I'm reading Rich Dad's Prophecy right now, from the Rich Dad, Poor Dad book series-honestly the best financial management and advice source I've ever come across. But what inspired me to write this entry is not the financial advise (buy the book for that), but a bit of wisdom that Robert T. Kiyosaki's "rich dad" shared with him back in 1979- way before 9/11, and Bush, and the whole current political mess. On page 46, Rich Dad says "We are no longer the same people we were when the Boston Tea Party took place. As a people, we no longer fight for freedom... instead we are a people who fight desperately for security." and "Just look at the people who have the most security. They're called prison inmates. They have a house, food, free time, an exercise yard... they have maximum security, but they have no freedom."
Although this discussion was reguarding financial security versus financial freedom, the arguement that the two are exact opposites is especially valid now politically. Ever since "9/11", the people- particularly the older generations of this country have been screaming for more security while bragging that this is the "land of the free". We've used freedom as the supposed reason to invade another country and start a war- one that looks sadly similar to Vietnam. Instead of doing all we can to ensure our national and individual freedom, we have become lemmings, blindly following along in the name of group security, even as we are walking off a cliff. We pay token lip service to respecting our elders, when often they no longer deserve that respect. We rabidly attack anything that we percieve threatens that sense of security- women's reproductive rights, gay and lesbian rights, progress in general. We attack out of fear that we will no longer have that security.
We are prisoners of ourselves.
I would rather take risks and fall flat than live in mediocrity. I would rather use my intelligence and be cautious than be told I cannot do something because it might not be safe.
I would rather have freedom than be a prisoner.
OK, this is pathetic. For 5 of the past 7 nights, I have not slept. Instead, I've mostly been online- shopping on eBay and Amazon.com(at least I haven't bought anything!), browsing for random things on a9, and generally wasting far too many hours. The result? Think PMS- wicked mood swings and grouchy as hell. The good thing is that after my nap (also known as the kids' naptime) I'm a much happier lady.
The weird thing is that I don't feel tired, aside for about an hour before I fall asleep. It doesn't matter if I have coffee or not (yay, a sign I am truly re-addicted); I am just not tired.
It wouldn't really be so bad if I did something productive, like write or edit or stand on my head. There are so many non-computer-related things I could be doing. Oh well, at least I have been reading a lot too. I've been taking notes as I do so that I can write a few book reviews once I set up a system for it. On the computer. *sigh* I give up.
My poor son. Today he discovered that particular male problem- racking himself. He somehow managed to run into his little TV stand just right. He wanted me to put a bandaid on his owwie. At least he didn't ask me to kiss it and make it better. lol, just another of those fun little milestones I guess.
I have a zombie fish. I swear the fish was dead an hour ago- gills not moving, mouth not moving, just floating on a leaf like he was stuck in the fake plant. I was just too grumpy to get the net to catch and flush him. I had noticed earlier today that he looked sick, so I put a fungus treatment tab in the tank, and when I checked back, I swear that freaking fish was dead! He didn't even move when I tapped on the glass an inch away.
Now he's up swimming around just fine with his other little fishy buddies. ZOMBIE FISH! lol, I'll be sure to post if he starts trying to eat the others or losing body parts (not that a fish has that many to lose). On the plus side, I am glad he's not dead.