Month: February 2012

The left vs the right

I started writing this post a couple days ago, and it was originally a rant about Glenn Beck. It was more of a post to myself to get ideas and thoughts off my chest, and I wasn’t going to publish it. I like Glenn, but from time to time his actions perplex me. After I had typed the original content, I went back to it and re-edited it. I decided that with the added content, it was worth publishing. I usually just proof read my posts before I commit them, and then I set them to be published at 7:30pm each day. With this post I realized that there was a lot more to it. It’s not just about what Glenn does or doesn’t do. It’s about how we’re all played to become ‘left’, ‘right’, or simply become numb and ‘apathetic’ to the whole political process. Before anyone gets upset that I’m bashing Glenn, I’m not. I love Glenn because he is brave enough to ask the tough questions that no-one wants to ask, and he exposes the truth as he sees it. So thank you for that Glenn. You have opened up doors for many Americans, including myself. When I write I often try to see the subject from different view points to make it more balanced and to find the truth in it. This post is still a bit fractured, since there is so much I have to say, so take it as you will. Anyway, here is how I see things as far as the left and right spectrum of politics in America right now:

People like Glenn Beck talk about the 10% of people needed to lead us in a new direction. I believe there is more than 10%, but that they do not all talk to one another, they are divided, and they have their differences.

I cannot understand why Glenn will not get behind Ron Paul. Here is a candidate who is more like George Washington (Glenn loves Washington so much he wrote a book about him) than any candidate since the great man, and yet he will not support him. It is divisions like this as to why we’re not getting out of this mess any time soon. Glenn has helped to wake many people up, and yet he keeps himself closed off to so much. He is very quick to label others and shut down those who speak out against anything he says.

I think the reason Glenn does this is because of where he gets his information from. Glenn is a good hearted guy. I think when he finds certain information that he doesn’t like, he gets upset and labels it as evil. Personally, I take a more scientific approach. I usually take a step back and think about where the information is coming from, and why the source feels the way that they do. Now Glenn is very good at connecting the dots, but I feel that sometimes he allows his emotions to get in the way and allows things to become too one sided.

Why is he going on a comedy tour ‘unelectable 2’ during a presidential campaign year, when there is a George Washington who desperately needs his support? And why is Glenn trying to prepare us for doomsday when we have the capability right now to save ourselves from that?

I see that too many people allow themselves to be easily influenced by bias, they allow themselves to be pitted in a group of left vs right. And currently the new trend is to call everyone an ‘evil liberal’ or a ‘socialist’. While that’s all fine and dandy (and those who know me, know I hate socialism), they forget about fascism from the right. They forget about the crony capitalists, they forget all the evil on the right that liberals hate. I think most liberals have a good heart, and don’t want a big government. They’re probably just misguided into thinking that the government can provide so many things. A few social securities is not necessarily a bad thing, its how we go about them that’s important.

Why not have a social security for the elderly? But why not make it optional? Personally I’d rather do it myself, and that has a lot to do with my math and finance skills. If I were not good at these two subjects, I’d probably want to put it into someone else’s hands also.

The problem with big companies is when they get involved with big government. Special interests take over, and the little people get screwed.

Glenn wants us to turn everyone back to God. And he seems to play into the idea that the left are godless swine’s. Apparently the youth are stupid also and should be ignored, and on this point I do agree that many youth are misguided. But there are many who are fully in the fight for freedom, and many of them are not conservative. They are libertarian. They are more like the founding fathers than many conservatives I have met. Yes, many of the founding fathers believed in divine providence, but this is a secular nation. One where any religion can be practiced. Up until the 1950’s the pledge of allegiance did not have ‘under god’ in it. The whole Godly right and atheist left idea is designed to divide and conquer us.

I am not very religious, but I believe heavily in morality, and I like many of the teachings of Christianity and indeed many of the other popular religions.

The mainstream media has done a good job of labeling Ron Paul as a fruitcake and I find it deeply disturbing because combating the ‘left wing’ by going to the extreme right is a surefire way of losing liberty.

