WOle GraiN BreAD

As we live our lives the “norm” haunts everything we do. We generalize, assume and reach conclusions based on a set paradigm. Most people, including myself, live a life of foolish consistency in which we generally follow the path of least resistance. Ralph Waldo Emerson writes: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” Consistency fosters comfort. Men are drawn, like water, to the path of least resistance. Once a man has found a comfortable method of living; he will live in this path until an easier one is presented to him. We refuse to branch out of our comfort zone that is the established “norm”, and we judge every situation with a set of predetermined variables that force the same conclusions. When we feel an emotion we check the variables that contribute to these feelings and then draw a conclusion. If we always consider the same variables we limit our conclusions. An effective experiment limits variables to help draw a single conclusion. But living is very different than experimenting. You can never consider or limit all the variables in a fleeting real life situation. The event is constantly happening and only by limiting the variables that you want to consider do we interpret the events around us. When you are forced to consider a different set of variables you can then possibly arrive at a completely different conclusion. As one of my close friends incessantly says; “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” If you like living a comfortable normal and boring life then…..

*Listen to a story my friend about a boy named Ben.

Ben was the coolest kids in school. He had many a friend.

Khaki pants and a pocket shirt, he was always setting the trend.

But Ben was always wishing that he didn’t have to pretend…

That life is…. something he had…. figured out today,

And that…. he had an answer… yes an answer left to say.

Ben walked to the end of the sidewalk one fateful day.

He saw the hurts and longings of everyman on his way.

Black haze and a broken heart, he tried to look away.

But Ben knew that most men tried to ignore the decay….

Of life… and the problems…the problems he saw that day.

Ben knew….there was only….one man that could suspend his dismay.*

-STeVe