Wednesday, August 16, 2017

THE OOPS FACTOR (No 2)


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Becoming a victim of oops can lead us to delude ourselves.

Deion "Prime Time" Sanders, outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, is the only athlete to have hit a Major League home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week. Sanders grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would-be athletes spurred him to make a success of himself. He explains: "I call them Idas. 'If I'da done this, I'd be making three million today...If I'da practiced a little harder, I'd be a superstar.' They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners. When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn't went straight to the streets and never left. That moment after school is the moment we need to grab. We don't need any more Idas. 

We can claim to be honest when in reality we are hurting rather than helping an individual; compassion should never go out of style no matter what the reason given.

But then we can claim to be a master of tact when in reality we are a master of waffling.

Confidence can easily become arrogance.  Humility can lead to servitude. 

And when we with honesty see our weaknesses we need to be sure we do not fall back on oopism.
 
Today, circa 2001, too many don’t even say oops, they are too busy blaming everyone else for being the oopser. 

Accept responsibility for wrong actions?  Not on your life.  “I’m sorry, it was my fault.”  Not in an America that is on a suing binge. 

 Indeed, it’s become almost un-American not to sue at the drop of a hat, or the crunch of a fender. We’ve become a nation of professionals at the game called blame.  And yes, it’s a national crisis.  Or worse than that, it’s amoral, because far too many no longer even think it’s wrong. 

And worse still, if this refusal to accept personal responsibility doesn’t stop, we’ll lose the very freedoms our forefathers fought for.   If it doesn’t stop, we’ll have to change the words on the Statue of Liberty to read, Give me your tired, your poor, your about to be sued huddled masses.

            “Love they neighbor as thyself,” proclaimed Christ.  And too many reply, “I will – just as soon as I sue them for all they’re worth.”

            “Oops,” cries the pregnant teenager.  “I should have had a mother who loved me better and taught me more.”

            “Oops,” explains the high school dropout, “I should have been provided with better teachers.”

“Oops,” cries the businessperson who had just stretched the truth to make an extra buck.

Oops is an after thought.  An inner lying machine that lets us recycle and rewrite an event that we would prefer to forget.  And every time it happens I think I hear Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

The problem with oopsism is that it corrupts the soul.  It is dehumanizing.  It reduces moral conflict to no conflict at all.  Men and women who practice the not-so-royal art of oopsism walk over people and ignore people.  Of course, they do so because they think they are never wrong and therefore act as if they are never wrong.

 QUOTES FROM
SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING
(Serialization of One of Neil’s book that can be found on his other blog Wyrick’s Writings)

COMES TO CALL?
I almost drowned once. It is a terrifying experience. One gets very used to breathing. I had taught swimming in summer camp. Passed the Red Cross Life Saving course. Water-skied 50 miles an hour. Now I found I could not even stand to have the water flow over my face when I took a shower. 

So I had two choices. Give in to my fear or fight it.

I fought it. Stuck my head in a few inches of water in a basin for five seconds, then ten and finally a minute. I kept working on my private demon until one day, six month later, I was behind a ski boat with ski rope in hand. I was filled with panic, not just fear. I skied anyway. I fell and did not drown. I began to overcome the anxiety.

I refused to have a love affair with fear that could have become a permanent downer. Did I completely conquer my fear? No. Was I better off than if I had given in? Definitely.

----- ------ ---------- A number of years ago two scientists conducted an experiment with a sheep. They tied a piece of wire around the leg of a normal sheep in the midst of other sheep. Then at regular intervals they would send an electric shock through the wire making the leg twitch. The sheep’s behavior remained normal. He ate well, slept well, acted quite nicely, twitching appendage and all. Then the scientists added another factor.

They began to ring a bell ten seconds before they administered the shock. Within a very short period of time the sheep began to demonstrate all the symptoms of severe anxiety neurosis. His eating habits went from bad to worse. He couldn't sleep. He took to avoiding the other sheep. He became highly nervous and agitated.

It is the same with all the people who every day promise themselves it is going to be a bad day, and then work very hard at making their prophecy come true.


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Some recent topic titles on his other blog, Wyrick’s Writings are:ONE LOG ON A FIRE, TWO JOLLY GREEN GIANTS; LOVE AND FORGIVENESS, WISDOM IS.WHAT IS HAPPY,60 PLUS AND NOT HOLDING
 
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A  Quote FROM Rev. Wyrick’s 9TH BOOK “THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN”

It is one thing to know what should be done.  It is always something else to do it.  Surmise then that his Bible knowledge offered motivation-thoughts such as “Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom.  Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”2
         
      Part of his education would today be called survival school.  As in all pioneer families, the possibility of disaster was never far away.  There were no guarantees when a farmer walked out his door come morning time that he would come back through that same door when dusk arrived.  Abe once killed a hundred snakes no more than a hoot and a holler from the family doorstep.
 
The thick, dark woods held bears ready to attack and Indians to scalp.  Homesteaders early learned to sometimes walk backwards rather than forwards.  That way, an Indian up to no good, coming upon footprints on the forest floor, would be confused as to which way his intended victim might be going.  Even in church every man had a rifle by his side while others outside stood guard.
 
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 BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…
         
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