I see how easily good hearted conservatives often get thrown into the far right, and how good hearted liberals get thrown into the progressive crowd. I think most Americans want to maintain their independence, and all this infighting will get us no-where. Of course, there are some on the very far right that will say I’m collectivist for saying that. No, I’d rather agree to disagree with ‘the other side’, than allow the republic to fracture and allow our system of government to be completely taken over by oligarchy.

We get so wrapped up in our daily lives, that we don’t see the obvious problems in front of us. By the end of a long day we sit down and listen to the MSM (mainstream media) because it sounds so appealing. ‘Those darn liberals’ we say to ourselves as we watch Sean Hannity bash ‘the left’, and we say ‘those darn tea baggers’ as CNN bashes ‘the right wing nuts’. We don’t sit down long enough to realize that it is all a complete farce, that we are pitted against each other to serve the special interests of a select few.

It’s time to wake up America; you are being used! And yes, that includes conservatives too.

I am libertarian for a reason. I believe in freedom and liberty. I do not allow myself to fall into one side or the other because that has become the special interests strategy for dividing and conquering the country.

This country has no place pushing our might around in the world. Our strength comes from our willingness to trade and our innovations. Our products are created from our ingenuity and we are able to invent new ideas because we have the freedom to do so.

Long drawn out wars do not serve our republic, and calling liberals and libertarians ‘pacifists’ is a very fascist thing to say. Those who are talking about creating war in other nations might want to check their facts before they begin beating their war drums some more. If I get attacked, I’ll put the criminal on the ground. If my house gets broken into at night, I’ll shoot to kill, if our country gets attacked, we should use everything in our might to repel the attack. But: we have no place bullying other countries in the world into submission. That is imperial, that is empire, and that weakens our nation as we print fake money to pay for our soldiers to be blown to bloody bits.

Wake up and stop being a ‘useful idiot’, yes that includes conservatives. The only way forward, the only way upward, the only way to restore the republic and the constitution is to create unity through freedom and independence; find a common ground from there, it is our only hope. We can go back to our silly left vs right bickering later.

Do not fall into the trap.

Preserving liberty is a waste of time?

My wife and I enjoyed spending our anniversary together, in the only way we knew how. She cooked us breakfast, we opened presents from each other, and then we went to go see a movie together.

We watched a movie called ‘the vow’, it was a movie about a couple who had been married for about as long as Brooke and I have, and they got into a car wreck. Both were knocked unconscious and the lady suffered massive head trauma. She lost all of her memories of being with her husband. The movie was sad, interesting, and had a happy ending.

Once we got home, I washed the dishes as Brooke painted. She then began playing Mario on our Nintendo Wii, as I cooked us dinner for the evening. We sat down to steak, mashed potatoes and asparagus, as I popped a bottle of champagne. Afterwards we sat down and watched ‘life in a day’, an amazing movie about the lives of hundreds of people on July 24th 2012, put together and directed by Ridley Scott.

After the movie, I got on Brooke’s new laptop to type this article and check on emails, as she sat down and sketched out a drawing. While writing my blog, and while sketching her drawing, we had ‘what the bleep’ playing in the background.

‘What the bleep’ explains what quantum mechanics is, and shows how people get addicted to their emotions and end up doing the same things over and over again, without realizing that they are the ones causing the problems for themselves.

The day was snowy, and our day was long and calm. Watching the three movies, enjoying time and meals with my wife, and thinking deeply while watching ‘what the bleep’ and ‘life in a day’, really made me think to myself “what’s the point in all this political nonsense” and “what’s the point in getting so wound up about it, what’s the point in fighting all these silly battles”. I know that many of my family members and friends don’t understand why I own guns, and why I read philosophy and why I get so much into the political process. They all seem to take freedom for granted, and think that it will always be there.

What they don’t understand is that if we do not fight the battles to maintain freedom, we will very quickly lose it. There is injustice in the world, and there are evil men who wish to rule over others.

The majority of individuals wish to be left alone to go about their daily lives as they please, and I understand that completely. I wish I could do the same. But given my acquired knowledge, I cannot knowingly abandon my calling to defend freedom and preserve liberty.

