Finish the day and be done with it…

October 31, 2013

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I saw that saying by Emerson on the wall of someone’s cubical recently and it struck a chord with me. While it would be a mistake not to learn from yesterday’s blunders and absurdities; it would be a bigger mistake to waste one’s time dwelling on the past, rather than moving on in life with a fresh and positive outlook. So much of the pressure and worry and fear that we experience in life is self-inflicted, conjured up in our imaginations and not really based upon facts or what is really happening around us. Much of that negative energy comes facing new dayfrom dwelling on the past.

So let us resolve to start each day at peace with ourselves and those around us; carrying no baggage from yesterday; but, rather, focused upon the wonder and hope that each new day brings. Start out happy. Start out positive. Start out open and friendly to new ideas and new people in your life. With a start like that, you’ll go far. And when you finish today, be done with it and look forward to another fresh start tomorrow.

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Posted by Norm Werner

What counts for you?

October 29, 2013

 “Not everything that can be counted, counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”  (Albert Einstein) – from the Jack’s Winning Words blog.

Einstein was a very smart man in more ways than many associate with his name. Today’s saying attributed to him is from the metaphysical side of Einstein and not the scientific world that we normally associate with him.

Certainly things like compassion and empathy, thoughtfulness and thoroughness, integrity and professionalism are all things that count in business and in life that can’t really be counted. If you have those things, people will say that they can count on you.

What traits do you value in others that maybe can’t be counted, but which count to you in your relationships with them? How many of those things do you count in your own life? What other things count to you? Do people who know you or do business with you know that they can count on you? That’s what counts!

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Posted by Norm Werner

Hallowen fun in MIlford, Michgan

October 27, 2013

Jimmy in drag-2I had diner at Hector & Jimmy’s last night and what a frightening experience it was. We were greeted at the hostess stand by local restaurateur Jimmy Eggl, replete in a wedding gown from Gina’s Bridal in Milford.  I forgot to ask Jimmy who did his hair and makeup, but his shoes appeared to have been supplied by Nike.

All of the wait and bar staff were in costume with most dressed in a theme for the evening of Alice in Wonderland characters.  I’ve seen worse than Jimmy in drag, although I have to go way back to days when I’d frequent bars until the wee hours, when almost everyone still there at closing looked a lot like Jimmy in drag.Jimmy in drag - 1

I have to say that Jimmy’s gown looked lovely and if Gina can make him look that good just think what she can do for a real bride. Jim owns Hector & Jimmies, Gravity and The Bar in Milford and is an all-around good guy and a good sport when it comes to Halloween.

Tonight was the Milford Boo Bash. It rained for the first hour of the Bash, but the kids still turned kid in ghost costumeout in droves to walk Milford’s Main Street and get candy from the merchants. What a great local tradition!

Milford is  a great place to celebrate Halloween. Kids find the grid pattern streets to be easy to navigate  and houses are close enough together that they can hit quite a few homes in just a few blocks. We usually get between 80 – 100 kids at our house on a good Halloween night. I’m looking forward to it. I just hope it warms up a little, so I can sit out on the from stoop and pass out candy with out freezing.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Make a Difference…LIKE someone in person

October 25, 2013

From the Jack’s Winning Words blog comes this post –  “The happiest people are those who help others.”  (Scott Pelley)  The 4th Saturday in October is Make a Difference Day, a day for doing things to improve the world around you.  Here are some things that people have done…go to a park and pick up trash…rake the leaves in your neighbor’s yard…volunteer to work in a soup kitchen, or go to a thrift store and offer to sort clothes.  Making a difference can make you happy!    😉  Jack

helping old ladyIt’s great to have a day set aside to celebrate the acts that people do to make a difference in the lives of others; but I think it would be more impactful if people would just resolve to make a difference every day. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go do something physical for someone else, like raking their leaves or working in a soup kitchen every day; however, it does mean approaching each day and each person with the attitude that you can make their day better somehow. Sometimes that might just be holding a door open for someone or just wishing them a great day. Just the fact that you acknowledge them in some positive way can make people feel better.

The good news is that helping others or making others feel good about themselves also makes you feel good about yourself. Happiness is very contagious. You can’t help but be happy when you make someone else happy. Try it. If you make someone else smile or laugh or just be happy, you’ll find yourself smiling and feehelping handling good, too. The easiest way to do that is to reach out to others. No one is gong to come up to you and ask you to open a door for them or to thanks them or to say something nice to them. You have to make that effort; but, once you do, you are sure to be rewarded with some of that contagious happiness.

As a society we have become fairly insular, perhaps because of our focus upon technologies that tend to isolate us from real contact with people and make everything a screen-based experience. It’s hard to notice the people around you who might benefit from an act of kindness if you are absorbed by the latest Tweet or Facebook post. I sometimes think that helping othersthe people posting requests that you” Like” them on Facebook are really crying out for help. Somehow getting a Like on Facebook is not as rewarding as getting a soft “Thank you” in person from someone that I just helped or acknowledged.

