First Montana Orthodox Church of the Honey Badger

Today is one of those days. You know the ones. Nothing major bad has happened but I am just out of gas. Through a lack of sleep, slow progress at work, and working a night shift while trying to get adult business type things done in the day, I am just kind of done. I almost did write today because of the bad mood, at which point I realized...This is the kind of every day B.S. that Honey Badgerism really helps me deal with. Honey Badger don't care what life has to throw at him. Things could be worse, they could be better. The things I am doing now will result in achieving long term goals so there is no reason to give up on making my life better.

A great poet once wrote "You have to go through hell to get to heaven" This is when a deep breath and a meditation on how my life is really pretty awesome in spite of being hard sometimes can really do wonders. That and a good day's sleep.

As the honey badger does after battling a cobra, so shall I do after battling my emotional cobras. 

Today, I would like to discuss a band. Well a song from a band. That song is Passenger's "Things that stop your dreaming." 

First thing I would like to say is the album this song is from is one of the most depressing albums I have listened to, but it is excellent music. Back to the song!

The whole song is about settling into the life you have and accepting the mundane. The chorus goes as such. 

If you can't get what you love, you learn to love the things you've got

If you can't be what you want, you learn to be the thing you're not

If you can't get what you need, you learn to need the things that stopped your dreaming

As you can see, this is some heavy stuff. The versus' are just as heart wrenching. And when I first heard the song, my initial response was one of "Wow that dude is messed up and unwilling to change a damn thing! Sucks to be him!" As I contemplated it more, I realized this has applied to my life at more than one stage and it is hell to get out of that mindset and do what you need to do to change your circumstances. 

I think this is something everyone goes through. I mean we are people and very adaptable. An unfortunate side effect of that amazing adaptability is to accept something that kind of works as the acceptable life path instead of taking the harder road and trying to improve things. Here is the thing. Even if you fail and have to try again, it is better than spending a lifetime wondering "what if" or regretting things and thinking "If I only..." 

This last year has been a heck of a ride. While trying to expand on my views on honey badgerism, I have quit a job I hated, started one I really liked but made no money at, and got another, different job I had no idea about going into, but it turns out I love and make a great living. I have had car issues on 2 different cars and am getting a third, which will be brand new and should run for a long time. I have grown as a person and come to cherish my friends and family even more. Looking back, none of this would have happened without the First Montana Orthodox Church of the Honey Badger. Let's take a look at some events from my life and break it down.

Jobs: Honey Badger Takes what he wants

June of 2013 marked my 5th year working in a call center doing everything from basic CSR type stuff (billing and tech calls) to training people, to being a manager. It had it's ups and downs but overall, I knew in my heart I disliked the work and was only doing it to get by. I made decent money, but there is a point where that simply doesn't do it. So I took a look at the ways of the Honey Badger I had been preaching about and realized I cared far too much what my "friends" and parents thought about me quitting. I cared too much about what would happen to the people I left behind. I was no longer staying there for me, I was doing it for a bunch of people who really wouldn't be affected either way. So I gave my two weeks and decided to work in a kitchen because I love to cook. 

Turns out I love to cook but can't afford to be a cook. So I got a call about a job in the oil fields, and as the honey badger would do, I took what I wanted and left missoula to pursue it. I have loved rocks and geology since I was a little kid. I grew out of it when I realized the world wanted me to be a productive member of society. I couldn't have been more wrong. If I had not thought of the honey badger, I would still be stuck at a dead end job I hated and just getting by. 

Cars: Honey Badger Don't Care

When I got the oil field job, I was driving a Saab that was leaking oil, had no ground clearance, and no room as it was a 2 door. Not really ideal for the rig roads of North Dakota. To get it to the first job, I had to put in a quart of oil every time I gassed up and on my way out, I got a flat tire and had to drive 350mi on a spare "doughnut" tire...when I got it to the shop, it stopped running and the front axel broke. Needless to say, it was a piece of work. So I paid $2000 for a tore up jeep that was just supposed to last me the winter. Turns out the battery was bad and I had to jump it almost every day to start it. I got the battery replaced and then winter really set it. I tried to start it one day and split several hoses and did almost a grand in damages...so much for lasting the winter. I got it repaired and am actually still driving it, but it costs me quite a bit every month to keep it running. To get through the stress of this, I have had to take a deep breath on several occasions and just say "Honey Badger Don't Care" This simple phrase is usually enough to clear my head, figure out what needs to be done to fix the issue and move on. Now, I have had this job long enough, I am in a position to buy a brand new 2014 tacoma, which I am in the process of doing as I type this. Life is good.

