"Mental Block" by Shinji

Everyone knows what it's like to have a mental block. You will be giving out ideas one by one, each of them a huge success. But then it hits. Your mind completely shuts down suddenly and without warning. You can't even put the pen to the paper without your head hurting. Yes, even us at Thoughts of G have mental blocks. I believe that's the cause of G's absence for a few days. However, I may be wrong. So what can you do to escape the clutches of a mental block? Well, Albert Einstein even had mental blocks. When he couldn't find the solution to a problem, he simply forgot about it and went about his day doing other activities. Just like that, everything came to him. The answer to the problem he was working on hit him like a ton of bricks. That's why you hear about people taking breaks from schoolwork or other things. They are either preventing a mental block, trying to escape one, or they're plain lazy. It's just as random that you will escape a mental block as you would come across one. Personally, I've faced blocks when programming a game I'm working on so I quit. I don't quit often, but when I do it means I'm frustrated something awful. Wouldn't you know it - while I was cooking dinner the answer came to me just like that. I tried the oh-so-sudden answer that came to me and it worked perfectly. The reason is because your mind works on the problem in the background so to speak. While you do other things it gives your mind time to work out the problem. So next time you have a mental block, be it doing schoolwork, writing music, or whatever else, just take a break. You'll be surprised how the solution just comes to you.

"Momentum" by Scythe

What were you doing an hour ago? Is it relevant to what you are planning to do and hour from now? If you are like most people, the answer to this is no in most cases, not that there's a problem with that, but when you are trying to accomplish something, it's easy to let small setbacks discourage you if you haven't built up enough momentum to carry out things. Even when you have the momentum you think you'll need to be able to see things through, if you are not proactive about achieving your goals, you are going to end up letting more slip through the cracks than you ever imagined you would. I have had a decent share of this in my relatively short time here in this world, and I acknowledge that there will be at least a few more times where I begin a task only to regret never finishing it at some point in the future. The point is, try to complete the tasks that you start since there probably was a reason that you started them in the first place although it may not be as clear to you now. The satisfaction that you will feel from completion is often worth the effort.

"Memorial Day" by G.

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. To some it may just be another holiday. But I think it deserves some observance. Memorial Day was created in the honor of all the brave men and women who have died protecting the freedoms that we hold dear. I may not have been born here, but I love this country very much. There are good things and bad things, but one that that has stood absolute throughout the history of the United States is the idea of freedom. I will always be grateful for the strong souls who put their lives on the line to defend the people. War is wrong, but it is still a unfortunate reality. People can have whatever opinions they want on wars and conflicts, but they shouldn't put down the soldiers. So to all the brave warriors of past and present times, I give my humble thanks. One day, humanity will gain enough wisdom to finally put a end to the pain and suffering caused by war.

"Absolution" by Sir

We all sin... Well, ok, some of us don't, but hey, we all commit some bad action in our life at least once, no doubt. Even without noticing, if we don't mean it or are forced to do it. But that's not the point. My point is to talk about Absolution. Now, just to be sure you fully get my post, Absolution is when you are redeemed for your crimes and sins. It was used before by church mostly but now the term is more commonly used. But I digress.

Now, have you ever dreamt of having all your bad choices absolved? Everything just being back to normal, every problem solved, and having no stress left? You know that's possible. It really is if you put your mind to it and you do the good things. I mean hey, some stuff can't ever be repaired, and you have to pay for it some way... but in my opinion, one shouldn't always go full frontal and just bash in the first random idea he gets and think "Hey, people will think I'm good now that I helped that old lady cross the street or spent time in prison". No. That's our society's point of view. Some people would do ANYTHING to be "redeemed".

My point of view, however, is that we have to be careful. Most people think that if we do something bad, we can just do something good and be pardoned. Of course it could work that way, but not always.
The point of this post is, in the end, just one huge workaround to get you guys to think before doing something. And if you do something bad, don't just be selfish and do some little good actions just to be pardoned. You have to mean it. Absolution is possible, although it's not always the solution.

Now that you have this in mind, and that you're probably left with a gaping jaw from my awesome rhyme, take some time to think about it and if you have any contestation or ideas about this, leave a comment and maybe we can discuss?

By the way, I know this is kinda long, and spaced up, but hey, what can I say, I'm new here and I love the Enter key!

