Marriage and Work

Well yet another person that I know just got engaged. This seems to be something that is happening more and more within the last year. I am extremely happy for all of the dear friends, acquaintances and my brother that have gotten engaged or married, but I suppose at the same time I’m not ready for it. I know that it is purely in my own mind and some strange logic I have, but it also kind of feels like the countdown has started for me. The countdown to the time when if I am not engaged or married or even have a serious relationship people start to say “I wonder when Danny will get married”. I know it sounds stupid, but the more people that I know that get married it seems like the more pressure is on for me. In reality it’s not true I know, but I feel that way. I’m not really in any rush to get married. I want to find the perfect woman that God set aside especially for me. He has his own time of when we will meet and no matter what I want it is all up to Him. Every man, I believe, longs to find that perfect match that God made for us to be our wife, our companion, support, our helper. I think that I am starting to get that longing, and that is a good thing but at the same time I know that I have a lot that I need to work on in myself before I can begin to form that relationship and bond with my future wife. This has kind of turned into more of something for me, but I think I will post it anyways.

Since it is 12:30 and it is technically Thanksgiving I’ll just throw this out there in the spirit of the holiday. What am I thankful for? Well I know it’s nothing profound, but I am thankful for finally getting a job. After being unemployed for something like 5 months it could not have come a moment sooner. I think the whole experience of being unemployed will really help me to appreciate the job that I have when it gets tough and I don’t feel like working. Just to know that I have some source of income coming in now puts my mind at ease like you wouldn’t believe. I spent many sleepless nights staying up and worrying about what I am going to do to pay my bills and be able to keep driving my car and talk on my cell phone. Tonight at Bible study we were talking about the Sabbath and how it is taken for granted now and not kept holy like it is supposed to be. I have been thinking about it and I feel like I should start to take that more seriously and ask for Saturdays off from work. Now I could easily make up some excuse to tell them why I need off like I have class or something, but I don’t think God would bless me for it (or maybe not as much) as if I took the step of faith and went up to my manager and told them straight out that I need it off because it is the Sabbath and a day of rest. I have never done this in any job that I have had, but I want God to be in control of my job and everything I do in my job. If that is where I am supposed to be then it will work out and I will do well in everything I do in my job through God.

-Danny

The written word

Reading is such a strange and yet beautiful thing. As I have been reading more and more lately, I have been more and more inclined to turn of the TV and read a book instead. Reading is such a wonderful thing because it invokes thought, wonder, joy, and excitement. Reading also inspires more reading. I just finished one book last night and I have already started another one. Once you find something that you thoroughly enjoy reading about, you want to find as much material about it as you can get you hands on. The possibilities are literally endless. There are more books out there than on man could ever possibly dream about reading in his lifetime. This is not to say that all books have substance and are good, but that still leaves an almost endless amount. It really does enrich your life. I think, that in the last few months I have read more as I am getting into reading than I have in the last few years.

Reading also inspires creativity. If I had not been reading lately, I probably would not have started this blog and would have nothing to say because I was not putting anything good into myself. It is like my old youth pastor, Marc Bolling, used to say: "Garbage in, Garbage out". If you are only feeding yourself garbage, than that is all you will get out. On the other hand though if you feed yourself with things of substance, you will get good things out.

Like I said before there is an endless amount of material out there for you to read. There are so many different genres, subjects, authors that you almost have to find something you like. I hope that everyone would be as enthralled as I am in this new fascination of mine that is reading and maybe, just maybe we would have something to show for ourselves. Otherwise we will continue down the path we are going and it leads to nowhere. Just think of it this way: the great minds of old did not merely amuse themselves with trivial things, they sought to better themselves and now they are considered great. There will be no more minds like J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, or G.K. Chesterton if we only amuse ourselves with trivial things. Think of our minds like an axe, they constantly have to be sharpened against a hard stone to maintain their edge, such as we have to sharpen ourselves by constantly giving ourselves something to grind upon.

-Danny

Breakdown or breakthrough?

Something a little different...