‘Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty’ –  Thomas Jefferson

Although I do not agree with many of the things that John Lennon stood for, I do love a quote of his:

Happiness is the highest achievement in life. The pursuit of happiness is in the declaration of independence, because true happiness cannot be found under despotism and dictatorship. We are only truly happy when we feel free. Free to do what we please, to live the life that we want to live, to find happiness in the little things in life.

Where socialists go wrong is that government should not make all things equal. With a republic, with a Constitution and with a free market, we can pursue our own individual happiness.

My wife and I’s happy day together was only achievable through the freedom to pursue it.

And so it is not a waste of time to help preserve liberty, because freedom is contagious, and all humans want to be free.

Give me liberty or give me death!

Birthday parties and traditions

Today my family celebrate my nephews 2nd birthday with his Dad’s family. My brother-in-law’s family are throwing a birthday party for him.

Traditions might seem old and boring at times, but the happiness it brings to children, and the memories it creates are all worth it.

Birthday parties, anniversaries, christenings, weddings and funerals are all life confirming. We are all brought up in countries with traditions, from tribal rituals, to extravagant weddings.

We celebrate our lives through these traditions and ceremonies, and it brings joy to our lives to see the happiness in those around us.

My last few posts have been more personal as I am currently celebrating life with my family. February 9th is my nephews birthday, February 10th is my wedding anniversary, and February 14th is Valentines day. My wife and I always take a week off during this period of February to spend time together to celebrate our anniversary and valentines day, and also to celebrate my nephews birthday. My family often visit, or we visit them, and it is a great time to remember the past year and look toward what we want to achieve in this new year. February is always a ‘dead’ month, since it is the end of winter and Christmas and new years is over with. For us it is a good time to reflect upon life, the happiness we have together, and to enjoy having our family around.

Go make the most of your weekend. I am enjoying mine!

Love and marriage

Marriage is something that must be taken seriously. It is a commitment between two consenting adults, to devote their lives to each other, so that they can share and build a life together. It is not a commitment to be taken lightly.

My wife and I met almost eight years ago, and today we share our 4 year wedding anniversary.

Our relationship was not a conventional one. We met online, and lived 4000 miles away from each other in two different countries. Luckily for us, we had modern technologies to help maintain our relationship, through plane rides and the internet.

Brooke and I also have a lot in common. We each have similar interests and we have a common goal to make the most out of ourselves in life. She has become a great photographer, and we support each other in all our endeavors.

I think it is very important that you always sit down and talk to one another, listen to each other, and make each other feel better at the end of a hard day. A long relationship like Brooke and I’s, lasts because we have both learned to bite our lips and listen to what really bothers the both of us when we are annoyed or upset. We have both watched many tv shows and movies where the couple does not talk to each other, and we have seen in our daily lives couples break up over a mountain of trivial problems condensing into to one big one. Communication is the key to a long lasting relationship.

Another problem that young couples face especially is financial problems. It is always hard starting out, whether you are single or in a relationship. Money does not grow on trees, and there are many things to pay for. As of right now Brooke and I have an agreement, that we each take out an equal amount of money each week for gas and other things that we want personally, and enough to buy groceries together. The rest goes on bills and snowballing out debt. It has been a hard couple of months, but we are starting to see our debts paid down, and our dreams of buying a house together are coming into view. Currently we rent a nice town home, and we have nice vehicles in the driveway that we pay for monthly. Whenever we want to buy anything expensive, we look at our savings and figure out a way to afford it without going into more debt, or depleting a large chunk of the savings account. We also look at what the other person wants. Recently, Brooke wanted to buy a laptop, and I wanted to buy a shotgun. We decided that she could use some of the money from her photography since she will primarily use it for business purposes, and I’ll get the shotgun this spring, when we have more money in our savings account, since I am the primary contributor to it.

