Tag Archives: jonathan hilton

Articles

Secrets From the Vault

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by Jonathan Hilton

There are a lot of people who look at a book and make a judgement based on the cover and fail to even open the pages and read even a little of the story that is contained inside. That is something that I try to avoid doing all the time and I appreciate it when it is done for me.

The insight about me that is offered here is to let you know what my guilty pleasures in life are. These are defined as interests and likes that you have that may be embarrassing for others to know about because of their low brow or uncultured appeal.  Everyone has these interests, here are my top guilty pleasures in life.

The Big Bang Theory

sheldon
There is a little Sheldon in all of us!

This is a show that I just recently became infatuated with. It is the tale of four nerds and their good-looking female neighbor.  Pretty basic plot lines, but I seem to enjoy watching Sheldon Cooper struggle through life.  From his fear of birds to being unable to understand sarcasm.  If this is on and I have a moment I will watch it. I can’t stop myself.

The Music of Taylor Swift

taylorI would not mention this anywhere else, but for some reason the music of Taylor Swift that is about nothing I can relate to, I really like. It has been going on for years and I have secretly liked songs as old as Tim McGraw and as new as We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together.  Her act of continually getting dumped is going to have to end eventually. If it never does, that will be fine with me.

Red Sox Baseball

red sox fightThis is not a shock to anyone who knows me but I love the Red Sox. I watch a part of most games and follow the side stories that the team provides.  Even though I have never played Major League Baseball I am like many people I think that I know what is best for the team.  I have always been infatuated with the statistics of certain players and am not ashamed to say there were a few tears when they won it all in 2004.

Duck Dynasty

Duck
“Everybody, happy, happy.”

Another show that I happened to accidentally see and now I watch them quite often. There is something interesting about watching Grandpa Phil try to kill beavers and talk about the old times being , “Everybody, happy, happy!”  I was born and raised in Maine so there is a bit of red neck in me that I can’t escape from. This show touches this. A lot of the situations are clearly created just for television but that is OK, it entertains anyway.

  Country Music

country MusicUp until I turned 39 I believed that all country music was really a joke. I was one of those that laughed about playing a country song backward, you get your wife, your dog and your truck back.  Then it all suddenly changed as I was listening to a song once and thinking, “Wow, that makes a lot of sense.”

From that day on I was hooked, and even though I enjoy all types of music, country music is high on my list.  Kenny Chesney, Dirks Bentley, Tim McGraw,  you name it and if they have a good song I probably like it.  I think my rural heritage has a lot to do with this, but there is something about a country girl that is indescribably beautiful!

Romantic Comedies

shaI hate to admit this but the more of them I see the more I think I am a hopeless romantic. Recently a fellow blogger had been reviewing her favorite romantic comedies which got me to watch a few. The more I watched the more I liked them. Not all of them but most of them.  I did have someone in my past who liked those types of movies and I would watch them with her.  If I am by myself and Sweet Home Alabama is on I can’t help but watch it.  There are a thousand others but lets suffice it to say this is a guilty pleasure of mine. Don’t tell anyone!!

Learning Stuff

Learning stuffThis is one thing that makes me kind of a super nerd because I find learning new things fascinating.  Especially in the realm of psychology, human behavior, quantum physics, string theory or any science what so ever.  This is not only in substance but I like learning how to do new things as well, particularly in the field of technology.

I am old enough to remember life before there was an internet and having access for the first time and asking,”What do you do with it.”  Even though no one gave a satisfactory answer back in 1996, we figured it out.  I am not one of those who sees technology as something you fear but I see it as something new to master.  I enjoy learning how to do things from working on new platforms to building websites. Learning stuff is fun!

Reading and Writing are a Good Time

reading and writingAlong with the learning new stuff revelation is my love of reading and writing. It probably wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who reads this blog, but to people who just know me from any endeavor in my life, it would be a shock.  Reading to me is not done to read a story or something like that, it is done to teach me something. Expose me to a new idea. I can’t remember that last book I read for “fun”, it seems I just don’t have time.

