You ever find yourself conflicted in a particular situation because you have the gift (or curse) of understanding multiple perspectives?  Or maybe you are the person, no matter what the issue, who has the gift (or curse) of a passionate, unwavering opinion just waiting to erupt.  I’m not advocating that either of these “personalities” is good or bad but if you are the second, I must admit, I’m a little jealous.  Yeah…I’m the first guy.  I’m the guy that watched (some of) the Republican National Convention and empathized with the Democrats and I’m sure I’ll do the same thing when it’s time for the Democrats to share their voice to the public.  Sometimes I wish I felt strongly about the issues and never changed.  Like those who stand with confidence and resolution as if there is an embedded compass within them guiding to a singular solution to the issues our world faces.  To me, it just never feels that simple…

It’s amazing how easy it is to vocalize an opinion from the grandstand of life when you don’t have to execute, or live with, the directives of that opinion.  We humans are astounding critics!  However, I’m not sure how good we are at really understanding each other.  Or, sometimes, I’m not sure how much we really want to?

In this blog I want to make an effort to take a more diverse exploration of the landscape on issues that come up in life.  And…the intention is to not resolve, but to explore.  So often, especially in American culture, the goal is to win…to take a side and knock down the opposition.  We Americans are great competitors.  And competition has its place.  It drives performance, productivity, excellence, innovation and many types of growth.  But, when the desire to “win” overcomes the desire to learn and understand, both sides start losing.  So, in this blog, I intend to express some of the conflicts occurring in my own mind as I am responding to events in our world.  Maybe you will find them interesting or maybe it will just be a good therapeutic outlet for me…

Also, while I’m often conflicted on social and culture values there is one thing I’m pretty stubborn about, all people are valuable and should be treated with dignity, honor and respect.  It basically means, it doesn’t matter whether you are conservative, liberal or independent.  It doesn’t matter if you eat at Chick-Fil-a or drink lattes at Starbucks.  It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist.  It doesn’t matter if you are from New Jersey, Texas, Shanghai or Zambia.  You are valuable…but no more than anyone else!