More on the Games people play and the reasons they play them.

OK, it's super bowl time and another great excuse to have a party. Well, Friday is a good excuse also, but not as sociologically or psychologically of the same importance.
I've heard this before, but never paid than much attention to it. The world we live in is populated by a natural and inbred mentality to survive, expand hunting and living areas and to protect them. This has usually resulted in fights, skirmishes, and other acts of war. We are and always will be a warring species.

For the most part, constant acts of protecting your territory have been subdued in most countries populated by any type if civility. There are some countries that cannot escape that mentality, and don't want to. As much as we would like to believe that people will refrain from their basic instincts and live in peace, that will never happen, as long is there is one person out the billions that inhabit this planet that feels the need to protect what they have or want more.

We, in the civilized parts of the world, have replaced those acts of aggression with sports. Most sporting endeavors have grown from exhibitions that demonstrated the abilities needed for being a warrior and most civilized people are no longer warriors, so we play sports.

We play sports and root for our favorite sports teams. Sports teams have people who are fanatics about how their team prospers. Some are more than fanatics; their whole world revolves around their adopted team, or mentally; their country, their warriors, and their king. There are still areas of the country so mezmorized by their national or city team that they are so violent after a loss that they destroy parts of their city or cause harm and injury to the sports officials, not to mention the person who caused them to lose. And of course there's hockey.

The games are their battles that lead to their own version of a World War, every year or every 2 years or every 4 years, in the form of Championships and worldly contests like the Olympics.

And we need these replacements of acts of war, to allow us to escape, when we can, from the realities of the real acts of war going on every day and the fact that there are bad people who want to do bad things. Out of the billions of people on this planet, there will always be at least one bad person and they will always let you think there is a chance they will become passive. They never will, but will use that hope to accomplish their goals.

Everyone needs something to channel mankind’s natural instincts into. Play sports, root for your team, compete in something that develops your mind, or play poker. All of these activities require some form of aggression, and mankind is nothing if not aggressive, even in it's yearn for pacifism.

DON'T BE BLUE



The mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, 

when 24 hours in a day are not enough, 

remember the mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...

Another oldie, but one of my favorites.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. Again, they agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. ..........The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else - the small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."

"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."


Have an AWESOME DAY

DON'T BE BLUE

How to respond to CHAIN LETTERS

HATE is such a despicable word BUT I hate chain letters.

I usually break them every time, but I sometimes send some to others if I like the content, but not as a chain letter.

I once got a chain letter that said you can really know who your friends are by taking a "True Friend Test"  as a chain letter. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I revised it and sent it back. I'll include it in a separate blog.

Feel free to use this in a response to any chain letter that you receive. (It's really ok to use, I think I stole most of it from some other internet article anyway)

PLEASE PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR MONITOR AND REPEAT THESE WORDS:

1) I will NOT get bad luck, lose my friends, or lose my mailing lists if I DON'T forward an email!

2) I will NOT hear any music or see a taco dog, if I do forward an e-mail.

3) Bill Gates is NOT going to send me money, ever, Victoria's Secret doesn't know anything about a gift certificate they're supposed to send me.

4) Ford will NOT give me a 50% discount even if I forward my e-mail to more than 50 people!

5) I will NEVER receive gift certificates, coupons, or freebies from Coca-Cola, Cracker Barrel, Old Navy, OutBack SteakHouse or anyone else if I send an e-mail to 10 people.

6) I will NEVER see a pop-up window if I forward an e-mail..NEVER-NEVER!!

7) There is NO SUCH THING as an e-mail tracking program, except for evil purposes, and I am not gullible enough to think that someone will send me $100 for forwarding an e-mail to 10 or more people!

8) There is NO kid with cancer through the Make-a-Wish program in England or any other country I am not in, collecting anything! He did that when he was 7 or 8 years old. He is now cancer-free and 35 years old and DOESN'T WANT ANYMORE POSTCARDS or GET-WELL CARDS.

9) The government does not have a bill in Congress called 601B (or whatever they named it this week) that if passed, will enable them to charge us 5 cents for every e-mail we send.

10) There will be NO cool dancing, singing, waving colorful flowers, characters, or program that I will receive immediately after I forward an email. NONE, ZIP, ZERO, NADA!!

11) The American Red Cross will NOT donate 50 cents to a certain individual dying of some never-heard-of disease for every e-mail address I send this to. The American Red Cross RECEIVES donations.

12) And finally, I WILL NOT let others guilt me into sending things by telling me I am not their friend or that I don't believe in Jesus Christ. If God wants to send me a message, I believe the bushes in my yard will burn and a BOOMING VOICE WILL SPEAK TO ME before He picks up a PC to pass it on! And my friends already know that I love them - whether or not I respond to or forward an email.

13) Oh, and you will really, really, have GOOD LUCK --- if just you-- and only you,

SEND ME $20, NO MAKE IT $50, BEFORE THE SUN COMES UP TOMORROW!

Now, repeat this to yourself until you have it memorized, and send it back to the person who sent you the chain letter before the next full moon or you will surely be constipated for the next three months and may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits.

Have an Awesome Day!

DON'T BE BLUE

The Games People Play and GAMES NO ONE SHOULD PLAY

War Games and Fantasy Role Playing Games vs Grand Theft Auto and violence for the sake of violence games.

New computer games are being designed that are more complicated and realistic than ever before. Games that require more dexterity and quick thinking. The most popular of these are Role Playing Games.
You are what you play and some of these games are actually quite good in preparing game players for possible employment. Some other games place the harsh realities of life in such a nonchalant attitude that the mind can no longer tell good from bad, or at least what is acceptable behavior and what is not.
When someone lives a life of constant anger in their real everyday environment and then escapes to a fantasy world that has the same atmosphere, anger will be the norm.

Aside from the more and more realistic sports computer games, the most popular games are games of violence like games of war , fantasy role playing, and criminal gang activity.

Kids, teens, and preppies are most likely not going to use their gaming experience from War Games, like Call to Duty II or HALO and most adventure role playing games like World of Warcraft, to commit the same violence in the real world.

Games like Grand Theft Auto however, have no real practical application in the real world, except to disrespect authority, learn criminal tactics, and commit random act of violence on women and innocent people. Games like Grand Theft Auto plant the seed that you can profit from robbing and doing drugs and advance your position in your gang AND are a school for learning terrorism.

The Fantasy Role Playing Games may have too much graphic violence, but for the most part you can mentally leave the game behind you when you quit the game, unlike games like Grand Theft Auto where those thoughts are more represented in the daily news.
Fantasy Role Playing Games require more creativity to advance and allow for strategic thought. War Games also require more intelligent and strategic thought like those based on games like chess.

War Games also have a real practical application in that it trains the young for the future of real military. There are more unmanned aircraft like drones being used and more robotics being used that incorporate the same principles as the war games. Even the aircraft simulators for the computer can help teach you how to fly a plane.

Nothing good comes from games like Grand Theft Auto and shows POOR PARENTING when children are given the game to play.

I'll continue to play games like POKER, both live and in poker simulation programs, not so much online anymore since POKER'S BLACK FRIDAY!

Have an Awesome Day!

DON'T BE BLUE