Ale for the Soul

Most people, however much interaction I may have with them, by and large under-estimate me.  This may play out in interrupted conversations with the other person's assumption I lack the necessary experience or practical, first-hand knowledge to sufficiently deal with the situation at hand.  Or the social transaction may take on the form of talking down to me, again assuming because I'm not quick to voice the educational training and knowledge or whatever personal opinion I have, that I am ignorant, slow-witted, or flat-out stupid.  Where or how people develop this opinion and treatment of me is foreign, groundless, and baffling to me.  Getting treated like this, effectively getting underestimated, is frustrating and offensive, but I often combat this source of contention by strategically acting in the very same manner people already think of me.  In other words, for personal amusement and a ploy against other people's mindset, I act naively to passive aggressively counter-a

A recent burden of my soul is how much time I waste in non-productive, non-essential activity.  With all the projects I desire to undertake and complete, to say there aren't enough hours in the day is a slap in the face of reality and is not a plausible excuse.  To make this illogical rationalization denies the true nature of reality...I am a time-waster!  Time is a precious commodity which can not be recycled or replenished...it is a non-renewable resource.  Too much time spent on the Internet or driving in my vehicle around town performing "perceived" chores wastes huge amounts of time.  Once time passes, neither time nor lost opportunities can be recaptured.  May I become ever-cognizant of time as it flows through my hands, redeeming it for worthy causes and the many fruitful projects at hand. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren,