What Makes a Pickle? - Thursday Thought #15

Let's examine pickles.

What makes a pickle? Is it the word? The name? If pickles were called something else, would its chemical and physical makeup be changed? I think not. Therefore, for the sake of this blog post, let's call pickles blorbnacks.

Now, blorbnacks are green and have bumps on them. In addition, they taste very good. I love sinking my teeth into a heap of blorbnacks.

Therefore, we see that blorbnacks are actually toads.

The thing is, blorbnacks are hard to catch. They hop around all over the place and hide in the tall grass. It takes a lot of skill, determination, and fortitude to catch a blorbnack,

Therefore, we see that blorbnacks are actually Pokemon.

Your average blorbnack is actually fairly easy to recognize. If you've spent a lot of time with blorbnacks, you can probably name them on sight.

Therefore, we see that blorbnacks are actually your coworkers.

Some blorbnacks are all right to be around, but others are just insufferable. You always have to avoid that one blorbnack who smells awful all the time, and has that strange habit of spitting everywhere.

Therefore, we see that blorbnacks are actually camels.

And I am a camel.

THEREFORE. I AM A PICKLE.

And you thought the header image was anything but dead serious.

How Many People Would You Let Die? - Thinkjoust Tuesday #60

One day, this philosopher lady was all like, "I want everyone to feel terrible about themselves!" So he created what's now known as the Trolley problem, which you've probably heard of.

I'd heard of the most basic Trolley problem. The scenario here is usually presented as follows.

"A trolley is speeding down a track, to which five people are tied. You could pull a lever and divert the trolley onto a different track, but this alternate track one person tied to it. Do you pull the lever?"

Some people make the question more difficult by revealing that the one person is a beloved family member or close friend. Other times, the five people are family members or close friends, and the one person is a total stranger. Let's ignore these extra details for now.

NOW STOP. Decide how you'd act in this situation.

PROCEED.

Some other philosopher dude responded to the Trolley problem with a similar situation.

This time, you're standing on top of a bridge next to a fat person. The runaway trolley will soon pass underneath the bridge upon which you're standing. Five people are again tied to the end of the tracks, in danger of being squashed by the trolley. In this scenario, you are aware that this particular brand of trolley is easily stopped by a heavy weight. Do you push the fat man off the bridge?

NOW STOP. Decide how you'd act in this situation.

PROCEED.

How did you react to the first situation? The second situation? How many people did you save in each scenario? Did you save the same amount of people both times? Be sure to leave your comments below, and I'll discuss your general trend, along with how I'd react in the scenario, this next Saturday.

See ya soon!

What Do You Want To Talk About? - Response Saturday #28

This past week, I asked y'all to tell me how you apologize.

I didn't end up getting any responses!

Now, maybe it was a bad question, in which case, that was my fault, and I apologize (Hey? See what I did there?). If it was a bad question, you may wonder, "Come on, James, I've seen you do better. Get with the program!"

You're right, you're right. But first, let me explain how I come up with blog post ideas.

Usually, I'll be sitting around, minding my own business, when something just ... happens. I may see a video talking about how to improve your sense of humor. I may get into a debate regarding the effectiveness of compliments. I may be asked to give dating advice.

I'm not always thinking, "Oh man, this is a great idea for a blog post!" But then, after everything calms down, I may jot some relevant notes on a draft and come back to it later. If the thing that just happened still has relevance and importance in my mind, then I get to writing 'write' away. You, of course, may recognize some problems with this technique.

After all, I inevitably end up writing about the things I want to write about, instead of necessarily thinking about my audience. It seems I've tilted in the opposite direction from earlier in the year, when I was so dragged down by writing things I thought new readers would like that I ended up burning myself out and changing the schedule from a daily to a thrice-weekly schedule.

So even after two years of blogging, I'm still trying to figure out how to be a good blogger. Some days, I focus too much on writing for myself; some days, I don't write for myself at all (which then becomes a chore).

So as I continue to write (I have no intention of stopping C&C anytime soon), don't be afraid to let me know what you guys think I should write about next. It could be political. It could be religious. It could be personal. It could be anything. As long as it fits in my brand (and there are few things that don't fit into my brand), I'll say something on it.

So go ahead.

I'm waiting. ;)

How to Find Happiness - Thursday Thought #14

You know, I don't think my life is all that grand. I have to live with trials and, most unbearable, my mistakes. At the same time, I consider myself a happy person.

"WHAT?!?" you say. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

No, really. Let me explain.

Millions of voices try every day to bring outsiders to their way of thinking. Religions clash over doctrines and lifestyles. Political parties tear each other down. Even athletes tug on the arms of those living the sedentary lifestyle. Everyone wants everyone to know that the way they live is the best, the ultimate, the pathway most likely to lead to happiness.

Then there's you. (Ok, maybe it's just me). I don't always know the happiest path to take, and as such, engage in frequent trial and error. Sometimes, I find something that makes me genuinely happy. Other times, I really regret my experimentation.

