whatareyouthinking

A Shortcut to Wisdom the Fool’s Road
The Keeper of Truth is a Mule’s Load
The Quest for Knowledge a Slippery Slope
Road to Understanding a Glimmer of Hope
The Path to Success May Lead One Off Track
But A Pilgrim’s Recess is There and Back

Aspired for higher and acquired the flyers for souls to inspire
Heart set afire fled from those who conspire to make God a liar
No need to inquire but desire for hire I preached to the choir
Adding fuel to the ire just to mire on the wire above ice and fire

Spreading the fear of penalties severe and a judgment so near
Staunchly sincere still cold, cavalier—sneered what others held dear
An unyielding ear, vision so clear, would all interfere with reality here
Sought out of fear what appeared as revered; couldn’t adhere, or persevere

Yet it’s the climate not the storm
The rule an exception not the norm
Neither to regress nor to reform
Neither to rebel nor to conform
Neither hot nor cold—nor  warm
But a spirit that can be transformed

And the Path of Life a special Course
That goes with the flow of a different Force
From wind through river of unequaled Source
Down mounts of regrets to a Land of No Remorse

So a need to succeed, or recede, stemming from a growing need
And sowed a seed from Apostle’s Creed to apostate’s greed
Followed the lead, a deed to heed, growing weeds from cede
And choked on feed but bit my tongue until I watched it bleed

Need for speed and to exceed led to mislead my mind’s eye
With Body numb, Mind gone dumb, and Spirit ready to fly
From dreams to schemes and to extremes, the journey gone awry
Zealous youth to jealous sleuth, the fountain of truth gone dry

Yet it’s the climate not the storm
The rule an exception not the norm
Neither to regress nor to reform
Neither to rebel nor to conform
Neither hot nor cold—nor  warm
But a spirit that can be transformed

And the Path of Life a special Course
That goes with the flow of a different Force
From wind through river of unequaled Source
Down mounts of regrets to a Land of No Remorse

Sought above beneath and all points in between
Up and down and out, seen in and out of every scene
Saw left and right through blacks and whites of red and green
Nearly blew it all on know-it-all books and maggot fiends

© 2004 [April 12, 2004 @ 6:35 am] by J. Mars Hall

Tripp did not want his wife to think bad thoughts anymore because every time she did, he noticed it caused a rainstorm to come upon their region.  In those days Tripp was a landscaper so his family could not afford to have his wife thinking so negatively. 

One of the neighbors found Tripp’s logic to be absolutely ridiculous and challenged him.  He said, “See, your wife is in a bad mood now, and it’s not raining.”
 
Tripp defended his theory, saying, “Her negativity doesn’t always make it rain right away!”  Sometimes it takes a few hours, sometimes a few days–it has even taken several weeks.  Nevertheless, every time she thinks bad thoughts–it rains.”

Tripp and his wife traveled out of the country for a vacation.  After safely arriving home, they learned that many of their travel companions became ill from the food and had to get their ‘stomachs pumped’ upon their return.  Tripp’s wife immediately made an appointment with her doctor and insisted that she have her ‘stomach pumped’ as well.  The doctor did not understand why she wanted to have this thing done as she received no ill affects from the food.  But not only did she convince the doctor to perform the procedure on her, but insisted that her husband and the other travelers [who did not become ill] also have it done to them—for precautionary measures.  So each year, they continue to travel outside the country for vacation, and each year they get their ‘stomachs pumped’ upon their return.

One day Tripp went out to his backyard and picked an orange from a tree.  He sat down on his porch, made himself comfortable and began peeling the orange so he could eat it.  No sooner had he finished preparing the orange and the weather outside turned to rain.

Some weeks later, Tripp went outside, picked an orange and attempted the same thing.  Once again, the rains came and he was unable to eat his orange while he was outside.

A few more weeks passed and Tripp’s wife invited some friends and family to the house for a picnic.  Everyone there spoke of the wonderful weather that day, how perfect it was for their gathering, and what a good time they were having.  Then Tripp noticed some of the company picking oranges from the trees, and his nephew was about to eat one!  To this, Tripp exclaimed, “Stop—put those oranges away!  Are you all crazy?  Do you all want to make it rain and ruin everybody’s good time?!”