"Constantly worrying, constantly wondering, fearing, hardly sleeping, hardly eating. Everything is a haze. Driving down the road watching the oncoming traffic and thinking with a flick of my wrist how easily it could all be gone. Always in the back of my mind. Worry. Worry about bills, about my future, or lack thereof. Will I ever get back on my feet again? Where am I going to get the money to pay my bills? Why cant I find a job? What is wrong with me? I feel like I am on the verge, on the brink of a breakdown. This world is so unforgiving to people down on their luck. Will I become just another number. Another faceless tragedy in the hundreds or thousands of people “down on their luck”. If not for a few people that care about me, I would. If I was truly on my own, I wold be a causality of “luck” run out. Homeless, possesionless…loveless. I refuse to be a number. I would sooner die than end up like that. I will not lie down and take it. Bring it on."

-Danny

Creativity is a dying art

As I was watching tv tonight, I realized this. The more I think about it the more I realize that it is going on everywhere. Nowadays tv is just mind-numbing junk designed to just keep kids entertained but not to inspire creativity, not to make kids want to go out and create something great or make something better. Sure tv has been for a long time a main source of entertainment, but the quality of the shows that are on tv has only gone downhill.

Maybe tv is not the best example or not convincing enough? Lets talk about movies. Movies are the same mind rotting garbage just in a two hour version. Very few movies now are really worth watching. You go to the movies and spend at least $8 on a ticket and watch the movie, and you come out of the theatre with only less money and nothing really to show for it. I think that it is truly sad that movies are not the way they used to be. Years ago, probably before I was born, movies really used to be ABOUT something. Movies would INSPIRE you. Kids would come out and dream of being that hero of the story. Two great directors that still can instill that feeling in me come to mind: The late John Hughes who passed away recently, who made such films as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and many more. I think he was a great director that really connected with the youth of the 80’s and made them feel like the movies were for them. The second director is Hayao Miyazaki: director of Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Monnonoke, and the upcoming film Ponyo. Miyazaki stands out to me, not only for his beautifully animated movies, but the stories that he tells with them. They are all so creative. I know there are tons of directors that I am overlooking from long before I was born who were truly pioneers in what they did.

Another thing that is dying, if not already dead is handwritten letters. With e-mail and all of the “social networking sites” there are now nobody writes handwritten letters anymore. I was reading a blog by a girl who knew John Hughes and she was actually pen pals with him. They would actually write letters back and forth to each other. One thing that Mr. Hughes said to her regarding writing stuck out to me:

“…Do you like the way you write? Please yourself. I'm rather fond of writing. I actually regard it as fun. Do it frequently and see if you can't find the fun in it that I do." –John Hughes.

I think Mr. Hughes had a good point here, especially for beginner writers like myself. It should be something fun for you to do. I think that if you can start out just writing to please yourself, and have fun with it, then you can eventually write for many people and express the joy you had in writing it to them and in turn, inspire creativity in them as well. I want to charge anyone who reads this to try just shutting off the tv for a while. Pick up a book, get inspired, get creative!

-Danny

Flying pt. 2

After talking with a very wise woman of God, I have realized the error of my last post. First of all, I have recognized that in my pursuit of astral projection I was doing it for my own selfish reasons and my own glory, when all things should be done for the glory of God. I was trying to do it by my own power and not through God. Secondly, I have realized that what many "professionals" on the subjects call "helpers" that you meet when you astral project are not really helpers, but the exact opposite. These helpers are really demons that will tell lies and deceive you. I believe that it is by God's grace that he did not allow me to travel to the spirit realm. If God had allowed me to do so, his cover would be removed from me and I would be exposed to whatever may truly be in that realm. The scariest thing is that even though I am a christian, these demons that dwell there could easily lie and deceive me into believing something that is not true. The fact is that I may not be grounded enough in my faith and in my walk with the Lord to be able to discern truth from lies. They would lie in such a way that you would not know it as being not of God and so by his grace he did not allow me to go and be deceived.

Instead of attempting myself to see things in the spirit I have realized that I need to leave it to God. What I need to do is humble myself before God and trust in him in the little things and he will pour out more on me. I have to be obedient in the little things that he asks me to do and learn to trust in him before I can receive the gifts that he has waiting for me. Once I learn to do that he will pour out his blessings and gifts. Every day I have to ask to hear him and listen to what he is telling me. Every man has the spiritual gifts that Jesus had of healing, raising the dead, making the blind to see, the lame to walk, if you submit yourself and let him use you as his tool only for the glory of God. As for flying, in the end times when we are called up and given our new bodies, I believe that we will sour with the angels and see things that no man has seen and we will truly be beautiful.

