Episode 19 ... Don't Give Up or You'll Be Down

“There’s a way that seems right unto a man, but the end of it is destruction.”

In our podcast, Cring exposes an approach to life that quietly dismantles all of our desire to participate.

TRANSCRIPT

You assume. You see. You know. Now, that’s a damn complete package, am I right?

Of course, you have to do that “assume” thing. It’s a preliminary look. A first crack. A curious conclusion: “Let’s see now…what do we have here?”

But once you assume, you want to SEE what you’ve got:

“Let’s go see what we’ve got!”

“Somebody check the freezer! See what we’ve got!”

After all, there’s no need to see until you know what you got.

You see. You have peepers. Your eyes bring you available information, which makes you a person in the know. That’s you—a person in the know.

Because after you assume, and you see, and you know, you’ve done it all. Right? You have reached the limits of your capability. Rather than being at the mercy of chance, sorcerers, prayers and other people’s intervention, you have encapsulized your life by using your sense and ability.

Sensibility. There’s the word. That’s what they always wanted you to be when you were young. “Be sensible. Have some sensibility.”

The ability to use your senses, to garner the answers you will need in life. So, if this is so effective, why are people so fucked up? I could use another word.

I will. Why are people so fucked down?

After all, nobody who’s ever screwed is up. The screwing makes us go down.

Our self-esteem is gone. Our hope is depleted. We become cynical.

We certainly don’t want to hear about anyone else’s success, so we surround ourselves with individuals who are equally as boring as we are. They, too, are the victims of the philosophy of “assume, see and know.”

It was supposed to be enough to launch us. Yes, launch us on our career.

B-Z-Z-Z-Z-B-Z-B-Z-B-Z-B-Z-B-BZZZZZZZZZZ. (What you just heard was the fizzle of your launch.)

Man goes to Wal-Mart. Why? Because that’s what men do. Lots of women there too. He goes because he needs an air conditioner. He lives in South Texas. It’s hot. Really hot. Some people say it’s a dry heat, but if it is, it still makes me wet.

Yes. Dry heat makes me wet. Sweat, sweat, sweat, sweat.

So, the man goes to Wal-Mart and he wants an air conditioner. Therefore, he has to assume some things. That is, the dead of summer at a Wal-Mart in South Texas…there probably won’t BE one.

Now, I realize there are whole truckloads of human beings who think that being negative about possibilities is the best way to be mature.

And then there are people on the other side who are waiting for their Unicorn to take them home to Jesus.

These two camps collide a lot.

But I, for one, cannot figure out why it is pleasant to assume that what you’re going to do is probably going to fail before you even begin.

Some people assume it so much that they never GO to Wal-Mart.

Some people CALL Wal-Mart and get Benji, the token mentally challenged employee, who does not understand the question, nor have any information on air conditioners, but instead, tells you on the phone that he loves you…and hangs up.

On the strength of Benji’s response, you assume that Wal-Mart is air condition-less.

Some people sit around and assume, with others, that such a trip should be made, but for some reason, this hardly seems the day to do it.

And the ones who actually make it to Wal-Mart, who drag their ass across the parking lot and into the store, are pretty well certain there will be no air conditioners.

So, when they arrive on the row and they SEE that everything has been picked over, they just might leave.

“I went. I saw. I failed.” (I think that’s what Julius Caesar said. “Weedi, Weeki, Wacki.”)

Other people take it a step further, not satisfied just to see. They want to know so they ask an employee. It is a little-known fact that part of the charm of Wal-Mart is that employees … know nothing.

Because Wal-Mart decided it would be impossible to teach all of their employees to be knowledgeable, and not wanting to disappoint a few, they decided to disappoint everybody.

You’ll get an answer, but usually…

“Air Conditioners? No. I think we’re out of them.”

You often get the same response about milk, cheese, bananas and Wal-Mart employees.

“Are there any Wal-Mart employees here? Nah. I think we’re out of them.”

It is at this point that you, who assume there might be a problem about an air conditioning unit but braved the trip to see if there might be one left, and spoke to one employee, hoping that he might know, now decide to leave the store without an air conditioner.

It is now time for LIFE 101. I hope you’ve already had this lesson, but if you haven’t, welcome to the class. If you’ve already had the lesson, but need to brush up after years of ignorance, then lend me your ear.

LIFE 101: Find out what you must have and don’t settle for anything less.

Can you live without air conditioning? Then don’t go to the store.

Do you desperately need the air conditioning? Then don’t leave without an answer.

How do you do it?

There is a different approach, you know. Just in case you thought that I was trying to promote “assume, see and know” or that I was trying to depress you into believing that you are a victim of circumstance—a fly on a journey to find your particular space on the fly-paper—you can ASK.

Asking is realizing that what you assume might be stupid. We still have people in this country who think the color of skin has any importance whatsoever.

They assume. They could ask others. They could say, “Hey! Do you think black people are as stupid as I do? Do you think Hispanics are all thieves?”

I’ll bet you they would get some interesting answers. I’ll bet they would be enlightened. But people don’t ask until they get tired of assuming.

Arriving at Wal-Mart, the first place you should go is Customer Service. Why? There’s no reason to go back and view an empty shelf and get discouraged.

Ask to speak to someone who is in charge of that department. Why? Because he will not be assuming. He will be fully aware of the situation. He might even know of an air conditioning unit that’s stuck in the back which they haven’t put out yet. Benji would not be so informed. Benji could tell you what type of jelly he had on his sandwich at lunch.

But if you want to get away from the problem of “assume,” you’ve got to ask, and you’ve got to ask the right people.

So what happens? The guy in charge, the woman in charge of the appliance section tells you they’re sold out. But you see…now you’re talking. Now you can seek.

Not just see. Seek.

You can look him or her right in the eyes and say, “Thank you so much for checking that out for me. Would you mind calling some other Wal-Marts and finding out if they have it? I don’t want to inconvenience you, but I also don’t want to drive all over town if there’s nothing available.”

You might even give him a five-dollar tip. Or her.

Because now we’re into the process of seeking.

You find a nice chair, get yourself a cherry Icee and wait to see what they find out. Meanwhile, you’re cool. After about twenty, thirty minutes, they come back and say, “I’m sorry. The only one that’s available is about twenty-five miles away.”

You respond, “Is that all?”

So, you ask for one final favor. You KNOCK.

You ask your new partner to knock with you. “Would you call them back and ask them to hold that one? Because I’m on my way.”

Now it’s an adventure. You thank your seeker profusely, as he or she knocks on the door and gets it lined up for you.

You climb into your air-conditioned car.

And three hours later, you’re hooking up your magical unit in your house.

Or you can assume, see and know and come back to a hot house–grumpy and unable to enjoy your life because of your circumstances.

Do you see? This is a serious difference.

This is not about believing in God or going to church or having a salvation experience. This is about the fact that you know the hell how life on Earth works.

Ask. Seek. Knock.

Or assume, see and know.

Here’s the good news: ask and it shall be given to you.

Here’s the better news: seek and you will find.

And here’s the best news: knock and the door will be opened to you.

The Kingdom is WITHIN

Buy Now!