Dictionary day once again!  As usual there is the closing of eyes and spinning of the dictionary and opening it and pointing to a word.  I am always interested to see what that word is.
This morning it was “central” and the definition was “dominant, leading, principal, essential.”  The Cambridge dictionary said, “the most important part of something” while Collins English dictionary said, “The central person or thing in a particular situation is the most important one.”
It is what I see in stories which mostly centre on a person.  Many people come and go and form the periphery – both goodies and badies.  Yet the one I follow and when the book is well written I care about, is the central characters experience.
Merril and I often laugh at what was said in a movie by one character, “I don’t want to be the “no name crew member” as they often meet an unfortunate end.”
For me what is central in my life I consider most important.  I have many peripheral activities, but they all are subservient to the central activity or value.  All may be legitimate but for all to be profitable they must, in my mind, be subservient to the central characteristic or goal.
I face that one regularly.  I am happily pursuing what is most important to me and another activity is engaged in I really enjoy.  Where I am not careful that activity can become dominant to the one that matters the most.
I really do not want to pursue things that have no real value to me.  I do not mean monetary value or even satisfaction value but eternal growth value.
My life right now is like clearing everything off a desk and only putting back what is needed.  What is needed is often more than not enjoyable, but in my mind it only matters because it involves purpose related to the main purpose.
I have had to work out what is central or what I will pursue as most important.  It is only that I have established that, that all the other things fall into place.

Yesterday was a pretty typical day.  I was thinking what was the most significant thing I learned for my future.
There was one thing that very much sticks in my mind.  It was said by someone and the more I thought about it, the more I saw that it had been my experience and was something worth noting for my future.
They said, “the less you hurry, the quicker you learn.”  They then gave an example I so relate to. It was mentioned how sometimes someone on a phone leaves their phone number.  It is said so fast it is impossible to capture at that moment.  The message needs to be revisited to get the number.  There are other ways to get it, but they always involve a revisit which would be totally unnecessary if hurry had not been employed in the first place.
I got to thinking of the best way I learn.  It is to have someone show me a process, do it myself with them watching and then them showing me again the areas I got wrong or obviously vagued out in.
Often when this process is not employed due to hurry I do not learn properly and need to interrupt my teacher who has moved on to something else.  It needs to be explained and shown to me again.  Not only does that require more time it is an inconvenience to two and not just one.
I honestly regard hurry as an enemy.  It is a product of the age in which we live.  Advertising is all about making a decision now.  It may not be the best decision for me, but in achieves the salesman’s end.
I must admit a wall goes up for me when pressured to make a decision now.  Many sales men will not give all that is needed until someone commits.  They do not want me to think about something they only want me to do something.
Of course there are times when a quick decision is necessary.  The key word for me there is “necessary.”  A right decision remains right and will always stand up to scrutiny.  A hasty decision made is often an unnecessary costly learning experience.
They say there are two ways to learn – the easy way and the hard way.  The hard way is unnecessary but will be the way employed if the easy way is not adhered to.  I would rather “hasten slowly” and get it right.  Taking the time necessary at the start saves time at the end.

I wondered for like one second what I should write about today.  Yet I think it would be totally remis of me to not write about the elephant in the room.
What happened at Bondi has come as total shock.  No matter who the target was, it was a classic example of man’s inhumanity to man.  The justifying of an action totally unjustifiable.
It seems to me there is an ideology abroad that has nothing to do with the rightness of causes but is all about getting the own way at all costs.   Unfortunately,the legitimate concerns and thoughts of some have been hijacked by those who advocate only one way to achieve a good end for humanity and it ends in destruction and uncaring.
I used to hear, ‘where is the common sense?”  Unfortunately in my mind common sense has nothing to do with what is happening.  It has all to do with an unproven ideology.  Not only is it unproven, in my mind it is dangerous.
It is said that the way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”    I am convinced in my mind that good men have done nothing while Rome burned.  We have taken out what we adhere to and attempted to replace it with nice platitudes.  I know nature abhors a vacuum and what was a creeping darkness became a jogging darkness and has become a sprinting darkness.
It seems to me mankind has tried to ignore the reaping what is sown.  There is an acting like I know best and the fruit of it has become obvious for all to see.
The old saying says garbage in and garbage out.  Mankind has filled to mind with garbage in the mistaken belief there will not be garbage out.
The only way for me to make sense of it all is to think for myself.  There is much out there both true and false. The only way for me to go is to prove something for myself.  To put aside all I have been told and lay a hold of what makes sense in a senseless world.
It has worked for me and countless others.  “God if you are real, show me please.”  Worth a shot.