Writing is an ongoing process for me, as I expand my comfort with words and let the emotions and thoughts I have in me, flow freely without a filter.  That has been the biggest challenge of writing for me.  The fact that I have a biggest challenge of writing would surprise many of my “friends” from the past.

I am sure that I can come up with about fifty-five more but I am out of time for this writing experience.  So  that will have to do.  I am sure that I am not the only one who has embarrassing interests.

What are your Guilty Pleasures?

 

 

Articles

Snow Day!

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2013-02-07_1708by Jonathan Hilton

It is difficult to explain to someone who lives in a warm climate the power and majesty of a snow day.  Sometimes they are a surprise, and sometimes they are expected, but they are always awesome. It is like having extra holidays in your life and you never really know when they are going to hit.

Definition of a Snow Day

blizzard of 1978What is a snow day? I guess that some explanation is needed. When mother nature decides to pour down many inches of the white stuff, the entire area that is covered generally shuts down and there is no work, no school, no NOTHING!! All there is to do is hope the power doesn’t go out, watch the snow fall or play in it.  I personally can drive well in the snow, but it is the other people who can’t I fear. I would just as soon wait.

Being a Kid Praying for Snow

kids snow dayThere were many nights when I was growing up that I would gamble that the snow would come and I would not have to have my homework done. In the town I grew up in they had a fire whistle that you could hear everywhere. (very small rural town in Maine) They would blare out a special signal, three short blasts for no school.  As I got older and moved, I relied on the radio for this vital information. (no internet then).

It was so comforting to be able to fall back asleep, somehow the blankets were warmer, and the pillow more comforting.   Finally you would inevitably get up, dressing in 42 layers of clothing and going outside to play until you got frostbite or hungry which ever came first.  I was fortunate enough to have two brothers and about 40 neighbors to throw snowballs at and go sliding with .Then finally after a long day of play with your friends, you had to do the homework you put off. Snow days were a free day, probably the best thing about dealing with winter.

A Snow Day for Adults

adult snow dayFor much of my adult life I was a teacher, and the snow day magic persisted. It was even more intense and fun. I would wait to get the call, school was cancelled. Then happily sleep until I felt like getting up. A lot of days, I would go meet some fellow teachers for breakfast, because it is never too snowy for that.  The great thing was, no work, no rules, nothing to do but have fun. Snow days as a teacher were 100 times better than snow days as a kid.

For other “normal” people, it takes a lot but they occasionally get a snow day too. When there is just too much snow, then everything closes. The mood is usually set by the state government, if they call off work, most everyone else does as well. Businesses might as well close, because nobody is coming to buy anything. Snow day is here.

The Hype of the Snow Storm

empty shelves
This picture is from the blizzard of 1978.

Now with the news and social media there are no shortage of the impending storm.  What will happen is that it will snow like crazy tomorrow, Friday February 8, everyone will stay home, on Saturday the roads will be clear and it will be business as usual.

People are strange because they will stock up like there will never be another trip to the store, in the near future. The stores run low on food.  The warning of a snow storm is great for business. Everywhere you go, people talk about the storm. Strangers conversing about the impending doom that is on its way. This is the biggest storm since 1978.  I heard the following nonfactual statements this morning:

*This is the biggest storm since 1978

*It is going to snow for two days. (That never happens)

*The world is most likely going to end anyway, so let it snow.

People get all hyped up about the storm, probably from latent feelings of loving snow days in their youths, and then the event is usually quite a let down. It only snows 18 inches instead of 24.  If you live in a snowy area then you know what I mean.

Reality of A Snow Day

no school tomorrowTomorrow has already been cancelled in Maine. Schools are going to be closed, stores are going to be closed, roads are going to be slippery, the state is going to shut down and it is going to snow a lot.  I am not going to have to go to work. I will get to sleep in until 6:30, the latest I am capable of sleeping.  I will be able to spend the day doing stuff like reading, writing, and learning. It is going to be awesome.

So if you live in a warm climate, enjoy the heat and enjoy your normal day at work. I will be busy doing whatever I want and can do with snow up to my rump.

