It seems like most people almost go out of their way to ensure that life is harder than it needs to be. Our first response to an issue is rudeness, our first reaction to unknown people is antitrust. Open-mindedness means that one is closed off to faith, political correctness is code for “unless you share my beliefs, shut up”, and communities now refer to shopping centers and amenities instead of people and connections.
I don’t know about you but I am tired of people telling me that they, in their well-educated, open-minded, politely correct ways, know best. I am fed up with interacting with grumpy people who feel that the world owes them something. I don’t want to hear one more politician tell me they are going to fix the economy, create me a job, provide me health insurance, or protect me from the terrorist.
I guess what I am really saying is that until the world can stop throwing its temper tantrum and start using some common sense, I don’t want anything to do with it. The problem is that I don’t have that luxury. As a Christian, I am one of those closed-minded individuals who is open to faith; I try to see the best in everyone, and I believe that we don’t move past the status quo until we can debate the hard issues and speak freely about what we believe. Most importantly, I don’t really think that the world holds any responsibility for our lack of common sense. In fact, it is not the world’s temper tantrum that is shaking us – no, it is our fit that is shaking the world. Each one of us is responsible for the society that we have become. In our arrogance, we have fought to make it this way, or through our shame, we have stood silent and pretended to be helpless against the change.
My latest book, Common Sense Business, was just released a couple of weeks ago. I have high hopes for this book because of what I believe the book can do for those who read it. Common Sense is a lost art in today’s over-complicated world. Whether we are running a business or just trying to navigate through a world that has gone mad, we all need to take a step back and reexamine what really matters in life.
Common Sense Business primarily addresses how to change the way that we think about our businesses. It is in a workbook style format that requires you to think and change the way that you operate your life and your business. But my hope is that the book is much more to people than good business practices.
Common Sense needs to become our way of life. It should be the tool we use to judge every situation, every decision, and every question that we face. Right now, we are all driven by emotion, fear, unmet expectations, selfishness, overcomplicated views, and the unfounded belief that somehow we are all better and more deserving and in a bigger rush in our important lives than everyone else. The truth is that we were all created equal. We are all loved by God and cherished by those closest to us. We all have big hopes and huge dreams. And we are all at the same crossroad. We can choose to continue to fight and stumble over each other in a blind rage of passion or we can recognize the value in all those around us and work together to build our future.
The thing about crossroads is that they force us to either stop moving and sit down or to make a choice on how we want to move forward. It is time for us all to decide. Are we going to just stop in our tracks in hopeless surrender or are we really ready to make a change? Are we really ready to live our lives in the pursuit of helping each other? It’s decision time.
