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Quote of the Day

To learn you have faults means you are growing up. To accept your faults and learn from them means you have grown up. To embrace your faults and care nor what others think of them means you have grown old.
~C.L. Harmon

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The State of Affairs

C.L. Harmon
Prior to December 7, 1941, the American Congress held the position that we should stay out of the European conflict that was soon to be called World War II.
But after that date something changed. Congress did a complete reversal and with the exception of one Congress person’s vote, we were cast into World War II. But have we ever asked ourselves why Congress would change their opinion so drastically? Consider this:
The American people and the American military establishment was not going to sit idly by and allow Congress to do nothing. They were not going to allow American servicemen to be killed without action being taken against it.
As late as one year before the bombing, there was an overwhelming consensus by the American public to stay out of a foreign war. That number would decrease and getting involved would gain strength as the year progressed and England became the only country remaining at the time to not be crushed or being crushed under the Nazi war machine and the Axis powers. But it was never a general sentiment to get involved until Pearl Harbor was bombed. Throughout the 1930s, Congress had even passed a series of neutrality Acts to remain out of foreign affairs and the armed conflict in Europe.
Let us consider what would have happened if Congress would have maintained the belief that neutrality was the best course of action after Pearl Harbor. Let’s suppose they took the position that much of our naval fleet was destroyed and that each person who died that day knew there were risks when they enlisted into the armed forces. As such, perhaps it was better to negotiate with Japan and move forward giving Japan what it wanted as opposed to entering the war. Can we even imagine what the response would have been from the American people?
Enlistment soared as Americans voluntarily left their jobs, careers, homes, and families to seek revenge for Pearl Harbor. People were willingly sacrificing to support a war. There was an overwhelming sense of patriotism that was not going to be squashed. Can we even fathom the response if President Roosevelt and Congress had said no to entering the war? I would venture to say that the protests of the Vietnam War during the 1960s would have seemed like a small-town carnival and unrest would have been rampant. This is not to suggest that Roosevelt and Congress were not in favor of declaring war on Japan. They were. This is simply a reminder that the power is always in the hands of the people. Had the government been opposed to entering the war, the American people were united and would have never stood for such a response when American servicemen had been killed and American soil attacked.
We seem to become complacent and even confused when it comes to the power we the people yield in this country. We become angry as individuals which yields very little power as opposed to becoming united toward the power which angers us. We have lost sight that we are the people and the people are the power, the people are the nation. One person, be it a president or a congressperson, is not solely responsible for the problems we face in this country. This is a collective fault of those we elect to govern and then sell out to the highest bidder and to ourselves who have allowed a nation of free people to become divided instead of united. As long as we are at war with each other, we are all casualties and those entities, countries and individuals who are united against us will continue destroying us.
Consider that most, if not all, Americans fundamentally want the same things: Affordable healthcare, stable economy, the basic essentials, peace and the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. We currently either do not have these desires or the ones we have, have been hindered. Why is it that those we elect to govern cannot provide us with what we want and even reduce what we once had? They do so because our division allows for it. As Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. This was true in 1858 when Lincoln said it and it is still true today. Perhaps it’s time we become one people, one nation again and take back what is ours from those who wish to destroy it. We are only a lost people without unity but with it, we become a nation that is found…and one for all and all for one.

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Fear Not: For It Is Only Fear

C. L. Harmon
There has always been fear. For parents raising children, it is their responsibility to teach their children about fear and the influence it is supposed to have on them. For example, It’s wise to teach children not to antagonize bees because they sting. It is better to leave them alone as they are not aggressive creatures bent on stinging every human for which they come into contact. It is common sense to teach them not to kill bees because without them humans would cease to exist. The fact that they sting is not a weapon against humanity but for its protection. This dynamic is nature’s way of telling us that we must coexist. All fear should be co-mingled with common sense. Otherwise irrational thought takes the place of reason.
Bad things are going to happen. Disaster is always a possibility. But to live in fear without the sensibility to coexist with it is a tragedy unto itself. The acceptance that something sinister or tragic could happen is not proof that it will. We must always acknowledge that the same world which provides cures, pain relief and hope is the same world which provides disease, pain, and despair. They are one in the same and the very reason that we must walk the fine line between chaos and order.
Common sense is our control in an environment which offers very little control over anything else.
Fear, in essence, is not good or evil, but simply a natural tool that allows us to exist. It keeps us from destroying what we need while protecting us from potential harm and self-destruction. But if we allow it to consume us, it becomes an evil that destroys what it is meant to protect. When fear divides us, it undermines what we can accomplish. When it costs us liberties, it makes us prisoners. When it dictates policy, it makes us slaves. When it is taught without common sense, it costs us everything.

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I Once Knew A World

BY C.L. Harmon

I grew up in a world where a tip was earned not expected. I was raised in a world where one helped another just to see them lifted up, not for a ‘you owe me’. I remember a world where working was the natural way and not a time when it’s taught that natural is to expect what is not earned. I experienced a world where God was feared and terrorists were mocked as weak, a time before airports were civil liberties violations with a paycheck. I remember a world when respect was first taught and then earned through morality and courage. It was never given freely as its worth was valued too high for a handout. I witnessed a world where integrity was in a handshake and a word before courtrooms became playgrounds where adults settle disputes like children. I knew a world where men fought over differences and then learned to live together in spite of them; a world where owning a gun meant you knew when not to use it. I once knew a world where people loved more than they hated, a world where common sense came with every lesson be it at school or home.

I remember a world where a happy meal was a family at the dinner table and conversation was the most important ingredient on that table. I knew a world where punishment was important because it built character because we knew a sting lasts less than a prison sentence.

I once knew a world…

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Mindset: A Penny For Your Fears

C.L. Harmon

The further we delve into the madness of panic, the more distant sanity travels from us. We have always resided in an uncertain world where chaos sweeps behind us in a frenzied rush. We have always lived with fear, but until recently, we have never let that fear become the beacon in which we gravitate. We are setting a precedent where fear rules us even into ruin. We are choosing to survive in chains rather than live free in the few steps separating us from the chaos.

There is no escaping the fact that we will become swept up in the forces of havoc from time to time. But as it has always been, the cost of life is the realization of death, the reward of life is the opportunity to experience it. When fear becomes our light, we are traveling down a dark path. If we do not create new and reasonable light to combat the surrounding darkness which attempts to consume us, we are lost regardless of what direction we choose.

Illuminating the darkness which engulfs us during the seasons where the havoc has caught up with us, is as simple as believing that even a small flame of reason drowns out the dimmest surroundings. It is also the acceptance that chaos has an appetite and will consume what it needs until is satisfied. It is further understanding that madness cares not for our choices to serve fear or to battle it. It simply obeys its nature. We must always remember that the choices made in fear today will be the circumstances that we live with tomorrow.

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Beyond Our Boundaries

C.L. Harmon

Sometimes we lose our way and we don’t necessarily want to find our way back even though moving forward frightens us to our core. I believe this is something that we all experience at one point or another in our lives. Even the thought of going back to something familiar and comfortable leaves us with a feeling of uncertainty and possibly dread. Perhaps these moments in which we are idle are telling us that boundaries exist within us that must be overcome. These boundaries are not however placed to keep us in place, but to be conquered.

Questioning what we have been taught, seeking evidence contrary to what is popular and venturing into uncharted territory forces boundaries to disappear. Change occurs because boundaries are breached, not because they are left intact. What is often most difficult to destroy are the boundaries we ourselves construct. Traditionally we think of others’ boundaries keeping us out when, in actuality, it’s ours keeping us in.

Some of the most formidable of these boundaries are our choices to believe without questioning, accept without complete understanding. It seems somehow easier to remain unenlightened in ignorance behind a boundary than to forge into new territory with a new concept all our own. What we fear, what we believe remains only partial truths until we have the courage and fortitude to eradicate all the boundaries within us and discover what can be known beyond.

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Moments

I haven’t written much lately but did have a moment of inspiration for the following little poem. I hope you enjoy.

Blood is Spilt, wounds become scars with secrets that are kept and then revealed. And the minutes tick by. We sin, sacrifice saints, live, die and hurt as those minutes tick into hours.

Tears fall for those lost and hatred abounds for those who trespass against us. We breathe until we are extinguished and we are buried in cold earth no longer witness to the seasons and the sun. And without us, our children watch as the hours become years and our trespasses become their prejudices.

Evil rides upon the high winds blowing through our hearts, within our souls. We struggle to hold our ground as the leaves are ripped from the trees and the branches strain to hold on the roots which give them life.

And yet we sway in the breezes of compassion and forgiveness. We become fragile in strength and weak in our resolve. And as the years become decades, we dwindle away into the dust from which we were created.

And in time we will have experienced this journey called life. We will know what it is to cry, sigh, and die within the centuries that have allowed us the moments we used to take steps from the birth to burial when at last time waves to us all a lasting goodbye.

