What it Means to Be Human E-Book

Wolfgang Fries

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 371

Beschreibung

What It Means to Be Human What is a Human? Is it, as science wants you to believe, a creature that arose from mud or, as the priest tells you, a being of soul-motivated flesh? What and who are you? One thing for sure, dead matter doesn't think! In this book, Wolfgang Fries critically examines the age-old philosophical question of what it means to be human using straight talk and common sense. One thing is certain. You are alive and try to live a life as a human being. You have your notions of how to live your life, but your ideas regarding life are countered by certain intentions, which make life a difficult and complicated task. So we have these two things, your notions and counter intentions, which give you a frame of living. To subsist in life, a certain amount of knowledge and understanding is necessary. But to establish understanding, knowledge has to be evaluated with respect to right and wrong, important and unimportant. The author maintains that only by understanding the complex issues that present themselves today will the human being be able to achieve personal goals and survive in this world. He covers such timely topics as coping with stress, fake news, the influence of the media, big pharma, big government, rampant materialism, illnesses and the novel coronavirus. No prior knowledge of moral philosophy is necessary to benefit from what readers will surely find to be an indispensable book.

Leseprobe

Disclaimer

The publisher and the author are providing this book and its contents on an “as is” basis and make no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to this book or its contents.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank

My sister,

Dr. Diana Pengitore, ND, freelance translator, and American Translator Association (ATA) member, for her expert translation from German to English.

My brother-in-law,

Dr. Frank Pengitore, Ed. D., for his editorial expertise in bringing this publication forth.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all those individuals who truly want to help themselves, as well as to all of those who wish to help humankind live a happier and healthier life.

Important note to the reader:

Take great care in reading this text in order not to skip words that you do not understand. If you do not understand a sentence or text, it is because there is a word or words that you did not understand or for which you have a false definition.

In the glossary, an overview of the definitions of the words listed in the book marked by an asterisk* can be found. In order to have a complete understanding of a word, it should be looked up in a good dictionary, including its origin.

Footnotes are used to denote sources and references.

How This Book Came About

In January of 2020, I was asked by my sister, Diana, a Naturopathic physician, to write a book about human behavior, the true cause of illness and the many challenges that one faces throughout life because she had identified a true need for it. Well, who am I to write something about it? I am neither a medical physician, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, nor a person of alternative healing methods. I was asked to write this book because I have extensive knowledge about the mind and how the mind affects the body or the emotional state of a person.

This book is a compilation of texts from my book, Philosophy of Life, that covers the major parts of life. The excerpts are of a “philosophical” nature, which does not mean that they are hard to grasp. It is a type of self-book for those who want to improve their lives and get the most out of living.

What it Means to Be Human

Table of Contents

The Fields of Knowledge and Their Valuable End Product

Certainty

The Human Being

The Entity

Esotericism and Exotericism

The Inner and Outer World

The Right to One’s Own Mistakes

Trial and Error

A Hard Lesson

Keeping a Pet

The Stages of Development in Human Life

Civilization

Self-Awareness

Pursuing a Hobby

The Value of Action

The Game

Money

Greed for Profit

Materialism

Motivational Factors

Toys

Understanding Oneself

From Human to Freedom

Recognizing

Visions

The Knowledge of Human Nature

Emotion

Being a Complete Cause

The Thinker

The Illness of the Human Being

Stress

Pain Stops

Lumbosis

Toxic Body

Drugs

The Human in the Focus of Science

Nutrition, Clarification

Vitamins

Sugar, Humanity’s Sweet Demise

Colon Cleansing

Illnesses

The Special Case

Cause and Effect

To Let Oneself Fall

German Angst

The Invisible Enemy

A Glimmer of Hope

To Think a Different Thought

What it Means to be Human

The World Grows by What Opposes it

What to Do?