-Danny

Flying

Sorry its been a while since my last post. I have decided to write about something today that has been peaking my interest as of late: Astral Projection. I’m sure most of you have heard someone or other say “If man was meant to fly we would have been born with wings” I don’t necessarily believe that is true.

For those of you who do not know, Astral Projection is the state of your astral, or spirit body leaving your physical body and traveling around in our world and in the astral world. So far, I have not been able to achieve this “state” so I cannot tell you If it is %100 true. I have done lots of reading lately regarding the subject and I do believe that it is true. I suppose it is the idea of “flying” that most intrigues me to project. Not only can you fly when you project, but there are supposedly also “helpers” there that you can meet as well as other projectors and people that have passed on. All in all it sounds like a very fascinating idea to be able to temporarily leave your body and travel to other places and other dimensions and visit with people you have lost. It is not an easy thing to do, at least for me, but hopefully I will be able to do it someday. I have read that some people are born with a natural ability to do this whenever they want. I would like to know if anyone who reads this has been able to successfully astral project, on purpose. Any advice or comments on the subject are appreciated. Like I said before, this is an ongoing process for me, but I hope to do it someday. I have been trying to for some time now. When I do I will be sure to post my experience here.

-Danny

Last night I finished reading C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". By the time I finished the book I was absolutely blown away. I have to say that that book was probably one of if not the best book I've ever read. Lewis has an amazing way of making you feel like you are in the book. As I was reading I actually had the sense of wonder, excitement, fear, everything the characters were feeling. For a brief time, I actually felt like I was taken away into Narnia and on board Dawn Treader. Some people may disregard the series as being "children's books" but I think that everyone no matter how old or young should read them.

I think that is one of the marks of a really good writer. The ability to draw the reader into what they are reading and make them feel like they are there. That can not only apply to fictional writings, but other kinds as well. A good writer has the ability to get across whatever point that he is trying to make in his writings and essentially make the reader feel the same way. Fictional writers' goal is to take you on a journey such as to Narnia to sail on Dawn treader to the end of the world, or Middle Earth to visit the Hobbits. I can only hope to be a fraction as good of a writer as the brilliant minds of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. For now I will settle with this little blog that only a few people read, but someday maybe I will come up with my own Narnia and Narnians. I know that it will by no means happen overnight, it may never happen at all, but all I can do is strive to be a better writer all the time. Seek advice wherever I can get it, and always be reading new books to inspire creativity. Most importantly of all though I just have to keep writing. And if anyone who is reading this is in the same position that I am in, wanting to write but too afraid of what people will think, or you think you are no good, I encourage you to follow the same advice. The worst thing you can do is not write. Even if you decide not to let anyone read it, start a blog like this. As you become more confidant in your writing then let a few close friends read it and tell you what they think. Do not be discouraged in your writing in the beginning, only strive to be better.

-Danny

"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."
-C.S. Lewis

Recession, Or Just The Decrease Before The Increase?

Well earlier today a gas station just down the street from me the I frequent often got robbed. This got me to thinking about the "recession" that we are in and how it is affecting people. For as long as I have lived in this house (which is many years now) there has never been a robbery in the neighborhood that I know of. As the times have gotten worse it has put a lot of pressure on a lot of people. I, myself have fallen under this pressure. Being out of a job right now and having no real source of income has really hurt me.

With this being said, on the other hand I am extremely fortunate. There are many people out there that are in far worse shape than I am. I am fortunate that I do not have a wife and kids to support (not that I wouldn't love to have a wife and kids), I don't have a mortgage on a house to pay for, I don't have a car payment to make, electric bills, I could go on. It is somewhat disheartening seeing so close to home how troubled this man must have been to make the life-altering decision to rob this gas station because he felt like he had no hope and that was his only choice. It is sad to think that that man's life will be changed forever because of one decision, he will probably spend time in jail, have a record, then have an even harder time getting a job when he gets out. I don't live in the bad part of Dallas, so robbery is not a "normal" thing for me. I think that is why this is so strange that it would happen in my own neighborhood. 

