It is silly to assume you should only pursue things that come naturally to you. You must pursue the things you feel compelled to, regardless of initial ability. Fight for it!

I was surprised at how many trick-or-treaters this year were exceptionally polite. "Trick or Treat!...Thank you!" was the norm...well, as far as I could overhear from the couch while my lovely wife did all the manual candy labor. And now, more than ever, I am convinced that common courtesy is a learned behavior. That when I come across an annoying kid, they simply have no good examples to imitate in their life, and therefore, are not expected to live out a lifestyle I prefer. So, they don't. So, three cheers for you parents within a 2-block radius of my house for being great examples of social awareness for your child. But, please... ditch the plastic pumpkin for a pillowcase. Those things hold nothing.

Let's say you're a door-to-door salesman. Newspaper subscriptions or something of the like. Halloween's gotta be your Christmas. From 3-7 PM, your open door rate goes from maybe 2% to 95%. Worse case scenario, you can't close the sale, but you get a Reeses. What a fun day awaits you tomorrow.

Once again, cartoons have confused science for me. In the cartoon world, dairy cows need to be milked constantly or else they'll explode. But, this implies that before their domestication by humans, dairy cows could not have existed. So, do dairy cows only keep producing milk because machines keep suckling it, so their bodies think that they're still nursing?

#16. Abraham Lincoln

Em, G, D

There was a Christian lady in our neighborhood who would give out little cartoon Bible stories to us trick-or-treaters in lieu of candy. This is the equivalent of leaving a waitress a little message that she should repent of her wickedness on the receipt in lieu of a tip. Non-relational evangelism never works. In fact, we sort of talked about that yesterday. But, one could argue that lady was on the liberal side of the Christian spectrum, in that some Christians choose not to participate in the "satanic" holiday at all. I asked my parents about this when I was kid, and they said, "Our neighbors are freely giving out something our kids love. We'd be monsters to keep you caged inside that day." To their credit, I escaped these childhood nights without a conversion to the dark side. But, as a Christian, there's something about hangmen decorations that freak me out. The morbidity of a recently executed human as a holiday decoration simply creeps me out to the point where I don't feel it's appropriate even for a holiday. My question is, is this just a Christian thing? Am I just a step down from the bible story lady in our subdivision growing up? As always, I need consensus to rationalize my lifestyle choices. So, if you're a non-Christian who is creeped out by hangmen, comment below. And if you're a Christian who decorates their home with the deceased, do the same.

Whether you saw an irrate mother cross the line with her child at a grocery store, and you stepped in to intervene, or you saw a friend being an idiot in terms of his career or a relationship and you called them out on it... Has your unsolicited advice ever been received well? I'm legitimately curious to see if we have any success stories among us, but if not, it begs a different question.

I no longer have to try and be polite. It now comes naturally to me. Sometimes I do not even stop and think about what the person I'm holding the door open for thinks about me. I have practiced these small acts of kindness long enough that they have become truly habitual. For those struggling with habitual sins, the battle can be so intense that giving up actually seems like it makes the most sense. But, that's because we only see two options. Giving in to things you know are wrong. Or a daily fight with all your strength and will against those same temptations. But, there is another option. After practicing long enough, the same temptations you thought were going to be your forever nemesis become weaker and weaker. Freedom itself can become habitual. We simply have to unlearn bondage through practice.

#15. James Buchanan
C, G, D

James Buchanan, you're our last hope
we need you to warn both sides of dopes

tell the north that the south has rights
tell the south it ain't worth the fight
or just give up
we'll follow the leader, thats you

pick a side, any side
yell a lot, dont you hide
you're our last chance
before our civil war dance

Whether you know it or not, people take your recommendations seriously. And when you tell someone a movie is awesome, they might dedicate 2 hours of their precious life to seeking out that specific entertainment. You're responsible for that. Take it seriously. Likewise, you have to be careful when taking recommendations from somebody. If you notice this person happens to like every single movie they see, completely dismiss this person as a trusted resource. This person might also claim to like ALL kinds of music. Stay away from them. You will be disappointed.