Mob and Rabble

Orientation

Quality of Life

Code for Life

Change of Mind, Manipulation

Brainwashing

Happiness

Right and Wrong

The Closing Word – The Future

Glossary

Sources and References

Recommended Reading

About the Author

Other Books

The Fields of Knowledge and Their Valuable End Product

By now, I have the idea that a global conspiracy is in progress. What is actually the most important thing in this world? I believe it is understanding. Nothing would work in everyday life without understanding. If the mason had not understood brick laying, there would be no or bad houses. If the baker had not understood his trade, there would be no or bad baked goods. If the toolmaker had not understood his job, there would be no or poorly functioning tools, and so on.

Why a global conspiracy? Well, if understanding is such an important matter, why is it never taught exhaustively anywhere or explicitly explained? Of course, if no one had an exact knowledge of understanding, one could be made a fool of very easily. And since many mistakes have been made without understanding, some believe that they have the right to create supervisory authorities who occupy themselves with ironing out other people‘s mistakes. More facilities mean more tax money that can be collected.

Therefore, understanding has something to do with knowing how to get something done, how things work. The reason for a field of knowledge is to provide or produce knowledge of how to get to a particular endpoint or how to achieve a valid end product. The field of knowledge now comprises all data to obtain this end product. It provides the procedure for how to arrive at the end point. Thus, every field of knowledge has a valid end product.

Let us consider the specialist field of medicine. The valid end product of medicine would be a healthy body; therefore, you must know how to get from a sick body to a healthy one. Therefore, in this specialist field there should be theory and practice. The theory should state how you can achieve a valid end product in practice by providing background and why things are the way they are or how the appearance of different phenomena is explained. However, you should be cautious because some things are far-fetched and are not really in harmony with the laws of nature.

Thus, the theory is the most important basis for a specialist field because it explains the steps to be taken, the road map to follow. For instance, Karl has found out how best to operate on a femoral fracture*. He now has the knowledge of the exact procedure. If more medical professionals are to be trained to be able to skillfully treat a thighbone fracture, then they should read the book that Karl wrote to get the same end product.

To avoid damage, future surgeons might be provided a model made of plastic for practicing purposes. Furthermore, an internship should be established with an experienced surgeon so that the student will be able to skillfully approach the practice under guidance. The intern has to do it himself, so that he can actually do it at some point without supervision. However, I do not know how physicians are currently being trained. A nurse commented to me that the “freshly” arrived physicians from the university were useless.

A field of knowledge has worth to the extent that it is able to bring about a valuable end product. An end product is valuable when it is desired or needed by others. The value is shown when this product can be exchanged for money, enabling the person who creates this product to make a living. If no valuable end product is produced, in the long run both will disappear, the specialist field and the practitioner.

Therefore, if you enter a field of knowledge, find out what the valuable end product is and confirm this with one who is previously trained to determine if the training actually delivers what it promises!

Indeed, the existence of a field of knowledge is only justified if it delivers a valuable end product or if it is effectively associated with a valuable end product. Look around you now to see whether a valuable end product is really achieved in religion, medicine, psychology, pedagogy, politics and so forth. The fact that it is not is probably because the various theories do not really come from practice, or that the laws of nature are not observed. They were created by a person, like the “theorist“ who has somehow “invented” it.

No wonder as the saying goes, “There is a difference between theory and practice.“ The strange thing is that these theories and these people “hang on” for so long. What contributes to this is that incorrect data is used. The outsider now thinks that he is ignorant because he does not understand any of this at all. Consequently, he also believes that there is a reason why these theorists exist.

The graduate only gets his certificate when he can parrot what was previously parroted to him. He pretends to agree with these theories because, in regard to training, he depends on the “authorities.“ And since the theorists belong to the “educational elite,“ it is an easy task for them to give the next dunce their authorization to get money out of nowhere: the politicians!

So it seems to suggest to some to continue to work while not understanding so much about fields of expertise and to maintain untruths only because they are trying to hold their position and make money. You can recognize this when a language is spoken that no one understands, and things are connected where there is no connection.

In fact, the practitioner is the better theorist. Theory, you could say, is the putting together of things in your mind. Subsequently, in practice, you can see whether the theory works. If the man of practical experience develops a theory, it will probably work immediately when applied. The man of practical experience knows what matters because he has already seen what works and what does not!