Just like checks and balances in government, we have checks and balances in our lives. I am quite proud of what we have achieved in our 4 years of marriage. We have a fully loaded house with furniture, including a king sized bed. A kitchen loaded with utensils bought by the family for our wedding. We also have modern computers, gaming consoles, and we have an amazing dog named Ben. Our live is very happy, and we have a structure in place that allows for us to go on vacation each year, and an emergency fund in case we need to fix anything.

What we have took 4 years to accumulate, which includes the sacrifices we’ve made along the way, and the hard work we made to get them. Brooke and I do not go out and party every weekend, and we both work very hard at our jobs. When we get home each evening, we take turns to cook for each other, clean the dishes, and tidy the house. Often I am the one who washes the cars, while she puts the laundry away. We both keep each other in balance, and help each other out where need be. We try our best not to rely on each other, instead we help each other when one of us isn’t feeling 100% or is exhausted, or simply too busy.

Our love has grown through the will to get through all the bad times, as well as enjoy all the good times. Our relationship has become hardened by short visits in our dating years, and long times apart. Today, and all the years we have been married so far, we have been able to see each other every day, and we never go to bed without saying that ‘I love you’.

I dedicate this post to my wife. Happy 4th anniversary sweet heart, I would not be the person I am today without you.

Pro life

Today is my nephew’s 2nd birthday. My sister is three years younger than me and had just turned 19 when she gave birth to him.

My sister and her husband are now very happy together with their young son. They might not have a two pennies to rub together, but they are happy and their little family is full of life.

My cousin got pregnant at just 16 years old. She kept the baby, and I can honestly say that it was the best thing that ever happened to her. Today her daughter is 14 years old, and one of the smartest young ladies I have met.

A woman should have a right to her own body, but abortions should not be taken lightly, and neither should sex. Too often sex is seen as casual. There is nothing casual about giving birth and raising a child. Equally there is nothing casual about having a small fetus sucked out and dropped in a bucket to be disposed of like a piece of garbage.

Joseph Campbell said that people should know what the hell they’re doing when they commit to having sex. And it is a commitment. It is not simply some act that makes you feel good. You are literally connected to the other person, and that connect is designed to reproduce. If you are not willing to accept the consequences of your actions, perhaps you should choose your actions more wisely.

Morality is the choice you make when it comes to keeping or ‘getting rid’ of the baby. Where are you morals? Do you have any? A society without morals is a very sad place to live in, as it is often in a state of decay.

Societies are based on morals. A common thread that binds people to a common goal. Without our morals we have no compass and are left wondering in the wilderness.

And so there is your paradox. You can choose to ‘abort’ the baby, but you will not abort the feelings you will inevitably have down the road for having aborted it. How shallow will your life become when you realize that you are a destroyer of it? And should you not have thought about the consequences when you committed the act of sexual intercourse?

Personally, from family experience, and because I take my life seriously when it comes to making key decisions. I have decided that I am pro life.

As for you. That is for you to decide. What are your morals? And do you take responsibility for your own actions?

For those that do take responsibility for their actions, even if the outcome is not what you had planned for or expected; congratulations. For those that don’t take responsibility, and instead use modern science to avoid reality; you’ll have to live with the moral consequences that you’ll feel later down the road.

Shouldn’t the young women who ‘accidentally’ get pregnant, try to find a couple to adopt the baby? If she really does not want to raise it. There are many couples who dream of having children, but are unable to.

There are many arguments on the issue of abortion, and personally I believe that all life is precious, no matter how young and fragile.

Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it

There are certain stages we go through in life. We have our childhood, our teenage years, our twenties, thirties and so on into old age. I believe that we are all supposed to become more intelligent as we grow older, and pass that wisdom on to our children and grandchildren.

For me, I suppose you could say I’m in the third stage. I’m currently in my twenties, but I’ve often been commented on in having wisdom beyond my years. It is a great feeling to hear this, and I am very humbled when I am told that. The reason is simple really. I read a lot, I participate in the world the best I can. I work hard, and when I’m home I study. I don’t study for some college exam or write an essay to please my ‘peers’. I study for the love of knowledge. My wife and I are getting close to the stage where we’re ready to have children, and I want to pass on the knowledge I have gained to them.

