Some Pretentious Thoughts I’m Having…

Deciding to understand the universe requires one to remove themselves from the equation, just enough to become comfortable with all the seriousness and levity the universe has to offer, before realizing that the only thing in this universe we can control, the only thing we are truly intimate with, is ourselves. The obscurities around us, both the simple and complex, are represented in our minds as ideas, beliefs, and associations. We put these puzzles together with the intent of empowering ourselves and enjoying the world around us. Love, Friendship, Good Health, Prosperity, and Freedom… these goods if taken for granted seem to elude us, to slip through our fingers, to gnaw at us in their absence. But understand, everything is possible through hard work and focus. The Universe is not as complex as we might think. Then again, maybe it is.

Were we bereft of self-discipline, focus, honor, compassion, and self-reliance, we would see how thin the foundations of civilization truly are and how quickly all of this can come crumbling down around us. And indeed, this lesson is not a lesson, but a question being asked of the modern world. Shall we abdicate our innermost yearning for these innate goods, shall we lose our grasp on the virtues required to nurture them? The world says, “Yes!” It’s not hard to understand. Man has embraced some bad theology and philosophy over the years. They’ve gotten fat, stupid, and lazy in the West. Apathetic and Cold in the East. The Middle World is immersed in hateful violence. Of course, why not?

We’re all too consumed with the bigness of things. Too frightened, too confused, too fed-up with the past, with ourselves… too angry at Nature. So much resentment, it becomes hard to breathe. Man has become undisciplined, unfocused, cold, dependent, and, most of all, restless. Virtue, Honor, Self-Discipline, and Self-Reliance ought to be learned in our youth, and in the absence of good instruction, the road to happiness is long, steep, and arduous. But too few seem to find the time or energy to make the voyage and take the challenge. Because… What’s the point? Until the world can see reason, it will not act in accordance with it.