And why are all these people studying? And where do they want to go with it? At the end of your studies, it is usually the case that you still have to look for a job. You are still not prepared for life and are not prepared for self-employment.

During a conversation with an academic who completed his doctorate, he stated that he can only use 2% of the information from his studies in his job.

Certainty

Everything is in you.

If you think that you are defeated, then you are defeated.

If you think you do not dare, then you will not dare.

If you want to win but think that you cannot do it, then it will be almost impossible that you will.

If you think that you will lose, then you have lost.

Because in the world outside, you will see that success starts with the will of the human being.

Everything is in you.

Many a run is lost before a step was taken.

And many a coward failed before his work had even begun.

Think big, and your actions will grow.

Think small, and you will remain behind.

Think that you can, and you will be able to do it.

Everything is in you.

If you think that you are an outcast, then you are.

You have to think high to ascend.

You have to be convinced of yourself before you can ever win a prize.

Life’s struggles are not always led by the stronger and faster, but sooner or later the human who wins is the one who thinks that he can. (Author unknown)

The Human Being

The human being experiences this world through his mind. If the mind of the individual does not get in order, this world does not get in order.

The human is a product of his deeds.

He does what he thinks. If he thinks not to do it, he does not do it.

The human does not try to do wrong.

There are strange actions. Thus, there are strange thoughts*.

Since the human tries not to do wrong and still does, there are thoughts that appear stronger than the human wants.

Thus, the thought governs the human.

Thus, the human is not always the cause of his thoughts.

Thus, there is a part in the human that tells him to do wrong.

This part confuses him and makes him small, weak and ill.

Being ill means doing wrong – no matter what the thought commands. (Millions of years of engineering result in an organism that heals itself, and yet it gets sick.)

Thus, the thought organizes matter.

And the thought is thought by the being.

All thoughts are made of the same, be they good or bad.

The bad thought can be resolved. It comes from the bad experiences that one once had and that the human had done before(!).

Thus, one again becomes big, strong and healthy.

And the human does not have to be human anymore.

Corollary*:

The human changes when he changes his thoughts.

You change the human when you help him change his thoughts.

The entity

Neither medicine nor food will set one free from a problem. Only the human mind is able to solve the problem of the human mind! (LRH)

The entity is not the human being.

The entity is the person himself, who is aware of himself.

The entity creates energy and transforms this energy into images that are known as thoughts.

The accumulation of these images is known as the mind.

Intelligence is the utilization of energy. We take images out of the mind and arrange them into new images; therefore, we can solve perceived problems.

Strange thoughts hinder intelligence.

The entity does not lose intelligence but reduces it.

Death is a means by which we rid ourselves of the useless body that it has become.

The entity does not disappear. It supplies the new body with energy that it requires for development, being able to send it through the nerve channels, and the muscles resulting in movement.

The entity takes the mind along but “forgets” about it.

Knowledge does not get lost.

The entity has all capabilities, though these are blocked by thoughts!

In honor of my master, who made me realize that I am and will be.

Esotericism and Exotericism

Esotericism is from the Greek esoterikos, meaning inward. Aristotle already stated that esoteric goes beyond the understanding and knowledge of most people, as opposed to exotericism, meaning knowledge, which is accessible to everyone. Esotericism was only intended for an illustrious* group of people.

Nowadays, esotericism is often referred to as a “Secret Doctrine,” but the fact is that every human being can deal with it because there are no special requirements for one to be included in the circle of esotericism. By now, esotericism distinguishes itself from exotericism to such an extent that exotericism claims to be scientific, and esotericism actually is something for crackpots*. The mind is a wondrous thing with its thoughts, fantasies and delusions. The mind cannot be defined and, therefore, eludes scientific exploration*.

Scientificity*. Science, from a technical point of view, has advanced people by far. In medicine, there are x-ray machines and sterile operating rooms. One is constantly searching to find something, the something to which one can attribute the cause. The proof is present only when one can show something material.

Thus, the medical professional binds himself to sharp knives and chemistry but cannot explain why placebos work and wounds heal well or not. Patients who have explored all available means of modern medicine and have been labeled “incurable” turn their back on the doctors and look for salvation in alternative methods. And indeed, some find recovery with the shaman* or in the monastery.