So, put away the smartphone for a while and see the world around you. There are people out there that you can actually LIKE in person. Maybe you can even help them with something. They’ll feel good about that and so will you.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Reading the histories of lots of Milfords

October 23, 2013

Did you ever wonder every now and then about other towns around the world that have the same name as the town that you live in? I do. So below is a collection of links, admittedly hastily compiled,  that will lead you to several other places named Milford. I live in Milford, Michigan; which is a relatively young iteration of Milford, given the oldest Milford on this list goes back to about 500AD in Wales. The newest one on this list is out in Utah. There are several in the New England area, as you might expect. Some of these are fairly dry accounts and some have very rich histories to relate.

The histories of other cities, towns, boroughs and villages called Milford. Arranged generally in chronological order of when the places were established. As one might expect there is a common thread through all of these histories, since all of the locations were on rivers or streams where water power could be used for transportation or harnessed for power.

Milford on the Sea , Wales, United Kingdom – http://www.milfordonsea.org/#/the-village-history/4533907218

Southwest Wales, Milford Haven – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Milford_Haven

Milford, Delaware –  http://www.cityofmilford.com/index.aspx?NID=166

Milford, Massachusetts –  http://milford.ma.us/pages/boards-committees/historical-commission/milford-history.php

Milford, New Hampshire –  http://www.milford.nh.gov/about-milford-nh/history/how-milford-came-about

Town of Milford, New York – http://www.townofmilfordny.org/town-history.html

Milford, Ohio –  http://www.milfordhistory.net/slide-view/slide-5/

Milford, Pennsylvania – http://www.milfordtownship.org/2009/mt_hist/history.html

Milford, New Jersey –  – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford,_New_Jersey

Milford on the Delaware, New Jersey – http://visitmilfordnj.com/Our_Town.html

Milford, Maine – http://history.rays-place.com/me/milford-me.htm

Milford, Michigan – http://www.milfordhistory.org/milford_history.html

Milford, Utah – http://www.onlineutah.com/milfordhistory.shtml

For much more on the history of Milford, Michigan, please visit our Historical Society web site – www.milfordhistory.org

 

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Posted by Norm Werner

Have no regrets…

October 20, 2013

“Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.” (Victoria Holt)

Regret is one of those human nature things that are hard for many to let go of, just like self-doubt. Some may mask the term in other words, like “Monday morning quarterbacking”; however, that Monday morning look back only has positive value if it is used as a way to glean experience and not as an opportunity to wallow in regret.

Although the quotes of athletes is often derided as being full of cliques; there is much truth in many of those cliques about looking ahead and not back or putting things behind them. Professional athletes know that they cannot dwell in regret over every loss. They try to learn from those setbacks. They spend time in the film rooms reviewing a blown play or a missed opportunity to see what they can learn from them.

women looking at direction signLife is full points in time where decisions were made that might have been made differently. Some of those times turned out OK and we seldom think back on what might have been, had we taken the other choice that was in front of us at the time.  But, sometimes things didn’t turn out as we had planned or thought that they would and we tend to look back and see (or find) those decision points where we might have done it differently, especially if we knew the potential outcome. Well, we weren’t prescient and things turned out the way they did. Let it go. Move on. If you must replay the film in your mind, at least treat it as a learning opportunity and not an opportunity to beat yourself up.

In the Frank Sinatra song My Way, about aging he has a line – “Regrets, I’ve had a few; but then again, too few to MrHappymention.” The song goes on to extoll the virtue of moving on and doing things in life your own way. At the end of the day, the main regret you will have if you let things get you down and you spend time in self-abusing remorse, is that you’ve wasted another day. Life’s too short to throw days away.

So, rather than spend time regretting things; let’s all think about the words of another song, this one by Bobby McFarland – “Don’t worry, be happy.”

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Posted by Norm Werner

Getting ready for Halloween…

October 17, 2013

Halloween devilHalloween has become the second largest holiday as far as sales of decorations and stuff to celebrate the day, right after Christmas. It’s a fun holiday without a lot of patriotic, emotional or religious trappings. One could be tempted to say it’s a holiday for the kids; but, that would ignore all of the Halloween parties that adults seem to like to dress up in costume and attend. For me Halloween has somehow come to symbolize the passing of another year. I guess it’s feeling that we might be enjoying the last gasp of whatever decent weather we’ve had and that it’s then time to head into winter.

kid in ghost costumeIn the Huron Valley there are also some fun events in advance of Halloween night. On Saturday, October 26, the downtown merchants of Milford host the 7th annual BOO BASH! This wonderful event finds the streets of Milford filled with pint-sized superheroes, goblins and zombies as the children parade in costume by the front doors of the downtown stores. Merchants fill their goody bags with candy. The event runs from 5 until 6 PM in Downtown Milford.

After the BOO BASH in Milford you might want to load up the kids and take them over to the Carl’s Family YMCA for Halloween at the Y. Kids are encouraged to come in costume. There will be activities and refreshments from 6 until 8 PM.