Friends and Family: Honey Badger Don't Give A Sh*t

Being gone from Missoula and my friends has strained quite a few of my relationships. It is hard to maintain a large circle of friends when you are never around. I lost touch with many people and at first I was very sad about this. Then I realized that I wasn't hanging out and talking to those people for me. I was doing it for them. While that may be noble and the "nice" thing to do, it can do a lot of mental harm to yourself. I realized I needed to take care of me first before I could be a real friend to anyone else and at this time in my life, it involved leaving town for awhile. When I came back the first time, I realized who my real friends were and how blessed I was to have them in my life. Because of the towns I go through, I get to see my parents on a very regular bases, as well as some friends in other towns I was rarely able to visit before. Turns out that not giving a shit about the people who disappeared was one of the most fulfilling things to happen to me. 

Live

To wrap things up, live life for you. Do what makes you happy and surround yourself with people who want to be around you because you are awesome and not because you happen to be there. 

This is a very human and animal thing to do. We organize by grouping with people who are similar to our selves whether that be physically or by beliefs. The one thing people do that animals do not, however, is learn to recognize people's strengths regardless of who they are. 

We all have our strengths, just like we all have our weaknesses and it gives me hope that one day we will learn to accept everyone based on their strengths and help with their weaknesses on a level that leaves out color, or sexual preference or religion. 

Let's start this post of with a statement. 

I dislike people.

Now, most people I tell that to say things like "But you are so social!" "You like me right?!" and "If that is true, why are you not a crazy hermit man?"

Over the years, I have thought about this statement. I really am not a fan of people in general. I dislike birthdays, anniversaries, and the like. I hate the cliques and stereotypes. I am not a fan of the average intelligence of most of the people I come across, but does this mean I dislike people? I am not so sure anymore.

Let's back up a little for context. I went to public school through the 3rd grade, then I was home schooled by my mom, who has a degree in education.  She felt she could do better than my public school because I was failing 3rd grade reading and testing at a college level anyway. She was right. 

Most of you are probably thinking, "Oh! I get it! He wasn't social as a child and that is where these opinions come from!" I'm gonna stop you there. Never in my life have I had less that 2 close friends in my life. At a minimum. Even when I was home schooled, I went into the world in my spare time to befriend the other kids and have some fun as I have never been shy. 

Over the years, people come and go, however, and new people must be found. After years and years of going through a rotating door of people, you run into quite a few and form generalizations about society. This is where my dislike comes from.

Recently, I have realized that my close group has grown in size and I have many people I consider friends I can count on. People that think like me and people who don't. People of all types are in this group of friends that have gathered around me like a warm blanket. 

This made me think, "Maybe I have become social and like people now..." but as I look beyond my group and widen the scope, that just wasn't true. So I decided to take a new job and get out of town for a little while, "Maybe it is the area I am in," I thought. And I have found even more friends and people to be around. 

This has helped me to see it isn't "people" I dislike, it is society. The people I have ended up disliking for one reason or another are those that are trying so hard to fit in with this group or that group that they lose who they really are. They actually become afraid to be themselves for fear of the judgement of their peers or for fear of who they really are. 

This gave me a new found sympathy for people and that is the moment The First Montana Orthodox Church of the Honey Badger became so important to me. I envisioned these people being overcome with cobras and slowly succumbing to the venom, but never killing them and waking up to enjoy their feast.

Becoming free of your mental cobras is easy for some and a life long battle for others, but I respect everyone for at least trying. And if you need help battle those cobras, here we are. A group dedicated to letting you be you. A group for a better world, a better community, a better you.

May you devour all your cobras friend! Huzzah!