Quick Hits: Start the year you want now. Freedom looks different in each state. Never stop playing.

• Happy New Year! Alright, I know it’s not January, let alone the first day of the year, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make a fresh start beginning  today. Last year, I pointed out that each one of us should celebrate our own New Years Day on our birthday, turning a reminder of age into a celebration of growth. Maybe that doesn’t appeal to you, but the point is, no matter what time of year we’re in, you can start doing something with it. Just because it’s April and you haven’t kept any of your resolutions, or reached any of your goals, or done anything amazing yet, that doesn’t mean that all of 2013 is worthless. Don’t waste another day. Start over right now.

• The grass always looks greener on the other side, doesn’t it? For example, if you want to be free to use grass, even medicinally, then you might want to move to Alaska. Maybe California, but not necessarily if you’re looking for an open labor market to move into. Each state, in it’s own way, opens a gate, or tears down a wall, or finds some way to get out of the way of its occupants and lets them live without interfering. Arizona trusts each resident with the freest gun laws in the country. Oklahoma is a great state to homeschool your children. South Dakota has the lowest tax burden. What do you love about the state you live in? What would you change?

• One of the best ways to stay young is to never stop playing. Find new and old ways to make life a game. Playing helps us through the difficult times, and it brings friends together. Even if it’s doing something incredibly silly. Like forty-year-old men playing a two decade old game of cross-country tag together. Being “it” is a big deal to some people.

Too afraid to be free

Alright, I’m not trying to flog my vacation. Really. I’ve already posted enough about the trip, but something interesting came up while we were away, and it triggered a bigger issue that I feel the need to address. After this week, we’ll have a California-free zone.

During the trip, I posted here that we would be out of town for the week.  I also made a few quick personal updates to Facebook* during the trip. After the third update, it happened.

Hey, are you sure you want to let everyone know that you’re not home?

You want the world to know that your house is vacant and ripe for break-in?

Now, they were just looking out for my family’s well being, and I’m not knocking them for showing concern. The media has issued warnings about this. There are stories on the Internet. I certainly don’t want our home to be robbed. That would suck.

Our house wasn’t vacant, though. We’d asked a friend to house-sit, because we didn’t want our house to be empty for a week. But we would have done that whether or not there were media warnings and Internet stories. It’s just common sense.

What really frustrated me about my friends’ comments wasn’t that they were concerned. It was that I had had the exact same conversation in my head before I’d finally forced myself to post. And again right before I had written each update. I was tired of fighting with the fear.

Fear doesn’t prevent death. It prevents life.

– Unknown

As a private, introverted person, I don’t share as much of my life and my thoughts as I should. Convincing myself that I should let my guard down this one time, despite my fears, was a chore. It always is.

Fear is convenient. It’s easy. We are able to fall comfortably back on it when an opportunity presents itself that will require us to stretch and grow. When there’s risk involved, fear is an excuse always within reach.

We’ve been hurt before by friends or lovers, so we won’t allow another the chance to do the same. We put up walls, quickly find fault, and extend no grace when a new person enters our lives. We deny ourselves community, family, and love just to avoid the potential of pain. Out of fear.

We’ve been attacked for our beliefs before, so we remain silent and avoid the conflict. Our faith is hidden safely away, practiced behind closed doors so the world won’t be offended. Ideology suffers a similar fate, never to be challenged, confirmed, strengthened or softened. Out of fear.

Again and again, in circumstances too numerous to imagine, fear rises up and we instinctively respond with the safe, easy answer. That’s disappointing, because we need to take risks. We need conflict. We need to engage each other, do new things, challenge ourselves, and grow.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

– Benjamin Franklin

The minuscule chance that my house might be robbed is a terrible reason not to share the amazing and mundane experiences that I get the privilege of living through, no matter what the medium.

The friends that I’ve lost in pain have saddened me. How much should I be saddened by those who I’ve never had the opportunity to know out of fear of pain?

