Every story—every comic book, movie, novel—has a point the author wants to make. Authors write with more in mind than just a plot. Authors want to give readers a larger idea that can only be told in the form of a story.

Some call this larger idea "philosophy". Plato's Cave was a philosophy embedded into a story. Jesus's parables were Judaeo-Christian values embedded into stories. But, these neither strengthen nor bolster everyday life skill. We need philosophy and morals, but we also need cold, hard street smarts, people smarts, and marketable skills. Each is different; keep yourself balanced.

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Conflict demands a choice. The incredibly boring, typical, anything-but-special choice is to fight for domination—to prove others wrong, then make them remember by rubbing their faces in it. It's all about the principle, after all. The other choice is to help, lift, educate, inform, explain, and even do the heavy lifting yourself—a choice which isn't so popular.

The difference can be found in results. Societies don't improve where people only win fights. Sometimes we need to ruffle feathers, but what about after that? Once you've stirred the pot, will you dump on your dinner guests or serve them?

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It's one of the hardest things to hear: "You keep losing because you do bad work."

We work so hard, but it still doesn't cut it. We learn, we improve, but no one accepts our work. God told Cain, "If you do good work, it will be accepted," but He never promised that it would be accepted by everyone. "If not," He continued, "sin is right their waiting for you and you must master it."

Few things make us angrier than our hard work being rejected. If you can keep improving without complaining, you'll have been approved by hard times.

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Bullies are scary. It's even scarier to stand to them. But, whatever tantrum a bully throws at those who stand up is a mere fraction of what bullies do to everyone when left unchecked. It is far scarier to think about destruction trailing a bully who daily and hourly receives the message from the world that anything goes.

The world needs truth. Truth is the one thing bullies fear most, and they return the most wrath for it. It's hard to know when to stand up to a bully and when to be diplomatic. So, just stand up for truth.

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Results move the powerful segment of society that responds powerfully with their own results. When they see a thing happening, they make something else happen in turn. Results is their language.

If you deliver bad results, the result-speaking population will get frustrated with you, then make a change. That change will have results that you might not like. But, you won't be able to argue with results because results don't talk back; they result back.

Living by results is a value. Once someone stops arguing and starts "resulting", that someone has joined the ranks of the "resulting". Results overpower all.

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Don't complain too fast. Don't blame the owners of a problem. The very people we complain to surely know about the problem already. They might not even be responsible for it, and there's a good chance that the only reason they haven't solved the problem is from lack of help.

That's the tricky part. People in the middle of solving sticky problems are usually defensive for good reason. Don't expect a welcoming ceremony. You'll likely need some diplomacy to give help to the very people who want it most. But, it's worth it. After all, we're all in this together.

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Nothing lasting comes from borrowed steam. Just how no one should steal someone's thunder, no one should loan steam. It's a hard pill to swallow, even harder to prescribe.

You need problems. You need to be abandoned to fend for yourself. You need to grow stronger from the struggle. You need the credit, kudos, and valor that come with winning your own victory. You need to owe nothing to anyone after your own hard-fought revolution. You know how hard that is to hear.

You need to tell that hard message to others. Anything else cripples people into dependence on you.

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God is the God of what? Every moment, ask yourself how God's character answers the questions in front of you. Who God is has more relevance to your situation, even now, than anything else anywhere.

Today, your life may know Him as the God Who Heals or the God Who Protects. You may be getting to know Him as the God Who Rescues or the God Who Raises Up and Tears Down or the God Who Gives and Takes or Who Teaches or Who Encourages.

Whatever becomes of your life, everyday, look to the different aspects of Who God is.

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In times of bullying and conflict, people tend to go crazy. The most avid defenders of rights and liberties melt in the face of fear. "We must join our oppressor," they say, then add, "He's too big to stop and we don't want to lose anything more, but don't call him an oppressor."

This is the evangel of cowards. They don't want to lose their comfortable lives. They fear what they might lose without seeing that they will lose it anyway. And, they never consider that siding with the invading oppressor is treason. They fear what matters least of all.

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Freedom of navigation exercises are ingenious. Where there are contested waters, but recognized internationally as international, a country may sail its warships through just to keep the habit of sailing in free waters whenever, wherever we want.

Exercising a right is one way of retaining it. If someone opposes, exercise the right more loudly and more often. Habit and familiarity enforce laws and rights without having to say why. Where there's conflict brewing, sometimes the best way to preserve the path to peace is to keep the path beaten down by walking down it as often as we possibly can.

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One of the worst things we can do is help people who don't want it. The Good Samaritan must help the injured victim on the road, of course without question! But, helping any old chap who only needs help because he refused every chance to help himself doesn't make anyone a Good Samaritan.

Unneeded help has the effect of making people dependent. Before you help someone, first ask yourself if your help will result in more independence or in more dependence on you. If the result will mean someone can't live without you, it's better to leave bad enough alone.

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When Frankie did it his way, he took the blows for it. Expect the same. Valiant men and women get beat up because valiance stands for what it believes. Those who cower get crushed eventually anyway, but overcoming fear of the present with greater fear of the alternate future is another discussion.

If you believe a thing, you'll get assailed for it. Don't whine and complain when you do, otherwise people will doubt your faith, history will ignore you, and whatever you stood for won't matter anymore. We all get beat up; it might as well be for standing up.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXRO0mfdETI

We can't wait forever. We shouldn't wait forever. Preparation has an end. And, that end is the beginning. It comes when it chooses to, whether we are ready or not. It waits for us; we don't wait for it. The beginning chooses its time, lending us opportunity to be as ready as we want. Once it's here, we no longer can be because the beginning starts whether we want it to or not. We don't have a choice.

Watch out. Look out. Read the signs and times. Heed the warnings and read the waves. Prepare yourself to dive in ready.

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Separation and polarity may be the only path forward. That's not the most preferable way, but it's all that's left when people can't reconcile their differences. God hates divorce, which doesn't mean He disallows it, but that He hates whatever cause makes it necessary.

As our differences mature, don't think the battles are lost; they're only growing up, you along with the other. Your focus must be on choosing the right side, which always includes choosing the path of learning from the word rather than the rod and long-term, sustainable victory. Gauge your path carefully; every loser thinks he's right.

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