Posted on September 11, 2014 by Robert Ringer
Sometimes it’s difficult to muster up the positive mental attitude to see opportunity in a bad situation. Things get so out of hand that it’s easy to become discouraged to the point of feeling despair. Those are the times when your mettle and sinew are really put to the test — sometimes very long tests. […]
Posted on September 4, 2014 by Robert Ringer
Oversimplified, chaos theory is about the underlying chaos that exists in seemingly orderly systems. The so-called butterfly effect comes into play here, because a small change in initial conditions can dramatically change the long-term behavior of a “system.” A system, of course, can be just about anything — the weather, a mathematical formula, a sporting […]
Posted on September 2, 2014 by Robert Ringer
One of the saddest things about our education system is that children are under enormous pressure to give answers that are safely within the boundaries of conventional wisdom. Unfortunately, the fear of being wrong is constantly reinforced and carries into adulthood. I feel I was fortunate in this respect, because I apparently inherited a penchant […]
Posted on August 28, 2014 by Robert Ringer
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had an appointment in Arlington, Virginia. As we were walking toward our destination, we noticed a thin, elderly lady standing near the street corner. She was exceptionally well-groomed and dressed in a colorful, neatly pressed outfit. Leaning on her cane, she was looking around in what […]
Posted on August 26, 2014 by Robert Ringer
Human beings have debated the ultimate purpose of life throughout recorded history. If one wanted to participate in this debate, he could make a persuasive argument that the ultimate purpose of life is to search for truth. I say search rather than find, because to find truth in the broadest sense of the word would […]
Posted on August 21, 2014 by Robert Ringer
Amidst all the insanity and meaningless chatter that overwhelms us each day, every so often the Conscious Universal Power Source cuts us a break and hooks us up to nature’s Sanity Support System. We have little control over when such soothing, awareness-elevating interventions will take place, how often they will occur, or what their components […]
Posted on August 19, 2014 by Robert Ringer
More people die of suicide each year than in car accidents, yet there remains something of a taboo when it comes to broaching the subject. In that respect, the one good thing that has come from the tragic death of Robin Williams is that it has once again put the public spotlight on depression and […]
Posted on August 12, 2014 by Robert Ringer
There are two basic kinds of actions. One is proaction, which puts you on the offensive and, all other things being equal, gives you a great deal of control over events. The other is reaction, which puts you on the defensive and relegates you to an inherent position of weakness. An interesting way of looking […]
Posted on August 7, 2014 by Robert Ringer
Violence is the darkest side of humanity, which, of course, is nothing new. But what is new, relatively speaking, is that the United States is now steeped in violence. It’s true that we aren’t into car bombings and beheadings, but we do love our daily fix of blood. You need only turn on the news, […]
Posted on July 31, 2014 by Robert Ringer
As religious fanaticism continues to pester civilized people, one wonders how civilization has managed to advance as far as it has. One would have thought that by this time religious fanaticism and intolerance would have become passé. Religion aside, it would seem that the least everyone could agree on is a single, self-evident point: that […]