I’ve mentioned it a few times since I started my blog, that I love the book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’. It is not so much about becoming wealthy in monetary terms, but becoming wealthy in knowledge so that you can get ahead and make the most out of life.

After meeting my wife, I entered a more mythological stage. A stage that many teenagers do not enter, and hence later get lost into alcoholism through high school and college. They ignore the realities of life, while submitting their minds to whatever their professors teach them in college. I took a different path. The second visit I made to see my wife (at the time girlfriend), I was 17 years old, it was the middle of summer, and we had 2 glorious months enjoying life, free of the burden of bills, exams and schedules. That summer I read ‘the hero with a thousand faces’ and in the fall time I read ‘reflections on the art of living’. Between Rich Dad Poor Dad, and Joseph Campbell’s two mythology books, I was changed forever.

Having noticed the differences between England and America was one thing, but seeing them on financial, and mythological terms, meant that I began to seriously question the world around me, and why people acted the way that they did, and why many never do anything to fix their problems.

Now that I am in my twenties, and having read many more books, such as ‘thus spoke Zarathustra’, ‘the art of war’, ‘the book of five rings’, among many others and more recently ‘Atlas Shrugged’. My view of the world is far different than that of an ordinary citizen of any given country.

Having moved to a different country, married the girl of my dreams, become a citizen of that country, and having spent a reasonable amount of time talking to another mythological mentor, I have shaped many contrasting opinions to others, based on found facts and thinking outside of the box.

The heroes journey talks about adhering to the call of adventure, and that is one that I have taken. Now that I am in my twenties I am fully constructing my life as I see fit, and again it is much different to that of others. Never be afraid to do something different, and never be afraid to question the world around you. Many people fall into the trap of debt slavery, and many never bother to look outside of the box.

My intentions with this blog are not to have the FBI start watching me. I am not interested in spreading conspiracy theories, and I have no intentions to harm anyone. I took an oath to defend the constitution of the United States, and having studied history, and learned the difference between constitutional republics and oligarchies, and the difference between capitalism and communism. I can honestly say that what this country was founded upon, is the best system in history. Having sworn my oath, it is my duty to help protect the constitution, and flash a light on those who would destroy it. I must help preserve it, because freedom is worth saving. Without it, our lives become ever more meaningless.

“Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.” – Joseph Campbell, Reflections on the art of living

Our lives are supposed to become more and more meaningful as we grow older. Our knowledge and our hard work is supposed to fill us with abundance, and carry us up toward new levels in life. We are not supposed to become burdened by taxes and debt. We are supposed to be free to live our lives how we please.

And so, as I build my life, and I see all the forces that be, conspiring to destroy the republic, with all their silly little schemes to make an extra buck off the encroaching slavery of millions. I take up my sword and shield of knowledge, and run into the fray. For the hero cannot claim the day unless he is willing to charge head long into the belly of the beast. The fear of death becomes a wasted life, in which the fruits of your labor become sour, and your life ends up forgotten. The heroes of the past knew that they must do everything in their power to preserve and fight for freedom, for without it, we are nothing.

I am building my life for the better, and I write this blog to help expose the truth, so that you might help yourself build yours, and together we will preserve and restore freedom to this great nation. We will restore this beacon of hope to the world.

Life is without meaning, but we will bring back the meaning to it, and our lives will become more abundant because of it.

The future is built today

In the front office where I work, we have a large framed poster of a construction site. On the poster it reads ‘the future is built today’ and under the caption it says ‘we believe great results come from careful planning. That ambitious goals are powered by initiative and productivity. And the foundation of achievement lies in the will to be the best.’

Beside that poster is a laminated sheet of paper, that has many copies that can be seen throughout the warehouse. It is a document to inspire everyone to work together, and it reads ‘words to live by’: Teamwork, communication, planning, flexibility, accountability, long range view, flow, training, discipline, think out of the box.

These words are aimed to help mold the company toward a common goal of success.

