Perceiving truth

In the search for truth, one must be careful not to get stuck on a single perception, but rather, must keep an open-mind. I think it's very easy to fall into a certain belief and then reject all things that contradict that belief. Does this inhibit the search for truth? I guess so. If you are focused on one belief you invest more energy in protecting that belief rather than searching for truth. I know I'm rambling again but I realize that I've fallen into such a trap many times. O well, just a thought.

I have something to admit that I'm not exceptionally proud of. I feel and think that I've been a bad friend. A little insight on the situation.... my friend Sami is in hospital. To not reveal too much, since it involves a personal issue, I will not reveal why she is there, but the point of the matter is that she is. I have not visited her or even called her. My excuse? Oh wait, yes.... there isn't one. I feel bad about this... as I said, I had to admit something that I was not proud of. Ash and Brooke have gone to visit her (for whatever reason, I was not invited) but why should they even have considered inviting me? After-all, I didn't even call Sami to see if she was okay. Is that friendship? Does that demonstrate concern for anyone other than myself?
In the past few days I've just been procrastinating, lazing around the house. At no point in my inactivity did I even think to call a friend of mine who has always been there for me. Is that friendship? What have I demonstrated here, other than a wholesome lack of compassion... a lack of feeling, as my grandmother would call it.
In truth, I've been involved in a long-running forum discussion that has had me enthralled. And while lost in the heat of the debates I find myself in, I forgot about those most important. I feel awful about this. I feel as though I have betrayed someones friendship. Why should I expect to receive Sami's support, as I have in so many times of need, when I fail miserably to give her any in her times of need?
Here I am, claiming to be a personalist, and yet I mistreat my own friends. Here I am claiming that people are what matter, and yet failing to show why.
I'm sorry Sami. I'm sorry for failing you as a friend.
My New Year's Resolution (I know it's late) is to live-out my personalist perspective in my life, and to hopefully... truly demonstrate an appreciation for the people in my life- my friends, my family... because it's these people, these people, who are always there for me. In turn, I should be there for them.

"Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist; it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges. What's gotten in the way is the theory that says there is one right way to proceed with growing up. That's an ancient Egyptian idea symbolized by the pyramid with an eye on top-- everyone is a stone defined by its position on the pyramid-- it signals a worldview of minds obsessed with the control of other minds, obsessed by dominance and strategies of intervention to maintain that dominance."
- John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down