 

Personal Projects

Are You Truly Living

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What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

truly living
Are you truly living?

by Jonathan Hilton

All people are going to answer this question differently depending on where they are in their life.  To me being alive is a fact of nature, and enjoying life and living for a purpose is truly living.  But how do you enjoy life?

Other people will answer this very differently.    It only takes a few visits to any number of blogs to experience the wide variety of philosophies and beliefs that exist.

Young people are struggling to master life, yet so hopeful about living it is encouraging   While older people are resigned to the fact that you may never figure it out everything there is to know about life, but they share their thoughts and experiences.

One of the things I like about reading so many different people’s opinions is to be exposed to ideas that are different from mine. Valid yet different and I think that is a powerful force of growth.  These are my thoughts on truly living.

The problem with Life

For me there is a question that came to me as I got older and thought that I was on the

questions about living
We all have questions, I know I did.

path I should be on. After carefully contemplating the experiences I have been fortunate enough to have in life I came to the conclusion that being alive was not enough and that I needed to start truly living and for me that meant I had to make a lot of changes in my perceptions of people, life, God and everything that at one time I was sure of.

I wasn’t sure what was “right”, but I knew there was more to life than a conditioned accumulation of material goods to supply comfort to life.

What comfort did I ever give to others? What did I contribute? Even as an educator, I was contributing stories about living which happened long ago, espousing the morals and actions that young people should aspire to follow, with the awareness of the world around me the size of the head of a pin.

I don’t think I  consistently enjoyed what life gave me. There are easy things to enjoy and appreciate, like those we love, and those that love us, a sunny, beautiful day, a large sum of money, all of these can be easily enjoyed, but how many people pass through a day without having gratitude for anything in their life, because they are too busy looking at what they don’t have.

I was one of these, searching for the right amount of stuff that would bring happiness with it. I never found that.

 The Past

Future past and present sign in the sky
Which direction do you follow?

One of the biggest problems people face,when trying to truly live is that they always seem to distract themselves from the moment they are currently experiencing.

Perhaps spending time with someone you love, reading a book, exercising, or doing whatever it is you do, because you allow yourself to be distracted by things that make you feel the moment you are in is not a good enough thing.

One distraction is the past, which often allows you to reminisce about the past and feel that things were so much better back then, when you were happy.

Often the past is not quite what we remember it to be and it really doesn’t matter in the scope of today.  It is over and gone, good or bad and to short change today for yesterday is selling something tangible and of extreme value for  nothing but a fantasy.

Often I had looked to the past to the good old days, which were nice memories, but other than lending experience to today, couldn’t help make me very happy or allow me to truly live.

 The Future

Others choose to focus on the future, planning and scheming the best way to route their lives to get to the point where finally they will be happy.  They think that if they  do this particular thing, at this particular time then I will be happy, satisfied, successful, or whatever.

The problem with this is that when you put all of your focus onto tomorrow you miss the great things that are happening today.  You can prepare for the future with the actions of today and enjoy today at the same time, the difference is that you don’t put anything off, like being happy and satisfied with life or anything else. Tomorrow may never come and rarely does it happen as you plan, so putting happiness off is a bad gamble that will most likely never pay off.

I’ll Be Happy When I am Rich

Materialism is another distraction that keeps people from enjoying the moment, often it goes hand in hand with waiting for the future, but tying your happiness into the acquisition of some material thing is going to stop you from appreciating today, because you are going to be thinking that happiness is going to come when you get that house, or car, or Ipad or whatever.

The satisfaction of that acquisition will be short-lived and soon you will be looking for the next thing that should bring happiness and satisfaction to your life, as you ignore the opportunity for happiness that you have in your experience today. Being grateful for what you have will allow you to enjoy the day. If you don’t believe me, then try it.  Be truly grateful for what you have.

Your Choice

choice for life
You can choose if you are alive or truly living

So truly living to me is the appreciation of what life is giving you right now in this moment.

That doesn’t mean that it will always be perfect. Sometimes there are painful things in life, and we have to deal with feelings that are not so nice, people get sick, accidents happen, people die, life is not perfect and there is no guarantee that everything is going to go your way.

