Lesson 10 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

In order to be happy you will have to lower your expectations. If you expect people to make you happy or things to make you happy you won’t be happy because your expectations will keep you from being happy.
I think that learning to accept that there will be much misery in my life that is neither my fault nor within my ability to do more than limit the pain I have been caused was one of the most difficult lessons I ever had to learn. When I stopped being miserable and feeling like I was the only person with a miserable life I began to look for what I could find joy in. In all I must say that fun has very little to do with joy or happiness.

© 2010 Vic Jones

WAR!

War is about the stupidest activity that humans engage in yet I believe it is absolutely necessary. The reason I believe this is that I believe that we must have both conflict and even combat in order to stay where we are (which is the top predator on earth) and be prepared to meet any external threat.
The reason I say war is stupid though is this; war tends to kill the young, the brilliant and the stupid without regard to what they may provide except sacrifices to that insatiable monster war!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Cooperation Vs Compulsion

One of the big issues we as humans have in life is the line between compulsion and cooperation. We almost know instinctively that we must cooperate or die. Yet when we try to compel someone to cooperate with us we get rebellion or something worse. Still it seems that in every generation there are those who will say that the only way to achieve cooperation is to compel people to cooperate! It seems to me that cooperation is the exact opposite of compulsion and that if one tries to obtain cooperation by force (which is the definition of compulsion) then cooperation disappears.


© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 9 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

When you fail it is an opportunity to learn. If you refuse to learn from your failures then you have refused to accept the facts of life.
I of course must admit that my most common failure is my refusal to accept the facts of life. I. E. I’ve been known to make the same mistake many times before deciding that what I have been attempting will not work.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 8 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Learning how to channel my anger in constructive ways is one of the most difficult lessons I have ever tried to learn. In fact I'm not sure I have actually learned it yet.
Difficult lessons are always the ones you want to avoid, but often the ones you need to learn the most!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 7 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

The essence of positive thinking is belief, if you believe that something is possible you will do it. Negative thinking is belief too; it is the belief that you can’t do something. Choose what you are going to do and succeed or fail according to your beliefs.
There is a flow of consequences from thought to belief to action. In other words your thoughts control your beliefs and your beliefs control your actions.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 6 from The Hard knocks School of Life

People are more important than things, concentrate on having good relationships and you will have a happier life.
It seems to me that the greatest difficulties and conflicts in human relationships are created when a greater emphasis is placed on possessions rather than upon caring for one another.

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 5 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Life is hard. This is a fact; what you do about the fact that life is hard will make the difference in whether or not your life is successful. Money is not a good measure of success, happiness is a fair measure of success, how many people whom you have helped be better people is an excellent measure of success.
© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 4 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

The reason negative thinking works more often than positive thinking is that we are more apt to act on our negative thoughts than on our positive thoughts.
In my experience I have seen much to indicate that most people are willing to say that will never work before something is tried. I know that doesn’t mean that there are not things and ideas that should not be tried, just that history is filled with people who did go against the tide so to speak so that we have all sorts of convenient luxuries like electric lights and automobiles!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lesson 3 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Courage is being willing to tell the truth when everyone around you says, 'don't say that!' or, 'if you say that about me I will kill you!'
Of late I’ve noticed that courage has become a slippery concept, but I don’t believe that should be true. Then again I think the tyrants of the world are working hard to keep as many people as possible ignorant of true courage.

© 2010 Vic Jones

An open letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama,


I don’t suppose that you have heard that the borrower is the servant of the lender? I want to know for what purpose you are borrowing money? I especially want to know, since you have essentially charged that money to my children and grandchildren as if you were the master of all identity thieves. Therefore the question becomes: What sort of man are you that you would in all probability condemn many future generations of children to abuse?

Sincerely a concerned peasant.

Lesson 2 from The Hard Knocks School of Life

Sometimes the truth hurts; sometimes this is necessary, sometimes it is not, knowing the difference is tact. Trying to enforce a no pain caused standard is political correctness and encourages lying at best.

It has come to me that often the truth is offensive because it is like light is to cockroaches. When the light comes on cockroaches head for places to hide at full speed. When people who are doing evil hear the truth about what they are doing they react with violence and hatred against the person who has told the truth about their behavior

© 2010 Vic Jones

Lessons from The Hard Knocks School of Life

This is Lesson 1

People say keep a good attitude, I say just be able to keep on living. Because if you give up living how can you change?

A great many people give in to  the roaring voice of despair when confronted by some great failure. Or when simply confronted by the difficulty of life. Therefore the first lesson of life that is hard is keep living.

School Reformation

I think that one thing that could be done to improve our schools is that at the end of each term a teacher should be evaluated by the class. This should be done in a manner such that the anonymity of the students could be maintained. If a teacher received an evaluation of boring from more than half of their class for more than two terms they should be fired. Why? Because they are wasting the time of our most valuable assets as a society. After all if our children are not educated (and let’s face facts if they are bored they are not being educated) then they will not grow up to be able to reach for the stars or even to be able to simply find the sort of work that will give them joy and prosperity.


© 2010 Vic Jones

The Easy Life

Searching

Seeking….

              Always seeking

                            Looking for the easy way

Never wondering why

            Life is tasteless

                      When you don’t earn what you have

When everything is just there

              When you don’t work at all

                            When you always take the easy way

When you won’t accept a challenge

                ’Cause you want everything to be easy

And now what

              You are bored

                           Life is meaningless

© 2010 Vic Jones

The Coward’s Way

Cowardice is easy,

’Til you find,

That trying to stay out of sight,

Just doesn’t work,

’Cause there is always someone,

Who is petty enough,

To take pleasure in your fear,

Sure mice tend to live longer than lions,

But unless all us mice learn to work together,

We’re still just cat food!

© 2010 Vic Jones

Dark Thoughts

Where do you Live?


Is there no room for joy?

No place for laughter?

No easing of care?

Better to never live,

Than have no room to relax,

No place where you can play,

Certainly play is not all of life,

But if you try to eliminate it,

Have you not killed the spirit,

Made dull slavery,

Of all that is done?

Turned duty into a grinding stone,

Made living a short trip to hell,

Where maybe things are better,

’Cause surely with all the people there,

There won’t be a demon to torture just you.

© 2010 Vic Jones