When the Ordinary Becomes the Extraordinary

Far more people are disabled by their own lack of exercise -- than are disabled by illnesses and injuries.  That is as crippling as actual inabilities.  And even among the ill and injured, some recover while many never do -- and remain disabled for life.  The few who do recover completely and even go on to develop even greater capacities by their resolve, are the renown heroes of athletics, but just as extraordinary, are those who recover merely to walk again, and do all the things required to maintain themselves at their everyday functionality.  It may not seem like much, but it is the fundamental basis that empowers everything else.

Most of us take these things for granted until we are older -- when they become increasingly problematical as their new reality.  It is at such time and epiphanies, that everyone decides that life can still get better for them, or just continue to decline and deteriorate -- from here on out.  What that point in life is, varies greatly from individual to individual.  Some begin to decline as soon as they can -- while a remarkable few, never come to that crisis.

Instead, they continue to get better with age.  Of course, that is not the general rule, but the exceptional -- which is still possible at any age.  Those are the people expecting change, and planning and preparing to rise even further to the challenge.  That is the winning attitude -- but what else is more important to do?  But it is entirely personal -- what one chooses to become good at.  If they are wise, they will continue to do the ordinary things in their life - for the rest of their lives.  They don't need to run a marathon or swim a mile.  They have to do the ordinary things -- as well and better than they ever have.  That is the extraordinary.

Life increasingly becomes personal -- at which point a lot of people, call it quits.  Lots of support in one's younger years, but at some point, one realizes they are all on their own -- and nobody else cares as much about the outcome.  That's a shocking realization for those who have been driven thus far, by the thoughts and opinions of others to determine what their lives will be.  Nobody else really cares -- as much as you do.  If you don't care, nobody else will.  That is the truth of the matter.

That's not what the institutions and media would have us believe -- that anything could be other than what they are promoting, and selling -- as the truth we all know, presumably.  However, what we all "know." may vary greatly.  Hopefully, we are discovering new truths all the time.  But that is not just the work of a few self-designated, but everyone, in every aspect of their lives.  That is the significance and work of every life.  The rest is distraction and entertainment.

That too, may be increasingly many people's realities -- as the virtual becomes the actual. 

Creating One's Own "Paradise"

No man is an island unto themselves; they are part of a larger environment (context) -- that either fosters health, or is toxic to well-being.  But what those conditions are to different people -- varies somewhat, and sometimes significantly.  Some prefer it colder, while others like it hot.  Some can thrive at high altitudes, while others might perish -- even at the thought.  So those latter people identify, what they feel are those conditions that make them thrive.  Some like the uncertainty of the weather, while others prefer the same -- not only in the weather, but in all things.  If each could identify and choose their own perfect environment, there would be no problem, but invariably, there are those who would wish to impose their preferences, on everybody else -- no exceptions! -- and that is the root of most conflicts.

However in this day and age, we have the capabilities for each to personalize their own environment -- given the general one we all start off with.  It may be as fundamental as the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume -- and the freedom and choices in each of those considerations.  Further along, we could maintain that environment in fully functioning order and cleanliness -- or think those things never need to be considered, and the condition of their deterioration and degradation, is beyond human intervention -- and what the gods alone determine.

So fundamentally, this is a problem of understanding -- and from that, the proper actions naturally flow out of them.  But with the wrong understanding, or lack of understanding and the need for it, problems arise and worsen -- and one feels powerless to do anything about them.  Those are invariably the challenges of each time and place -- before progress can resume, and eventually leap forward.  If only the familiar problems keep getting worse, it is seldom that more of the familiar and well-accepted solution is the answer -- and most likely, that understanding is the problem -- that has to be re-examined, because merely continuing in that manner, is disastrous -- while another way might not be. 

Logically, we must find another way -- that doesn't perpetuate and worsen the problem -- as the only effective and reasonable answer.  That is particularly the crisis of the homeless in the major cities -- where it is still thought, that simply failing to recognize the problem and the needs, will make it go away -- rather than providing and ensuring the basic necessities for everyone as much as possible.  That would be ensuring the necessary hygiene for all those sharing that environment -- even before they have a secure place to sleep and store their possessions.  That is the quality of life (and environment) that must be maintained -- before all other considerations.