However, there is a choice that comes pinned to each of those experiences to make it a positive or a negative factor in your life.  Only you can decide for yourself the difference between being alive and truly living.

What does truly living mean to you?

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Poetry

I Remember You

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Poetry is not something that I have never written much of. One of the great blogs I read, shared a sonnet on Thursday. I am taking the opportunity to write one myself, because I never have and it should be a unique experience. It was an interesting : first I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed rhyming. Secondly I apparently have some unresolved issues inside. I think they are resolving.

dusty room (2)

I Remember You

by Jonathan Hilton

Oh, yes I remember you,

As a deep dark mystery I sought to reveal.

I never found or discovered, what was due,

The truth about you, hurts too much to feel.

We used to talk and be together every day,

Laughing and sharing each special time. 

Now you have left, and moved along your way, 

The emptiness inside alone is mine

Where is the justice? Where is the Peace?   

I destroy all the selfish evidence of us.

There is a thought that this will bring a release,

Nothing worked, nothings fixed, It wasn’t worth the fuss. 

The dusty, empty room is inside of me,

It is as vast and as deep as the mightiest Sea.

 

So what did you think of my first poem? I know, but it is the first try.

Here are a couple I remember you songs to help set the mood.

Skid Row: I Remember You

Someone Like You

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What I Know

Books Are Beacons of Possibility

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Reading books
If you read, you make yourself better!

This is the second article about the things that I know for certain after a few years of trying to answer the questions of life.  The access to and the willingness to read and learn is the great equalizer of all people.  

Books and Reading Changed My Life

I have always been a reader, but not a learner.  The books that I read for much of my life were designed to entertain and tell a story but not to teach me anything in particular.  I am almost ashamed to say that I lived more than forty years before I truly discovered the power of books.  This is what I have learned to be true.  Not everyone is born with great athletic ability, or supportive parents, or money, but once you learn the skill of reading you able to build your intellect to any level that you desire.

You Can Do Anything

If you have access to books, you have the ability to learn from the greatest thinkers that mankind has ever produced.  What you want to learn, you can learn all you want to about. This means that all of the world, science, math, literature, or physics are all there for you to

Reading allows you to do anything
Reading Provides Magic

delve into as deeply as you could possibly want to.

This is what happened to me, once I started to realize that books possess a whole lot of power, I had trouble reading anything for fun.  I didn’t want to waste any of my reading time with something that didn’t make me think or to gain a better understanding of the world around me.  I am certainly no intellectual giant, but I do realize the miles that I have crossed, and the distance I still need to navigate.  What a trip.

Once You Start…….

 

Much like a rock rolling down a hill, once knowledge is gained, and you feel like true understanding has started to peek through the haze of your mind, you want to learn more and more as fast as you can.  The great part about this is that once you stretch your brain out,  to accept these new ways of thinking, and thoughts that you have aquired, it will never shrink back again.  There is no turning the light of knowledge off.

This power of gaining knowledge and understanding is the factor that levels the playing field for all people.  you can feel sorry for yourself because of the circumstances that you were born into, or your experiences of life, but there is absolutely nothing stopping you from learning all that you want to from the many books of the world.  All of which can be accessed free of charge at your local library.

You Can Do Anything By Reading

You have the opportunity to learn about business from Andrew Carnegie, or philosophy from Nietzsche. There are no limits to what level of expertise you want to acquire.  The only limit is in the amount of time and thought that you want to invest in a particular project.

If you can read, you can do anything at all and that is a fact that I know to be true.

 

 

 

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Motivation, People

The Stories You Provide!

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Inspiration
Inspiration comes from who we see and what we experience every day.

by Jonathan Hilton

The more I look for topics to write about and expound upon, the more my writing process comes clearly into my mind.  I write best when I have someone specifically in mind to write about, because it is like I am explaining my thoughts or emotions to them, or that I am giving them advice.  Often I know the advice would never be received directly, so I just give it on the pages of my writing.

Since these people of inspiration are all around me, they may not even know that I have been inspired by them.  I can look at almost every one of the approximately 200 articles I have written on this website and remember clearly the lesson or situation that prompted the thoughts or feelings that caused me to put it to paper.  This clearly  shows me that people do not recognize the impact that they have on others just by  living life as an example.