Both the poster and the laminated message, are true in everything we do. Whether it be our work, our family, or our government. If we set our sights on tomorrow and work toward it, we will achieve it. But only if we stick to certain rules along the way.

It is obvious that the government does not have ‘long range view’ in mind. It is not ‘flexible’ when it comes to cutting budgets and limiting spending, it completely lacks ‘discipline’, it certainly does not ‘think out of the box’. Government does not ‘plan’, ‘communicate’ or work well as a ‘team’, the ‘flow’ is often horrible, and every person in government could really do with some better ‘training’.

These words from Ronald Reagan are as true today as they were in 1964:

Personally, I want to reign in government, to restore the Constitution, and be free to pursue my life in the way that I see fit.

I want to grow old and wise, I want to grow wealthy and be generous. I want to achieve anything that I can set my mind to. I do not want machine men with their ‘agendas’ getting in my way. I will help as many others as I can along the way, but I will never carry capable people on my back. Any form of collectivism, from Stalin’s communism to Hitler’s fascism, and all the socialism and social engineering in-between, must be destroyed. All the silly ideas and government programs must be eliminated, or else our lives will be eliminated by the truncheon of totalitarian government, with its ever growing fingers in all our pies.

I want to create my own happy future, free of the ever increasing burden of government. When societies are free, the world around them becomes a beautiful place, since they are able to work and create whatever their dreams desire.

The future is built today because we create it in each moment that we breathe. Whether we have government currently breathing down our neck or not, we can at least lay down the foundation of freedom, to help lift us up out of the clouds of collectivism tomorrow.

The future is in each individuals hands, and your future starts by building it brick by brick today.

The IRS is illegal

Every once in a while, you come across a nice documentary that explores all the facts and turns the world upside down. In this case; it puts the world back up the way it was always supposed to be.

So go grab a bite to eat, get yourself a beverage, get your notepad and pen out, put your feet up, and prepare to have your world set back straight:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173

The IRS is not only unconstitutional, it is illegal. The 16th amendment does not give the government the right to tax our labor, it never has. Fear for the past 100 years has been the main drive for taxation on our labor. Not facts, and not the law. Mob rule took over and we have been living under fascism for the better part of the last century. There is no law on the books that mandates that you must pay income tax.

Pass the documentary around, show your friends, show your neighbors. Oh…and vote for the one candidate that actually understands your liberties and the Constitution. Vote for the one candidate that wants to abolish the IRS, vote for Ron Paul!

You are the difference between good and evil

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing – Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke PC (12 January [NS] 1729[1]– 9 July 1797) was an Irish[2][3] statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party.

He is mainly remembered for his support of the cause of the American Revolutionaries, and for his later opposition to the French Revolution. The latter led to his becoming the leading figure within the conservative faction of the Whig party, which he dubbed the “Old Whigs”, in opposition to the pro–French Revolution “New Whigs”, led by Charles James Fox.[4]

Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals in the 19th century. Since the 20th century, he has generally been viewed as the philosophical founder of modern Conservatism,[5][6] as well as a representative of classical liberalism.

I watched the movie ‘tears of the sun’ the other day. I’ve seen it before, but when it popped up on my Netflix account, I couldn’t help but want to see it again. It is a movie about a navy seal team that is sent into Nigeria to pick up an American citizen, before her mission is wiped out by an army group of ethnic cleansers.

Rather than allow all the villagers and missionaries to die, the Lieutenant of the Seal Team decides to rescue them by marching 40 miles toward Cambodia. The story is about how evil can only triumph when good men do nothing. The movie illustrates that doing the right thing is not easy and lives can be lost, but that it is soul redeeming, and the right thing to do for your fellow man. Our country is at a crossroads right now, and it will take good men to stand up and speak out against tyranny and oppression.

No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little. – Edmund Burke

Never think that you cannot do enough by yourself. The very fact that you might read something like this means that you are already doing something to help the cause of freedom. The next best thing is that you speak out. It doesn’t matter if you only tell one or two people what you’ve found out because that will help immensely. In network marketing we’re taught about multiplication. If I tell 5 people, and they tell people and so on another five times, that’s 15625 people who have benefited along the way. Never assume that you can’t do something to help.

