough of us become happy the world will change for the better.  If robots can help that along, I'm all for it.

Ellen, will you please stop playing slot machine games on your iPad so we can eat dinner!

Stop The Presses

 


Do you believe what you read?  Do you believe what you hear and see on the internet or TV?  I do and don't.  I don't believe one single thing that's written in a scandal magazine. I believe about fifty percent of what I read in local newspapers and local TV. I believe about eighty percent in what I read in the Wall Street Journal and watch on CNN.

 
You might say, I'm too skeptical. You might say, I'm paranoid. You might say, I'm being too generous with my "believable grades." If you say, I'm paranoid, you're being somewhat naive and that could affect your happiness.

 
If you say, "my believable grades" are too generous, you're being somewhat paranoid and that could affect your happiness.  What I am is skeptical about anything I read, hear or see when the person or company is profiting from what they've written, spoken or transmitted.

 
Anybody who doesn't agree the Tabloids just make shit up, are going to buy swamp land in Georgia.  Owning swamp land in Georgia will not make you happy (unless you love alligators). Anybody who refuses to believe anything written, spoken or transmitted is the truth, is living in a wood cabin in Arkansas with their toothless parents, guns abound and anti-government  posters all around. These people are haters.  Haters are never happy (unless their shooting something).

 
Most publications, radio, TV and internet people and companies don't go out of their way to lie. However, they also don't always take the time to make sure they get it right. The LA Times, local news and internet news stated during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner that he was in four different locations.  Only one of those locations was right. During the shootout they all said it was Dorner doing the shooting and he was killed. None of that was confirmed during the shooting or after the shooting stopped. The next day some evidence was found that could lead to Dorner, but until the investigation was over, nobody should have stated it was him.  

 
Rushing to judgment is one of the problems with the media. Knowing they might be getting it wrong makes it right to be skeptical. Being skeptical doesn't mean you're a negative person.  It means you're someone who wants to run your life on the truth. You’re someone who always seeks the truth. You’re someone who is truthful. You’re someone who is willing to call bullshit. You’re someone who is willing to take a step back and do the research to get to the truth. You’re someone who doesn't judge based upon what someone else says, writes or transmits.

 
The saying "the truth will set you free" is great, but what is even greater is: "The Truth Should Make You Happy." Seeking the truth even if the outcome might be what you don't want to hear or see is much better than believing the bullshit because it's what you want to see or hear.

 
There are so many truths in my life I didn't want to know. However, not seeking the truth and believing the bullshit (when I knew it was bullshit), made me feel worse.

 

Truth seekers, truth writers and truth transmitters are the happiest people I know.

I'm one of them!

Like A Rock

"Like A Rock" by Bob Seger

Stood there boldly

Sweatin' in the sun

Felt like a million

Felt like number one

The height of summer

I'd never felt that strong

Like a rock



I was eighteen

Didn't have a care

Working for peanuts

Not a dime to spare

But I was lean and

Solid everywhere

Like a rock



My hands were steady

My eyes were clear and bright

My walk had purpose

My steps were quick and light

And I held firmly

To what I felt was right

Like a rock



Like a rock, I was strong as I could be

Like a rock, nothin' ever got to me

Like a rock, I was something to see

Like a rock



And I stood arrow straight

 

 

 

 

Unencumbered by the weight

Of all these hustlers and their schemes

I stood proud, I stood tall

High above it all

I still believed in my dreams



Twenty years now

Where'd they go?

Twenty years

I don't know

Sit and I wonder sometimes

Where they've gone



And sometimes late at night

When I'm bathed in the firelight

The moon comes callin' a ghostly white

And I recall

I Recall



Like a rock. standin' arrow straight

Like a rock, chargin' from the gate

Like a rock, carryin' the weight

Like a rock



Like a rock, the sun upon my skin

Like a rock, hard against the wind

Like a rock, I see myself again

Like a rock

Is that the way you felt at eighteen? I did!

Stood there boldly

Sweatin' in the sun

Felt like a million

Felt like number one

The height of summer

I'd never felt that strong

Like a rock

I had great friends. I felt loved from both family and friends. I was the pack leader. I felt like a million. People (including my parents) wanted my opinion. I felt like number one.

Like a rock, I was strong as I could be

Like a rock, nothin' ever got to me

Like a rock, I was something to see

Like a rock

I was handsome and confidant. Nothing serious got to me.

Unencumbered by the weight

Of all these hustlers and their schemes

I stood proud, I stood tall

High above it all

I still believed in my dreams

I was proud of my position in life and most importantly, I still believed in all my dreams.

Then:

 

Twenty years now

Where'd they go?

Twenty years

I don't know

Sit and I wonder sometimes

Where they've gone

At thirty eight all the positives of eighteen were gone. Two broken marriages, problems with my son, too much stress at work and financial problems made me sit and wonder where those twenty years had gone.

 What kept me glued together was:

Sometimes late at night

When I'm bathed in the firelight

The moon comes callin' a ghostly white

And I recall

I Recall

Like a rock, the sun upon my skin

Like a rock, hard against the wind

Like a rock, I see myself again

Like a rock

I would look in the mirror and see Kenny from South Philly.  Eighteen and "like a rock!" Knowing I used to be confident, proud, believing in all my dreams, letting nothing get to me and feeling like number one, I realized I needed help to feel that way again. That realization encouraged me to get the help which changed my life. More than twenty years have passed and mentally I feel like eighteen again - "like a rock." 

If eighteen was some of the best times of your life, never forget them.  If you are mentally not feeling like eighteen today or tomorrow, close your eyes and visualize who you were at eighteen. Visualize the happiness you had then. Visualize the power you had over your life. Visualize the dreams you believed would come true. Visualize how loved you were.

Repeat after me:

I can be that person again. I deserve to be that person again!

 

I'm still "Like A Rock"

Disappoint Everyone, Disappoint Anyone, But Never

Disappoint Yourself

 

 

Sometimes people who write TV shows say something profound.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does it can really hit a home run.  I wish I knew who the author is who wrote:

 

"Disappoint Everyone, Disappoint Anyone, But Never Disappoint Yourself."

 

If I did, I would assume he or she has written other profound sayings.  I'm going to tell you what this saying means to me.  However, you should think long and hard about what it means to you.

 

Let's start at the end; "Never Disappoint Yourself." Do you feel disappointed?  Did you make decisions in your life that made you feel disappointed with yourself?  Were you ever in a friendship or relationship that wound up disappointing you?  Did you avoid making a tough decision and feel disappointed in your lack of action?  Do you feel life will find a way to disappoint you?  When you get disappointed do you stop liking yourself?  When you get disappointed do you feel not good enough?  Do you feel disappointed all the time?

 

If the answer is "yes" to any or all of the above, you're not on a good path to happiness.  To get back on path, you have three choices.

 

1.      Avoid, at all costs, doing anything that might lead to you being disappointed.

2.      Do something that might disappoint "them" but will not disappoint you.

3.      Stop being disappointed.

Number one is not the right answer and won't work.  Avoiding life so you don't disappoint yourself is not living life.  Living life to the fullest is the right path to happiness. As I've been telling you, always ask yourself "what's the worst that can happen.  Even if the worse happens I believe I will recover."  An interesting life is more interesting when you've had disappointments and lived through them.  Don't cheat yourself out of a happy life because you fear being disappointed.  Remember:

 

"If you make more right decisions than wrong decisions that's great, but NO decision IS a wrong decision."  By Kenny Felderstein

 

Number two will work, but might have some consequences. You should always put yourself in first position.  You should always love yourself just a little more than anyone or anything else. Making a major change, making a major decision, putting yourself ahead of everyone else, might disappoint friends, family, children, church, team, bosses, co-workers, but if you're doing so for your happiness it shouldn't disappoint you.

 

You should never feel disappointed if you've disappointed others because you want a better life.  Let the others deal with "their" disappointment.  The people who care and love you will get over their disappointment.  If you disappointed others because you tried something new and failed don't let it disappoint you.  You'll try again and succeed or you'll realize you're over your head on this action and will try something you're more capable of doing right.  Never be disappointed because you tried and failed.  Feel great about yourself because you tried in the first place.

 

If you disappointed others because you just didn't give a shit, you're not a good person, you're not a happy person and you don't give positive energy out to the Universe.  People like that don't get disappointed by anything "they" do because they don't have a love for life.

 

Number three is the best choice.  If you get disappointed, get over it quickly.  It's not helping your happiness meter by staying disappointed. Long term disappointment leads to depression. Long term disappointment leads to poor health. Long term disappointment leads to not feeling good about yourself. Long term disappointment leads to more disappointment.

 

Whatever you did that made you disappointed, is not life threatening. Whatever you did that made you disappointed, will go away sooner the less you focus on it. Whatever you did that made you disappointed can be corrected. Whatever you did that made you disappointed is just a moment in time.

 

You have the power to be happy. You have the power to make a better life for yourself. You have the power to not be disappointed at any action you take that might lead to your happiness.