"Addiction" by Shinji

Everyone these days has an addiction to something. For some, it's the internet; for others, it's music. Some have poor addictions like alcohol or drugs. Mine? Coke. Don't get me wrong - I mean Coca-Cola, the drink! But I'm not here to advertise Coke. Why do we get an addiction? What's it feel like to have an addiction? Well, I can answer the latter easier than I can the former. When you have an addiction, it's like nothing of a similar type of a thing matters. Take me for example. Pepsi? No way, HAS to be Coke. If a person tries to have an alternative to their addiction, they generally dislike it or at the very least don't like it nearly as much as their addiction. When you satisfy your addiction, it's the best feeling in the world. It's like you have a huge weight lifted off your shoulders. And now for that more difficult question - why do we get addictions? I think we get addictions because our brain realizes we like something and therefore makes our body require it to function properly. Our brains try to make us happy, but sometimes they can make things deadly for us. An alcoholic may drink to his/her heart's content but they increase their risk of liver disease and whatever else alcohol does to you. A person addicted to coffee can get major headaches if they don't have their coffee. That goes to say, if you get too addicted to something, you will soon develop what is called a chemical dependency. It's safe for me to say I have a chemical dependency to Coke, but I don't let it stop me. Sure I can't function properly without at least one Coke a day, but I'm not too severe that I get sick or something if I don't have a Coke. In conclusion, if you have an addiction, it's your choice to embrace it and fuel it or fight it and overcome it. Sometimes it's better to fuel it; other times it's better to fight it. All I know is that I need another Coke.

"Adventure" by G.

My vision is a bit groggy. I slowly open my eyes and witness the glowing red numbers of the clock staring me in the face. The beginning of another day. Will it be much different than the others? Probably not. Time to go though the same boring routine once again.
I think something is wrong here. Well not something wrong, something missing. Something that we humans need very much. We go through our routines, suffer endless boredom once in awhile. Sometimes we wonder, what is it that we are supposed to do? You know what we need? A adventure. And not just a trip to Hawaii or something; that's not a adventure. A adventure is a journey. A journey through uncharted lands. A journey that leads you too wonderful far-away places. Sometimes I wish I could have been around during the Medieval Times or during the explorations of Columbus. The world was a much, much bigger place back then; much of it was unexplored. Obviously the world today has been mostly explored and is connected like ever before. Maybe its time for us to move toward the next frontier; space. Maybe in a few decades I can sneak on board a shuttle and fly to Mars or something awesome like that. Anyways, once in awhile, we need to just let everything go, walk outside, and go wherever you feel like. Hey, maybe one day, you'll buy a lotto ticket and win a million bucks. Then you can go on all sorts of crazy adventures. Until then, all I can do is think and read about it. They say life is supposed to be a adventure. It looks like we are gonna have to make our own.

"The Elastic Man" by G.

Who is the Elastic Man? The most amazing person ever. Why? You'll find out. We walk around in this little world of ours and we meet many people. Tall, short, fat, skinny. Smart, dumb, nice, mean. What is a person to do? How do we survive? Well most of the time we try to adapt. How? By "fitting in". Whether you are in school, work for a big organization, or just walk the streets, the influence of society is inescapable. There are always groups, cliques, gangs, classes, and other ridiculousness. It's a jolly good time for the people in the highest classes and "popular" cliques. How about the others? Does that mean they aren't worth anything? Anyways, the point is that we attempt to "survive" socially by unknowingly becoming a part of a group or class. Where has the individuality gone? You can sometimes see it through all the other crap; one or two people who aren't afraid to be a individual and not completely surrender their lives to society's whims. So what does this have to to with a "elastic" man? Well, I would assume he would be stretchy, and be able to take and adapt many forms. If you want to take yourself a notch higher; make yourself a bit smarter than the rest of the bunch, then listen up. Once we break our dependence on a single "group" or "clique" and refuse to be classified as a certain "class", we break the invisible chains that you might not have known were there. The Elastic Man adapts to anything; we should be able to move between different people and different groups. Because the Elastic Man converses with such a high diversity of people, he ends up learning even more. Groups of friends or organizations usually have something good to offer, but you shouldn't be a slave to them. The Elastic Man takes what's good and useful and nothing more. And because the Elastic man shows allegiance to no-one, he gains a passport to mix with any group of people; most of the time. But most importantly, the Elastic Man is always a individual; a explorer who flows throughout the world learning as much as he can, but never conforming to one thing. And ultimately, this is why people who are similar to this "Elastic Man" will be the victors in life. So go ahead, meet other people, learn new things, and expand your mind. Don't let the power that is your brain go to waste.

