C.S. Lewis and Rats

This is one of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotes:

"Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light." C. S. Lewis -- Mere Christianity

Understanding this would greatly reduce many of the violent responses we find in society today. A driver who cuts you off did not create your 'anger rat', it only exposed it. That fight you had with a loved one was not caused by their words or deeds, that only turned the light on the rat that was already there.

Those people I know who rarely if ever get angry are usually those who have achieved that most excellent state of being - a rat free cellar. They no longer have the 'disposition to do evil' that they once did. It's not about controlling your anger, it's about no longer even having it.

Television - Off - Worked

The television did not get turned on when I got home from work yesterday until I'd been home for an hour. In that time I got the floor vacuumed, the laundry folded and put away, the cats fed, the trash and recycling taken to the curb and phone calls made for one of my church responsibilities.

It felt good. I think I'll do it again.

Television - Off

Ever have so much to do that you end up doing nothing? I am in that condition often, so I sit and knit and watch television. Soon I think I will take wise advice and unplug the television. The few times I've resisted turning on the TV it's been a very odd sensation, because I didn't know what to do with myself.

Turning off the television will enable me to get some of the things done around home, because I won't be able to stand just sitting, so watch out clutter! Watch out cleaning! Watch out exercise! I know I can get things done because I have done so in the past, I just need to remove the reasons why I don't.

Becoming a Disciple

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I strive to be a disciple of the Savior, but what exactly does that entail? Certainly it consists of a number of things, but I would consider that foremost among them is the desire to become like He is.
A disciple is not just a mere follower, or one who verbally commits to a leader or teacher, a disciple is one who is seeking to be like their Master. A disciple of Jesus wishes to say and do and become like Christ. None of us can get there completely in this life, but each of us who call ourselves Christian can be progressing to that ultimate goal.
One of the things we need to learn to do is hearken to the Spirit, to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is one of the major gifts from God to help us in our discipleship. The Holy Ghost can tell us the truth of scripture or counsel, warn us of danger, and also tell us when things are contrary to the Will of God.
How do we learn to hearken to the voice of the Spirit? We pray, we ponder and meditate, we study the scriptures and the words of the living prophets. We conform our lives to the teachings of Christ and gain confirmation of our behavior by the same Spirit. The more we strive to be in tune, the more we lose the desire to do evil and the more we become like Christ.

Other Laralees

Out of curiosity I search my name on Google or Yahoo periodically just to see what shows up other than my presences on the web. Years ago, when the web was still very young I could come up with 3, all in the same part of the country that I was raised in. I appear to be older than any of the Laralees I've seen so far so even if I'm not the first Laralee blogger, I may be the oldest with that name.

The spelling of my name is unusual and at times I wonder what the origin of the use is for the others I find on the web, if perhaps some of them were named, not after me, but because they saw my name and liked it as well. I may never know, but it's fun to speculate that it might be so.

Walking for Exercise

I'm an off and on sort of exerciser - mostly off. I splurged and got myself a nice treadmill in January, because of all sorts of aerobic exercise, walking is my favorite. I squeezed the machine into my small den and walk and watch television. Since my television watching time often involves doing very little else I figured that I could walk for 45+ minutes every night and not really be taking new time out of my life. So far that's pretty much the case, other than not doing quite as much knitting.

I like how I feel while exercising, and how I feel when I'm done, but that doesn't seem to make much difference when I'm actually getting ready to exercise, or deciding if I'm going to or not. Inertia is a big challenge for me. BUT! I've set myself a destination goal and that helps.

How it works is you pick a spot you want to travel to and get yourself a map. I use online tools like Yahoo or Google maps which not only lets me print out the maps but will give me the mileage from my starting point to my destination. Acquiring a pedometer is also useful, especially if you want to include in your mileage the walking you do throughout the day. Record your distance after every session and plot it out on your map.

In talking to others about this technique I've heard of a number of variations. You can research the places you walk to, learn about the culture and history, take a virtual tour of the place if one exists, and plot a new destination from your previous start. Eventually you could walk clear across your state, or country or continent.

On Taking Offense

One of the current most popular trends among people in the public view and also the media that covers their activities, is the eagerness with which they take offense. I can think of a number of reasons that this so common.

1. The culture of Political Correctness
In what was probably a sincere attempt to become more understanding of each other, the 'politically correct' concept has also managed to raise being offended to a fine art. Instead of individuals with disagreements talking to one another and explaining their point of view and why some word or idea disturbs them, they now jump to being offended immediately. So instead of dialog we get distance, instead of communication we have conflict, and instead of understanding we retain ignorance.

2. The zeal of extremist groups
Individuals or groups who advocate that their way is the only correct way, and their group knows what is best and therefore should be the ones making the decisions. When all that matters is their ideas and their way and their people in power, there is no alternative to being offended constantly. Power in the hands of anyone else will be offensive. Decisions made by any other group will be wrong by default. This perpetual state of offense precludes any attempt at understanding or negotiation.

3. The media
I am hopeful that the majority of the media still strive to be objective and report accurately. The necessity of the revenue stream often forces them to choose one viewpoint over another, or focus on one story or series and neglect something equally significant. In order to sell magazines, or newspapers or airtime the stories need to have an excitement factor and the spin that is put on a story can have a direct impact on how the audience responds to that story. This includes 'I'm offended' news reports and op ed pieces.

Now here is the big TA-DAH. Being offended is a choice. How about that. You cannot be offended by another unless you choose to be. You are an agent unto yourself and it's up to you how you react to the words or actions of another. Don't blame anyone else for how you choose to respond.