Enough is not enough

There are people who don't have much but they are happy. Yet, there are also people who have many things but they are not quite happy. Some people are happy with what they have (even if they are barely eating 3 meals a day) while others have abundant material objects and other things but still fall shot of feeling stable and happy. For example, a rich and healthy man with wife, kids, cars, and multiple houses does not feel happy even though it appears that he did what he wanted to and has achieved many desirable things in life. But he is still not satisfied. He looks happy from the outside but from the inside it is like a never ending storm. It is easy to ask, why is that?, he has everything one can want, what's missing?.

Actually, it is not about what is missing. It is about what he thinks is missing or does not have or wants to have. What is that? Maybe he is thinking about the purpose of life--what does it mean now that he has all the desirable things...what's next, what do I do now, what will happen? What is really happening is that he is looking for something that he has not yet experienced or achieved. Therefore, he does not feel satisfied. He is always "looking outward" for things and experiences.

There are many people like that in the world, men, women, and kids, that are looking for something else that they don't have or have not experienced.

Compared to the rich man who has achieved many things that are desired nowadays, the poor man who barely manages to provide food for himself and his family is happier than the rich man.
So what is the difference? You would think that the poor man along with his family are unhappy due to their economic condition and the hardships in life that they have to endure. However, they are still happy or at least not feeling like "I hate this, why is it this way, I want the car, I want a big house, I want to have lots of money". Sure they want money, cars, and a big house so they can live a better life but they are not grieving over things that they don't have. They are living their lives without feeling bad. If they felt that I am missing this or I want that, I want more, what else, What do I do now?, then they would not be feeling so well all the time. If this is the way they think then yes, they will be feeling bad and unstable. That may or may not be apparent to others but emotionally they will be in turmoil.

Now the difference between the rich man and the poor man is becoming clear. The rich man is not happy with what he has.....he is looking outward for more and more whereas the poor man is not constantly looking outward and thinking about what is missing. That's the difference. It's all about how you feel. Even in troubled times one can feel happy or at least smile whereas someone who appears to be having an easy life with all the desirable things in life is unhappy and mentally ill.

The take home message is this :Don't feel bad that you don't have such and such and didn't get to do so and so. Think about what you have and what you have done, now, and what you can do with that to make things better for yourself and others. Then you won't feel bad or at least won't feel like you are missing out or whatever. So it all comes down to your perception and what you make of you life and your "situation". Lastly, it's good to be optimistic, to think positively, and not feel bad for what you don't have. It is better to think I can have that, I will get that I can do that.
We know that not everything happens the way we want them to so if something does not work out then don't let those "I don't have it, I couldn't do it, Why????" thoughts take over you mind. If you let those type of thoughts revolve in you mind, it will probably be counterproductive.
In conclusion, enough is not enough is just perception. One can feel that what little he/she has is enough or adequate.

Buddha-
"peace comes from within, do not seek it without".
"the mind is everything, what we think we become".
I am not religious and I am not a Buddhist but I feel that it is essential to keep these thoughts in mind because it just makes sense.

Marijuana and Alcohol

Have you ever wondered why Marijuana, a drug that you can not die from (unless it's laced) is illegal while alcoholic beverages are legal(you can get drunk to death and pass out permanently).

This blog is not about whether Alcohol should be illegal and Marijuana should be legalized. I will be looking into some of the reasons why harmless(I don't mean that literally) Mary Jane is illegal.
Marijuana is outlawed for various reasons. It can not be taxed, it is not harmful (loss of temporary memory and laziness is the most that one may experience if used excessively),and does not make people do violent things or commit crimes. All those marijuana related arrests are due to the nature of the policy related to marijuana. Without getting too political, another reasons that marijuana was outlawed was because hemp industry was a threat to timber industry. There were these factors and many more that contributed to making marijuana illegal.

With alcoholic beverages...when someone is drunk and driving he/she is likely to get into an accident whereas the probability of someone under the influence of marijuana to get into a car accident is unlikely compared to someone driving under the influence of alcohol.
Now lets go a little further....so car insurance companies gets involved, cars get repaired, police gets involved, you may end up in drug addiction clinic that will just drain some money. Sooo there are lots of way to make money by allowing people to drink, get drunk, and do all sorts of things and also end up getting divorced for being drunk and getting out of control with someone else. You gotta go to court, pay some fees, you know. Alcohol is legal for certain reasons.