As we approach the new year of 2013 I am endeavoring to dig deeper into those relationships that I have had in the past to wring out the valuable experiences that I have been fortunate to experience in my lifetime.  That means that if you have ever met me than you will probably be the motivation for some piece of writing that I have done in the past or I will do over the next year or two.

writing inspirations
All things create stories in your mind, all you have to do is tell them.

I have never mentioned a name or directed a thought directly at someone because my intention is not to publicize anyone’s short comings or problems.  I simply have had experiences with people in my life that have taught me lessons from their positive actions or from their negative behavior.  Each situation has value, it is just much more fun to remember the positive, and often more valuable to recall the negative behavior some have displayed.

What this means as we head into a new year is that I am going to be writing and publishing a lot of material over the next year and when you read it, you just might see something of yourself in that writing.  I am grateful in advance for all of the experiences and looking forward to sharing them in the future.  It is definitely true that there is inspiration all around us and all we have to do is look for it, to find it.

I am planning on continually publishing articles about inspiration, but I am also going to be sharing short stories from all aspects of my youth, because they were great and they helped make me what I am today.  I can not wait to get started.

 

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Poetry

Hole in the Soul

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looking for you
I Have Been Looking For You!

By Jonathan Hilton

My Soul Stretches toward you. Still you are silent.

Are you afraid? Why can’t I see you? Are you hiding?

The realization that I have been searching for you, envelops me.

There is a missing piece of me out there, I have never had.
I have never had it, I don’t know what it feels like, I need it now.

The empty space in my center, that you alone can fill and complete.

I am now calling loudly to you, in a controlled desperation.

hole in the soul
The hole in my SOUL.`

Much like a person under water, knows oxygen can save him,

you are the life essence that I know I need, and you are not here.

I am not whole, you are the missing part of my soul.

Now my soul screams to you, in a panic.

Time is running out, time is not on my side, you are not here.

Either this will end in complete happiness, or unfulfilled hope.

I yell loudly to attract your attention, to let you know,

Clearly and soundly I am as I have always been, searching for you!

Do not hesitate anymore, complete this puzzle,

Run as fast as you possibly can, hurry, quick,

I am waiting as I always hae been.

False starts, roadblocks, obstacles, are gone for my soul,

NEEDS YOU!

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Interests

Voting Was A Great Experience

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by Jonathan Hilton

Voting Was A Great Experience

voting in the 2012 election
Picture with my Ballot in the voting booth

There are many people today on November 7, who are disappointed with the outcome of the election, because in our country we all have the option to believe whatever we want. There are people who feel disillusioned and have hurt feelings, and conversely there are many who  are feeling like there is a brand new day ahead of them and there is a lot of hope for tomorrow based on these election results.  I do not belong to either group and I will tell you why.

The first thing that I am thankful for is that I have the right to vote, what I think is right regardless of what anyone else may think, I am able to make my own considerations about issues and make the choice for myself how I want to vote. There is no negative ad on television that can tell me I am wrong.  Neither can the obviously conservative individuals or blatantly liberal continuously posting on Facebook, the decision is all mine to do what I think is right, and that is a feeling of individual power and pride in my country that can’t be equaled anywhere else in the world.

placing my ballot into the machine
Placing my ballot into the machine, I had to get permission for someone to take this picture. I can’t imagine that could be illegal

After a long month of nothing but the worst common element of fear being broadcast by both  of our major political parties, it is quite frustrating to listen to both sides beat up the other about every conceivable issue.  I am feeling surprisingly good today, because the negativity could possibly end. Then if both sides actually worked together to solve all of the issues the country is facing, and look at the real way that things are done in Washington, then maybe the next election won’t be so polarizing.  I can always hope.  For me though, nothing can ruin the enjoyment I got from exercising my constitutional right, voting the way my conscience dictated.  There is no mention of political candidates or parties, because the choice of who I voted for is my business and nobody else’s.