The thing is, I think that's how anyone finds out what makes them happy. People join groups and engage in certain lifestyles because that is the best of what they've discovered up to that point. People keep what matters to them in their life, and discard the things they decide don't matter.

There comes a point in everyone's life where something they originally thought sweet turns sour. An example of this includes moments when individuals remove TV or their smart phones from their lives in favor of simpler, less obtrusive activities and tools. In the same way, happy people do the same, taking time to evaluate what aspects of their lives make them happy, and what aspects of their lives keep them from being as such.

So, in summary, a happy person is someone who constantly determines what is best for them and then brings more of that into their lives, while removing the things that prove a hindrance to their happiness, even if it's a train of thought, a mindset, or a personality trait.

I'm still trying to figure out what makes me happy, but I do know that I've seen the happiness in my life grow as I hold on to the things that truly make me happy, and then shun the rest.

How Do You Apologize? - Thinkjoust Tuesday #59

Last week, we talked all about the five love languages. Let's keep going!

So now we know that there are different ways to express love. I would go so far as to say that there are also different ways to apologize.

For example, I am someone who easily gives and easily accepts verbal apologies. If you seem sincere, I'll probably forgive you for anything.* At the same time, in order to make up for my particularly egregious errors, I might also try to offer the affected party some service (like cleaning something for them) or give them a gift (probably a meal).

In essence, my apologies have connections to my three weakest love languages (words of affirmation, service, and gifts). My theory is that I subconsciously think my apologies are more effective when I'm doing something for the other person that I don't typically like to do.

Does this extend to everyone?

So how about you? Do you apologize with your top love language, or do you tend to apologize using languages you're not as strong in? Be sure to leave your comments, and I'll respond to them this Saturday!

*And you'll get bonus points if you apologize for something I didn't even bring up.

Why Quality Time is the BEST Love Language - Response Saturday #27

Last Tuesday, I asked y'all to tell me your love language! This is what I got back!

So despite my best guesses, I guess the majority of people who commented on this last post are not words of affirmation types of people. Oh well! Maybe you reading my blog is a way of spending quality time with me, perhaps?

Either way, that didn't offer much in the way of stuff to talk about, so I guess I'd better take that quiz myself and let you know what I got. Give me just a minute! In the meantime, think about kittens or something.

...

AREN'T THEY ADORBS?

Anyway, my scores surprised me, but only a little.

See, I would have thought Words of Affirmation would have beat out Quality Time? But I guess not. I think I guessed wrong because when I'm with someone, and they compliment me it's a specific event I can pinpoint and recall and even quote. I must subconsciously enjoy the presence of others more than I consciously do.

When it came to the quiz itself, I felt like the beginning could have easily been manipulated. Since I was familiar with the love languages already, it wasn't too hard to guess which of the two choices would give me which love language. The longer the quiz went on, however, the harder it was to tell.

For example, I was surprised that I got a point in 'receiving gifts' at all, but I did remember which question gave me the one point. I was asked to choose between a.) someone going way out of their way to do something for me, or b.) giving me a small present on their way home. I definitely am not much for gifts, but if you're spending an inordinate amount of time on me (I consider time my most precious resource), then I'm going to feel super guilty and probably start itching (yes, literally). I'd much prefer a 'here you go' to a 'let me sacrifice five hours for you for no good reason!' 

Anyway, so I learned something about myself today! I hope you take the chance to learn something about yourself, too.

Why I'm Glad I'm Horrible - Thursday Thought #13

For a commentary on this header image, follow the asterisk.*

There is no one person more aware of my inadequacies than myself.

I could go into all the reasons why I'm the worst, why I hate many of the actions and choices I find myself making, but that's not the point of this post. Instead, I want to talk about why I'm glad I'm the worst.

I've imagined a world where I didn't make mistakes. I say everything right the first time. I know exactly what to do in every situation. I stick to my principles, living my beliefs exactly the way I think they should be lived. Nobody finds flaws in my lifestyle.

The thing is, such a world would never encourage me to improve myself.

In the world we live in now, I make the same mistakes over and over again and then recognize I have things I need to work on. Because of this, I'm more forgiving of my fellows and their mistakes. My own pride is kept to a minimum. And if I wasn't prone to error, then I would never find reason to turn to God and keep Him in my life.

If I somehow remained at a peak internal strength my entire life, that alternate self might die a better person than I will at the rate I'm currently going. However, I will have learned how to deal with trial and heartache--even if those are mostly self-imposed--and will be able to claim I did my very best.

When I make a mistake, I remind myself of a better me.

*I have a hard time making these header images sometimes. For example, looked for visual references illustrating a 'mistake,' and the most common image seemed to revolve around blindfolded people accidentally walking off cliffs.I tried to capture this image, but found it impossible to draw a blindfold on a light bulb without it looking childish or stupid. So now I worry it looks like the light bulb is committing suicide, which was not my intention at all. By the time I worried the image would be misconstrued, I'd already spent far too much time on it. I hope the lackluster 'shrug' the light bulb offers helps add some clarification, but either way, it didn't mean to fall off the cliff! I swear!