My list of "ists".

    I'm a realist. I'm an idealist. I'm also a fundamentalist. Allow me to explain this list of "ists". First of all, realism. Here's what I recently discovered about myself while having a conversation at "In-N-Out". When I comes down to it, I like to call it as it is. For example, if someone is upset with me or there is some kind of tension and I recognize it, I'll take the step and say right out "Hey, what's up with this tension?" I honestly want to know! I mean, if someone is upset with you and you're not talking about it, that's MADDNESS! Seriously, people, stop assuming everything and start asking.
Which brings up the concept of assumption. To be more specific though, to presume. This, right now is the #1 thing that drives me up the wall. There are several types of presumptions. Presuming the worst, Presuming the best, and just plain presuming. I wanna talk about what it means to presume the worst, I'll use myself as an example. I've found lately that people presume the worst of me. For example, a friend of mine had their sweater around the top of their body, but not over their head. You know, like it's around their arms and chest but not their neck and head. She had her hands all pressed up against her neck and was lookin' all cute. So I walked up to her and pressed my hands against my neck like she was. Now, looking back she may have just been messing with me, but she looked at me like I was making fun of her. Before I go any further, this girl is a total sweetheart and wouldn't do anything mean to a soul, she just happened to jog my mind and provide a good example. What I came to realize is that many people simply presume the worst of a situation rather than the best. Instead of frowning, she could have just grinned and presumed I was making a pleasant gesture. Take any example! To presume that the person is making an unpleasant gesture is just a sad way to live!
There are, of course, times when someone really is just trying to be mean. I expect that any normal person would be able to pick up on these instances. I'm talking about times when there is no malice involved, just good 'ol playing around. This concept could even be taken to serious applications. For example, if a friend called and said "Hey, are you going to be home later, because I want to talk with you." Some people would presume the worst. Now, before I go on I know there can be millions of variables here in a friendship. Lets say that this friendship is currently at a non-drama state and as far as you know things are cool. So, what would you do? Would you presume that your friend has a bone to pick with you? Or would you presume that they just want to talk and that's it. You'd be surprised at how many people presume the worst!

Bottom line, I like to say it how it is. If I have a problem with someone, I'll let them know. Not like "Hey, I've got a problem with you so get over here!" But like "Hey, what's up with us? What's goin' on? Do you wanna talk with me about something?" Yeah.. like that :). Don't presume, don't assume, hope for the best. I think if we look at Jesus' life we can see that he generally had a pretty positive outlook on things. More to come later.

-BRiAN