That is even the primary reason for securing shelter -- for all the other reasons.  A person ensuring that quality of personal hygiene and health, is doing their part to create a better environment for all.  Beyond that, a person can sleep anywhere, or eat their meals under most conditions -- but a person with poor hygiene, degrades that environment for all -- and will not allow normal proceedings to continue, until they are addressed, and dealt with definitively.    But we don't have to rediscover and recreate the wheel for every such instance.

In most cases, those facilities already exist -- but are not given access to because there is no manpower to oversee them -- in the erroneous belief that if public hygiene stations are not provided -- or are inaccessible (locked), the people who need them, won't "go" -- or simply go away.  As attractive as the thought, it won't happen that way.  People who need to "go," will go regardless of whether they are provided the facilities for doing so -- or not, and so for the benefit of the environment (society), it's in their own best interest, to see that it is disposed of properly -- and in safety.

It's a public health problem and not a public housing problem -- foremost.  It's a universal problem -- but those who have a place to go, usually don't go out for that reason -- which inhibits their mobility.  That skews the populace and public places in favor of the dispossessed -- who now take them over entirely -- promoting the notion that it is less safe to be out in public spaces.  That is now the plight of most urban environments.

But those who remain home, are not home-free by any means.  Often, those personal environments may be as polluted as the outdoor environment they have less control over.  Many do not think they need nor have the control over their own personal environments -- thinking doors and windows are enough to keep toxins and pollutants out.  Therein lies the greater problem -- in not realizing that they can take extra-ordinary measures to ensure their personal paradise -- to a much greater extent than the average person thinks possible, or nearly thinks about at all.  That personal space, can also be degraded even with the best of intentions and care.

The problem is that mold and mildew grows in virtually every home -- to which are added, pet dander, cigarette smoking, water leaks and flooding, no ventilation and heating sufficient to maintain a healthy environment.  Most places don't have air purification systems -- beginning with the microbial masks warn in many contemporary environments to assure quality products and services.  Does that mean one should be paranoid about these things?  I feel more confident and assured when my surgeon or dentist wears a microbial mask -- as well as when I see a chef wearing one.  And then in today's precision manufacturing business (processes), it is rare to see one without such a barrier to contamination.

I've found that when I feel a cold or other respiratory symptom coming on, wearing an antimicrobial mask, seems to be a nearly instant, reliable cure -- as long as I take that precaution, and maintain that practice for as long as I think necessary.  There doesn't seem to be a downside for doing so.  Even the cheapest of these masks, claim a 99% effective rate at eliminating bacteria, fungi and allergens -- while those with an added layer of activated carbon, eliminate most of the bothersome odors -- including second-hand smoke. 

This effectiveness of purification -- gives a whole new meaning to the concept of clean, fresh, pure air -- and is already being widely adopted in areas notorious for the most polluted air in the world.  Think what it can do for a relatively clean environment.  It's a huge difference between eliminating 99% of the pollutants -- and not -- in the very air that one breathes, that it would seem to be the most effective strategy one could adopt to bulletproof oneself from most common irritants -- including just bad odors.

The question for most is whether it is worth the extra nominal expense and inconvenience of wearing such an enhancement.  But it is nothing really new -- in that some of the most traditional societies have long standing adoption of such methods to protect against harsh climatic conditions -- ie. dusty, arid environments.  Or the extremely cold.  We largely don't think we need such devices anymore because of modern heating and cooling systems -- but if that were enough, we wouldn't see them in operating or manufacturing rooms either.  They are effective up to a point -- but nowhere near what can be easily achieved with this addition -- obviously.

Some things are as simple and obvious as that.  What would you do to live to 100 -- without all the usual afflictions one has come to accept as inevitable and inescapable?  It's in the air -- in the environment we live in, which is integrally, ourselves. 

Different Manifestations of the Same Problem (Cause)

Occasionally we are overwhelmed by seemingly many problems -- when often, it is just one, with many different faces (manifestations) -- so if we get to the root of the problem, the many seemingly different problems, go away, without addressing each specific issue, as a problem all its own.  Of course that is not the most lucrative way to think of these problems -- for a person selling "solutions."  

They would prefer to have as many different problems -- as well as their respective cures (solutions) as possible -- to maximize sales, and following that logic, prefer solutions that create even more problems.  And that, often, is the conundrum of offering real solutions -- rather than simply multiplying the economic opportunities and activities.  It virtually eliminates the steady stream of income from repeat customers, who've come to believe that these chronic, lingering problems -- must be lifelong and inescapable, rather than the thought that life could be very different -- once they've gotten to the root of their problems.

