When Hunger Means Nothing

I don't know why I didn't publish this post after I'd written it... Oh well, here it is:

For some reason I've been encountering a lot of conspiracy theories about the world of late. Most of the time I don't pay attention because the fact is that only a select number of people know the truth about the world, and my only concern should be to protest for that truth and not to support any theories, because that's just what they are: THEORIES.

However, I couldn't help but notice one aspect that ran true throughout many of the theories: The hunger factor. Get enough people hungry and they'll be willing to do just about anything for a little bit of food. To demonstrate, I came across this quote that sent shivers down my spine:

"Hunger is sharper than the sword."
- The Honest Man's Fortune (act II, sc. 2, l. 1,) Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher

There's just one little element which tends to be highly underestimated: Will power.

With the month of Ramadhan in full swing, the majority of Muslims out there are probably feeling the weight of their bodies and the lightness of their souls. You see, on the surface, fasting does lead to a great deal of hunger and thirst, but it's nothing compared to the will power we develop from it. It takes only a matter of hours and body experiences such cravings that you'd think it hadn't had food for days! Whenever I see food and water my body pulls me down, however my soul keeps me up. If it were up to my body, I would never have experienced such hunger in the first place. So why don't I give in? Because my will won't let me. I don't want to disappoint the God who has asked me to fast for Him, ever increasing my determination to keep on going.

With only four or five days of Ramadhan down, I've already learnt a lot. Firstly the power of my soul outweighs the power of my body; and secondly that all those petty things that seem oh so important on a full stomach just don't seem so important anymore...

I would like to draw your attention to a post by Lightness of Being (http://lightnessofbeing.wordpress.com/), entitled "Some days and Others." It's a particularly good read. In addition to that, she wrote a very powerful story a while back which I'd also like to take this opportunity to recommend entitled "My Name is Zack."

That's all for now folks!

Truth be told...

I hate lying. I actually have a personal grudge against it. I hate it so much that I do my utmost to avoid it and even those "little white lies." I've noticed those types are the most lethal and can cause more damage than good, so I avoid them by either not saying anything, or telling the truth.

It's not necessarily that I'm trying to take the moral high ground and say that lying is bad, blah, blah, blah, but rather that it simply causes an avoidable amount of inconvenience in our lives, so I figure, why bother doing it? I mean, the truth ALWAYS finds a way of getting out (sorry for hitting you with a cliche there, but it's true!) The other thing about lies is that they walk around in packs, waiting to attack. It's impossible to tell one lie without telling a whole bunch of them just to maintain that first one. They're harder to maintain than they're worth. For example, let's handle the dreaded question that men face:

Sally: "Does this outfit make me look fat?"

John: Uhh...
*No, your fat makes you look fat*
No honey...

Later that evening... (At a get-together between "friends"):

Sally's friend Janice, who has a tendency to express her opinions when they aren't asked
for: "Wow, that outfit is a bit tight isn't it?"

Sally (who wants to prove Janice wrong): *humph* Well it's lucky I have a good figure, haha, right JOHN?

An unsuspecting John: Uhh.. *Starts sweating* Uhh... *Contemplates running...* Uhh...

Ah ha! Now, does John tell more lies to cover up the one he said before, or does he tell the truth?

*Rewind*

OK, what John failed to notice earlier was that he could have very tactfully rephrased his answer to Sally's question of "does this make me look fat?" For example, all he needed to say (in an endearing way, because of that whole lovey-dovey pukey stuff) was: "you know what honey, I reaaaally like that pink one you have hanging in the wardrobe- It brings out your *insert her most prided feature.*"

Anyway, enough of the relationship advice, my point remains: The truth can be avoided, and in a sense told using tact if you think it will hurt someone's feelings (You'll notice politicians do this quite well, so start taking notes from their speeches ;-) ) Otherwise, apart from that little scenario, when the truth is spoken, you'll find that people appreciate it more that being lied to. Isn't it better to have a reputation for speaking the truth than for telling lies; or when a lie gets out of control, a reputation for being a hypocrite?

"No legacy is so rich as honesty."
- William Shakespeare, "All's Well that Ends Well", Act 3 scene 5

"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
- Mark Twain

There's just one little problem I find with telling the truth: I've often expected the same in return. So, I just remind myself, as my mum always says "don't expect anything from anyone." If I choose to be honest, then it's my choice, and I shouldn't expect the same from anyone else. Ain't that the truth!

Bill Hicks: The Legend

“I had a vision of a way we could have no enemies ever again if you’re interested in this- Anybody interested in hearing this? It’s kind of an interesting theory and all we have to do is make one decisive act and we could rid the world of all our enemies at once. Here’s what we do: You know all that money that we spend on nuclear weapons and defence every year- “trillions” of dollars? Instead, if we spent that money feeding and clothing the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, not ONE; We could as one race explore outer space together in peace forever.” - Bill Hicks

I'll tell you one thing: it doesn't take the likes of a philosopher, a doctor, a world leader or any other sort of academically or otherwise acclaimed human being to bring about changes in our world. It takes ordinary human beings who aren't afraid to open their eyes and be honest with themselves about what they see. Such people are so selfless that they protest when witnessing even the smallest act of injustice with great ease. They constantly step back and see the "bigger picture," and do not allow short-sightedness to get in the way.

The words above were uttered by a comedian; A comedian who went further than the callings of his profession and spread a message of equality; charity; peace; justice; courage; truth and MOST importantly, the unification of the human race. This man saw beyond the divisions and was able to visualize prosperity for humanity as a collective.

I refuse to resign myself to the notion that the world is nearing an end, or any other so-called explanation for its current state. As long as the world is here, the vision remains.

What Hicks imagined was not impossible. We humans have the capacity to do much good, as long as we allow ourselves to do it.

In the words of Bill Hicks, "end of f**king story."