"With recession, must come reform" These words have been, I guess you could say, floating around in my head the last hour or so. I don't know why I thought of that or if I heard it somewhere, but it seems to me to make sense. Reform defined by Merriam-Webster is "1 a: to put or change into an improved form or condition b: to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses". The Great Depression was a terrible terrible time, but eventually we had to come out of it and the economy finally improved as I think that we will do in this bad economic time. If we could come out of such a terrible economic state and still thrive as a nation, I see no reason why we can't do that again when we are not nearly as bad off as then. I think of the economic state we are in right now as a sort of valley, and as with any valley, if you just look up you will see the mountain top. The point being that as long as you look up and keep moving forward you will eventually find yourself out of the valley and on top of the mountain.

Do not fear the times that we are in. Times are always changing or else it would just be called "Now" there would be no past or future.

 I encourage anyone who reads this not to be too worried about what tomorrow will bring or even next week or next month. Just put your trust in God and he will provide, even when nothing seems to be there. As I am writing this my own words are coming back to bite me because I know that I have not wholeheartedly done this myself. Everyday is a learning and growing process physically and in your walk with God. I pray Lord, that you will help me to trust you more with every aspect of my life, help me hear you and obey you with childlike faith and anyone who reads this let them have the same faith and hope for the future. Amen.

-Danny

Success or Failure

"it doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because…

All that matters in business is that you get it right once." -Mark Cuban, Owner of Dallas Mavericks. www.Blogmaverick.com

I just want to start out by saying that if you have not read Mr. Cuban's blog I highly encourage it. Alot of it has to do with business but the quote above just stuck out to me. In his most recent posts "Success and Movivation pts 1,2,3, and 4 he talks about how he got started in the computer business and motivating himself. Reading his post  has really encouraged me that if you really want it anyone can be successful in whatever they do. He talks about how when he first started in the computer business he knew nothing about what he was going to be selling, but he was motivated and he stayed up all night reading product manuals and learning about the software and he ended up being successful because he knew the products and had the will to succeed. 

If you look back through time, many of the big name people of today started out with nothing, just an idea. Take Bill Gates for example. This nerdy looking computer guy that had an idea for a personal computer and now he is one of (if not the) richest men in the world. I believe that the key for anyone that wants to go anywhere and be successfull is to have that type of motivation and determination that people like Mark Cuban or Bill Gates have. Anyone can say "I want to be a millionare or billionare" but only a small percentage of people have the determination to do it, no matter what the cost, no matter what the risk. It is easy for people to get the mindset that Oh, I could never become a millionare but really you are only putting that limitation on yourself. I don't want to limit this to just your financial success, but taking that mindset can apply to any aspect of your life, Weither its something small like getting in better shape, or big like getting through college.

The big truth about the quote in the beginning of this post is noone cares about your failures and NEITHER SHOULD YOU. You have to focus on whats ahead and the task you have in front of you. Nothing that has any major significance in history was accomplished easily

-Danny

There and Back Again

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." -Bilbo Baggins, "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

These words that were spoken to Frodo from Bilbo in the book "The Hobbit" have been stuck in my head for the last couple hours as I was out driving around at 4:00 AM today because I couldn't sleep. I can't help but think about them and how true the first part of that sentence is. Especially in times like today with things like the swine flu, or mad cow disease, West Nile Virus, or whatever the disease of the month is. The media takes these things and completely blows them out of proportion, that is if they even exist (which sometimes I doubt). My point is, that yes going out your door every morning is dangerous, but what is the point of living if you do not take some risks? I believe that when Tolkien wrote this it was much more innocent in context than any diseases or being hit by a car or anything like that, but more so that just being willing to go out your door. You never know where life will take you. If you are not willing to take the risk, you may never find love, make mistakes and learn from them, have your heart broken, learn new things, go places you have never been before. Yes some of those things come with terrible burdens that may be hard to live with, but in the end you hopefully become a better man. Take Bilbo for example, before Gandalf came along he had never been outside of his little town "The Shire" but he took that step outside his door and outside of his town and had all kinds of adventures, fought dragons, came across The Ring, and had to deal with the burden that came with the ring.

The World is a scary place, especially today. There is no telling where you will go or what will happen to you every time you go outside but you must take that first step of faith or you will never experience anything. For only being 21 I have been through a lot of good experiences and plenty of bad ones. I know that I am more fortunate that a lot of kids my age who grew up in broken houses or with domestic violence but I have made my share of stupid mistakes and I try to learn something from every one of those. I have a long way to continue growing as a man and the only way that I can continue doing that is going out of my door every day and live my life.

-Danny