Tripp’s wife heard of a breakthrough, life-changing diet.  She consulted the dietician, saying, “Please make me slimmer!  I can see how I’ve been overweight for so long.”  So the dietician agreed to work with her.  Things went well for a while, and then she began to overeat once again.  Tripp’s wife thought that if she followed the diet long enough, and exact enough, she would have a breakthrough and wake up slimmer.  It didn’t happen that way, so she fell off the diet.

The dietician assured her that he was still willing to work with her and help her achieve their goal.  Yet, Tripp’s wife said to herself, “Since I am already off this diet, I will indulge in all sorts of food.  But one day I shall return to the diet, follow it rigidly, get my breakthrough—and wake up slimmer!  Meanwhile, I must find what it is that is making me fat.”

A colorblind father would often tell his housebound son that green was the color of the sunset.  Years passed, and the boy did not consider any other possibilities. 

Gradually, the boy’s health improved to the point where he could go outside and see the sunset himself.  As he watched the event for the very first time, he stood in awe of the landscape’s beauty as the sun seemingly sank below the earth’s surface.  However, throughout the course of the sunset, the boy couldn’t help but notice the sun and the sky’s deep red appearance.  This did not coincide with the green sunset his father had frequently spoke of. 

For a time the boy entertained the notion that the sunset may indeed be red (contrary to the description he held for many years).  Such pondering yielded him no minor distress and unearthed a myriad of other questions.  Was his dad just lying to him the entire time?  Was his father unable to see the sun as it truly was?  Was the boy’s own vision of the sun distorted?  Did the boy and his dad have valid reasons for seeing the sunset so differently? 

One day the boy finally conceded.  He decided that the sunset was green after all (though thoughts of red suns and skylines still intrigued him on occasion).  Nevertheless, even if red was the accurate description, green was still the more comfortable view.   

A man spent several years of his life saving to buy a monkey.  After buying the monkey and testing it out, he decided that what he really wanted was a bear.  He found that he could trade in the monkey, so it wouldn’t take him quite as long to get the bear as it did [to get] the monkey.  A few years later, he finally had enough to buy the bear.  Later, he couldn’t find a place for the monkey or the bear and couldn’t use them, so he exchanged them and settled for a dog.  Now he’s thinking that perhaps some day in the future he may even get a cat, but the dog is good enough for right now. 

Tripp and his friend went to the movies.  Once the film was over and the credits began to roll, Tripp’s friend asked him, “So…what did you think [of the movie].”
Tripp said, “Oh, I’m waiting to read the reviews on it.  Then I will let you know what I think.”

There once was an amphibian fed up with being surrounded by water and he decided to leave his wet past behind to live on dry land. Of course, this too wearied him until he decided that it was a mistake to have left the water. Yet after sometime, he remembered why he had left the water to begin with and once again landed himself on dry land.

It came to pass that his entire life was spent hopping from wetlands to dry lands and back again while never understanding the value of having both.

There were some young men who grew up in poor families on old farms in a small town.  As a result, their access to fashion trends was extremely limited.  For the most part, the people in that old town had only known overalls.

One day while the young men were in town considering new pairs of overalls for themsleves, they happened upon a traveling peddler that introduced them to designer clothing.  The myriad shapes and colors that these new clothes had to offer overwhelmed them as they pondered what they had been missing all their lives.  So they took a large portion of the money they had allotted for such things and purchased the garments of the colors that appealed to them most.  They proudly displayed their new attire everywhere they went.  Some of the other townspeople saw the beauty of these new outfits themselves and decided to follow suit.

They began to exclaim how wonderful it would be if everyone in the town would wear colors just as they did!  At first they thought of how drab the overall clad people’s lives seemed and desired to introduce them to a brighter way of life.  However, they gradually began to look down upon the overall townspeople and criticized them for their choice of attire.  Some of the residents resented them and refused to ditch their overalls so to not be associated with such mockers.  Eventually, those who preferred the red clothes began to consider their own choice of colors best.  It also happened with those who chose the yellow clothes, the green clothes, the blue clothes, and the same with all the others.
 
Now the children of those that preferred red associate mainly with others that prefer red, the yellow with the yellow, the green with the green, the blue with the blue, and the same with the others.  The color groups often think of themselves as the true colors while maintaining a rather dim view of the others.  They are known to put each other in a bad light, and allign only when discussing how the overall-clad citizens should start wearing color. 

And in despite of it all, more color groups continue to be added to this day.