"Endurance" by G.

Breathe in. Breathe out. One foot over the other. He can see the finish line ahead. His legs are burning; his arms dead weight. His entire body begins to give in to the extreme stress placed on it. But then you look at his eyes. Eyes that look more alive than the rest of his body. You see something there, a fire. Even when the rest of the body gives out, those eyes are still alive. Because you see, the man has a objective. He wants to reach the finish line. And when you want something bad enough, you will endure whatever it takes. There are two things involved here. The Determination to begin. And the Endurance to continue. Determination is probably a concept we have heard many times. Determination is something that you can see flowing out of people in everyday life. Yes, Determination is essential. But maybe people haven't talked about Endurance all that much. What do you think of when you hear that word? I would think of a mountain climber scaling Mt Everest for the first time. They may be determined to get to the top, but without Endurance, they won't last long. But this needs a little clarification. Yes, when you think of endurance its probably in the physical sense. How long can the marathon runner go? How many laps can the swimmer do? Now maybe physical endurance isn't all that important to you now, useful as it is. But I can tell you what is important. Mental endurance. We go through many trials in our lives. Many people don't come out undamaged. Sadly, some people will give in to the rigors of life, and become weaker because of it. But the truth is, the rigors of life are what give us the most important lessons. If we had the power to endure whatever life threw at us, we would learn something and become stronger because of it. You can be the Iron Man or be able to swim 100 laps in 30 minutes all day long, but if your mind if frail then the littlest thing will set you off or take you down. Having a good, solid mindset makes you a valuable person indeed.

"Hair Gel" by G.

I couldn't think of anything to write about, so I decided to just look around for some inspiration. And then I saw it. The most shiny metallic bottle of men's hair gel I had ever seen. I decided to take this bottle and give it a inspection. By god, it had walnuts in it. Am I interested in putting walnuts in my hair? Hey, many people put weirder things in their hair. Just take a look at a bottle of shampoo. It has like the coolest ingredients ever. Because I definitely want to put Hydroxyethylmonium in my hair. Anyways, back to the gel. I weighed it in my hand; it was almost completely full. I began to think, when did I actually use this gunk? I remembered faintly of some dance that possessed me to lather the clear stuff into my hair and concoct some mildly attractive hair style. Why... cause everyone else did it that's why! Yes I'm such a unique person. Or maybe I'm just "special"... I'm writing about hair gel..HAIR GEL. Not your mind. Not how you relate to water. Not how to control anger or something psychologically helpful like that. Oh no, I chose to yammer on about this monotone colored hair gel that was collecting dust on a table top. But don't you worry, dear reader, I will soon recover and resume the translation of my deepest thoughts; just for you of course. I'll recover from my temporary loss of amazing thought on the double, faster than Indiana Jones runs from that big rock that's always there in the treasure room.

BloggersUnite Special: "Children" by G.

Today is May 15. Today bloggers from every part of the world will convene and rally under a single noble cause; human rights. My special post today is in honor of this. I believe that as long as there is still good in this world, causes such as human rights will always find a way. And on that note, I begin my post.

A Plant begins as a Seed. When it is nurtured, given plenty of water and sunlight, and treated with care, it flourishes and becomes a strong, blooming, beautiful creature. It is the same with Children. Children, when treated with love and caring, and shown the ways to be righteous and true, will become strong and caring adults. Sadly, our world doesn't treat all children as equals. Children in developing countries who don't get proper nutrition or education, and look almost like skin and bones, live a sad existence. Children, more valuable than any resource or material thing. Children, the holders of our dreams. The child today has much to go though, and many don't come out completely unscathed. Lives torn apart by domestic violence in the West, or petty war in the East. Kids who weren't shown affection and love when they were small, and suffered greatly because of it. Children who grow up in the worst environments imaginable. Maybe we have forgotten the sheer importance of children everywhere. Children provide mankind with the ultimate chance. A chance to fix their mistakes. A chance to not repeat our misjudgements woven into our history, and be smarter than we were. A chance to solve the problems that previous generations struggled their whole lives with. In essence, the children of the world give the race of man a shot at redemption. Mankind has done some terrible deeds in its short history, but maybe the future generations will show the strength and the wisdom to learn and grow from our mistakes. Children should be treated with the utmost respect and care. They are more important to the survival of mankind than any war, natural resource, or international dispute. The people of today's world must put aside their differences and help make the world a safer place for its many children. Because with each cry of a newborn baby, human beings get another chance; a chance to fix what we have broken on this lovely blue and green planet.

