Ask Yourself...

"Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth."
Ayn Rand

Being a fan of Ayn Rand since my relatively recent reading of Atlas Shrugged, I have looked for other ways to incorporate her into my life, for opportunities to learn more about her and her ideas...hence the quote.

I came across this quote some time ago (meaning weeks), and have decided that I do like it..very much so...indeed...definitely YES!

While I have a very definite and solid belief in God and in the hereafter, and all the things that this belief constitutes and builds within my own vision of life after death, I do believe that Ayn is correct. Life is not for waiting for...life is not for later. Life is for now...now...and again NOW!

Can we afford to wait for heaven...for joy...for life to begin with all of it's perfections that we assume we will have in the hereafter? I say no. I think our mortal existence is meant for experience, for joy, for laughter, for learning, for sadness, for growing, for moving and seeing and feeling. So often we get lost in our day to day, living our plodding lives allowing them to grind along...and it is a miss for everything that is out there to be seen and loved and learned.

Of course, we have our chores, our tasks and our responsibilities. In order to be a successful and happy adult there are many things that must be accomplished and taken care of and we are better for it. I do believe though that sometimes the joy gets lost in the shuffle, and that is a tragedy, particularly if it persists day after day, week after week, month after month and, often sadly, year after year.

While a joyful life, carefree and devoid of sadness and tragedy is an impossible myth, living life in joy and delight is not. We each choose how to react to the world and the people in it. I'm not saying that we should not ever be sad or angry or upset...by all means, those emotions are good and human and often cathartic when used properly...but I also think that we choose too often to be angry for longer than we need to be. We often choose to blame others instead of opting for changing ourselves, our circumstances or our surroundings. Action and change is always more difficult than complacency and the status quo. We often choose to be sad and not find a way to climb out of this bucket, wallowing in this dark shadow for much too long.

I think our emotions and the length of time that we experience them are largely based on choice and by choosing to smile, and to be happy, and to push through the disappointments, sadnesses and tragedies, that we find we are able to make a happy and joyful oasis for ourselves that can be truly a heaven for us.

There will always be someone out there who has more than we do...always someone more beautiful, someone smarter, someone cleverer, someone wealthier, someone with whatever material delight may be our fancy in the moment...and instead of coveting and desiring and pining for what we do not have...why not enjoy life as it stands, making it beautiful and full of the things we can reach for around us...even while still working hard to achieve some of these other material desires?

I am happy because I choose to be. I have had tragedy and I have known despair. I have been sad and heartbroken and thought that life would never be the same...and I was right in that...life was altered and not the same...life did change...with each experience it changes, but I learned, and continued onward, looking for light and joy. For myself, being a happy person by nature, I also chose to continue along that path...to find delight and to find joy and to make it part of my daily life.

I don't have all of the money I would like to have, I drive an older car, but it is paid for...I could use a larger home with more room for entertaining...but in the end...my money pays my bills and allows me to responsibly care for my family, my car gets me where I need to go and the gas mileage is great...my home is often crowded to bursting with friends and family all cooking and laughing and talking together crowding in around the table with too many chairs too close together, with babies and children running about squawking and laughing and crying and always underfoot--but we are together and we are sharing life and love and joy. When it is quiet and everyone is sleeping, I feel the peace and joy that comes from a happy home where even when annoyed or ornery or blue, everyone loves each other and tries most of the time to be kind (all the time is obviously an outstanding human goal...).

Life is for living...it is for grabbing with both hands...it is for kissing and crying...it is for working and for playing...it is for loving and laughing and shouting...it is for sunlight and shadows...it is for tragedy and soaring ecstasy...it is for delighting in and sharing in and holding each other up together. Life is for being. Life is for learning. Life is for growing. Life is for now.

So I conclude with..."Ask yourself"...ask yourself what you love, what you want most...where is your joy...where is your delight? Where is your heaven? Do you wait for it to come to you in a place and time that cannot be told...or do you choose to make it here...and now?

It is not only our right as members of the global human family to protest when our brothers and sisters are being treated brutally...

... but it is also our duty to do whatever we can to help them." The Dalai Lama

Sandy, Utah: Friend of Ours: Assaulted by the Police

On Saturday, there was a motorcycle/car accident near the home of friends of ours, in Sandy, Utah. Our friend, Andrew Mismash, tried to help the motorcyclist who was injured and bleeding.

At some point shortly thereafter he was assaulted on his own property by the police and arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest...all because he "talked back" to the police when they told him to shut up and butt out. He didn't assault the police...he didn't threaten them...he just stated his mind.