The one issue that I was happy to see passed in the great State of Maine is Question #1 and now same sex marriage is now legal, and there is just a little less discrimination in the world.  This was a question of human rights and discrimination. Nobody is going to be compelled to enter into same sex relationships, nobody’s religious beliefs are going to be questioned, churches are not going to be required to change their doctrine, in fact the world will move around the sun much as it has throughout history, there just won’t be discrimination against same sex couples in the State of Maine.  More freedom can only be a good thing.

On this Wednesday, November 7, 2012 the sun has risen and it will more than likely set, even though the election didn’t go the way some wanted and did go the way some others have delighted in.  Every person in the country has the right to love their families, enjoy their work, look forward to the future, and to be happy regardless of who is going to be president for the next four years.  Everyone had a chance to participate, talk about and argue over the issues in public, and there were no arrests for thinking differently.  It is a great country still, we have survived world wars, depressions, civil wars and foreign attacks and still we are here.  There have been both extreme liberals and conservatives in the White House and still our country is a great place to live, and I will still feel the same way four years from now.

voting was awesom
The facebook wall post that is supportive of voting
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  • Voting with a black face in a white place
  • First Time Voting: The Experience
  • an open letter and a plea to listen before you vote.
Personal Projects

30 Questions that Changed the Way I Think About the World

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30 day challenges
The First of Many I Hope

by Jonathan Hilton

Have you ever seen the focus of your life change in thirty days? This is the experience that I have had over the last month as I have looked to improve my writing skill and myself, as a person as well.

This is an evaluation of my project to answer one question each day for thirty days, and to work on putting more of myself into my writing for the purpose of being more honest and open about the things I write about.

The beginning of this project

It began with a conversation with a collaborator who is a great writer and I was wishing that I was more honest in my writing; it was the conversation that led me to see this video on YouTube about this guy who undertook thirty day challenges to work on things he needs to work on.  Almost immediately I came across a list of “30 Questions That Will Change the Way you think about the world.”  The fact that there weren’t 35, 25 or 50

30 day challenges the beginning
The beginning of any journey starts with one small step.

questions, led me to believe that this was the project for me.

The rules I developed on the fly, but stuck to them until the end of the project, because I need rules apparently.

Rule #1 – had to answer a question each day and it had to be at least 300 words.  Many I could have answered in a sentence, but that wouldn’t have helped develop my thoughts.

Rule #2- I had to share my answers on Facebook, so that someone could read them if they wanted to. This really kept me more diligent and serious; I avoided some wise ass answers, because someone might read it.

Rule # 3- Much like fight club, I couldn’t talk about what I was doing.  I posted each question on FB every day, mostly to get some ideas for the days when I was low on creativity.  I was interested by the responses, and the different people they came from. I really appreciated the responses from everyone even if there was only one time; I read them all and appreciated it greatly.

I also published my answers on my website www.jonathanhilton.com and they are all there if you check the categories, Thirty Questions will bring them all up.

What Was the Goal of this project?

growth from contemplation
Answering from the heart was key

The goal of the project was more honesty and putting more of myself into my writing, which I thought was a weakness in my overall writing, it is difficult to put personal things out there, what you believe, what you think, but I think that if you never overcome this, you will be untrue to yourself the rest of your life, so that was the motivation. Most importantly I wanted to be able to write from a place that I didn’t care if someone liked it or not. That it was my answer and that would have to be good enough.

When someone asked me what the questions were about, I told them, if they wanted to know my answer, I directed them to my website.  Other than that I simply posted a question in the morning and then answered it on my website.  I never looked at the next question until the current question was answered.

What Did I Learn?

new person
we are all trying to remember who we are.

The first thing I learned was that my philosophy is developing and that I have a lot of consistency in what I believe in. What I have been working on personally has pervaded my thought and I believe that I have a great start.

Secondly when you ask one question and find an answer to that question, there are always going to be more questions that result from thought and that is ok.  The questions were answered and there were always a bunch more that cropped up.

Third, that there are different answers to questions, everyone has a different perspective and opinion and that is ok. All you can do is be open minded, yet faithful to what has been proven to you.