"Water" by G.

Today I'm gonna yap about....Water? Well golly gee whiz, why water, you ask? Well lets get right into it. Water is the lifeblood of the planet. It stretches across coast to coast in the form of a beautiful blue ocean. We swim in it. We Drink it. We bathe in It. Yeah, water is pretty important to us. But.. have we ever learned anything from water? Ridiculous as it sounds, Ill make it clearer than glass sprayed with Windex as we go on. Water is a liquid. Water can flow, like a calm stream. Water can rush, like some raging rapids. And as we all know, Water can devastate, as in a tsunami or a hurricane. What else does water do? It can take the shape of pretty much anything. It can douse the strongest fire. It makes plants flourish and grow. And for some reason, when It rains I fall asleep like a rock. So I've said many of the things that water can do. What I'm I suggesting here? Perhaps, you and me should take on some of the traits of water. We should always stay calm, like the quiet stream. But when it is necessary, we need to be strong like the hurricane. As water can take the shape of anything, we should also be able to adapt to anything. Like water that can knock out the most killer fire, we should be able to calm our own fiery anger and the anger of the people around us. And of course, like the water that feeds and helps make the plants grow, we too should also help ourselves and the people around us grow and flourish. So see? The water pouring from your tap can teach you a thing or two.

"Flaws" by Scythe

Flaws. We all have them. We all despise our own. We all despise those of others or others for their lack of ours. But why? Why is it that we only look at our flaws as opposed to make a conscious effort to work around them by focusing our energy on our strengths? If more people utilized what they DO have as opposed to sitting around all day imagining what they COULD have, I would have no reservation in saying that just about everyone would be happy. Each one of us has been given something unique, and whether or not each one of us will ever be able to distinguish ourselves from the crowd with our unique balance of flaws and strengths is almost entirely up to us, but what exactly defines a flaw? The way that I see it, a flaw is nothing more than an imperfection, and at some point in our lives we must realize that we are not, nor will we ever be, without imperfection, as hard as that may be to admit for some people. At the same time, It is impossible to find a soul without a strength, and as for each flaw, there is a corresponding strength which is in place by default. Think about everything that you were going to do but ultimately did not because you thought your flaws would get in the way. Now imagine if every great mind in history had that mindset. What would the world be like today?

"A Different Lens" by G.

The newspaper on your front porch. Cars trudging down the street. The neon sign at the barber shop spelling "open". Just a few things that we see. People see many things, from inanimate objects to the people going through with their daily lives. We see these things through our eyes, and make judgments about them based on what we know. Soon, things that we see often enough appear to be static; like they can never change. If a person comes across as being rude or unfriendly during a first encounter, they might be associated with that perception for a long while. Places that we used to love become dull and boring. Well maybe it's time to change out the lens in your mind. It's our human nature to view many things a certain way. But you would be very surprised how different the world looks when you look through another person's eyes. The minute you stop walking into a place expecting a certain thing, and instead become a very open mind, you'll will see things differently. Lets say you walk into a park, and you look straight down. What would you see? The ground? Grass? Obviously. But we shouldn't be looking for the obvious. We should find what is underneath the obvious. What is really there when you look down? Not just grass. Weeds, flowers, insects, soil, the earth's crust. An entire ecosystem flourishing under your feet. Having a mindset like this reveals much more about the world around you than just using your eyes. Because to really see, you also have to use your mind.

"So you wanna be somebody?" by G.

Well do you? Do you want to be important? Do you want everyone you see to recognize you as you pass by? Sometimes we feel like just a blip on the radar. A single crouton in the salad. Just a blade of grass in the field. Some people are happy with that; life is definitely more peaceful that way. But many others want something more. What do they want? Well, they don't really know. But they know that something, something, is missing from their lives. We want to think that we can do something more. That we are meant to do something more. But hey, what do we really mean by that? Do we want more money? Do you want to be head CEO of Acme Incorporated? Care to be ambassador to Bongofantasia? Maybe some people want these things. I think there is a deeper meaning to having the desire to be more than what you are. Many of our lives have become a dreadful routine. Day in and day out, its the same thing. I ask myself a lot; what is the meaning of life? If there has to be one, I doubt the definition includes becoming a mindless robot. So we dream. We dream about what we could have; what we might be. And sadly, thats how many people will live. Just work for many long years, content with just... dreaming. Well guess what? Maybe I wanna be somebody? Maybe I wanna stick it to the man? Maybe I will jump off an airplane and fly like a bird. Somewhere, in all of our minds, is a image of ourselves. Our ideal selves. When we say we wanna be "something more", we really crave to become that ideal self that we idolize so very much. So please. Don't let life just pass by. All you really know for certain is that you are living this one life, right now. One day, that ideal image just sitting in your head? Your going to become that. It will no longer be a image; it will be reality. If you work at it, and realize that we are all capable, it will happen. I know this has been said time and time again, but the truth of the thing is quite real. How to become that ideal person; that is up to you. But if you at least try, try to become better than you are, then you have something to be proud of.

