Do I really care?…Do I really give a damn!!!

Smarter #7600 - #5 - Do I really care?…Do I really give a damn!!!

“Do I really care? …Honestly, (to myself, in my room alone) …… “Do I really give a damn?”
Why am I ashamed to merely say “I don’t really care.”?
What’s so wrong with “NOT” giving a damn?? … Why should I bother? … (You’re giving me a headache!)

Yep!!! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with not caring!!
But, there may be a price to pay. In fact there may be many “prices” to pay!!

If the only time “you really care” is when you, yourself, are involved; you may not have had the time, the experience or the mental practice to successfully “handle” the problem! Experience forces you “to practice”. Experience forces you to communicate with yourself. For sure, you do “give a damn” about yourself!! You are forced to talk to yourself, to create thoughts and ideas for yourself, in fact, to try to form opinions and courses of actions for yourself.
How can you do this if you haven’t “practiced” before?
If the only time you practice is when you “care” (about yourself, that is), what is happening the rest of the time? Do you just “float”? Do you just “go along”? Are you so caught up with yourself that the rest of the world simply goes by?
Anyone who is really good at something has to practice. When do you practice, if the only time you try to do something is when only you are involved, how can you expect a good result? In fact, how can you even expect a logical result? You don’t get any “practice”!!
Imagine trying to play a round of tournament golf, or “gambling” golf, without practicing! Go in as a pitcher in the ninth inning with no practice!
Try giving advice to a friend without practice. Do you really expect to be successful?
Or, maybe, you “really don’t give a damn”!! …. It would be nice to know!!!
If the only time you “really care” is when it concerns only you, you will have little chance to practice, to get a better solution, to “handle the problem”. And who can be a true friend of yours? After all, you only think about yourself!!! The only person you “give a damn about” is yourself!!! Can you really complain?
Well, that’s one of the “prices” you pay!
Is that sufficiently high enough for you to try another approach?

Anything wrong with “NOT” trying? … Nope!!! … But expect a less than successful answer. Be satisfied with whatever happens … good or bad. Do not complain about your failures, disappointments, or your continuous stomach aches. You simply have not “practiced”. You’ve lost the right to complain!

Anyhow, who cares? ….. You’re probably the only one who cares about “you”!!!

HOWEVER, there is a “successful alternative”!!!

Suppose you opened up your mind, your attention, your feelings to more things. Not to “ALL” things, but, to “MORE” things. Suppose you had adopted some type of standards for yourself. You have considered many things and have consciously chosen areas of consideration for yourself. You have not completely closed off many areas but you are more interested in a few. (Yes, you have “discriminated, you have made choices!) You leave the door open for more definition, more understanding, about the areas in which you are not currently interested. …..Maybe later… maybe never! But always “maybe”!!!

With this “opened” mind you will be involved in more things, more people, more ideas, more thoughts. You will not just be “exposed” to other things. Things will not just “float” by. You become “involved”. You will think about these things. You will seek to understand, to define, to find your own meaning, to find the “value to you”. You will care about “more than just yourself”. All the time you will be “practicing”.
You’ll be practicing how to explain things to yourself, how to be logical. What is a reason, what is a good question? Is this a “value” to me … how important? …. “Do I really care?”

Yes!!! Now is the time to ask the question “Do I really care?”… but it is now a question of “Do I really care about “that”!!! … It is the “that” that makes the difference! ….It’s not only about yourself, but, it is about the things with which you are now involved. You are forced to “practice”. You are becoming “thoughtful”!! You are becoming a “caring” person. You have something to offer someone else. You can become a “contributor”.

This is the price you “get”. The rewards from this choice are infinite. True friends, the peace that comes from understanding more, the personal success that comes from being able to contribute, the loss of that awful “stomach ache”. … all these things and more come from the choice of “caring”, of truly “giving a damn!!”

“Do you care? Do you really give a damn?” …. The choices are up to you!!!




P.S.

Why don’t you wait a few days after reading this and re-read the following “Chapt. #15 - What’s “education?”!”, and pass this onto a friend. Then, have a meaningful discussion and exchange some “ideas”, some “definitions”, AND, “successful alternatives”!! I’m sure you both would be amazed at the results!!
Bill T.