Marijuana is illegal because money can't be made the same way it is made with liquor and beer. The courts, prisons, police all have their fair share on keeping it illegal so that they can keep doing what they have been doing. I am not pointing fingers or blaming the cops but the fact is that some of their jobs are literally based on dealing with marijuana and other drug related arrests and they are just doing what they are authorized and ordered to do.
The history, the politics, and the current situation regarding marijuana and alcohol is beyond the scope of this little blog. For more information click on the links below.

Made in America, Really?

Have you every noticed those American car commercials that is sort of patriotic and they encourage you to buy it because it is "made in America".
I think it's already understood that just about everything that we consume/buy are made in other countries. Even if something is promoted as an American product just because it is designed by America, it does not change the fact that that American product was made in another country.
For example, the American car companies assemble their cars in the U.S. but many of the parts are from other countries. The shoes, the clothes, the phones, tv's, and much much more are made in China and other countries at slave wages in sweatshops even when the goods/instruments/gadgets are designed in America. I just noticed that my Texas Instruments scientific calculator is made in China. Texas Instruments.......it should have been made in Texas right?, because it is called "Texas Instruments".
We make advanced weapons and pile up such sophisticated and expensive stuff but choose not to make Texas Instruments calculators in Texas. What is going on, don't you think?.

We know that there are obvious reasons for outsourcing and getting American designed products manufactured in other countries. But on the long run American does not benefit from such policies and business operations. However, corporations and big businesses gain at the expense of the public.

Doing things in the Bathroom

This is kind of funny.

So I noticed that there is a students that really really likes to read his book. He likes to read so much that he even takes it to the bathroom (a pretty dirty place to read a book). A few days ago, I saw him waking from his room with a book (reading it as he is walking towards the bathroom). We both enter the bathroom and while I was washing my hands I saw him "reading", it actually appears that he was attempting to read while scrubbing his face with some kind of wipe because he had to take off his glasses. Another day I was washing my hands again and I noticed (from the mirror) that someone has an open book on the floor on top of his pants that is in contact with the dirty bathroom floor. Obviously I knew it was that guy again. I don't care that he reads while he's in the bathroom but the point is that: the bathroom is dirty and it is not the place to sit or stand up and read a book, especially when scrubbing your face or whatever or when taking a dump. I don't even know how that's even possible for someone to read words from a little book that is on the bathroom floor.

This one is very common: people use the toilet and don't flush. It's an effortless "task" to flush the toilet after using it but it appears that sometimes people don't flush. Sometimes I have seen such bad shit in the toilet that I just did not use that particular toilet for a few days. The way the toilet looked with someone's feces was so outrageously disgusting that I just did not even bother flushing it because even then I would not want to sit on it.

Speaking of doing things in the bathroom: I saw something in the Macy's bathroom a few years ago. I went to use the bathroom and I heard noises. While I was washing my hands I was looking in the mirror and I wound up seeing someone violently polishing his pole through the thin gap between the door and it's frame. I laughed a little bit since it was kind of funny because that man was whacking off in the Macy's bathroom (like that's a comfortable and unnoticeable spot). After I left the bathroom, I saw the guy rubbing his hands on cloths and waking out of Macy's going towards the mall. When I saw that, I was shocked that he was rubbing his hands on cloths. I don't know what his motive was for rubbing his hands on cloths as he was walking out after masturbating in a public bathroom because I am sure there was plenty of toilet paper for his hands.

Weird people in NYC subways

This is a pretty personal one but I am sure many of you can relate to this. All types of people use the NYC subways. Sometimes, actually this is becoming more frequent, that I see people that talk to themselves, smell really bad (I am not talking about bums), stare at other people, try to flirt, and do weird and random things.

