Everyone Has A Viewpoint

This week we have been talking about curbing violence. It seems that the main reason for violence stems from fear, bullying, demoralization, and degradation of oneself either internally or by others. We have discussed that taking guns away will not help. Guns are tools, and unfortunately, any tool (gun, knife, rock, pitchfork, glass bottle or anything else,) can become a weapon.

So we’ve worked our way through to ‘how.’ For stopping the violence, first, we have to believe it can be done. If you try to do something that you think you can’t accomplish, the chances of that ever happening are greatly diminished. This is why we need mean old master sergeants. Mean old master sergeants don’t think something can be done, we know things can be done.

Imagine that you went up to our founding fathers and told them something you knew was going to be true? ‘Mr. Jefferson sir, your new nation will put a man on the moon within the next 200 years.’ True or not, that fact would probably not be fathomed in that day and age, and you might be locked in the stocks for your own protection until you came back to your senses. The truth is anything is possible as long as you believe you can.

So how do we do this? We could become farmers. We plant seeds of belief in other people that this can be done. Some people are hard and set in their ways. They will not listen. Some people have no depth for the roots to grow. They will agree with your idea today, forget about you tonight, and be on a totally new thought tomorrow. Some people will realize what can be done, and grow fast until others start putting them down. The wind from all that negative talk blows them over, and their belief whithers. And yet, it is hard to keep the truth from being heard. If you plant the seeds of sincere belief and nurture them, you can grow a forest.

How do we stop violence? First, we need to believe it can be done. Then plant the seeds of belief in others, knowing that some will fail and others will grow. We nurture the belief in others, and the positive fruits of our endeavors will come forth.

In a culture where we blame inanimate objects for the actions of people, we need to make a change. We can start this change with a new generation. We can get to the heart of the matter and tackle bullying, belittlement, hubris, and anti-socialism. Easy? No. Achievable? You bet. If we go to the moon, and if we can go to Mars, we can do this.

Thanks for being with me today. I hope to see you again tomorrow.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof