Humanist Thought of the Week

Stress Awareness and Meditation

How stressed are you?  

A lot? A little? Do you even know?

Stress is one of those double edged swords.

A little bit – the sweet spot – and we are prodded into action – to get things accomplished.

Too much and we overload and shut down and possibly freak out.

To me, part of growing up is learning how to harness and manage stress and how to reduce stress when needed.

That’s one of the reasons I meditate.

And yes, many Humanists meditate.

Learning how to consciously calm your mind is a really useful life skill, especially if you are stressed out a lot.

So stop stressing and take the time to learn about Humanist Meditation.  

Go to HumanistLearning.com and check out our online courses in Humanist meditation. 

Scientific Literacy and Health

Yesterday was World Health Day.

Yay – for being healthy.

But let’s talk a little bit about scientific literacy.

I was told the other day by someone considering vaccines, that there were so many studies pro and con and she just couldn’t figure out who was telling the truth.

I was astonished because figuring out which studies are real and which aren’t isn’t all that hard.

The skill required to make sense of competing claims is scientific literacy. 

Yes, this takes a little bit of effort to find out if a report is valid or has any science at all to back it up, but that little bit of effort is worth it.

Saying I can’t figure out competing claims is an admission you are too lazy to figure it out or that you don’t want to because you don’t want your biases challenged.

Regardless, if you want to be healthy – you need to be scientifically literate.

Look it up and learn how to do it. 

We are All Fools

We are all fools.  

Well – I am.  Or, at least I think I am.

There is a ton of stuff I don’t know. And I’m often accidentally, socially inept.

I find accepting the fact that I’m going to make a fool out of myself from time to time frees me from worrying about it.

Being foolish is kind of like death. It’s going to happen. Why worry about it in the meantime.

And in those moments when I do find that I’ve done something foolish, accepting my foolishness allows me to recover from my foolishness gracefully.

I own it. Apologize for it, make a self-deprecating joke and move on.  

And – for the most part, people let me move on. 

Because – we are all fools. 

Patience and Impatience

According to the internet, patience is defined as “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.”

Impatience is the lack of such capacity.

So, am I a patient person?

I don’t think I am but judging myself against this definition, perhaps I am more than I know. .

I don’t get upset stuck in traffic that often.

I rarely get upset when I have to wait in line.

I’m pretty good at just – being when the situation calls for it.

But there are other times when I have no patience.

Like, when I need to pee or when I need to eat.

Or when I’m waiting on my son or husband to collect their things to we can leave the house. 

I suppose it has to do with control.

If expressing impatience can make people move more quickly, I express it.

If I don’t think it can, I won’t.

Interesting that I feel way more comfortable expressing my impatience at my family members and that I rarely get impatient with complete strangers.

I suppose this is why I don’t think of myself as a very patient person.

Because when it comes to the people who actually matter to me, I’m not very patient.

I need to do better. And I also know that if I try and practice patience with them I will do better.

Wish me luck. 

I’ve got a confession to make

God makes no difference to my morality.

This should come as no surprise since I’m a Humanist.

But I thought it was worth saying.

Here’s why.  

If a god or gods exist or don’t exist, it doesn’t matter.

I will feel the same way about what is right or wrong.

My morality won’t change.

The only question is whether this god, whoever or whatever it turns out to be, agrees with my morality or not. 

If we agree – then it’s all good and god won’t care if I don’t worship it as long as I am a good person.

If not, then that’s not a god I would consider worthy of worship.

Soooo, yeah, I guess that makes me officially apatheistic. 

Now you know.