SPCV – The Society for the Prevention of Cyber-Violence

(SPCV – The Society for the Prevention of Cyber-Violence)

 

If you have a post (on MultiMedia sites) which you would like to share with everyone, whether you think it interesting or whether you just want to gather more ‘like’s to build up your self-esteem, consider carefully what you are asking of those you forward it to. They have a life to live and then they have to read these posts. Now if you were the only one sending them stuff to read, that would probably be okay, but social media being what it is, mostly anti-social, everyone and their cat are sending out posts and videos.

 

Granted some ‘communications’ are interesting, some even border on being funny. Some are a pleasure to read or watch and some we even save to read again another day, which we never do because the flow flood of ‘new’ material is so constant and intense that once we reach our saturation point, our thumbs can hardly keep up with pressing the DELETE button.

 

Now, though some may be ‘entertaining’ in some way, that hardly applies to all. In fact it probably applies to less than 10 percent of all the posts people receive daily. Although YOU may have been splitting your sides at these posts, forwardees may be having a cadenza.

 

Part of that agitation occurs when the forwardee finds that the ‘facts’ in the post are incorrect or that the post contains no facts at all! Or that the post, as so often happens, is just the verbal diarrhoea of a raving lunatic racist thinly veiled with a joke.

 

To build up that agitation into violent discomfort, post writers often add a line about not laughing alone or that you have no heart if you don’t share…

 

Next time, before you forward a post, please check that the facts are correct, check that it is really funny and not just filling a gap in YOUR dull day. And NEVER do a ‘blanket send’. Surely not everyone you know is interested in exactly the same things, check who would appreciate a certain post and send it to them only. If you don’t know your ‘friends’ that well, then you don’t know them at all and should not be forwarding stuff to them.

 

Please don’t keep this post to yourself. Send it to everyone, friend and stranger…

Creating humans in a robot world.

The thing that’s wrong with the statement that computers will replace us is not that it is untrue or impossible, it’s just simply WHY? 

As humans wee struggle to answer our own why questions. Why do we exist? Why do we persist with this life? The believer and the athiest alike, they don’t give up and wither away. No! They persist  with this life. They  have children. They fall in love. They visit friends and relatives. 

Would computers or computer controlled beings invent their own why questions? They would not have any reason for the “where do we come from?”, or “what is the purpose…” questions.

Being logical machines, why would they want to persist with the why questions unless we give them human emotional ability. And if we can do that, then we have we not created humans? 

Tips for a Manager

These tips can be applied by managers in general. 

1. Don’t trust anyone. At some stage, somewhere along the way, they will drop you. 
2. Workers need to be managed. That is why you are the manager.
3. The buck stops with you, so make sure you know what is going on every minute of every day.
4. Make notes, even if only for your own records.
5. Keep track of everything and everyone. 
6. No worker is able to self-manage. If you come across such a worker, make him/her a manager. Always a good find. 
7. As a manager it is easy to give, difficult to take back. If you allow something once, it is difficult to justify not allowing it the next time. 
8. If you give in to one worker, you have to give in to all workers. 
9. Don’t be afraid to praise and reward workers. 
10. Get rid of dead wood a.s.a.p. They drag the whole team down. The team is only as good as the worst/slowest worker.
11. Encourage pride in their work among workers and Demand High Quality Workmansip.
12. Scrap the unspoken mantra: There’s never enough time to do it right, but there is always time to do it over. Demand it be done right the first time, even if it takes a bit longer.
13. Having said that; keep a close eye on time scales.
14. Always get workers to declutter their  workspace.  
15. Plan and Organise and make sure everyone is on the same page. 

Questioning God

I have heard people say it so many times and I see it written on so many beautiful pictures posted all over the popular social networks: words like, God walks with you. God will not let any harm come to you. God wil protect you. God will carry you through those bad patches…etc.

I have had a fairly good and happy life thus far. I have had my share of bad spots. There were times when I believed and times I didn’t. There were times when I thought I understood and times when I didn’t. 