Is there really be something that goes beyond matter? A force that moves matter? Hence, the human is in search of something, believes in God and all sorts of things so that he can be saved.

What is the power of the placebo* or healing crystal? One thing is for certain, neither a placebo nor a healing crystal will work on a dead person. So, there has to be an ingredient: life itself! We, therefore, have the difference between a living and a dead human body. The difference is that there is a will and a thought about a will.

So, the shaman has to talk to the sick, and the faithful has to believe that something is happening to him. In fact, one deals with the person’s mind, this wondrous thing that apparently no one knows anything about.

Then there are some who play with the mind, like the hypnotist to stop the smoker from smoking or the physiotherapist to relieve the tormented from anxiety and depression. However, none of these know exactly what they are doing because they do not know the laws of how the mind works, and woe to the one that ends up in the hands of today’s psychiatric specialist, the soul doctor or the psychiatrist (psyche means soul and iatros means doctor). Instead of treating the psyche, one is sedated, tranquilized or calmed with medication, or one’s brain is “sizzled” with electro shocks*.

This book is not a treatise* on the functioning or structure of the mind because this has already been done elsewhere. Here, some approaches are proposed to explain this mystical* thing called life with its thinking machine, called the mind. Matter does not think, and it is the thinking that differentiates dead and “living matter” because the living human being is nothing other than organized matter with life. A dead body turns to dust.

Furthermore, I will not deal with the possibility or impossibility of reincarnation* here. The theorists can clarify this among themselves so that they have something to discuss. If someone wants to read case studies about past lives, then he should get books about them because, after all, there are tons of them.

Working professionally with the mind requires some basics, recommended later on as literature.

The Inner and Outer World

What depresses the mind of the human and takes the momentum in existence? How does one lose the inner feeling of happiness?

Let us look at the passing of life: Who exudes more joie de vivre* than a young child? Look him in the eyes and you see the sparkle of bright joy. The little child wants to know everything and is curious to explore his surroundings. Life is full of excitement. The first instructions are given as to what he can and cannot do. Often there are reprimands from the parents because things that are supposed to be done are not being done. The child wants things in its surroundings for himself and cannot get them. By trying to get them, he falls, and it hurts.

One gets teased at school and one’s weaknesses are exposed. A time begins with effort and devaluation, and it is difficult to understand the world as it is.

As a teenager, there are very often rejections. One’s own ideas about life do not fit into the behavior of society, and one wants to be free and cannot.

Later, as an adult, the problems get bigger. There are divorces, financial burden and the experience that death is omnipresent; friends and parents die.

Many are traumatized by the experiences they have made and do not seem to want to recover from them because the images of the past are too omnipresent! From the eyes of the senior, all shine has gone. All the bad experiences have depressed the mood level. What happened here? The mind is a reflection of the person’s surroundings. However, it not only reflects the perceptions of the five senses, but it also actually records a lot more: the strength and energy to which the person is exposed. For example, ask your counterpart about a time when he was happy, and you will see how his disposition cheers up. It also “clouds over” if you ask him about a time when he was sad.

The human loses his inner happiness over time. The bad experiences of the outer world are in him. They have penetrated into his inner world and make life difficult. It is actually this burden that is depressing him. The more the outside world penetrates the person, the more he will lose himself. His world of thought will deal with the invaded outer world, and it will think with the things that are in it. One’s own imagination, the I, is more and more restricted. One’s own mental ability is lost, and one becomes more and more a part of reality, the reality of the physical universe: an enforced game.

The human, therefore, is moving on a level of thought-emotion-effort.18 To this, a few examples: He thinks to lift a glass of water. This thought is sent through the body as a command to the muscles that can be described as emotion. The muscles now move the arm and lift the glass. This would be the effort. The reverse order would now be effort-emotion-thought. The soldier is hit by a bullet, which would be the effort from a physical point of view. The impact of the projectile in the body is sent by the nerve cells as an emotional impulse. The person himself now records the emotional impulse as a thought (memory).

