Take my advice. I'm not using it.
OLD WISECRACK
The purpose of this blog is to give me a platform to say what I think while giving everyone else the opportunity to ignore it. The vast majority of the English speaking world does not care what I have to say about anything. This is not a bother to me whatsoever. What does bother me is my conscience. I watch a lot of people do stupid things to themselves. Except for this blog, I don't say a word. What I have to share is a hard sell which virtually no one wants. Here is a list of those hard sells.
HARD SELLS
1. Roman Catholicism
I have one convert to my credit. He went from a nominal Baptist to being a nominal Catholic. I have no clue why he even wasted my time asking me to be his sponsor. The only positive thing I can say is that he is always one confession away from getting right.
The most valuable thing I have to share is my faith. Nothing has made my life better than being a Roman Catholic. Many have seen the difference it has made and continues to make in my life. No one cares to follow me on this path.
The number one reason to become Roman Catholic is to not go to Hell for eternity. You can see why my conscience can trouble me on this. I don't want Hell for anyone. Yet, most of the people I meet and know want Hell for themselves. There's not much I can do for these people except pray for them. I stand at the ready to assist them in becoming Catholic or returning to the Church. No one is interested.
2. Thrift
I don't have any sophisticated schemes for making people rich. The fact that I am not rich should be a strong indicator to not look to me for such advice. My only wisdom on money is to practice thrift in all things and at all levels.
Everyone believes they are thrifty. They aren't. This is self-delusion. I see people running up credit cards to buy toys they don't need and can't afford. They eat out almost daily, and they give you a look of disgust when they find out you buy clothes from the thrift store. Inevitably, they feel the pinch of their spendthrift ways. They can't pay their bills which leads to whining and crying. They live in perpetual anxiety over their money woes. Yet, they never take the hint to live a thrifty lifestyle.
3. Plant Based Diet
The vegan diet is the hardest sell I've got. People would rather die than eat a vegan diet, and they will. I have convinced some people to try my 3 day vegan challenge, and everyone who did reported feeling better. None of them stuck with it. YouTube is replete with ex-vegans giving up the diet and declaring it to the world. One of those ex-vegans ended up with a widowmaker heart attack at the gym on his meat and eggs diet. Even that was not enough to make him return to plant based eating.
99% of the population reject a vegan diet. They always will.
4. Hydration
This one really floored me, but people tell me that they never drink water. They drink soda, coffee, beer, iced tea, whiskey, sports drink, and on and on. They reject plain water. They would rather be chronically dehydrated and unhealthy than drink water that has nothing in it.
I crave water. This is because I need it to live and function. I assumed that all human beings were like me on this, but they aren't. They would rather go without than drink plain water. I find this staggering stupidity to be amazing. It is straight out of Idiocracy.
Those are the hard sells. I know those things are DOA. Nobody is buying what I am selling. The result is an overwhelmingly large number of people who are broke, unhealthy, dehydrated, and destined for eternal damnation.
Not everything is a hard sell. Here is a list of easy sells.
EASY SELLS
1. Fitness walking
I don't preach about walking except here on the C-Blog. Yet, people take inspiration from me and others to take up walking for their health and fitness. It really is amazing to me. I think people always want to get fit, and walking is just too easy not to do.
2. Almond milk
No one wants to be vegan, but they love almond milk when they try it in their coffee or cereal. Most of the people who quit my vegan challenges stick with the almond milk. Almond milk is also a brisk seller at our grocery store. This is because almond milk tastes much better than regular milk.
3. Skipping college
I have been talking about this one for over 20 years now, and people are listening. College is a waste of time and money for the vast majority of people dumb enough to load up on student loan debt to go there. Even STEM majors are waking up as many of them can't find employment that justifies the heavy debt loads they will carry for the rest of their lives. A college degree was thought to be a first class ticket to a comfortable middle class life. The reality is that it is a one way ticket to debt slavery. Go to trade school or do an apprenticeship. Blue collar is back.
4. Christmas
Most people I know are functional atheists. They believe in God, but He has no place in their lives. These people don't go to any kind of church or read the Bible. But they love Christmas. Despite the efforts of Puritans from yesteryear and atheists today, Christmas persists as a permanent part of our culture. Once a year, people change what they are doing to acknowledge the birth of our Savior and to be kind to one another. I will take it.
Those are the hard and easy sells. Why are the hard sells hard? Why are the easy sells easy? I think it comes down to comfort and pleasure. People don't want to do hard things. They don't want pain and discomfort. In the long term, they will find that pain and discomfort accumulated and waiting for them. This would be a heart attack, a kidney stone, a repossession or foreclosure, and even Hell itself. People are their own worst enemies on this stuff. There is one thing I can accept and need to accept. These people know better, and it isn't my fault.