The most common of course, is the belief that their lives would be better, if they only had more money -- when a review of lottery winners and others receiving windfalls, merely speeds their self-destruction -- because they now have more money to lose, and they never bothered to learn to manage whatever resources they have, as wisely as possible.  And that more than how much anyone has, is what distinguishes the rich from the poor.  

The poor think they simply have more money to waste -- to spend frivolously and thoughtlessly, on every sort of entertainment and dissipation -- because that is what they think rich people do.  Among such people, such self-destructive activities is their objective -- until it is no longer possible -- because they have spent all their money, or their health gives out first.  Some even pride themselves on the cars they have wrecked -- driving fast and "under the influence" -- of the alcohol and drugs they have gleefully consumed -- even posting it daily on their social media pages for all to witness.

It never occurs to them, that it gives a negative impression of who they are -- and think is so important in life.  And then in reviewing all their posts, one realizes their entire lives is nothing but this celebration of the trivial and self-destructive, and everybody else should hop aboard this bandwagon of headlong self-destruction.  Such ends are always predictable -- and usually tragic, but it's not like there were no warning signs and red flags flying furiously -- with no desire to alter their course.

Invariably, these people also desire to become rich and famous -- while never sustaining an interest in improving their skill at anything that would merit renown.  They think that the spotlight merely must shine on them, and then it will reveal the talents and abilities, they've never thought to develop -- and if they did, becoming rich and famous would be left to those who think erroneously to get anywhere by placing the cart before the horse -- as they think that nothing is related to anything else, and there is no cause and effect, but everyone without exception, lives in a world of random outcomes -- and that good and bad, just happens, no matter what one does.

That is still a worldview -- largely promoted by those to whom the objective of economic activities, is to find the greater fool they can exploit -- as the supreme achievement of every existence, and that there is nothing beyond.  Such thought processes are especially prevalent among the criminal and forlorn -- swinging wildly from fits of mania to depression -- while never thinking that control, is what they must master -- as the meaning and purpose of their own lives.

Yet well-intentioned and well-meaning people, will encourage and enable such self-destructive behaviors in others -- as what gives them meaning in their own lives, in the solace that there are others more lost than they are, and even dependent on their approbation.  That's how the world, quickly spirals out of control -- as all its energies and resources, are diverted to enabling all the problems of the world, and never its solutions.

They're even self-designated as the defenders of the status quo -- by which they place themselves at the top of the social hierarchy, while the rest of life passes them by -- grateful there is something to occupy them to keep out of the way.  That is -- until they become too numerous to ignore, and it is time to repurpose such lives or they become too great a drag on societies -- to merely undo all those activities that are undermining human civilization and progress.

Otherwise, the problem of the homeless and hopeless, eventually overwhelm communities -- because they lack the basic skills to live their lives better -- which should be the objective of primary education, even more than academic proficiencies that merely differentiates and eliminates the less able from the most.  Because that is what it comes down to as the great challenge of these times -- how each manages their daily lives, and not that we all have to be Einsteins.  Those people just naturally distinguish themselves -- because they can't be anything else but who they are.  That's why there are these stunning child prodigies -- who are just gifted from birth, and not the result of years of training and practice.

We don't need to identify those people.  We need to identify the basic skills in life that give everybody an equal chance at success -- in managing their own lives, and taking care of themselves -- so that society doesn't have to divert increasing resources, to take care of them.  That's not an efficient way of providing for most -- that a few, and eventually most, have to take care of a few -- who are hellbent on their own destruction, for lack of a better thing to do -- because they never receive those basics.  Then once each is capable of providing for themselves in that essential way -- they can pursue their own unique talents and abilities, and not that we need more funding and caregivers -- for taking care of an increasing population of people incapable of doing so for themselves.

The presumption is that most will make those choices intelligently -- when they don't know how, and never saw it done by those around them -- growing up.  They were confused by the meaninglessness of all the activities with seemingly no good purpose -- even promoted by well-intentioned and well-meaning people who had no idea of what they were doing except to pass on their own training (understanding) -- without thinking, does it make sense?  That never enters their mind -- that is simply the tradition they were taught, and continue, and the busier they are at doing so, the less thought they give it -- even if it is not working!