I am questioning whether God is with us every moment of every day and whether God does protect us in the way that most believers seem to accept.

The obvious questions from non-believers are, when thirty thousand people were killed during floods in Bangladesh; when three kids died in a taxi accident in Johannesburg; when thousands of families were dislodged and hundreds killed in Syria, including children; when hundreds of women and children are raped and abused last year…where was your God? 

Prayer…of course we all pray for good to triumph in this world; but where is God?  You said God is everywhere; you said God would protect; you said… 

Maybe we are looking at the situation all wrong. Maybe we are expressing our expectations rather than the reality. Maybe we are hoping, more than anything, that should some bad event be looming on our horizon, that God will be there to protect us from it; to wipe it from our horizon so that it does not materialize. Maybe we hope that when we say “Have Faith!”, “Have Faith!”, “Have Faith!”, that this mantra will ward off undesirable events. 

But clearly, it doesn’t happen like that. It seems, that is not what God does. God does not guarantee that a family in a war zone will not get blown up by a missile; that children will not be molested and murdered, that good people will not come to harm. God gives no such guarantees to Believers or Non-believers 

So, what is actually happening here? I have no better way of explaining my understanding than to simulate putting words in God’s mouth, so to speak. If I were to ask God where He was when so many suffering people needed Him; when I am asking Him to look after my family; to take care of those who are vulnerable; to ensure no harm comes to harmless kids; to ensure that my future will be bright; to regenerate nature to ensure my children and their children will have a healthy planet to call home, etc…  

Maybe, just maybe His answer would be; 

“I have given  you the earth and all its resources to look after. I have given you free-will to decide which path of righteousness you want to follow. Instead you are abusing the planet, you have turned your mind to everything but a path of righteousness. I am not your servant standing ready, waiting on you to call on me to come clean up your mess and fix what you have broken. You are in charge of the world. You have been given a treasure of mine to take care of and you seem to be thrashing it. You can hand back to me a broken planet, but you know what that means… You will have destroyed yourselves in the process. 

“You can ask me to give you the wisdom to deal with complex problems and I will help you. You cannot ask me to fix the problems for you. You cannot ask me to save lives if you are the ones lifting the guns and taking aim. You cannot ask me to protect young children when you keep putting them in  harms way, when you have designed a society which churns out vile individuals. When you have designed and take part in a system which places high value on accumulating goods and low value on being charitable. 

“For you to correct things may take a while, but to make the change isn’t difficult. Apply your mind and choose a righteous path. Stop accumulating. Be charitable. Stop wanting more. Don’t take more than you need. Calm yourself. Be a calming force on those around you. Keep your loved ones close to you and make a loved one out of every person you meet. Be honest with those around you. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with Me.”

As a starting guide we can make use these principles;

1. Respect. First learn to respect yourself, respect who you are fundamentally, without all the glam and glitter. Then EARN the respect of those around you. Be respectful in how you address others. Human beings are all on the same level and everyone deserves to be respected. 
2. Discipline. Be disciplined in the way you live your life. Don’t be harsh on yourself, but don’t allow yourself to become ill-disciplined. Teach discipline to those around you. 
3. Charity. When you see a need, respond to it. Always ask, “How can I be of help in this situation?” Be careful not to be charitable at a distance. Get your hands dirty. Money is a good start, but it does not solve all problems. Sometimes you need to give of yourself, your time, your skills, sometimes just a hug and a kind word spoken directly. 
4. Equality. As I’ve said earlier, all humans are on the same level. Treat everyone equally, young as well as old, friend and stranger, poor as well as rich, from different coutries and different tribes, all deserve to be treated the same as everyone else. 
5. Temperance. Self-mastery. Know yourself, your abilities, your confidence levels, your short comings, your failings and your successes. Use this information to build yourself. Be in charge of who you are. Don’t allow your boss, your job, your commitments or your conscience to run your life or to decide what kind of person you will be. You have chosen a path of righteousness, that is the person you want to be. With that in mind, be the master of your own destiny. 