"Faces" by G.

And no, I'm not talking about your face... your physical one anyway. I'm talking about our different "mental" faces. You could say that everyone has a bit of a split personality. Do you act exactly the same when you are out in public then when your just by yourself? Most probably you don't. Because we seem to put up a different face at different times. But why do we do this? Why can't we just show our "true" face all the time? Obviously there are a lot of reasons. Sometimes society expects certain things from people, things that many people don't have. Maybe we are supposed to act a certain way, or dislike a certain thing, or look a certain way. In the people's rush to fit in; to not stand out like a sore thumb, we knowingly or unknowingly create a facade that we show to others. Having other "faces" can be dangerous, because if you aren't careful you might lose your true face, who you really are, to the face that we all parade around outside. I think everything can be useful in some way; so can your "mental" faces. But only if you have them for the right reasons. People really should be themselves, or try to be. I just think its sad that our society almost "requires" us to have another face to show to other people. Seriously though, lets just ditch the extra faces. I think your true self is probably a heck of a lot more interesting.

"Smart" by G.

What does it mean to be smart? It's a tough question. It's tough, because "smartness" is measured in so many different ways in our society. Is a five-star general in a war more "smart" than a architect building a big bridge? The general probably knows military tactics; where to place his troops and when the right time is to advance. This makes him smart, right? The architect should be good with math, and is able to make complex calculations and blueprints to achieve the final result; a bridge that doesn't topple over at the slightest breeze. Obviously a candidate for any of these two roles would need to be very intelligent. So lets move along to our schools. What does it mean to be "smart" there? An average answer might be, whoever has a high grade point average, or who consistently scores high on standardized tests. But when you think about it; how can you make a little number symbolize someone's true intelligence? It's all kind of ridiculous to me. I don't believe making a high score means your smart; it means you know how to remember assigned material for a brief period. So here's my own simple definition of being smart: The ability to solve problems, learn and adapt from experiences, and deal with the unexpected very well. This kind of brings up a whole new debate. Some people say we all have varying levels of intelligence, while some say we have the power to change; to make ourselves smarter. If any of you have ever been curious and taken one of those IQ tests, it gives you a number that you can compare to a scale. Does this mean I'm going to be stuck at that "level" forever? Can people with the intelligence of Forrest Gump never change? I think, if your reading this right now, then you definitely "smart" enough to make yourself smarter. The motivation part is up to you though, sorry. But to wrap this up, being smart doesn't have much to do with scoring high on a SAT or becoming entangled in some 100 pound textbooks. It's if you learn from the world around you. It's if you just absolutely radiate creativity and imagination. It's if you choose to question your surroundings instead of just going with the flow. That's what smartness is about people. Don't put so much stock into standardized tests and IQ's and whatnot. Creativity and Imagination are the true indicators of that nice little thing called being smart.

"Following" by Scythe

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who lead and those who follow. We live in a world that has a surplus of people that follow. We also live in a world that has a surplus of leaders. How can there be a surplus of both if there are only two types? Simple. There are many that fall into both categories. What proportion of the people that you know actually have the initiative to do something worthy on their own? Better yet, what proportion of the people that you know that will voluntarily assume a leadership role for the sole purpose of reducing their workload? Those are the ones that fall into both categories. It is people like this that are the reason that socialism, while the most ideal type of society on paper, never works. Think about a colony of insects. Each individual has a duty which he or she is expected to fulfill and usually does so without question, and the civilization advances. There are just enough humans in this world that are only willing to do enough to get by that making easy for anyone to get by results in a large proportion of people who will do nothing and effectively destroy their own civilization by offloading too much work onto those who care. So what does this all mean? It means get out and do something while you still can; make a contribution to society and the contribution that society makes to you will be that much greater.

By the way, I'm new to this blog so I would like to introduce myself as Scythe and thank you all for taking the time to read this, for taking the time to think.