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My New Book is in Pre-Order

Greetings,

I am excited to let everyone know that my book, “Chopping Down the Tree of Knowledge is now available for preorder. The release date is November 15. A link will be provided for those interested in ordering a copy. The book is available in digital format and paperback.

Unlike my first book “In the Midst of Reality” which is a compilation of Mindsets, this book is a journey into life as explained through my personal experiences and the failures which make them up. It is the understanding of a belief system that failed me and hopefully a wake-up call that yours may be failing you.

Through Mindsets, I have always tried to convey positive messages that I hope to help people view the world with a sense of optimism. This work, however, started out very differently and without the intent to share positive insights. It was born out of anger and disappointment toward a God I have worshipped and trusted all my life. As I wrote in the above paragraph, this work is a journey. It has a destination I thought not possible when I began writing it and a message I was always afraid to know until I knew it.

It is my sincere hope that this work affects you as much as it has me.

CL

P.S. Click Here if you missed the first link.

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Mindset: Instructions For Life Are Closer Than You Think

By C.L. Harmon

Buried within each of us is a set of instructions. We are not born empty vessels void of direction but created with a knowledge and understanding whose origins are beyond our comprehension. Many of these instructions are of a physical nature such as breathing, sleeping and heart functions. But there are also other instructions woven into our creation. These are of a moral nature and instrumental in the course our lives and our world will take. Knowing what is right and wrong are not only lessons we learn as we grow, but guidelines ingrained into our very souls.

We are not created to do harm or create chaos. We are created with a sense of rhythm to coexist with each other and nature. Each of us knows this and when we stray from these internal instructions, we feel a betrayal inside that is undeniable. Humanity has not evolved due to an absence of these instructions but instead flourished because of their existence. Without such a guiding force, we would certainly destroy ourselves and our world. An age of enlightenment is not some period of time, but every time we choose to be enlightened from the knowledge within us.

And though there are many who choose to ignore these instructions for living and bring about chaos as a result, there are also many who choose enlightenment and follow the knowledge that is created within them. It is these people who propel us forward through their examples of decency, respect, compassion, and sense of fairness and equality, while it those who opt to ignore our internal instructions which keep dragging society back toward the dark ages.

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Pardon Me, But Is This Your Butt?

By C.L. Harmon

While stopped at a stoplight recently, I noticed the vehicle in front of me had two decals on the back glass. They had been placed there with care to produce the most visible angle for the world to see the owner’s views. The first was one in support of Bernie Sanders for president. The other was 4ocean, an organization that promotes clean oceans around the world. And though I care nothing for this person’s political views, I certainly support everyone’s right to promote their views in a safe and legal manner. I did, however, respect this person’s views on protecting our natural resources. That opinion lasted all of 10 seconds. That was the span of time between first seeing the decal and the cigarette butt which this person then nonchalantly flipped out the window.

So, it’s okay to support the clean-up efforts of one aspect of our world while trashing up another? Perhaps this young lady of 20 something (I eventually passed her because my curiosity got the better of me) assumes her future grandchildren will pick it up when 4ocean expands to 4land and sea or something else clever. Where does such a breakdown in common sense come from? How does one not understand that the very mentality which polluted the oceans is the very same one that throws a butt out of the window? I can’t help but wonder if this young lady even grasps the concept of what it means to save the environment. Perhaps, she just thinks it’s cool to be a young hip democrat who belongs to something of which so many others are members.

Whatever her motive, I feel her comprehension of what it means to truly sacrifice for the good of a cause is lost on her and many other young people today. Promoting yourself as part of an organization and buying some trinket or subscription in support of that organization is not sacrifice. In fact, It’s barely even commitment. Sacrifice means change. It means effort. It means the giving up of something. Commitment means the willingness to do all these things followed by the actions to make sacrifices. Picking up trash in your front yard and dumping it in the back yard is not progress. All this accomplishes is making the neighbors in front of your house like you better than the ones behind the house.

I certainly do not wish to single this young woman out, but I believe her actions are indicative of what we see everywhere in the US today by so many young and old alike, democrats and republicans and across every race. If you choose to support a cause, then support it whole-heartedly. If you believe in something, then work for it and not at it. If you want to change what is wrong, then do what is right…even when it costs you. If you want to solve problems, then be willing to meet everyone at the table of compromise. And if you want to impress your neighbors, take your trash to the garbage can…even those living behind you will like you.

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