It may never occur to them that it could have a greater meaning and purpose -- than simply to do what they have to do earn a paycheck, and rise higher to earn a bigger paycheck.  Or buy a bigger house -- whether they actually require one or not.  And so the first thing most do on receiving a raise, is to go out and buy a new car -- for lack of anything better to do with the money, or, that is what everybody else is doing.

Only a rare few think to defer their spending and accumulate wealth -- for a really compelling reason -- rather than blow it as soon as they get it, in the many thoughtless ways now possible -- and then return to await for "more."  Of course people operating in this manner will never have enough -- but that is not the root of their problem.  They were taught that one could always get more -- and not that one becomes rich by making the best of whatever they have -- the multiplier effect.  It is not merely enough to think that "one gets what they pay for" -- but that the difference can be substantial -- for the same money.  The challenge is to obtain maximum value -- while also providing maximum value so that one can continue to trade on those terms.

That is quite different from just trying to get over the other so that the other will have nothing to do with them henceforth, and burns all the bridges as one goes through life -- thinking that is the wisdom of the world -- that only they are privy to, as self-appointed guardians of the collective intelligence.  That is the root of most human ills.

Preparation and Practice

Everything one does, is preparation and practice for everything one will subsequently do -- and so no matter how badly and tentatively one begins, they get better with persistence.  They don't get better just wishing to do so -- or thinking how to do it perfectly the first time.  It may be that they have no idea of what is really and actually involved -- until they actually manifest that knowledge in action (movement).  Of course it is always easier just to say and think one can -- because it looks so easy when other people do it -- usually because they've prepared and practiced it for many years, that it looks easy and effortless.

To the observer, they may not realize the full extent of what is actually being done -- but looks at the least significant aspect of it, and thinks that is all there is.  This is most obviously true in athletic performances and exercise -- yet all the participants think they are doing the same thing, with obviously different results and competence.  And even the self-proclaimed experts are confounded when reality does not conform to their theories and explanations -- and think they simply need a better theory and explanation, instead of realizing the truth of what is actually happening.

That is true for all arenas and actions -- from personal hygiene to personal finance -- and everything else in between.  For that reason, everybody does not end up with the same results -- and it is no mystery why that is.  A few become masters of what they do -- while many others have no clue as to what is actually being done.  Usually that is because they are not paying attention, being thoughtful and (self-) aware.  They may even think that such things are not possible -- or the primary task of every individual -- but just mindlessly follow the instructions from whomever they think is the "boss," and struggle mightily against such authority at every opportunity they can -- whether for their own good or not.

Often, everything they do, undermines everything they hope to do and accomplish in their lives, and they can never figure it out -- so distracted and mesmerized are they by all the wrong things.  They may be obsessed with the desire to be "rich and famous," but have no idea why that might be so, or what they should do to achieve that fame and fortune.  To them, it is only sufficient to desire to be rich and famous, so when their 15 seconds of fame manifest, they have no idea what to do.  Their opportunity has come and gone -- and they have no idea what happened.

But those who are prepared and have practiced, rise to such occasions -- because that is what their lives have been all about -- not just wishing and hoping that things were other than they actually are.  Whatever they are, and whatever beginning point, one actually has to do something -- no matter how humble that beginning seems.  The lack is always this fundamental lack of understanding and executing the basics -- and not what to do when they are rich and famous. That is not the problem.

So when they are not rich and famous, they still have whatever skills they've practiced and perfected -- and not simply the incessant demand for more -- of what they feel everybody has -- that should be their entitlement, because they "want" it more than everybody else.  That's no way to run a society, or even one's own life.  What each has, is mostly their own doing -- even while resorting to the marketplace to find out who is offering the best exchanges of value for value.  Before money is actually exchanged, the best off, will find out all the information available, and what is available -- rather than simply whatever anyone has to sell -- whether it sufficient, or perfectly fits their needs.  That takes practice in becoming one's own best expert.

That doesn't guarantee a satisfactory outcome, but necessarily gets one closer -- until one gets to that perfect solution, and not simply creating endlessly more problems.  That should be a clue that their solution is not the answer to their troubles, but merely perpetuates the problems, as well as that solution -- someone is invariably selling, as long as they can get away with it.  Once it no longer sells, then they have to come up with another gimmick -- hoping to attract another group of buyers -- who never solve their problem.  And so they learn to live with it, and live that way -- as their answer to all of life's problems.

