Aspirations of the father

And how they may teach the son

Shared pastimes

One of my favorite pastimes as a new father has been to sit quietly watching my son as he explores his environment and develops his own personality. It is amazing to see how in a span of just one year he has gone from a tiny and completely dependent infant to this little explorer who despises the word no and wants nothing more than to do and experience everything his growing environment has to offer. It seems as though every day my little baby turns more and more into my little boy and with it thinks he needs me a bit less. But he does need me. And he shows me just how much by practicing his own favorite pastime.

Of all the things my son enjoys doing he seems to find the most pleasure out of watching and emulating me. He sees me do something and he does it. He hears me make a funny noise and he makes it over and over until he gets it right. When I use the bathroom he wants to follow. He wants to have what I have for dinner. And when I work out he stands next to me and mimics my every move. He even talks on his pretend phone when I’m on a call. Yes you could say with much surety that I am the biggest influence in my sons life. We have become grand buddies and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A personal insight

With all this watching going on it didn’t take long for me to catch on that I’d better watch myself. My son has no idea how to judge yet what is worth emulating and what is not. So I sat down one night a few months back and had an honest look at the things I was doing with my life and the things in me I most wanted him to imitate and learn from. I also found a few things about me that I don’t want him to see. But we’ll save those for another article and another day.

My list was quite long at first but I narrowed it down a bit by combining a lot of things and clarifying others. There was however one underlying principal or idea that kept popping up time and time again. That one thing has to do with dreams and personal aspirations. If there is one thing I want to teach my son before I leave this world it is the importance of having dreams. But more important than having dreams, I want my son to actively seek out and accomplish his dreams no matter how far off they may seem. And no matter how kooky someone else might think they are.

There is of course a dilemma here that I found myself stuck at for quite awhile. With life coming at us at the speed of time it can be hard to even start the process of realizing our dreams, let alone seeing them through to fruition. It can even become difficult to remember what our dreams once were. There are always more pressing issues like paying rent, catching up on bills or saving for your kids’ college. So how do I teach my son to follow his dreams when I don’t have the time to encourage my own? And how do I look at myself when I’m old and come to the realization that I really didn’t give life my best shot.

The answer is clear

I’ve thought about this problem for a while now, and I think I have an answer. It isn’t an easy answer. But it is the only answer. I must set the example I want my son to follow, and there are no good excuses to the contrary. So last month I started a project that is so large and so comprehensive that only a mad man in my shoes would even consider such a thing. It will take years to finish. And it will take every bit of personal will I have to pull off along with everything else on my plate. But when I grow old and look back I will be able to say I did it. I took the road less traveled and smoothed it out along the way. I failed many times, but I stuck with it until it was done. And I will know that I set the best example for my son that I could muster.

The project I’m taking on has its roots in a very big dream of mine, and one that has haunted me since before I can remember. I never thought of trying it or even considering it before because I saw it as impossible for a man of my means. I can’t begin to imagine what other people dream about and secretly aspire to. But I dream of the future. I dream about how our dependence on technology has dirtied our Earth. But more importantly I dream about solutions and how the responsible use of existing and future technologies could one day bring our mother back to being the jewel we found her as. If you would like to know more about my dreams and how I plan to make them a reality you can learn more at the Open Fuel Cell Project where I have laid down all my plans and taken the first steps to make sure my son knows that even big dreams are possible.  

A little truth in the world

And one mans path to finding it

I was in the middle of preparing my to-do list for tomorrow when my phone pinged. Like many I think I’m so important that I need a phone to tell me when I get an email. I was surprised however when I saw that it was telling me someone had liked the Facebook page for this blog. I don’t have many Facebook fans, and those I do are almost all people I asked to like me. So I decided to see who this David Rivera was.

When I got to the Responsible Activism Facebook page I noticed he had also shared a link. So I followed it. The link took me to a CNN iReport page where Mr. Rivera had posted a video to share with others about a project he was taking up. After listening to what he had to say I wasn’t sure if I was going to follow the next link to his website, or if I was going to hit my home button and finish my to-do list. Thankfully I chose the path to his website at www.myseedoftruth.com.

My Seed of Truth is an amazing concept and idea. David Rivera is using the project to share a dream of his that I think is one worth getting behind. Imagine all those times you made mistakes in your life when all you needed to prevent those mistakes and their inevitable consequences was to have a little guidance. Now realize that in a world of several billion people your mistakes and lack of judgment are nothing new. Others before you have done the same if not worse. To give this some perspective, if I were to tell my wife she was one in a million I’d really be saying there were 1800 people just like her in China. There really are just so many choices and outcomes we can have. And in the grand scheme of things histories just repeat themselves over and over in a never ending loop.

Now we get to Mr. Rivera’s dream. Imagine if people from all over the world shared those little bits of wisdom they gained from their mistakes in a central place where all you needed to do was look. Imagine if you could get the knowledge you needed to skip the mistakes they made, before you yourself made the same mistake. Now imagine sharing your own mistakes in return so others can benefit from your wisdom. It really is that simple.

Now I know what you’re thinking, because I thought it at first too. I’ve been given advice many times and it changed nothing. I always did my own thing, learned from the screw up and was better for it. But this is different. We almost never listen to those we are closest to when we should. That is the premise of this blog. I know my son won’t listen to everything I have to say. I know he will make mistakes I tried to prevent by giving him advice. And I want him to find this blog one day when he is older and less likely to think dad is just trying to control him. I want him to see that the things I tried teaching him were things I really believed in. then maybe he will take them to heart.