So, in our communications with God, stop coming across as lazy beggars. Stop throwing your problems at God like dirty washing to a washing machine. 

God gave us a healthy body, a strong intellect, free-will. These are excellent tools. He also gave us an abundant world to manage on his behalf. It is too big a job for any of us to do on our own, but if everyone does their bit this world can be like heaven on earth.

Keep your body healthy, your intellect sharp, and exercise your free-will. This world is our responsibility. It needs tools which are in excellent condition to maintain it. 

And when we do struggle with a problem, God will be there to guide us, not to fix the problems for us. 

It’s never easy…

Nothing that’s easy has any long term effect. Everything that is worth doing requires both mental and physical effort. 

The rewards are also not always what you’d expect. Sometimes the financial rewards don’t come and the recognition we desire for hard work isn’t there either.

If you are one of your own best friend, you will appreciate the lessons learnt. But if you don’t like yourself  very much then you will accuse the world of being an ignorant place.

All the easy stuff, everyone and their dog are already doing. The world needs people who can take on the difficult stuff and make it look easy for the rest of the world.

Life’s challenge is not just to live a good life. It is also to take on a difficult task. Even if you don’t see it, there is always someone looking, waiting to be inspired.

Don’t add to the chaos

We don’t live life anymore. We rush through life from the time we drag ourselves out of bed to the moment we fling ourselves back into bed. Our dreams are nightmares because our minds are  filled with the chaos of the day and the chaos we expect tomorrow. 

We have to learn to stop and absorb. To appreciate the moment,  look around and be truly thankful for what we have. Instead of reposting someone else’s prayer,  let us write our own prayer based on what we feel, based on all those invisible blessings we receive every day. 

Say thank you from the bottom of YOUR heart,  not someone else’s. Reposting a pretty picture with some nice words on it will probably get you a number of ‘likes’ on facebook,  but it does not tell your story. People are not typing ‘amen’ to your story. In fact you become an invisible signpost for someone else’s story. 

If you are going to take part in the social media tides making their way across the globe day after day,  then put your story out there. Don’t repost for attention. 

Live in the moment and make sure you take time to absorb what is going on around you. Be a calming presence. Don’t add to the chaos. 

Our inability

Your Religion…

…is not like a sword you keep by your bedside with which you can fight off attackers at night… Your religion is like beautiful clothing you wear in order to make yourself even more attractive.

Don’t Fight The World

Don’t fight the world. It is a battle you simply cannot win. Fight what you are allowing the world to do to you.

The world changes day to day, from one moment to the next. The comforts we get used to, both physical and mental, are constantly under threat.

Most people would like their world to remain a safe, comfortable place, whatever they perceive that safety and comfort to be.

But the world is not a static or passive environment. It reacts and responds to what is thrown at it. It is inhabited by other people who have the free will to act as they please, and it has a natural environment which reacts in it’s own defence.

The world is exactly the way it was meant to be. It is filled with challenges. Every day we are challenged to deliver our best, to deal with problems as best we can, to NOT add to the mayhem and the chaos, but to help reduce the levels of anxiety and panic. To carve for ourselves a beautiful world amid the perceived panic and chaos.

When things happen ‘out there’, you have to find a response to it that does  not provoke more of the same. If you are a believer of some sort (and I have never met anyone who isn’t), then those looking in your direction must not see you, they must see the good in you.

If we spend all our time and energy on making the outside look good, we make that a distraction from who we really are and want to be. When you associate yourself with detractors, you become a detractor. When you associate yourself with critics, you become a critic. When you associate yourself with physical or mental violence, you become physically or mentally violent.

Every aspect of human behaviour resides in each of us. We choose which ones to amplify, and that is the personality we will be labelled as. The world out there is, very simply, a reflection of what is inside of each of us.

Fighting the world will change very little. Become that which you want the world to be.

“In the fight between you and the world, back the world.” Franz Kafka

“In the fight for sanity, back yourself.” MM

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