Many times, an advertisement will let us think something, even if it is wrong, so long as it increases thier sales and therefore, their profit. One recent example I found out about is that of bottle water. The commercials and advertisements for bottle water lead the consumer to believe that their product is better than regular tap water. They never come right out and say it, yet they let us believe this lie. According to the 2005 Water Quality Report Issued for the Town of Normal,

"[T]he EPA regulates water delievered by public water systems, [but] the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates commercial bottled water. FDA bottled water standards are less stringent than the EPA standards. For bottled water, there are no requirements to inform consumers of the source of the water or to report many of the contaminants detected in the water. "(3)

I don't know about you, but that scares me a little. To find out that this company I trusted to supply me with a product is not telling me all the info and is leading me to believe something that is completely false makes me really nervous. To think a company would be so selfish as to not be held to as strict of standards as possible is down right disheatening.

I as the consumer have a responsibility to research the products I use, but at the same time the company has a responsibility to provide me with all the information. I am wiser now having found out about this example, but still it is a bit shocking. It just goes to show you that you should question everything an advertisement tells you and everything it implies.

Has anyone ever noticed that some truths have to be learned, but can't be taught? These are the things that can only be learned by doing. Recently, I have realized one of these truths. After the ponderings of the last post I realized something: To gain, one must lose. Seems like it can't be true because the two contradict each other, yet it is. I can't think of many examples, but there are countless numbers of them out there. One I can come up with is the step to college. I left home to go to college in Bloomington/ Normal. I had to leave the home I knew, the town I loved, and everything that was familiar. In order to gain my independence, I had to lose all that I knew.

Some consider it a high price and never leave home. Others are only to eager to leave home and set out anew. I was one of the latter. I couldn't wait to get out of there, but it wasn't without some trepidation. I worried about whether I was going to the right school, and how I would survive. I feared the unknown.

In the end I am glad of the road that I have traveled, even if it has been a bumpy, rutted road at best. I had to give up my comfort, but I gained my freedom. I had to lose to gain.

Warning! Deep thinking going on below:

Recently, I have been thinking about the nature of manhood. One night, I awoke at around 6 am, didn't really want to get out of bed, so I just stayed where I was thinking. It was one of those times when you are half awake and half asleep, the place of visions and ephiphanies. I was thinking back on all I have learned on the subject when a word picture came to me. It went like this:

You come upon a little one, a child, laying in the fetal position on the ground. The little one could be a son, a daugter, someone precious. You take this little into your loving embrace, and in so doing turn your back to the rest of the world. Knowing that you will feel the assualt that will come if you harbor this little one, you embrace it anyways. Over time your back becomes pitted and scarred from the efforts to protect and love your little one. Over that same time, your little one grows and changes, until it no longer resembles the little one you rescued fromt the weight of the world. Eventually your strentgh gives out and you can no longer put forth the effort to keep the little one in a safe embrace. Even as your back breaks from the weight of the world it is carrying, your little one rises up to defend you.

My question from all this is how does it feel at that moment when your strenght gives out, and how does one deal with that situation? Is it the nature of manhhod to protect those we love only to realize in the end that we can't? I am not a father myself, but I like to think of myself as one. I can't help but wonder how I would react at the moment when my love is so great, yet my strength is depleted, and I am put into this kind of situation.

How small is your comfort zone. Many people cringe when they have to do something unexpected or unuasual. In America today, we live in a culture where people only talk to those they know, or partake in activities that they know how to do. Most people are afraid to try something new. When is it that we lose that desire to explore that we have as children? When we were young, we use to leave mom's side to go out and explore our world, we expanded the zone that we feel comfortable in knowing that we can run back into that zone anytime danger nears. Unfortunately, as we grow older, we start traveling less and less outside that zone; we stop expanding it. By the time we become adults we have a zone that is pretty much set.

My question is why. When we travel outside that comfort zone, we learn something new, gain a new perspective, or meet a new friend. It occurs to me that some of our comfort zone is derived from the stereotypes we hold. Think back. Was there ever a time that you were presented with a person who was outside your definition of the stereotype you had placed them in? You probably felt out side of you comfort zone because you had defined the world around you and this person didn't fit. Most likely as you got to know the person, you began to accept them and your zone of comfort grew.

If only we could get rid of the fear that we felt going into the situation, we would not have a problem with how small our comfort zone is. Thus, when you travel out into this big old world we live in, push your fear aside and you might just find that you are comfortable with more of what is out there than what you now believe.