I didn't know that voicing your opinion was grounds for assault from those who are hired, yes hired, to "Serve and Protect". An assault on the citizenry, a good Samaritan no less, by those with weaponry on their hips...guns and night sticks as well as tasers...on your own property...in front of friends, family, your own children, and neighbors...all because you objected to the treatment that an accident victim was receiving.

My questions...exactly who is going to protect Andrew from an unjust arrest? Who is going to protect him from the police next time, when he disagrees with a ticket or some other matter of opinion with a member of the standing police authority? Who is going to protect him, when someone continues to steal tools out of his yard and his work truck? Who is he going to call, when he needs help? Who is he going to call, if this is who will attend him when he needs someone to "serve and protect" him and his family??

Be aware that there is strong language in the videos.

http://sandymanbeaten.wordpress.com/

By the Way...here is the Sandy City Police Departments Mission Statement:

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The Sandy City Police Department's mission is to provide the highest quality of police service to citizens and visitors of Sandy City.

We will strive to ensure public peace by: preventing crime; detecting and arresting criminal offenders; protecting life, property and the rights of all persons; regulating and controlling traffic; maintaining police records and communications; providing animal services; and other responsibilities as indicated by statute, City ordinance, or Department directives.

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I'm sure there are good policemen in Sandy City...there have to be. It's a good city, a good place to live, and there are a lot of really wonderful people there. But this was not displayed on this past Saturday in front of the Mismash home. This was not displayed in the throwdown that took place in the garden bed by the blooming trees following a car accident. This was not displayed in the complete lack of people skills that were displayed by the portly, gray haired cop who is shoving Andrew against his truck or by the other cops who were not stepping in to resolve the situation in a more tactful and peaceful manner.

I mean, is it true? Do cops really just look for opportunities to toss the citizens around whenever possible? Do they really only look to generate revenue, pilfering the pockets of any human crossing their boundaries by giving them tickets and pulling them over to harass them?

These are not things I want to believe, but honestly, I'm not seeing much different.

Here are some phone numbers if you need them:

Sandy City Police Department
10000 S. Centennial Parkway
Sandy, UT 84070

Tel: 801-568-7200
Fax: 801-568-7190
Police Administration: 801-568-7214
Press Information: 801-568-6086
Training Division: 801-568-7240

Maybe we should all call the Training Division and let them know that their Customer Servicing & Interacting With the Citizens training modules are just really not working very well and that they might want to implement some case samples and scenario training one-on-one sessions before siccing all of their new recruits out on the public...

I mean...it's just a thought...Don't throw me to the ground, shoving my face into the dirt and kick me in the kidneys over it or anything like that...I mean this is just a dialogue right?...

Maybe not so much as we think it would be or should be.
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ADDENDUM...Additional Details of the Story...

Update on the motorcyclist...the man wandered around stunned and injured, bleeding from around his eye socket (20 stitches) with the paper towels that Andrew had given him, while the cops took Andrew down and threatened to taser him. None of the police officers on site, took out their 1st aid gear and assisted the motorcyclist. Andrew was the only one who gave the injured man anything to block the bleeding, prior to being thrown around by the police.

Andrew was booked into the County jail, with assault on the three officers who were sitting on top of him, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He eventually ended up in the ER and can hardly walk due to all of the bruising and had boot prints on the back of his arms that matched the boot prints in the mud in the garden. He had a ringing headache due to being elbowed in the back of the head by one of the cops. At the ER he was told he had deep tissue bruising and that he needed to be very careful with his arms and keep an eye out for blood clots or anything unusual.

All of the cops said that he had gotten in the face of the truck driver that hit the motorcyclist...when in fact, all witnesses (and there were several) indicated that Andrew, in fact, had not gone anywhere near the truck driver (who was across the street), and was only in attendance to the motorcyclist who was injured.

When the first policemen arrived on scene, they did not attend to the injured man, but instead were talking to the truck driver. The motorcyclist asked the police for assistance. The cops told him to go sit down, and that "sh** happens" and to wait his turn. This is what Andrew disputed and said as much. The cops told him to shut up and stay out of it and came across the street towards him.

Andrew backed off, and started to walk away into his yard, at which point 2 cops grabbed him and shoved him up against his truck and started yelling at him. They let him go briefly, Andrew again walked away, that is when they took him down in the garden and pig-piled on him and proceeded to brutalize him.

And just as extra icing on this disaster of a cake...this was in front of the children...4 for Andrew and 5 for his brother, they (Andrew & his brother Sam, along with a few of the kids) had just brought dinner home...so 9 children in total...all crying inside, no doubt catching glimpses of the scuffle through the picture window. I'm sure this incident has helped to create love and trust between the children and the police...they won't be afraid to talk to a cop if they need help or anything else moving forward, do you think?

If you fight in front of children, you get domestic abuse charges leveled against you...what about the police? Again the exception?...Just a thought.