Posted on 05/11/2012 5:04:25 AM PDT by Lazamataz
How do you take over Free Republic? You can't. You shouldn't even try,
Recently, a friend came to me with what he perceived to be the failings of Free Republic. I wrote back: "....JR is really not interested in people advising him on how to run the forum. He's had success with his own direction.......Seriously man. Don't stress this so hard. It is what it is, and you have no power over other people/places/things. Hell, you don't even have power over YOURSELF. That's GOD'S power. Just suit up, show up, color in within the lines, and enjoy what you can in the forum. You know what's off limits. So do I. I live within the boundaries, without complaint and grateful for my blessings."
It is a good life lesson, using Free Republic as the catalyst. How many of us struggle mightily against the circumstances in our life, only to find that we have made utterly no difference? Maybe we have even made things worse, for our interference. We human beings have tiny little three-pound brains. What makes us believe we know best, how our reality should be? Often, what we believe is best for us, turns out to nearly kill us. Similarly, that which we believe is horrible for us, turns out to change us, positively, for the best. It is clear we do not know what it is that will make us prosper.
Many of us live in a perpetual state of anxiety or fear, or regret or remorse. These are wasted emotions. These emotions sap your energy and have no positive effect. Regret and remorse are utterly incapable of changing the past, and since we truly cannot know what is good or bad for us, how can we profit from fear or anxiety? It is best if we leave the particulars of our lives to the will of our God, however we understand Him.
This suggestion works well for atheists, too, since all of us have a God of our understanding. Perhaps, for the atheist, their God is an impersonal and uncaring universe. It still works. Let the results be decided by someone or something other than yourself. When we stop trying to control events around us, much better things come to pass than we had ever envisioned.
This is not to say we don't participate. We do. We show up every day, and we do the next right thing. This is not to say we don't make plans. We do. We are simply willing to get out of the way should the God of our understanding have something better in store for us. In my experience, when I get out of the way of God, the most amazing things happen to me. When I try to control some things, my fat sausage-fingers manage to make it much worse.
Back to the topic of this forum: We all have directions we believe the forum should go. Yet, if we did succeed in altering the forum's direction, we might end up destroying it outright.
So, how do you take over Free Republic? You can't. You shouldn't even try.
I did find it odd that he or she made the jump from me talking about God and Free Republic & you in the same article, that the two were somehow connected. They weren't, obviously, and I set him or her straight.
But one thing the program has taught me is that what people say about me is absolutely none of my business. I find, in fact, that *I* am not my own business. I am God's business. I just show up and do my best.
I am satisfied customer no. 22. I am so proud. I would look for your posts before you became “famous”.
Quick note to you all....
I wasn’t going to share this on the forum, but I changed my mind.
I wrote this Freeper Editorial in the morning, then I went out to my front lawn to discover that my car had been stolen.
It’s a older-model Acura Integra, and it turns out, a favorite of car thieves. Because it was of relatively low value, I didn’t bother with theft. After the job the insurance company would do, lowering the value, then removing the deductible, what would remain would be very small.
So, now I had a choice: I could either flip out and go nuts, or I could live in acceptance and move on (after, of course, doing all I was supposed to do — informing the police, cancelling my liability coverage, checking to make sure it wasn’t towed).
I chose to live by the principles I *just* got done writing. I know I’m going to be just fine. I can easily get a new car — maybe one I like much better! — and I live within walking distance of my job. I’m on a major bus line (in regards groceries and other goods and services) while I save my nickles for a new ride.
So what’s to flip out about?
It was a very interesting test. Do I *live* what I wrote, or do I just *write* what I wrote?
I like that I passed.
I post this in hopes that someone else may benefit from this experience I’ve just had.
(Buckhead, this does mean we will want to meet closer to where I work....)
CRAP! Forgot to add you to the LazList!!! Here’s one.
Benefit indeed! It is times like this that try our souls and our patience, but I will persevere. I will patiently wait by the corner, and shoot the first sonuvabitch I see driving an Acura Integra for stealing your car.
I've can't take any more from these scofflaws.
I applaud your attitude and I'll bet that your results will
be a lot better than those of someone who freaks out in despair.
As you well know.
Cheers to you!
Doubly so now that I've been dead. Nothin' bugs me any more.
Need a lift along the 400 corridor?
“I chose to live by the principles I *just* got done writing. I know I’m going to be just fine.”
Yes, Laz, it’s not what happens to us that matters, it’s what we think/do about what happens that determines how it affects us. No other human can work our brain - only we control what we think so we determine whether to crash or be positive.
You have selected to be “fine” and not crash. Excellent.
You are wonderful to ask! But I live within 0.6 miles of work... I’m good!
Laz, I’m really sorry about your car.
Sometimes I can be hotheaded, and reading this is something to keep in mind next time I want to react. Thanks.
I used to crash over a wet cell phone. LOL
Dude, 80% of stolen cars are recovered, unless they are chopped for parts. Report it, it might get found.
I’m just concerned over the damage that the thief has done to himself. He really hurt himself last night.
Commute by bike. Half the FReep will instantly hate you for being one of those “scofflaw parasites”, and the other half will have the image of you in spandex burned into their brains.
In my conversations with the county police, who I was instructed to report it to, they advise me that Acuras are almost never recovered. It appears that these cars have engines that the racing community LOVES, and they burn a lot of them out. There is a huge demand for Acura (and Honda) engines, licit or illicit. It is likely that my car will be found... well, the frame, anyways. Not the engine.
I did too until I learned not to drop it in the urinal.
I am actually planning on taking a few spandex-biking pictures and post them as my new tagline.
Oh, Laz. I am SO sorry to hear about your car being “missing”. Maybe they will find it?
Anyway, I truly admire you for taking the high road on this, something that would be a challenge for any of us.
As I seem to often say to myself, “... this is just a little bump in the road...”. Best wishes for a good resolution.
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