This is not all there is

This is not all there is
This is the preschool
The tryout
The practice workout
The warm-up lap
The staging area
The dress rehearsal
This is the temporary residence
The camping tent
The womb
The glimpse
Only the seen, the heard, the imagined
The visible tip of the iceberg
The vapor which appears then vanishes
This is just the beginning
This is not all there is …

And as if that weren't enough ... !

When they aren't asking questions
They're making suggestions
And when they're not doing one of those
They're either looking over your shoulder or stepping on your toes
And then as if that weren't enough to annoy you
They employ you.
Anybody at leisure
Incurs everybody's displeasure.
It seems to be very irking
To people at work to see other people not working,
So they tell you that work is a wonderful medicine,
Just look at Firestone and Ford and Edison,
And they lecture you till they're out of breath
And then if you don't succumb they starve you to death.

Ogden Nash

Who Runs Your World?

Do I really have that much free time??!! Mmm … This was not done on office hours anyway :) … and I really liked the survey … It raised again these human diversity thoughts that I’ve been wondering about lately.

Here it is … BBC presented this program and launched an online survey for people to send their comments and opinions about who runs their worlds …

I’ve read the comments. But what’s more crazy than this is that I was not as much interested in answering the question myself as I was by the diversity of the answers! It's overwhelming! Note that more than 90% of the people who commented are from the UK; so the diversity is even within the same society.

So I’ve read them just to compare them and ponder on the differences between people … and when the idea of blo22ing the thought came across my mind I decided to sort them out (the comments) and tag them :) … Not that I care if it is gonna be read by anybody on The Blo2; but I found it interesting enough to me anyway.. So if you started reading and you decided it's boring already just press Back or Alt+F4, I don't mind.

All what’s after bulleted points is copied from the online survey. The headings are mine.


Me! … answer number#1 ! ... Ego proves the center of the universe!!

• I run my life. I don't consider my government to hold any authority over me. Whatever power the government has over me is minor and truly not very significant in terms of what really is important in life.

• I run my world! Everything I do in my life is my choice. I choose to go to work to earn money to pay my bills to keep on the right side of the law to respect my family and friends and to keep learning. As long as I have choice, I run my life!

• I run my world, followed by money as a close second.

Media, Companies, Governments, and all those valid conspiracy theories:

• The media runs a good portion of the world.
  
• Companies like the major soft drinks manufacturers and petrochemical producers hold governments in the palm of their hand. Governments in turn keep us all firmly beneath their thumb or heel, depending on naive beliefs in freedom and democracy to gain compliance from an accepting majority.
  
• The simple truth is that the corporations run the world.
  
• Robert Murdoch and the Carlyle Group
  
• International agencies (World Bank, IMF, etc.) or powerful foreign governments (US, EU) control the lives of most people on this planet.
  The multinational corporations do. Politicians have a very much peripheral influence in these modern times when everything is sacrificed to the goal of maximizing profits for the larger companies, their owners and shareholders, no matter what the cost to the environment or human quality of life is.

Money … and the Rich … a common answer

• It's safe to say that money runs my world.
  
• Money or lack of.
  
• The world is run by the people with the most money
  
• The wealthy throughout the world are controlling and choking the life out of humanity.

Family,Wife,Kids … another common answer:

• It is my family.
  
• Our wonderful three month old daughter, without a doubt.
  
• A power-sharing pact between mum and girlfriend
  
• I used to think it was me, then I got married and it was my wife, then my son was born and now it's him!

Sexes:

• Right now I would have to say men. Women haven't really had an equal opportunity to influence the world such as man has. Still today men are continuing their dominance in the world.
  
• Women, pure and simple. When I was a child my mother ruled me, and before I had my child my wife ruled me. Now my daughter rules me. As far as my memory of my family history goes, it was my grandmother who ruled my dad, and my other grandmother who ruled my mom and her dad.
  
• The three 'm's: Men, money and media.
  
• Thank god women don't rule the world.
  
• Women obviously rule the world; it is clear from the number of men who do not realize that that they are doing a good job.

Nature … would make some sense these days:

• Nature runs my world. I try to respect and adapt to the environment. Katrina shows that no matter how much we try to bend the environment to our needs, nature still has the last say.
  
• Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, global warming and other natural disasters should make it clear that humans control over the conditions of their own existence is very limited

GOD!! ... Only ONE out of more than seventy answers !!

• It is Jesus Christ my God.

Our own tragedies rule the world:

• Long term illness coupled with intolerance from our so-called "society" seems to run my world.
  
• My world is run by the nexus of corrupt bureaucracy, politicians and businessmen.
  
• Three things run my world, the bills, my wife and my kids. As a middle class family the bills are always more than we can earn, but we survive with 2 full time jobs.
  
• I think it's the lawyers and judges who run it. They hold power over everybody, bar none. A judge or a magistrate can order child support to the tune of half of your earned income; they can separate you from your child, and make you into a marginalized father and second class citizen all in a blink of an eye. And lawyers are, of course, their cohorts.

Fear, Fate, Hatred rule the world

• Fear runs my world.
  
• Chance, some would say fate, runs the world.
  
• It seems as if hatred, greed and stupidity rule the world

Sarcasm rules the world!! :)

• Isn't it a real pity that all the people who know how to run the world properly are just too busy cutting hair and driving taxis!
  
• Sad as it seems, my 11-month-old yellow lab. My wife and I do not have any children (yet!) so we decided to give it a test run with a fur-kid. She basically runs the house and our lives. I never understood how people can be so obsessive about pets, until we got Buffy. We have become that annoying couple who can talk of nothing but "our little girl". We try not to, but I can understand, finally, how much more children truly rule parents lives.
  
• This is actually a meaningless question.

Where is your candle?

They asked me where is my candle..

I said my candle has gone off; the strong wind blew it off just after it started to light brightly. The glow didn't go far when suddenly it was gone. I couldn't fight back the wind, neither did my candle. It was just blown off in silence. if u really want my candle light to shine again, please lead me on to a burning fire, to light up my candle.

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They asked me again where is my candle..

I said my candle was stolen while I was walking by lighting the dark street with it. I was trying to light things up for everyone, but a selfish soul took it away to capture the light just for itself. I am looking for my candle, I miss my flame. If you really want my candle light to shine again, please find the thief who took away my candle, and punish him for all the dark that came.

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They asked me again where is my candle..

I said my candle melted... Yes it burnt all the way through and was all melted down now. It shone for a long time and led others for a good way to go.. It melted because it was burning constantly, everyday and every hour. If you really want my candle light to shine again, please remember the times when it was glowing brightly, and the road will lighten up at once. I am sure all the light didn't go in vain

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They asked me again where is my candle..

I said I don't know, I never noticed my candle, I never knew its light was that obvious. How did u know about my candle? How could u see the flame? I didn't care if it was lit or not, and now u ask me about my candle? I can't help you my friends, I have no clue about my candle. If you really want my candle light to shine again, please search for it with me and help me make it light for once.

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They asked me again where is my candle..

Believe me when I say I never owned a candle, never held it in my hand, never knew I should have a candle and never thought of fetching for one. If you really want my candle light to shine, please get me one and teach me how to light it up!

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Where do you keep your candle?!

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Lillian Girgis