The emotion, therefore, is the link between thinking and effort. In fact, the human being thinks on an emotional level. If he is afraid, his thoughts will move on this level. The same applies to apathy, grief, fear, anger, boredom, conservatism, strong interest or enthusiasm.

Through thinking, one can put the person in an emotional state. The thought of fear will arouse the emotion of fear and thus affect the person. If someone had told a sailor in the Middle Ages that there were sea monsters in a certain area, he would have avoided that area. Or tell the human that BSE* in cattle is transferable to humans, and beef sales will collapse.

This pairing of impending loss and ignorance is the basic substance for influencing humans; tell him that cod liver oil* is healthy and he will drink it! In this way, the human can be changed in his emotional attitude through thoughts: intimidate or motivate. However, it is the emotional state in which the human tends to his thoughts. So, the emotion seems to be above the thought, and above the emotion is the pressure of the outside world that triggers the emotion. Therefore, the emotion is in complete control of the person; it is stronger than the analytical thought*. It is a gut feeling.

Gut feeling? When I was 14, I had a bicycle accident. I got injured very badly and ended up in the hospital in an unconscious state. Discharged from the hospital, I got on my racing bike and rode down the main road towards a curve. And there it was, the gut feeling that wanted to make me hit the brakes hard, even though the curve only required a slight braking at the given speed; this feeling had never existed before.

So, what had happened? The gut feeling arises from bad experiences once made with the intention to protect the person from reliving a bad experience again. The gut feeling imposes itself on the person without the person having adequately perceived and analyzed the upcoming situation.

However, the gut feeling also works the other way around: It tells one to do it. That means that there had been similar good experiences like the upcoming matter that was experienced previously. For example, one would like to invest his money with the bank. The consultant now is well dressed, and one is treated very kindly. The pleasant surroundings and benevolent atmosphere alone invite the customer to complete the transaction without knowing exactly the product to be bought.

Reason and Intellect as the most influential factors pointing the way for the human being? Nonsense! It is emotion. Try to do something to someone who is in love. Reason and intellect are used to live out emotions … homo sapiens!

The Right to One’s Own Mistakes

Actually, I could say that everything I write is a waste of time. Observe for yourself. You tell the child not to do something, and he does it anyway. Why did you even say it? It was because you wanted to protect the child from harm. Interestingly, the parents want to protect the children from the things that they themselves have suffered in the past, those things that they themselves messed up.

The same applies to me. I think that I have written about every mistake that I have made. Of course, otherwise I would not know about it and would not have any awareness of how to avoid the mistake.

You say: “Child do not ride the sled down the hillside, you could break a leg!” That afternoon the child sneaks out of the house with the sled, rides down the hillside and breaks a leg. Wonderful! You cannot hammer caution into anyone with words, for he has to develop it himself. It is presumptuous to tell someone what to do and what to leave alone. You tell the child not to touch the hot burner on the stove, and he burns his fingers when he does. You tell a girl not to start a relationship with this guy, and she ends up getting hurt when she doesn’t heed your advice. A man does not keep order. Well, maybe he does not have enough experience in keeping order! You tell the apprentice to do it this way and that way, and he does it differently.

It seems that one cannot learn from words or the mistakes of others. One has to experience firsthand how things actually are and what pain and loss actually feel like. Being able to really assess right and wrong requires one’s own experience indeed. One has to experience for oneself what works and what does not work. A person must inspect the limits to determine when damage occurs and to find one’s own limits to adapt oneself to one’s surroundings.

Telling a child not to put his fingers on the hot stove is the wrong way because it does not bring the child awareness. Giving the child the opportunity to find out what a hot burner is all about is a better approach of helping the child become aware of this world. So, you turn on the stove and tell the child to briefly touch the burner. You do it first to make sure that nothing happens. In your presence, the child now gains experience about heat without being harmed and develops awareness on the subject of caution. The adult can ensure that the child can have his experience without really being harmed.

Decency, behavior towards others? Here as well, one tries to educate the child about politeness with “please” and “thank you.” Later on, when he realizes that being rude can result in rejection and that rudeness can be quite painful, he will find out for himself what is acceptable behavior – this is learning from one’s own mistakes!