There are a lot of good people in the world and many have been asking themselves questions as well. Others are going to look for their answers in other places and find different behaviors satisfy them and they will find what they need to find in their answers, they may not have the same answers as you.

What Surprised Me?

There have been several neat relationships that have developed through the process of asking questions. Some people that I hadn’t heard from in years were prompted to contact me and see what the heck I was doing.  Even with people I see every day it gave me a chance to not only have an opinion but support it and fight for it.  My understanding of people is definitely higher, and my understanding of myself really was a surprise.

The many responses I got from such a wide range of people, some serious and some extremely funny, some sad, some just plain old sincere.

personal growth
Success, Success, Success

The most surprising thing was the freedom that came from just practicing the power of action into this thought process.  Creating and producing something that was completely of my own, based on what I believe is liberating. Many people have opinions on everything, but never publish them or have to stand by them which allows for a waffling on the beliefs. I believe that through answering these questions, my thoughts are there to be agreed with disagreed with defended or adjusted as they should be.  The biggest surprise was the power of the simple action on my own creativity and understanding of myself and others.

Was it a success?

I think by any measure the process was a success, the questions did actually change the way I looked at the world, and understood other people, so that awareness led to growth, and growing is a good thing.  I encourage anyone who has something that they want to work on to adopt a thirty day challenge of your own.  You will be surprised how it changes the way you look at the world, it definitely changed my perception of the world and those in it.

I definitely have written from the place inside me that does not care what anyone thinks about what I think or write, which is a major victory for my own self development. I think that if I can do that then everything else will be easy.

What is Next?

Well it is inevitable that one action is going to lead to another, so there are bound to be more of these 30 day challenges, in all areas of my life, in places that I feel I need personal work on.  So branching this type of growth out into other aspects of my life is definitely going to be a goal for me.  Taking more action to find what I am looking for.

 Here is a complete list of the questions with links to my answers. 

 

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Thirty Questions to Understanding

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by Jonathan Hilton

It all started so innocently. I was looking for a way to improve my writing and to increase the original content on my website.  I was also looking for a way to write more about what I feel without a filter and to express what is going on in my mind.  A friend motivated me to do this, and that led me to watch this video about how this guy had done a string of personal thirty-day challenges to improve his life in some way.

This challenge resonated with me, and I started to think about what kind of project I could work on and improve my writing and expressing myself in thirty days.  That was the day I saw it, thirty questions that will change your life. I didn’t check them out or read over them in advance, the whole project clicked in my mind, and I was committed.  I would answer one question honestly for the next thirty days and publish them on my blog.

I have been right about only reading one question at a time, so I only deal with one a day.  It has been a revelation personally.  Many people say what they would do in a particular situation or are quick to share their opinion, but it takes quite a bit more to put it into writing and to place it out there for anyone to read.  The key for me has been to write honestly from a place that is honest and true, that doesn’t care for approval or worry about disapproval because it is right exactly how it was answered.

Also, I posted only the question on Facebook to get some ideas, and have found some interesting things by doing this.  I have gained some insights from some, and if they ever wonder why I am writing all of these questions, then they can read my answers and see what I am all about in life.  If they aren’t interested, that is ok too.

Here is a list of the questions, you can click on the questions and read my answer if you would like.

  1.  How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

2.  –  Which is worse, failing or never trying?

3. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

4. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

  1. –Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

6. To what degree have you controlled the course your life has taken?

7. -Are you more worried about doing things right or doing the right things?

  1. –If you could offer a newborn child, only one piece of advice, what would it be?
  2. –Would you break the law to save a loved one?
  3. –Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
  4. -What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
  5. –How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
    • What one thing have you not done that you want to do? What’s holding you back?

14. -Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you believe it makes the elevator faster?

  1. –Why are you, you?

16. -Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

  1. –Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

18. Is it possible to know the truth without challenging it first? 

19.  Has your greatest fear ever come true?

20. At what time in your recent past, have you felt most passionate and alive?

21. If not now, then when?

22.  If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?

  1. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

24. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

25. If you knew the world was ending tomorrow, who would you make sure you visited today?

26. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by ten years to become extremely attractive or famous?

27. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

28. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

29. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your breathing?

30. Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?