I was in a Manhattan bound F train. At some point a tall white bald dude sat across me. I was listening to music and I noticed he smiled at me. I smiled too so he would not think I am rude or anything. Then I noticed that he was smiling and attempting to talk to me. So I started to read a book, looking down so no matter how many times he smiles I would not be looking at him. He didn't say anything or do anything other than smile the whole time and I just thought he is kind of weird or probably gay. When he was leaving the train he actually kind of squeezed/brushed his hands on my thigh. At that point he was smiling and walking out of the train like a smiling bone head. I was thinking-"Ooo my god, this guy freginnnnn touched me, WTF is wrong with him". Even when he was walking away he was looking back toward me trough the window. I just stuck the finger at him when he was looking and then the train stated moving.

Another time (this is actually not so rare and many people have come across such type of people that I am going to mention). Sometimes I sat next to people or people sit next to me that appear to have some type of serious disease. Before I go on, I don't mean to offend anyone that fits the description. A few times I found myself sitting next to men/women that smell unusually bad, so bad that it can knock someone out (you know what I mean) And it felt as if the smell was hitting my nose in waves. Other times it was just people with some horrible skin disease or whatever. I felt bad and disgusted because the person had hideous looking giant pussy pimples all over their head. It seems like the pimples would burst at any moment. I don't think anyone can get sick just by sitting next to another person like that but I felt bad for the person and was tempted to sit somewhere else.

There are some people in the train that like to talk to themselves and it even seems as if he/she may be talking to you/towards you. I don't even know what they say but they can become bothersome especially if they are really loud and start moving around too much because that is when you start to think that the crazy person might attack someone.
when guys look at other guys/me and the zombie just stares at me I feel really uneasy. It's one of those moments, you suddenly notice someone staring at you. Usually it is just a coincidence and a few times the awkward person would not stop staring. Actually, I don't really care as long as the person is not like staring and slowly creeping towards me or anything like that except that it just does not feel right. A straight guy would think who is this stranger (man) looking at me and why?, that's all. I wouldn't mind the opposite sex checking me out but even then staring at me would make me feel uncomfortable.

The worst one is....when you are waiting for a train and a loud and pugnacious person is babbling and walking back and forth saying things. I was waiting for a train and a woman was screaming about how someone will come and pull someone's head off and rob your house...... No one knew what she was trying to do. Everyone was nervous and some people walked the other way when she was walking back and forth because people were thinking "what if this crazy person tries to push me into the tracks". That's exactly what I was thinking. I was in this type of scenario a few times where someone is really angry and "talking" to themselves or appear to be saying things to other people nearby.

Students Fed Unhealthy Food on Campus

Helllooooo World.

Junk food/fast food is readily available and is "affordable" throughout the states. However, you would think that at least on college campuses there would be healthy food available, that is, unprocessed foods. One would think that it is ideal for campuses to offer healthy food. After all, colleges and universities are places where people go to "learn" and become educated. That being said, one would assume that campuses would have healthy food. Yet, it is as if we are unaware about the dangers of eating junk food. Basically we are fed lots of calories along with preservatives and all sorts of other "good stuff" that goes down our stomach because that is all that is offered to the students. So they eat what is on site/campus most of the time.
We know that the food offered throughout campuses are unhealthy. But that is the way it is because it is about money. The corporations/ food providers sell food to colleges which sell it to students at a pretty high price. It's all about maximizing profits and it's about money over people/students. So either way the quality and price of food is linked to maximizing profits by the institutions and by the companies/corporations that provide food.
The only type of food on campuses that I can think of which is not harmful are salads and fruits. People can't eat that 3 times a day as meals. The potato chips has all those vitamins, the processed chicken/beef/pork has lots of proteins and calories. It seems like that type of food is just fine for the body and even delicious but it is exactly the opposite ( it may be delicious with cheese, mayonnaise, and salt). The fact of the matter is that fast food is "fast" and cheap and that is why it is all around off campus and on campus. At least off campus you can spent more or even less money to buy healthy food. You don't have any choice on campus.
Remember, healthy food is not so cheap compared to junk food/ "fast food". It costs more and takes more time to prepare and serve healthy food. And all that equals less profits for corporations and institutions. No wonder junk food is chosen over healthy food, on campuses.