They never expect to solve any problems of their own living -- and that is the whole point of it all.  Naturally and predictably, everything just gets worse -- and they believe that is the natural consequence of living a long life -- rather than the opportunity of it to make the most of all that time available.  Instead, they find ways to waste their time with endless distractions and diversions -- until they have no idea of whether they are coming or going, and are merely confused at every turn and development.

With what little they have, they don't make the best of it -- but make it even less, or waste it entirely. Nobody helps such people because there's no money to be had from doing so -- and so they have to figure these things out for themselves, which is the only way it can happen.  Those who are dependent on others for these answers, will invariably find that those solutions, benefit the sellers, and not themselves -- unless it can be of mutual benefit.  To eliminate that expensive middle man and derive all the benefits for themselves -- they have to do their own thinking.

And that is the whole point -- they are immeasurably better off for doing so.  That is where we all hope to be -- as much as possible for oneselves.  That is not optional or a luxury only the rich and privileged have -- but is the very foundation of wealth and well-being.  Otherwise, one is constantly at the mercy of others -- despite how much they insist they are doing it for our own good, and nothing is in it for them.

So ultimately, the practice is this awareness -- and not simply what they insist we believe. That is what killed the mainstream media, and all the other intermediaries.  We can go directly to the source.  It is a wonderful new world -- favoring the fearless in finding out what they need to know.  That is a world quite different from those insisting they know all that can be known -- and fit to publish.  Those were the days -- that aren't coming back.

Putting Things in Perspective

Things are good or bad -- depending on how one looks at it.  One cannot avoid bad things by simply avoiding all risks, all chances, all choices -- as many increasingly live their lives -- which is really, a dying of sorts.  To live as fully as possible, means to live on that edge of discovery -- of finding out what is true, and what one does not know and is uncertain about.

The most common form of this withdrawal from participation and engagement, is when one thinks they are too old to do anything anymore -- for surely, that is the beginning of the end.  One does not have to be clinically diagnosed as having no hope for recovery -- to give up.  It happens all the time, even to everyone of us.  We reach a point which we will not go on -- and in many instances, that is wise and justified.  Is the reward worth the risk?  And then, do we have a choice?

Sometimes there is no choice but to go through the fire -- hoping there is safety beyond.  Most of the time, it is not as dramatic, but no less significant -- as when one is pushed off an island, and lands on the other side.  Anything would be better, than what is not working.  That failure has become their certainty -- and all the other choices, represent escapes from that dismal fate.  At that point, one is a fool to cling to that certainty that is one's doom.  They have nothing to lose and everything to gain -- by simply trying anything else.

That's how the future lies for everyone -- the choices they make to go on.  But those who choose to live too closely to the edge, risk falling to a premature end -- as certainly as those who will never go there, nor anywhere else for that matter.  They've chosen not to exercise all their options and possibilities -- but just to exist as long as somebody else will keep them alive.  Taking care of themselves, let alone taking better care of themselves -- is no longer a point of discussion.

It is the work and job of others, to make them well -- and even provide a little more each year -- automatically, and unfailingly.  That is what their lives and society has come to -- and all they need do is show up and vote, once a year -- if that.  That is all they think necessary, for everything to turn out well, and not that they have to take personal responsibility and accountability, and see success through to every detail -- personally.

It's easy to lose sight of that perspective -- in a world of conveniences.   That means getting back to the basics -- just as Henry David Thoreau wrote in his time -- as the fundamental grounding each must revisit in their lives, as often as possible.  That is what makes life meaningful -- and not the sound and fury -- signifying little of importance.  All that, is merely entertainment -- distractions and  delusions preventing us from seeing the obvious -- preferring the illusion to the realities of our daily living, which is the reality of our lives.

Then the "story" is preferred to the simple truth of the matter -- as though nothing has any significance in itself, but must be woven into a greater cause before one is motivated to do anything.  The simplicity of purpose is lost so one will not move as a simple honest expression of one's being -- but is justified because it is good for the heart, or cause one to live a year longer in a vegetative state, or some other consideration far removed.

It might be for that million dollars one will need in the last year of one's life being sustained by an army of caregivers on artificial life support -- and the dire consequences of what will happen to you if you do not have the resources.   The alternatives are too horrible to entertain.  But way before that, how does one live their lives to not get into that condition?  Certainly that path of deterioration is not inevitable to most -- but is the worst case scenario for only a rare few -- that should rightfully not be viewed as the rule upon which all of life is predicated on.  Yet that is what some are dedicated to convincing us of.  That is their livelihood in this world -- to sell us of whatever makes a living for them -- and not that it is totally and absolutely necessary.