This also is true for what I am writing. One can do things, start projects, and make sure that one does not fall down too hard while still being aware of what conclusions can be drawn to learn from a mistake.

A right to one’s own mistakes? Looking back, did you not want to have your own experiences too? Your partner makes a mistake in your presence? You scold him about how stupid he is and how he just cannot do anything right. What have you achieved now? The other one is intimidated because he made a mistake and was scolded for it. Furthermore, he is upset with you because you were indignant* towards him. As a result, he will probably lose interest in the matter because nobody helps him, and he now also feels missemotions* about it. In the end, we have two disgruntled people and the existing inability. Should your partner decide to continue with the matter later, he may approach you again, and this will require your time once more.

Of course, one makes mistakes when learning something, and one behaves a bit foolishly at first, but complaining is of no help because the task can only be achieved if one helps the other with patience and prudence for as long as it takes until he can do it himself! Just remember your first driver’s lesson or the first time when you sat in front of the computer – was it not difficult?

One can only recognize something bad by knowing what is better. By knowing the better, one can strive towards it if so desired!

A common togetherness requires common thoughts. It requires a basis upon which the individual in the community can agree, what he approves of and what he supports! Equal rights and obligations for all, no exception!

Trial and Error

Life presents us with many challenges, some are big, and some are small; however, in the end, only one thing matters, persistence. One of my favorite dishes is fried potatoes. This will be an easy task I thought, just follow the recipe. But as it turned out, this was not the case.

Recipe

Fried potatoes - serves one

2 cups raw potatoes, peeled, rinsed and cubed salt to taste

2 tbsp. rapeseed, sunflower or vegetable oil

¼ cup water

Heat a lightly oiled pan with ¼ cup of water including the potatoes on a medium setting. Cover and cook undisturbed for about 15 minutes; the water will have evaporated by then. Then add some rapeseed oil and continue cooking the potatoes uncovered on a higher setting for 4 minutes on each side until they are crispy yellow brown. When turning, scrape firmly over the bottom of the pan to loosen the crust. This way a new crust can form on the potatoes again. Additional oil may be added if necessary.

Guten Appetit! (Enjoy)

What all have I tried! First, I used a stainless steel frying pan with a sandwich bottom, then a Teflon-coated steel frying pan, followed by a Teflon-coated cast aluminum frying pan, and none of these produced satisfactory results. The potatoes burned firmly to the stainless steel frying pan. With the coated pans, the coating became dull with increased frying, and the potatoes also burned firmly to the pan with the added disadvantage that a metal turner could not be used to scratch over the bottom of the pan without destroying the coating. The cast aluminum pan required a higher temperature to cook properly.

So, I tried a wrought iron pan with the higher rim. I figured that way the potatoes would end up in the pan when turned and not so quickly on the stovetop next to it. Of course, there was plenty of smoke and smell when I seasoned* the pan at a high temperature for approximately 20 minutes. I covered the bottom of the pan with a high heat vegetable cooking fat to which I added potato peels and one spoonful of salt. It is important that the skillet is seasoned prior to its first use.

In its user manual, the manufacturer gives clear instructions on what to pay attention to when using an iron pan. For starters, the bottom of the pan should not be larger than the burner to prevent the pan from warping when heated. It also makes one aware that it is an iron pan and that iron rusts! Should the pan be cleaned with water after use, it requires greasing to prevent corrosion (rust). I myself could observe that the pan did not rust so quickly in contrast to pure iron or polished steel without patina*.

In any case, the iron pan conducts the temperature very well, and one actually gets very good sizzled potatoes. They do not have a very strong tendency to burn firmly to the iron pan and can be turned over easily with a metal turner. The pan forms a repellent layer due to increased frying, and less fat is needed. Should the potatoes somewhat burn to the pan while frying anyway, one can calmly scrape them with a little force over the bottom of the pan because nothing will get damaged!