It doesn’t matter if you write, research, talk to others, attend a tea party meeting, attend your local town-hall meeting, or simply read about current events. Staying informed and learning the truth is the gateway to knowledge and ideas, and ideas backed by knowledge and wisdom change the world.

The difference between good and evil is you. Remember that, and act upon it.

Even if you’re the only man standing; you are standing, and that makes all the difference.

Honor thy parents

Today is my Mum’s birthday. She is now in her mid 50’s but she doesn’t look a day over 40. She has always been very good at dealing with life, and has always had a smile on her face. When I was growing up, she always managed to read about one book a week, while keeping the house clean and tidy, looking after my sister and I and working a part time job so that we could go on family vacations and do all the little extras in life. My dad always had a steady job, but with inflation, rising costs, and the ever increasing mountain of bills that comes with having children, bills were always a bit tight.

I get on well with my parents, but like any family, we have our differences. In fact, I’m somewhat of a black swan. My viewpoints differ greatly from that of my family, and my lifestyle is somewhat more extravagant, due to my ever consistent urge to find out more about the world around me and travel to every place possible. My mother and father did however give me a solid upbringing and life was always well structured. I thank my parents for the life that they gave me growing up. I always had room to grow and they gave me air to breathe. They let me go ride my mountain bike 4 miles into town when I turned 13, and they let me fly out to visit my girlfriend in the US, 4000 miles away when I had just turned 17. On riding my bike into town so that I could visit my friends and go dirt jumping, they told me that the only conditions were that I behaved myself, I was as careful as possible and that I returned before dark. I must admit a couple of times it was dusk by the time I got home and my dad did scold me for that. But, one of the most wonderful things my dad ever said to me was when I was only about 7 or 8 years old. I was asking about what I should be when I grew up. I asked about different trades and jobs that I had heard of, what they involved, how much they made. And then I asked what he and my mum wanted me to be. My dad said “son, you can be whatever you want to be. I want you to do whatever it is you want in life. So long as it makes you happy. I don’t care if you become a doctor or a street cleaner, so long as you’re happy in life, that’s all that matters to me.” Those words have defined my life. I know that he could not perceive where I would end up in life, or that I would move to another country to marry the girl of my dreams. How can anyone ever tell exactly what their kids will end up doing in life?

My parents have always been very supportive, but they’ve never just given me money to do whatever I wanted. My mountain bike dirt jumping had progressed from the age of 13 to 15, and I had already broken two bikes. It was time for me to upgrade and get some stronger parts to build myself a worthy trail bike. I asked my dad how I could afford it, and he told me to get myself a part time job. And so I did. I worked a paper route every morning for the next year, and eventually I had a great bike that I had put together myself. I still ride that bike today.

I know that not everyone has great parents, and I know the tendency to rebel against them. I consider myself very lucky to have parents that were so supportive and let me be myself. I’ve known a lot of parents to be very demanding of their children. They insist that their kids do well in school, or that they take out the trash. While chores are understandable, especially in a busy household, and especially since it enforces responsibility in the child. I do wonder at the supposed wisdom of pressuring your child into ‘doing well’ in school. I think it is more important that you show your child what the world is really like, and what hard work is, and show them what an education about the world around you can do to enhance your life. Having watched shows such as ‘the Indy Chronicles’ I can honestly say that I have learned more from reading books and the act of doing or constructing something, than sitting in class listening to a teacher or writing out some essay.

Even if your parents do bare down on you, always honor them. Their intentions are always good, even if they are misplaced. When you leave home you can do whatever you like, but always remember the best parts of what your parents taught you. You can always discard the parts that you don’t like. I feel that so many people get caught up on the negatives in life, they forget to look at the positives. Always take the positives with you, and leave the negatives behind. The future is bright if your outlook is, and your past need never drag you down.

Honor your parents with the respect they deserve, and always bite your lip when they test your patience. Remember that they were very patient with you when you were born!

Oh, and happy birthday Mum!