Can we save every species from extinction -- or guarantee every life at any cost?  That's never been done before.  That is the very process of life, death, survival and evolution.  Things don't just stay the same -- for eternity, no matter how much one wants to micromanage it.

The most difficult part of any task, is just getting started -- or going from zero to one -- which usually makes all the difference in the world.  Once one has actually started anything, the rest is fairly easy -- and often takes on a life of its own -- the one thing leads to the next.  And so it is observed, that a journey of a thousand miles, begins with  single step.  Fortunately however, most journeys are not a thousand miles long, but usually just a jog around the block, or stroll to the corner grocery store.  But even then, a few people have a problem with that -- and shortly, they have a problem with even the smallest effort.  At that point, everything seems like a moonshot -- and just as likely to happen.

Developing Credibility

There are some people, who think they have to "fake it" -- until they "make it," but all they will be successful at doing, is pretending to be what they aren't -- instead of being authentically who they actually are -- which is the real accomplishment and success, of any person.  In that way, they learn what they know, as well as what they don't -- rather than pretending to know what they don't.

And really, that is the source of most of the problems in the world -- of those who don't know, not knowing they don't, and not being able to tell that critical difference -- which is the difference between those who succeed, and those who fail.  In order to succeed, one must know what failure is, and distinguish that from success -- or they will not know the difference, and so can never achieve success.

That is rather a simple thing -- knowing that difference.  A few though, have been raised with the credo, that the truth of any matter, is simply what they can get others to believe -- and there is no truth beyond that.  Obviously, those who operate in that way, do so having been raised and conditioned entirely in a socialized environment rather than a natural one -- meaning that the "right" opinions matter more than their actual consequences.

Things instantly and arbitrarily manifest themselves -- because that is what the political leaders have decreed, and not that there is a process for which they came into being.  Food manifests in styrofoam wrappers, and not from the producers who grow and prepare them for marketing through systematic and arduous processes.  And so when things don't turn out as they would like them to, the only course is to appeal to those in charge -- rather than providing for oneself.    In fact, that is immediately dismissed as unrealistic -- rather than how things actually come about.

Cause and effect is lost -- or never taught in the first place.  Of course such subjects are at the mercy of the powers that be -- always beyond themselves.  Thus the struggle, is to be one of those powers -- or at least seem to be.  That is the necessity to seem to be other than one actually is -- and mastering that, as the primary skill and objective of those living in the freedom to choose their own fates and destinies.  In the past, most people never got there -- mainly because all were struggling to be the one at the top in that society -- to tell everyone else what to do, and how to think.  They felt that that was their duty and entitlement, that was their destiny -- to rule over all others.

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But with each successive new generation, such obviously heavy-handed bonds have been erased from memory so that the present one is unaware of such conditioning -- that has gone on for time immemorial.  Thus the insightful personages of human history and evolution were those who pronounced that to see that conditioning, was the key to mastering reality.  Otherwise, one is like the countless many, who can't tell the difference, and don't care to.  It is enough for them, just to watch passively while others tell them what to think.

In that world, are many faking their credibility -- simply because they can -- to an unsuspecting and undiscriminating audience.  It doesn't matter if they know something -- only that others think they do.  Those are their "credentials" -- something quite other than credibility.  Credibility is what can be proven in the present -- and not only what they have claimed to have attained in the past -- as though that standing is permanent and irrevocable -- rather than discovered from moment to moment.

Truth is always discovered in the present moment -- and not simply a remembered happenstance long ago -- retold to yet another generation, as the "official" teller of that story.  Usually though, they make up and replace it with their own story -- that they alone are the truth -- from here on out.  So anything they say, is the truth -- no longer requiring any other authentication or validation -- in actual experience.  The truth is what actually works -- and not all the excuses and explanations for why nothing works as they say it should.

How the Mighty Have Fallen (Disintermediation)

In a time not too long ago, the people who held the power, were those who controlled the information -- and what people were allowed to think on any matter.  They may have claimed to know all the information worth knowing -- since they owned the printing press, and those who wanted to access it, were at the mercy of their approval and favor.

