This is a long one, so you sofa surfers out there that think a 600 word post is a lot to take (really?) might wanna head on over and read the eleven thousandth post on DeFi, stablecoins, or another one of the bycicle-seat-sniffing, crotch-cuddling, carpet-munching, posts about how great the fucking blockchain is.
Aren't you guys tired of essentially reading the same fucking articles recycled over and over and over again? STILL, the same 30 tired old names trending day after week after month after year? Good Lord, give me something fresh for a change, something that might actually make me THINK.
Boy, you're in luck today kids! because I'm made of sterner stuff.
Oh, and this post was written entirely by me. I know how to write and don't need to copy anyone else. My posts are Chat GPT-free. Always. And you can tell because I guaran-fucking-tee-you there will be some grammtical errors SOMEWHERE, that despite proofreading and spellchecking, I end up missing. Happens all the time. (I wonder where they'll be in this post?) :)
So try something different with me. This won't be yet another blockchain post, I promise. Here goes!
What Doesn't Kill You...
The speech impediment I had as a kid taught me a lot about the psychology of following the crowd. That moral trap that people who were popular were actually in.
At times, they wanted to do the right thing, but were drunk on their own popularity and didn't want to chance losing any of it to help me, the little 10-year-old who was being beaten up by four or five older kids (up to 16-years-old) because I couldn't speak properly.
At home, my mother never believed me when I told her that I was under almost daily attack by kids who had stayed back 4 or 5 times and were much older than me. They resented the fact that I enunciated each syllable as required by my speech pathologist, and they assumed I was trying to be better than them by improving my English.
My mother ignored my older sister who was a tomboy and had to wade in on several occasions to pull much older kids off of me. I'm 10, they're 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and even 16 in the 5th grade. She was punished for trying to tell my mother the truth about the physical danger I was in.
It wasn't until I was carried home unconscious by the principal and a teacher that she finally believed. I was completely unresponsive for over 17 hours, with both my mother and the principal refusing to take me to the hospital because they were afraid of liability. Not one person in the neighborhood called an ambulance or the police to get medical assistance for me. Not a one.
Adversity has always been by my side, a constant companion shaping my morals like forging a piece of metal in the fire.
It shook me, but it didn't break me.
Adversity Can Teach you Important Lessons if You're Willing to Listen
Imagine going through that "shunning" for the first 20 years of your life when you're just trying to learn to speak. Shit like that will either break you, OR in my case, illuminate the pitfalls of selling your soul to be "liked" by the crowd.
You'll either develop a strong inner moral compass or collapse into a pool of jelly. I never had any friends growing up except a few brave souls here and there who were also under siege.
What it taught me was the danger in building your sense of self based on the opinions of other people. Fame is fickle, friends will turn on you in a heartbeat, and then what? You've built your foundation on THEM, instead of constructing a firm inner lattice with a solid base which doesn't require outside support.
Because I wasn't popular as a kid, I had no popularity to lose. Does that make sense? So what seemed like an absolute curse, freed me to be my own man. Sort of like a wealthy man who decides to run for office and doesn't need anybody's money. "Keep your fucking money, I'm going to do the right thing."
Can you imagine me as the President? Ha! I'd be JFK'd because I'd do what was right and NOT what was POPULAR. I'd be lucky to last six months, which is why I'd move fast and be sure to pick a Veep who was even more extreme than I am. Off me, and you'll have to deal with him (or her). :)
I will always be the guy who speaks up when no one else will. Who'll take that unpopular opinion because it's the right thing to do. I did it in Navy boot camp when I got in-between a crowd of sailors and a terrified skinny little kid who was about to be beaten up by the mob because of the political party he supported.
I did it when a sweet, innocent, Hispanic girl named Maritia was having her private parts fondled by a manager at the McDonald's I was working at. I'll never forget hearing the sound of her crying, and turning around and seeing the other workers smiling as he was abusing her against her will.
What kind of people just stand there when an innocent girl is sexually abused, while they smile watching the tears roll down her face? Crowd psychology.
These are people that have something to lose: popularity. Nobody else is stepping in or even saying anything. They watch as if in a trance, with their grins mirrored by each other. The spell broken by my sharp retort ordering the manager to get his hands off of her "RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!!"
What kind of people just stand there? People who want to maintain their cherished place in that crowd...
Did I speak up and take action? You bet I did! Did I pay a price for it? Absolutely! Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! It was the RIGHT thing to do.
Who are your Real Friends? (Remember: NO ONE OWES YOU ANYTHING!)
Doing the right thing is never easy. It's always easier to follow the crowd and do nothing, or even better yet, earn street cred by joining in. Hive drama? personal drama? Small change compared to what's coming. Think life's hard now? You ain't seen nothing yet.
After all the crap I’ve been through, anyone expecting me to break and “get with the program” good luck with that! :)
Your post didn't get upvoted? No comments? (except for people from "The Land Of Scammers" looking for content to steal), Buck up! They don't owe you ANYTHING, so don't expect it. Are you going to fall apart? Way more important shit going on that you SHOULD be concerned about these days.
Lost your job? Look for another one. In an abusive relationship? Get the hell outta there! Develop a sense of self-reliance that will serve you well in the troubling times ahead. If you can just wrap your head around the concept that no one owes you anything, it'll really change your perspective and buttress you for the storms to come. Honestly. It's how I get through life with an always positive attitude Every. Single. Day.
Treat good fortune like discovering a rare Unicorn in the woods. "Hey, I just saw a fucking Unicorn!" It's nice isn't it?, but don't get dependent on it and expect to see that shit all of the time. Manage your expectations properly and you'll be just fine.
I got saved when I was 10, which was a momentous year for me. I divide my life right there. I remember reading about Jesus being abused, beaten, spit on and having part of his beard ripped out as he was forced to carry his own cross to Golgotha.
In the book of Isaiah 53:5 it says:
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
"with his stripes we are healed." That line has always stayed with me. It means that with every lash of the whip on his bloody and scarred back, all of the beatings, humiliation, and suffering he endured, he did it all for us so that we would have a chance at redemption.
Here was Jesus, God in human form being taunted and abused by people who he'd done so much for. Why? It didn't make any sense at the time. But it did later on...
Jesus spoke to the prostitute when he wasn't supposed to.
He healed on the Sabbath when it was forbidden.
He drove the money changers from the Temple.
He exposed the phoniness of the religious "authorities" which made powerful enemies for him.
Did he do the right thing? Yes he did!
Read your Bible. It talks about a Great Tribulation coming where being a true Christian may result in you being beheaded. We're getting a little taste of that right now throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but it's nothing compared to what's coming.
Yeah, we're gonna find out who the real Christians are soon enough. They'll stand out like bright lights from the phony "Sunday Christians" that infest churches across the land week after week.
Seeing how people are now when it's easy to be a believer, makes me think that the majority WILL WILLINGLY take that mark of the beast. It'll come with "benefits" I'm sure, and there will be immense societal pressure to conform and take it. I've read that it might even improve your health and will promise to extend your life. The Bible says that those who take it will desire death, but "death shall flee from them."
The only ones that will refuse the mark will be a small band of REAL believers. But they'll be seen as odd, much like the preppers were in 2019 right before the pandemic.
When your literal head is on the line you'll have to make a choice...
So whatever you're going through, stay strong, because what's to come will be far worse than anything you're dealing with right now. You can get through it, in fact, you WILL. You have it in you because you're made of sterner stuff.
Please check out my recent posts:
Image Credit: [1] @EverNoticeThat Created using Canva.