I got the best fried potatoes with “waxy potatoes*” fried in rapeseed oil. It has a good taste and does not splash like sunflower oil. Frying in butter is not recommended because the butter does not tolerate the high temperatures as well and turns brown quickly. Should one still want to fry with butter because of the taste, it is recommended to add about two tablespoons of olive or rapeseed oil to the pan before adding the butter. Solid fats like lard, coconut fat, or shortening are not considered very healthy because they contain a large amount of saturated fatty acids.

It is not advisable to fry without fat. The potatoes get their crust by being fried in fat, otherwise they burn easily without getting a nice crust. Fat, among other things, serves as a release agent for the pan and the food being fried. If the food that is being fried cannot be easily separated from the bottom of the pan, the temperature is too high, or there is not enough oil.

A Hard Lesson (A Hold* in Life)

What keeps you going in life? What gives you the strength to survive the next day? The fact is that the human seems to need something that he can hold on to. As a little boy, you fall and scrape up your knees. You feel the pain, so you run to your mother or father, and they hold you tight. You hold on to them. They give you support, and everything is no longer that bad.

You get older, and there comes a time when you no longer feel understood by your parents; you have your own ideas and goals that are different from those of your parents. The hold of your parental home breaks up. You find a hold in a relationship, only to find that your partner is not as dedicated to you, and his word particularly hurts. The greatest misfortune is when your partner cheats on you with your best friend, and this hold also breaks.

It is your trust that is constantly broken, and there is a risk that one breaks oneself. Some keep the thought of God alive, only to realize that he takes your friends, gives illnesses and allows evil. So, one builds walls around oneself, buries one’s affection of his fellow human beings and no longer allows trust in order not to be hurt anymore.

When I was an apprentice, I asked myself what I was supposed to do here. It could not be that this was all: Get up early in the morning, dig for coal and drive home at noon - I worked in the mine. There just had to be more to life. So, I tried to find out more through further school education to get answers. Unfortunately, I goofed up the technical college. I found myself unable to understand the school material, and there was no one there who could help me “to understand.” I was not even able to formulate precisely the questions that I was trying to answer; I needed precise questions to get precise answers. I threw the stuff down and looked for a job. A 12-hour night shift, and again I had the same question that almost crushed me and let frustration* take hold, “Is this all until the end of life?”

The Bundeswehr* offered me another educational path. This included obtaining all driver licenses and later becoming a driving instructor, learning English, as well as the prospect of renewed schooling and subsequent study. Eventually, my longstanding relationship with the Bundeswehr also failed. The experiences in it were often painful, and I preferred to look for answers elsewhere, even if the route through the Bundeswehr would mean a larger loop but one that eventually would provide me a livelihood with a secure income. And indeed, after four years, there was the opportunity for me to become a driving instructor. My father had his own driving school. However, in my area, there were only egoists, selfish people that tried to advance “on the backs of others*.” I did not want to go through this for another six years.

The past has shown me that one looks through one’s eyes and tries to find hold in what one sees. One always looks away from oneself, obviously! Actually, one finds the biggest hold in oneself and not in what one sees in his surroundings. You have the greatest hold in your goals and intentions and the ability to let go of the old and to experience something new and different again unless you have already died spiritually. I, for my part, have found that there is more to be achieved for oneself. And it is indeed the case that this goal in sight and the possibility of achieving it does not allow any frustration to arise.

So ultimately, the following remains: the goal and responsibility towards your fellow human beings. This is because you know more than they do, even if it only affects your professional area. Knowledge results in responsibility, and you will see that taking responsibility is rewarded because it gives you a feeling of doing the right thing and keeps you motivated. It is the hold you can give yourself.

You can slay a fellow human being with words by always accusing him of doing the wrong thing, pointing out that there is more bad than good in what he does. Conversely, you can inspire someone by praising him and telling him that he is doing the right thing. He will leave motivated and do his job even better! And every time you delight your fellow human being by helping him do better, you will reap a part of the joy, and it will be your joy that will inspire you. Only receiving money is a small comfort and will end in sorrow because you will have to take care of the newly bought, and it will cost you more time and money.

