“Being powerful without honor & moral values isn’t being strong at all. Rather it’s brawn made up of fear & greed masquerading as same & failing miserably. Bravery with honor and valor on the other hand is a most magnificent thing to behold.” ~Plh
Always true, from the smallest every day bravery to the largest.
With much affection, I wish you well.
Penny ~ Plh
… To Those Unfit To Rule!
But before there is power there is greed. Greed manifests the most amazing array of wrong thinking. The biggest of which are various and highly creatively justifications for being greedy, although different terminology replaces the word greed in this vindicating process.
Greed is amazingly like a virus and once getting a firm hold on a person’s psyche, it spreads like wildfire. And it is highly contagious.
So how much of a prosperous society is predicated on greed and how can one control this insidious emotional and mental disease?
If I suggested the cure for greed was simple, I’m pretty sure no one would agree with me. But if the words “personal discipline” were added to the mix, well then many more things become possible.
Sadly like the internet most of us have no self regulation. We emote all the various array of emotions at our disposal, with little regard for whether actions we take as a result of strong emotional wants (not needs) are a good thing or not.
And we confuse the leaders we elect or choose to follow by connotating greed for power with strength of character. But since, as we are probably aware, (if at a subconscious level) the desire for either power or the “good life” is now greed totally run amok, I’m thinking we’re about to pay a huge price for our own individual needs that (for many) have slowly been morphing into a part of the current greed scenerio.
So is there a way to conquer greed? I think not. Certainly not with the current view that more and even more is better, (regardless of the cost to others) and not until humans “as a whole” recognize and positively accept that each of us is a part of “the whole” of a complete living ecosystem.
And not until we all understand true abundance can only happen when the “whole” meaning “all of us” work together “as a team” for the good of everyone, not for just our own individual selves or a chosen few.
~ Penny L. Howe
“When your heart is open you can see love blooms everywhere – knowing the vibration of love is nature’s true essence for life and renewal.”~ Plh
♡
The title of this article does sound rather stark, doesn’t it? Sadly, lots of truth going on “out there” to support this. Bullies who bully, Saddists with sick hurtful and just plain wrong agendas and Power Brokers who utilize our fears to achieve their goals, definitely not for the benefit of humanity or any other life form, but rather to supply the demand of the greedy.
So what to do – BE FEARLESS!
1. Remember the word “WE” needs to be inclusive for all of us to profit. Not exclusive depending on race, location, background, education, gender, age or any other thing that far too often can separate us (as humans) from each other.
2. Know that most of us are caring, loving, generous and extremely capable of awesome ingenuity, intellect, integrity, creativeness and productivity.
3. Hang out with the #2 group. Which is the majority of us (whew!). And most especially, Don’t allow fear to control your actions. Be fearless, for yourself and others. Be true to fairness, loving values, and gratitude.
And as for the rest? Believe in you and your innate ability to not only make a positive difference, but to be happy and successful with all that you seek to do and be, regardless of naysayers!
As one of you, I wish you the very best in your endeavors. You are not alone!
♡
Thank you. Have an awesome weekend.
With much love to you,
~ Penny
When did it become okay to eat chemically processed food? Food that we know, for a fact is chemically processed, but oh so amazingly convenient – a part of our modern addictive lifestyle and easily available with very little effort on our part.
What is food today in Consumer Land (you know – right here, right now)?
Food (a loose interpretation): Items bought packaged for longer shelf life in megastores and minimarts. Food bought at fast food locations. Food grown and sprayed with poisonous pesticides and processed using artificial methods and mutiple chemical additives for flavor enhancements and longevity.
When did it become okay to make money off of treating and healing sick people? Or worse, not seeing them at all if they haven’t got the right insurance.
When did it become okay to not be able to afford to take your animal to the vet? When did it become okay to buy products (almost everything) with built-in, short term obsolescence … guaranteeing you’ll buy the “new & improved” version?
Not only are too few of us not thinking about cause and effect, even more of us are not seeing beyond our nose, or should I say the view screen of our smartphones, tablets, computers, television, and so on. Not my opinion, just absolutely true facts!
“It saddens me when, as a race, we humans have been given so many advantages and yet our worst emotions still rule us.”~ Plh
Greed (now called profit margins & for us lesser folks, the constant seeking for a “better quality of life”)
Laziness (now called convenience)
Sloth (now called comfort)
Hatred (against anything and everything you don’t like or fear)
And so we’re left with our own personal rationales for why we do what we do, as we each (more or less) contribute to our downfall.
Wake up! Open your minds, your heart and your awareness. We can bring about dramatic improvements, if we want to, or continue to be harbingers of our eventual failure as a human race.
As always – our own individual choice to make.
Penny L Howe
We live off our perceptions. Advertisers have known & cultivated this for quite a while, politicians have known this, no doubt forever.