And my faith touches every part of my life. Hiding it is an offense to my Lord and Creator.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:6-7

Stop living in fear!

(On a similar note, the very tiny risk that your child might be abducted by a nefarious stranger is a terrible reason to seclude them and deny them the opportunities of childhood. Stop spreading this paranoia to the next generation!)

Question: What experience are you denying yourself because you’re afraid of failure or pain? What have you done despite your fear that led to something awesome in your life?

*(As an aside, on Facebook I just friend people whom I’ve physically met with only a few exceptions. You can request, but please don’t be offended if I decline.)

[first image, modified from original, credit]
[second image, public domain]

Quick Hits of the Week

• This past Tuesday was the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and of course I’ve got some thoughts. First, I have one very good friend with a birthday on that day, and I’d like to wish him a belated happy birthday. Hope this year’s was better than the previous 10. I’d also like to share some perspectives on things we can learn from that day and the months and years that have followed. Kevin over at Nitty Gritty Dirt Man writes about a visit to the memorial site and what we can learn from it. It makes me want to visit NYC again, just to go there. Ken at Popehat contributes with his list of ten things that he wants his children to learn from 9/11. The whole list is excellent, and deserves your attention. Honestly, I don’t like everything that this nation has become after that day, and I don’t see it getting better anytime soon.

• “If you want to change your life and the world, it’s the grind.“

• I love freedom, so I’m against vaguely worded and enforced obscenity laws. I love Jesus more, so I recognize that pornography isn’t a good thing for my (or anyone’s) relationship with their wife. Pornography hurts. I’m not interested in making it illegal, but I am interested in protecting myself and family from it. You can, too.

• If everyone to hold the office of President were to enter a no holds barred mass knife fight to the death, who would win? We may never know, but I find this young man’s analysis as plausible as any. I disagree with his final conclusion, though. The obvious last man standing would be Chuck Norris (warning: naughty words).

Is there something valuable or important or cool or funny or weird or awesome out there I missed this week? I can’t hit it all, but you should let me know about it by dropping me a line or sharing it in the comments below! I’d appreciate the heads up.

Quick Hits of the Week

• This was one of those posts that I needed to see this week. Honestly, I get worried that it’s too late to move to a new career. It’s too late for me to start a small business. I should just be thankful for the good things I’ve got and forget about the best things I could have. Just when those thoughts had worn me down, Jon Acuff reminds me that it’s never too late for the best that God is calling you to.

• I’m done with debt. Once our house is paid off, we’re done. No more car payments. No more mortgages. Definitely no more credit cards. You might not agree, though, and that’s alright. I didn’t always agree with me either. So, if you want to have a credit card, be smarter than I was and educate yourself about how they work and how to use them wisely. Let Jeremy Salvador start the ball rolling with the good and the bad of using credit cards. Don’t become another bad credit statistic.

• The fact that the author made this out to be a such a high risk activity that it could pose “a potentially fatal threat” is really impressive. I don’t think they needed to go there. In fact, it made the article less credible. Look, if you are over the age of two, you shouldn’t pee in the pool. You’re not going to kill anyone, but it’s gross. It’s like peeing on the seat. Stop it.

• Immigration is a powerful issue in this country. I lean towards having a more open system, and allowing people to come and go more freely. We need to really be aware of the unintended consequences of having a closed and complicated system for immigration. Tony Woodlief points out a good example when he writes, “the last thing I want to do is empower police officers to begin stopping and detaining people based on how they look, or their accent, or the condition of their papers.” It’s not that I want people to feel free to break the law to come to the US, but it doesn’t surprise me that they do given the lawful system that we have in place.

• Y’know I usually think I’m pretty good about following the tenth commandment. That’s the one about coveting other people’s stuff, by the way. I’m not usually a big covet-er. Then someone goes and builds themselves a giant Rubiks Cube coffee table and ME WANT. WANT SO BAD.

  …then I get over it.