Some recognize for themselves that what they are doing is not quite right and drown their spirits in alcohol, admitting their inability to change things in such a way that seems right and makes sense. This is a rough world; one has to learn to put up with a lot and still stand still.

As a small child, the world is in order. One is loved, hugged and cuddled*. One is being taken care of by one’s surroundings, and people mean you well. You find hold when you look at another because he will help you. But you live in a lie, and the years of growing to adulthood are the years of awakening.

What changes all of a sudden? Why can’t the world always be the way one had experienced it as a small child? Doing the right thing? If you look at it closely, you realize that it can be so and that the world can be in order. Help the human to build a world that is worth inhabiting!

A few more quotes from the movie Königreich der Himmel*: “What kind of a man is a man who does not make the world better? What can a king ask of a man like me? A better world than one has ever seen. A kingdom of conscience*, a kingdom of heaven.” It depends on us!

Keeping a Pet

When I rolled to the front door this morning in my wheelchair, I saw a furry animal lying on the top step. I thought it was a small rat at first, but, on closer inspection, I found that it was a large field mouse. A magnificent specimen: long black whiskers, nice fur and matching mouse ears. She looked really cute with her slightly curled up front paws.

In short, I felt sorry for this mouse. Growing up, we had cats in the house. It is natural in the course of events that there are hunters and hunted in life. The hunters exist to keep the other kind in check. You all know about the cybernetic* laws of nature.

Thus, nature regulates or controls itself in one way or another. The best survive, one kind or another goes extinct, and “evolution” brings forth new adapted species - constant change, elite* selection and perfection.

However, there is a factor that wants to get involved under any circumstances: the human being. He favors different animal species, some for their nutritional value, others for commercialization through recognized breeding or others just because some animals are so cute. In particular, I look at the cats. Yes, they are cute animals that purr when being stroked. I see a lot of them in our neighborhood and estimate that every third household has one.

The reasoning is now as follows: The cat has no natural enemies here, except for the dogs that are on the leash and cars. I wonder whether at some point in time problems in nature will arise because insects and plants take over as a result of cats hunting and killing the smaller creatures that are on its menu, such as mice. After all, the mice and other small creatures control the much smaller animals so that no “population explosion*” takes place. In this way, small plants and seeds are consumed by small animals.

However, I am not firm in this area, and a hunter or forester could comment more objectively. In any case, there is hardly anyone in normal households who keeps mice, snails, hedgehogs, and so on. In addition, these animals only fulfill their purpose* “in the wild” by ensuring that the ecological system works, and the natural balance is maintained.

The human, in his regulatory rage and in his pursuit of regulations that do not meet current conditions, causes some disturbance in the ecological balance. During a conversation about hunting with my cousin, a hobby hunter, I was told that the birds of prey had taken over and considerably endangered the small game population. The birds of prey are still endangered species and are protected by law. Well, even without human laws, nature will ensure that an appropriate balance is formed.

Again, to the pets. They are loyal companions who are affectionate, faithful, usually obedient, not prone to cause a fight and, under normal circumstances, relatively inexpensive to keep, at least in relation to the cost of a new kitchen for the wife or a new car for the man of the house. Some people also find comfort in these small creatures. All in all, they are very pleasant contemporaries.

Good, one may enjoy oneself and spend one’s free time with this being; it is a good game. The wrong game would be to join the animal welfare association that protects animals from humans. Although many people respect and take care of their animal’s needs, there are still those that abuse them, thus making the human the greatest enemy of animals by far. The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) reports that approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.3 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats. Each year, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized* due to various reasons such as illness, aggression and overpopulation. A very sad situation indeed! The most important game that one can participate in would be to make the human think differently so that reason can enter his head, which would make an animal protection association and other organizations unnecessary and make the human venerable*among his peers, so that he no longer has to find comfort in animals.

If the human being could get along better with his peers and himself, he could play more interesting games and, therefore, have more fun in life.

PS: Germany has about 14% built-up landscape.1 Given the cat’s “sphere of activity,” it is extremely unlikely that domestic cats will have a strong influence on the ecosystem.

The Stages of Development in Human Life

The goal of everyone is to survive.