If you live in the USA you may recall (a few decades ago) a popular commercial where a sweet but gutsy little old lady belts out “where’s the beef?” suggesting there was very little beef in her hamburger. Using this as an analogy the point I’m making is … “Where’s the TRUTH?” … exchanging the word beef for truth as it relates to us and our lives today.
The truth is we don’t know “the truth”. Even these written words you’re reading here are only my interpretation of things.
But it does seem we are acting out our lives through an ever thickening veil of perception, some of which are …
Events going on in our world
Whats right & wrong
Whats good and bad
What we eat
What is or isn’t in the food we eat
What is or isn’t in the air we breath
and the water we drink
What we want in life
Where we’re headed
And so on … and so on …
So many things have become scaled up falsehoods of reality (with us increasingly bypassing our own intelligent comprehension). More and more we base our decisions on the made-up reality of commercializations and the “in your face” mentality of media. Any and all forms of media. Not just social interactive media found on our Internet but television, radio and movies too.
Regardless of where you look or listen, it isn’t completely accurate. Its interpretive, depending on the M.O. of who’s presenting the information and while this is scary in and of itself, the even scarier thing is we’ve become conditioned to accept this virtual reality of our lives and what’s happening around us … even while inside ourselves, there’s a gut instinct, a wrenching sensation sending us this urgent message that … something just isn’t right.
Because it isn’t!
I believe in my heart we (the people) are headed for a showdown. A personal one within ourselves, where we simply decide enough is enough. Starting by getting rid of the excess in our lives and coming up with a simpler, cleaner and clearer way of doing things.
As for me. I’m already there. How about you?
Thank you,
~ Penny ♡
Every now and then
I remember when
it simple used to be
in thinking I was free ♡…
…life it all has changed
and has rearranged,
or is it really me,
yes, now at last I see ♡…
… freedom has a price
one we all must pay,
care for one another
every single day ♡…
… we can not survive
if hate and greed fill hearts,
freedom only works
if we’re not torn in parts ♡… ~ Plh
We are all of ONE Worldwide Community ~ let us care for one another! ♡
Be good to you too, have a great week ahead!
Thank you,
~ Penny
And the other thing is we all know it’s true. At least those of us being honest with ourselves. today’s mess came about slowly and in a rather insidious manner as we in the “civilized societies” became accustomed to listening, then viewing, then participating in the latest great new commercial thing, including gas guzzling or electronic machinery and now modern technology.
Problem is we haven’t kept pace, in terms of full awareness and understanding of “effects” that so many of these ever increasing “modern” changes have caused to our lifestyles. Mega Industries whipping out processed food (with much of the natural things leeched out and many artificial chemical preservatives added). The never ending new tech. devices. plastic toys, plastic wrap and plastic bottles (plastic everything actually) all for the sake of convenience creating an out of control approach to what we eat, how we eat and when we eat. How we do, what we do and when we do it.
The breakdown of many family units who struggle, on the one hand to keep up, but meanwhile seem to be able to have many of the technological devices (at the expense of more debt). And meanwhile most of the people on the planet are poor, or much worse. Our responsibility – YES! Because it is the mega companies going into these emerging countries (as well as our own) that, in many cases have increased their poverty through irresponsible activities so their gigantic concerns can make more money!
Everything is so mixed up. Billions are wasted annually, by our government to “protect” us. But nobody’s really keeping an eye on how the money is being spent and why.
The oceans are filled with plastic refuse and other waste, detritus and litter. We’re using up our “fresh” water at an alarming rate. We’re poisoning our lands and killing millions of creatures annually through neglect and careless decision making.
I could go on and on. But we already know these things. Take our great country of USA. I am proud to be an American, and of the bravery of our soldiers who’ve been sent to foreign shores, many to not return, or who return wounded (and should be honored and helped, not forgotten as many are). But I’m increasingly ashamed of my government. Who seems to be oblivious to the damage we’re doing to ourselves and our lands.
Politicians (for the most part) are more concerned with being re-elected and keeping their salary or are power hungry and all to frequently buying or should I say selling into those gigantic mega International Conglomerates, I mentioned earlier, because of financial support they will receive. We’re pretty sure if a politician speaks we’re being lied to. And for good cause.
If a politician isn’t busy being involved with cultivating people and influence then they appear to spend the rest of their time pointing fingers and accusing those with whom they are in disagreement. To the end nothing much gets accomplished at the government level, except chaos, confusion and disagreement. And I believe this is true in many other countries as well. Money, commercialization, commodities, greed, and the need for having it all, have replaced many important values we as a people need in order to survive and thrive.
We have lost our way, and I’m fearful that it will take some severe natural disaster for us to come to our senses and work together again, as we always do in times of crisis and disaster – and why is that, anyway … why can we only be good to each other when conditions are extreme?
