I have loved doing this blog over the past couple of months but I have to move to more pressing issues in my life and career. In trying to Change the World I need to begin taking more action which is what I plan to do.

I am going to have this post up for a few days with a final message.

Look outside yourself. I have written many posts on being introverted or extroverted and various charities, groups and organizations; about character and humanity; about people and the way the world interacts with you and you the world.

My idea I want to present to you now is to see the extroversion inside of you (isn’t that a contradictory statement). I have said before that there are people who can travel the world and be in incredible places and experiences and not even look outside themselves.

The reason I love to stare up at the stars or watch the sun rise and set is because it reminds me of my place in the universe. I am nothing without those around me as far reaching as the other side of the world. A person is nothing without other people. To look only within yourself is to not except the power and importance of those who you may not even know.

To live solely for yourself is vain but to live for yourself and the world is empowering. Helping those outside your own comfort zone actually has benefits for all, including yourself. The Golden Rule is called golden for a reason.

As I sit here outside by a fire, after having a long-and-great conversation with an old friend who just left (came to keep me company while I am sick), I remember the most important aspect of my life is other people. Without them life would be meaningless so to devote myself to others brings me great and fulfilling Life Meaning.

I say tomorrow, you wake up and do your usual routine. Drink your coffee; tread mill for fifteen minutes; whatever. But then during that day I want you to try something. Try following an old rule of the Boy Scouts and do a good deed for someone else in that day. A good turn for someone else in the long run is a good turn for the world and yourself.

It does not have to be a great and powerful showing to your fellow man but a simple gesture of selflessness can bring a great change if done enough by enough people. It could even Change the World.

To keep up with me in the future head over to my personal blog WarrenGreeley.com/Blog to read my future posts. They are on topics of business, writing, and generally trying to change the world.

Thank you for reading. Thanks for caring.

There are a few things in this world that no matter how simple they are have an incredible impact on the minds of people. The reason for this is what these symbols represent. Now many have forgotten those meanings and consider things that are powerful to be just fashion.

Today I saw a young adult indian man who had on his key chain a swastika that was cast in silver. I was so appalled by it that I could not even look the man in the face. Even today that symbol is such a painful reminder of a tyrant who destroyed and ended millions of lives. I thought to myself, How could someone even think of that as a piece of decoration in today’s world?

It also reminded me of back when I was in high school seeing a kid I knew well wearing a jesus cross on his neck and when I asked him why he did he said it was his jesus piece, a piece of fashion worn by many rappers who’s lyrics contradict any type of christian teaching.

In this I realized that many people no longer care about what the symbol means but instead wear it to look good or for other vein purposes not realizing the impact that the symbol possessed. So why is this wrong? It is because we live in a world of people who recognize these symbols for a specific reason and in wearing it carelessly they are showing their lack of care for the world. They are admitting without a word of their carelessness towards their fellow human beings.

Symbols are not something to be taken lightly. They make up much of human history and have specific connotation because of it. In wearing it as fashion a person is sending a false message about their beliefs and possible effecting others negatively who are impacted greatly by these symbols.

Unfortunately for me this was not the end of my lesson of the day. After my moment of fury I did allow myself time to ponder why this person would have a swastika on his keychain. Then my perception changed.

For a long time I have been facinated with various religious beliefs and I remembered that there was a religion in India that has existed far longer than the Nazi party. This particular faith (the name slips my mind right now) has a symbol that is meant as a sign of peace. This symbol is a swastika.

After realizing this, I learned the second part of my lesson. I should not have jumped to such a conclusion about the origin of this person’s bling. It is more likely to be a symbol of peace to this person than the more known meaning of this symbol.

So there is something to be said on both sides. We all interact with our fellow men and we all react to certain symbol so they should not be taken lightly. But at the same time symbols have very different meanings thus should not be assumed to be just one thing.

There is not a person on earth who has been right about everything in their entire lives. If this were true it would imply that they know everything which of course is not a reach of human capability. Yet people in certain positions in society are put on pedestals of truth and whatever is uttered from their mouth is taken at truth.

Here are a couple examples. (I will probably write about more groups in the future).

Teachers

A group that has been put into a place of assumed truth is the teachers, especially at a college level. (They even get their own title: Professor). Unfortunately these teachers are human beings that incorporate their own ideas and concepts into their lecture. This is not a bad thing in most cases because teachers in specific fields have expertise within that field. The problem is that students, or learners are then subjected to that opinion without seeing the other points of view or alternatives. One in a learning position is the most susceptible to falsehood simply because their objective is to absorb knowledge and have little or no prior understanding to argue with the teacher’s point of view on a subject.

Now just so I don’t get emails from all my old teachers I want to add something to this. In my experience, teachers are some of the greatest sources of understanding topics and much of my knowledge comes from teachers. But, like in any other group they are still not infallible. What they know is the best of their knowledge but knowledge is limited so what they speak is only the beginning of the journey.

Preachers

Scholars have spent all of human time seeking the truth about what is in text of faith and whether that faith is even valid. This alone shows the unlikelihood that your personal preacher knows the truth about your particular faith or even if that faith is entirely true in the first place. What he or she knows and believes is most likely a slight alteration of what they were taught themselves. When listening to a preacher it is good to absorb the words said because in many cases it is insightful but that cannot be the end of the journey. To find what is most true you must look past just that one source or several sources who influence each-other and instead find alternatives to that point and then make an assessment for yourself what is most likely truth.

In traveling to many churches, (at this point only limited to within the U.S.) I have found that particularly in the Christian faith, even from church to church, that the interpretation of the the same text is very different. The only way to find what is really the truth, or closest to it is to listen, question, ponder, and then decide what is your truth.

People, by nature, are compelled to turn ideas into belief even if it is lacking warrant to take such a great leap. Doing so is far more dangerous than any other act that a person can commit in his or her mind.

When you have an idea it is a concept that can be molded like clay if more information or thought come about. But a belief is like a rock that cannot be cracked unless forced upon by another. If your beliefs are without full warrant then they may not be correct and if it cannot be molded in your mind then you are living your life on a false truth.

This can lead to great and terrible things. Look in history at people who have believed without warrant to back those beliefs up. Observe the leaders who have brought their people down with them off of a belief like Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Hussein. Look at religious fanatics who do ungodly things in the name of God like bombing buildings, killing people, attacking others for not sharing their beliefs, even if their beliefs dictate that they not do those things. Look at your fellow Americans who get so caught up in standing for their beliefs that they forget the great ideas behind them in the first place.

Your belief can turn against itself because it is your own interpretation of it. The idea turned to stone through your eyes alone make it not a truth but instead your personal truth with may not be valid at all. If you keep an open mind to the possibility that your idea, however great it is, may be incorrect you are able to move beyond belief to a place where you live your life by great ideas and change course when better ideas come into view. Living inside a belief traps you from seeing a greater idea than the one you already reside in.

Update: I found a really cool quote that goes along with this…

“It is far easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.”
~ Adlai Stevenson