KEEP SMILING!

Let me introduce Dave to you all. He is a businessman and a triathlet and shares his thoughts in his nice weblog. His mission statement is "'If you smile at me, I will understand cause that is something everybody does in the same language.''

As one Iranian friend (diaries of a steppenwolf) tells about him:

Dave is not a typical American man. One whose first question would be "Where do you come from?" and when asked the same question would simply say "I'm from Miami." Like you should certainly know where it is. No, he's not like that.
He travels the world. The world of different cultures, religions and customs. Just by surfing the web. Yeah, it's the 21st century. He respects other opinions and ideas.

Some of his recent posts include these points to ponder:

"We all think things all the time, but to think in an orderly fashion, to support your thought with reasoning, that takes some time. And it takes an open mind as well, because as we learn new facts and ideas and concepts, the supporting ideas of our thought evolve. If we remain stuck to our original thoughts, we will "drown" in them. Yes, in order to grow, we must be open to discovering the errors of our ways and move on. And if we are to do that for ourselves, surely, we must afford our friends and associates the same courtesy. To afford them the luxury of holding ideas based on their present knowledge, not criticizing them for that, but only sharing new ideas with them so that they, or we, might become larger people with grander ideas. I know many think that tolerance is a form of weakness. I see it as something only a truly strong person is capable of."

"Is it any wonder the average person doesn't like to accept new ideas and concepts? How do you adjust to change? Expect it, throw yourself into it, then change becomes the norm. Learn a bit of a new language. If you listen to oldies rock, turn on hip hop, or country and western. If you like to run, ride a bike, if you like to ride a bike, swim, or bowl , or play basketball. If you like to eat asian cuisine, try a switch to middle eastern, or continental. If you read novels, switch to history or biography. And if you hate anyone, invite them out to lunch!"