All that changed at the beginning of this century, although the seeds for that development, had been sown by all the generations previously -- by those who dared to challenge that authority.  That was true for Martin Luther, Columbus, Socrates, Jesus, Buddha, etc.  They challenged authority -- because they felt they heeded a higher one, and a bigger picture of what had been known up to then.

Now we know that nobody owns all the information -- or even their small part of it.  It can be known by anyone who wants to -- because they are not convinced that they can only access it through certain self-appointed authorities, who thought it was their job to keep all those unauthorized from knowing what only their self-appointed few had a right to.  That's how much the world has changed in such a short time.

However, not everyone who merely challenges authority, has greater authority to do so.  They may have rightly and deservedly less authority to do so.  Authority implies authorship -- or one who creates that idea, and not the countless many who merely repeat it -- while having no idea what they are talking about.  They simply copy what those they think know, are doing -- regardless of whether it has any basis in fact.  They are fond of saying that the majority is always right -- and that might, makes right, and is its own reason for being.

If someone else comes along and tells them to think differently, that is what they will do blindly -- as well, because they have no way of determining the truth of any matter for themselves -- which would make them an authority on such matters.  They would have come to that conclusion on their own -- and not simply accept what others say, without any attempt to discern the truth for themselves.  That form of mass control and propaganda, was perfected in the last century by the mass media and other institutions of mass control.  It was possible because of one-way broadcast media and tactics.  The one spoke to the many, but the many could not speak back, or even to each other -- because only the (self-)designated leader, had that authority -- to think (and talk) for everyone else.

That's what made certain individuals powerful (mighty) -- being able to convince the masses that they were, and having a few self-selected "other" voices vouch that they were.  That reached its height in the era of mass (media) advertising -- and the control of a fabled few on "Madison Avenue," being able to convince everyone of anything they wanted them to believe -- even that harmful practices were good for them.  Of course those who bought into that advertising (propaganda) paid a price with their lives and well-being in chasing and worshiping all the wrong things.  Most had no idea of what they were doing, because as "good citizens," they did and believed what they were told to.

Only years later, would they realize the consequences of those ill-advised behaviors -- as those impacts took their toll, although many attributed those ravages, as just the process of "natural aging," that all but an exceptional few, seemed to be immune from.  Such achievements however, were usually dismissed and derided as extraordinary and eccentric deviations from the norm.  Excessive eating, drinking, smoking, and vices, were encouraged as the privileged way to be -- and people knew no other.  Those who wrote and promoted such excesses, were usually their greatest victims of such unhealthful and unwise practices and lifestyles.

They were invariably those who thought it was their right to exploit all the others for their exclusive benefit -- rather than that everyone had a right to everything as well.  But that is a lot more than just about money.  It is more about having an equal access to all the information -- and not just what some other would want everyone else to believe for their own exclusive advantage and benefit.  Such people were the countless middle men (intermediaries) that required others to have to go through them, to get anything they wanted.  Thus, fewer people got what they wanted -- and only a few really got rich enough to afford what they truly wanted.

Now there are more millionaires than ever before -- but even more importantly, many more who have most things they really need.  The major division in the world today, are those who have everything they really need, and those who have everything that is bad for them -- and not knowing how to tell the difference for themselves.  Those latter, fall further behind with each day and acquisition.  It is not that they have nothing -- but rather, it is the abundance of all the wrong things -- that set them back further each day.  Those are plainly and obviously the victims -- but less so the enablers and codependents that eventually suffer from that same fate -- as their own "normal."

That pattern can continue for generations -- or end with a single individual -- who has the awareness to see their own thoughtlessness and end it there.  It's not the hardest thing to do but actually the easiest -- once they have that clarity.  The problem is that they truly do not want to see that clarity -- but want to continue as they have been doing -- with the deceptions, delusions -- thinking still to get ahead in their misguided way.  But they no longer have any idea of how that is accomplished -- or why it is they continue to do what they do.  It has all become obsessive-compulsive behavior -- with no rhyme nor reason for being.  That's just the way they are -- and expect to remain until they die, even realizing it is killing them.

It's because they expect somebody else to save them -- and not that they have to save themselves.  Another will not save them, they have to be their own saviors -- and in that, become the authors and authorities in their own lives -- rather than further removed from all those possibilities and opportunities.  That is how far they have fallen -- from their original intent.  They have become irrelevant and powerless even to themselves -- thinking it can only reside in others, the middle man, the intermediaries -- the false gods of a previous age.