So why do I think My Seed of Truth is such a great project. To put it simply I think we should not discard the power of well meant advice from a stranger. Advice from friends and family is easy for young people to disregard as unimportant. It is easy to just think they don’t want you to have fun, or that they are only trying to protect their own interests. But what of advice that comes from someone with no stake in the outcome, or guidance that comes from an invisible face who cannot judge? I think such advice just might have a better chance of meeting its target.

I challenge you to first visit the CNN iReport page David has set up. Watch his video. Don’t judge it by the presentation. But judge it by the content, and by the message. After you have heard what he has to say I challenge you to click the Facebook recommend button at the top right of the screen so you can share this with your friends. And I further challenge you to go to his website and see for yourself the advice and little life stories that others have shared so far. If you think then like me that the project has potential then you should make the decision whether or not you will make your own contribution to the project. I know I will.

Please feel free to comment on this post as you see fit. I usually use this section to say what I’m most interested in hearing from you. But instead I will leave it up to you this time.   

A cure for Zombies

And a reason to believe

The last time I checked, and it was a while ago. There had been over one million soldiers in and out of Iraq. I was just one of them. It was a great time in my life, and I would never take it back. But along with being a great time it was also a time of immense personal growth.

You see, in my younger days I was very much a romantic idealist. I believed in God and country, I believed in just causes, I believed the media at their word, and I believed that we could trust those we elected to always do what was right for our country. I was right about the first two.

To this day I can hold my head up high and honestly say that we did great things in Iraq. We introduced Iraqis to true religious freedom. And I was there to protect their first mass pilgrimage in over 30 years. We built schools. And I was there to make sure even little girls got an education. We unclogged the sewage systems while under enemy fire. And I was there to see clean drinking water for an entire city. We built and supported hospitals. And I was there to see the poorest receive competent medical attention. We provided hope for an entire country that needed hope so badly. I know this to be true because I worked and interacted with the general population.

I wish this were the end of my story. If this was the end it would be a great story indeed. But all things are not meant to be entirely uplifting, at least not at first. What I did not know was that while we were doing these great and commendable things, our country and way of life was slipping away. It was being destroyed from within by those in our government and of the media.

While we were protecting hundreds of thousands of Muslims who for the first time in their life could freely partake in their religious pilgrimage. Our media was telling the American people about the innocent people we killed. I for one am sure of at least one time when they lied about such things. But why would our media want to lie to us?

While we were building schools in Iraq. Back home our politicians were enacting programs like No Child Left Behind. So we could better teach our children how to take tests, follow instructions and embrace the collective over personal desires by stifling their creativity and crushing their competitive spirits. But why would we ever want anything other than the best education for our children.

 While we were providing clean drinking water for those who needed it so badly. Our infrastructure back home was fall apart. There is nothing more sobering than seeing what borrowing money to pay for a war has done to places like Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. I went there to see it firsthand. But why would our government want to let our infrastructure age prematurely because of a lack of maintenance?  

While we were building hospitals, and providing affordable medical care for all Iraqis in need. Our government and media were telling our people that the only way to have medical care for everyone was to make sure everyone is insured. I know this to be a lie because the cost of insurance far outweighs the cost of care. Just ask one of the growing number of clinics in the U.S. that have stopped accepting all types of insurance and in doing so can now charge as little as $25.00 per visit. If you have medical insurance you know that is equal to the average deductible. But why the push for getting everyone insured if it just adds to the cost of medical care?

While we were providing hope to people half way around the world. Our politicians were conspiring against our soldiers by constantly changing the rules of engagement and by making an otherwise simple battle plan overly complex to the point of recklessness. But why would our politicians want to endanger the lives of our soldiers.

At the end of each of the last five short paragraphs I have asked a question. The basic question has been why. But I want you to forget the question. The question no longer matters. The questions have all been washed out and laundered by the well intended but gullible truth seekers and conspiracy theorists. Only answers matter to us now. And only our personal actions can ensure our freedoms tomorrow will mirror what we think they should be today. But what are the answers?

The answers will be a bit of hard medicine for some, and there is no sugar to make it go down easy. But they are something we all need to live with and enact in our own lives on a daily basis in order to preserve our future as we hope it to be. The answers are simple, profound and enduring. But the answers are also easy to forget when time permits. The answers to all these questions and so many more lie in each one of us personally.

I will end this today by telling you something about those million or so soldiers I mentions in the first paragraph. I can only account for those who I personally served with. But I truly believe they are a good representation of the whole. Of those with whom I served, 60 percent are now small business owners and entrepreneurs, 40 percent of us are highly politically active, and better than 80 percent of us have gone on to higher education. But there is one statistic almost all of us have in common. We are all too some degree disenchanted with and by the very system we once found pride in fighting wars for.

What the politicians and the media never counted on is what will set us all free. You can tell a country that their soldiers are fighting for freedom only so long before they start realizing that in their haze of patriotism freedom has taken on a lesser meaning. But rest assured that our soldiers are still fighting for our freedoms. We’re just a whole lot more cautious as to who is benefiting from our toils.  

Please feel free to comment on this and any other post on this blog as you see fit. I am at this time especially interested in knowing how you have better fit self reliance, political awareness and personal freedom in your own life.