What’s the next step? What can we do to help? I don’t have an answer, I feel in many ways I’m just one of the many that is part of the problem here and unless we the people, unified can come to a consensus and make some hard choices to change our current out of control lifestyles (so filled with daily waste and neglect), to work on improving our attitudes about one another, I fear things are not going to improve any time soon. In my opinion.
And I’m an optimist by nature, so that’s saying something. I hope my words hold some value and you’ll consider them carefully. I do believe each of us can make small changes that can be of help and I know there are those doing that very thing. So I stay hopeful in spite of all my words above.
I do believe in mankind, although I also believe it is time for more women to be in positions of power. We’re more empathetic, more willing to listen to other viewpoints besides our own, and (because we bring life into the world) are far less likely to see war and the killing of innocent lives as a solution to things. Again in my humble opinion, only.
Sincerely,
~ Penny
Part Two -Our greatest need is …
The two do go together, having a value and being loved. Yet in a world filled with people, our greatest need goes unfulfilled. And unfortunately, around the planet, it is children and adults (in fact all life) who are unloved and found valueless that are suffering from starvation, disease, abuse, poverty and death.
It is the children and adults in the larger inner cities that go homeless and hungry, abused and mistreated because they believe themselves to be (and in many cases are shown to be) unloved and having no value.
It is the many working adults and their children struggling to make ends meet in our ever changing environment who undervalue themselves, feeling unloved and wondering how to make everything be okay … Just okay.
It is the condition of false complacency that underlies – allowing all of these things to continue.
Bottom line, without exception we ALL need Love and a sense of purpose because we matter, and many of us need to be told this and have it visibly demonstrated in order to really believe it. And that isn’t happening the way it should.
Money doesn’t matter, let me repeat this so it’s a little clearer … MONEY DOESN’T MATTER after the basics I mentioned are attended to. If civilization as a whole is feeling forgotten, unloved and of no value, it’s because money has achieved a greater importance than the loving arms of someone holding you with true affection, a firm handshake of fellowship and positive connections being made across the lines of those who think differently than we do.
Humanity cannot truly move forward as long as the accumulation of wealth and material items for its own sake (which begets greed, the need to control and of course war and subsequent human loss and casualties) is viewed as the primary goal to success.
Loving and caring more. Sharing more. Encouraging more. Realizing you do need a lot less material items in your life. Being there for family and friends. Reaching out. Making a positive difference. THAT’S WHAT IS ULTIMATELY GOING TO MOVE EARTH SOCIETY FORWARD.
Currently the biggest problems we are dealing with have to do with complacency, apathy, indifference, greed and laziness and of course the belief that all things have a predetermined shelf life, including us. These problems in turn have caused all the other problems we find so overwhelming and … as is most generally the case, we are the root cause.
Ironically, happiness is always found in the simple things in life, and those things turn out to be the most important!
Seek value in everyday things. Recapture worth by finding it within yourself and others. Love, reach out, share, care – be there for family and friends. In the process you’ll discover your own heart filling with love. A heart filled with love has no room for hate. A mind filled with thoughts of giving and sharing has no room for greed or complacency. And achieving purpose that is filled with making a positive difference, finds value and worth in all things and all life … as it should be.
Much love to you this day thank you for reading,
~ Penny
Never Stop Believing
Where there be shadows … let me find sunshine.
Where there be sadness … let me share joy.
Where there be greed … let me bring charity.
Where there be disdain … let me show goodwill.
Where there be war … let me offer peace.
Where there be hate … let me give love.
We will survive. Embedded in each of our hearts is a goodness that will win out, in spite of the many misguided and negative approaches to our current lifestyles and mindset.
It is this knowledge that keeps my faith for all life, alive and thriving. Even on the darker days I know there will be light.
Peace and love to all of you – my friends I know, and my friends I’ve yet to meet!
~ Penny
A little reflection over the weekend and it dawned on me, that each of us (more or less) are partially responsible for the mess the planet is in right now. We really are. In our free country of the USA we take so much for granted. In fact children are being taught (by adult example) that it’s okay to take … and take … and take! Greed is a popular icon here as well as in many other “civilized?” countries which accomplishes nothing but more greed!
Time for a new mindset. We really don’t need so much “stuff”. It would be great if we spent more time caring for each other and the natural world we all inhabit while it’s still habitable. Healthier and happier people would make for a healthier and happier environment and economy. Not the other way around. People (all life) and their well being need to come first!
And in this country and any other country where you can vote (even if some politicians are making it harder for you) it is still your responsibility to VOTE. If you don’t like what the politicians are doing, then vote them out of office.. Your country, your government. Your responsibility. Don’t play the blame game with pointed fingers and words but do nothing to assist in bringing about change!
“Personal responsibility and our planet’s sustainability
must go hand in hand for the needed change to truly happen!”
~ Penny L Howe, 2014
~
Have a great week ahead, with much affection and love,
~ Penny
The Why About This 