Or you may wish to load the family up and head to historic Fisk Farm in White Like (off M-59 in front of Walmart) for Fright Night at Fisk Farm. The North Oakland County Storytellers presents these chilling tales that are sure to bring goose bumps to your neck. Scary stories begin at 7 PM with even more frightening tales starting at 8:30 PM and lasting until 9:30 PM. Of course if you are the type who likes to do it all, you could hit all three of these events that evening. You would probably have one tired little goblin in tow by the time you finished.

halloween costumesThen on October 31st there is the annual  Fun on the Farm: Halloween Party at the Kensington Metropark Farm Center at 10 am – This program is especially for the little ones. It’s time for toddlers to trick or treat all around the farm. For more information of this event and all of the things going on in the Milford area for Halloween go to my web site www.movetomilford.com.

Milford is one of those little towns that are laid out perfectly for trick or treating. Milford’s trick or treating normally runs from about 6:00 PM (5:30 for the really little ones) until 8 PM; with the last hour primarily for the older children and local teens that still go out. We normally get between 100 and 150 children at our house on Halloween night. On warmer nights in the past,  many of the neighbors actually sit out front and pass out the candy. So stop by if you’re out with the kids trick or treating on Halloween and say hi! I’ll be on the front steps passing out candy.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Ghost Hunters come to Milford

October 16, 2013

A special General Membership Meeting of the Milford Historical Society is scheduled for this Thursday, October 17th and will take place at the Milford Library.   The Milford Historical Society and the Milford Library have join forces to bring the Motor City Ghosthunters to Milford.

ghostTheir Motto is “Let us drive away your fear of the paranormal”  With 30 years of experience the Motor City Gohsthunters deliver an extensive range of professional services and support at absolutely no cost to their clients.  The group truly believe in what they do and will show evidence of that.  There are believers and non believers,  Who knows?  Maybe this can change a few opinion’s  Are there really paranormals?  We hope you come and just enjoy the evening with the MC Ghosthunters.

 

You may visit their web site at http://www.motorcityghosthunters.com/home.html. They have an extensive library of videotaped experiences on ghost hunting trips, including one to Battler Alley in Holly, Michigan.

This meeting does not have a Potluck dinner. The  evening will begin at 7 p.m. at the Milford Township Library located at 330 Family Drive. So come and learn about the paranormal things that might be happening right here in Milford…maybe in your own house.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Supporting Team Huron Valley – Special Needs Event

October 12, 2013

October is Special Needs Awareness Month and there is a local event coming that will help families with special needs members understand what programs might be available and what protections under the law they should be aware of.

The Family Aging & Law Center is hosting a special event at Baker’s of Milford on October 20th from 2 until 4 PM. This educational event will focus upon the laws as they pertain to those with special needs. If you are a caregiver for a special needs person, you already have your hands full and not knowing the rights and programs that might be available under the law just doesn’t make sense.

Local attorney Nicole Wipp of the Family & Aging Law Center will conduct a workshop – “Planning for the special needs of your family: Designing a legal strategy for a lifetime of protection, guidance and love.” – about  the various laws and programs that might be able to help provide needed services or support.  Click here to view the event poster.

All proceeds and donations from this event will be given to support the Team Huron Valley drive to send its Special Olympics team tot eh Special Olympics National Athletic tournament in New Jersey next June. The local team needs to collect $6,500 in order to be able to go and participate in this event, a first for the local team.

In addition to Nicole Wipp, there will be venders and government agency representatives with displays at the event who can answer your questions about various programs and services that are available to caregivers of special needs children. If you are a vender or government agency that wishes to participate, click here for the form to sign up for the event.

So plan on attending this event to learn more about caring for special needs family members  and to support a great cause – sending Team Huron Valley to the Special Olympics Nationals in New Jersey. For more on Team Huron Valley, visit their web site or visit their Facebook page.

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Posted by Norm Werner

How do you look at things?

October 11, 2013

“Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”  (Wayne Dyer)-  from my daily read at the Jack’s Winning Words blog.

What an easy saying to do a blog post about.  Taking a positive attitude about how you look at things will make things look positive. I suppose the opposite is true, too; which is why pessimists see so much to be unhappy about in life. This is the classic cup half-full or half-empty conundrum.

If one doesn’t look at a challenging situation and see negatives and problems; but, rather opportunities and solutions; then things don’t look so bad. I guess that also applies to looking at people. If one looks for faults or ugliness, you will probably find things that will drive you away. If you look beyond a few faults and find the good and beautiful that is somewhere within everyone, you may just find a friend.

looking afraidSo, how do you look at things when you start each day? Does the day look long, dreary and unappealing to you as you start out or does it appear to hold opportunities to meet fascinating people and achieve great success? The fact that you woke up with another opportunity to live a day, should serve as a positive start to the day, if you think about it. Days are like blank slates and what ends up written on that slate at the end of the day is up to you.

If you should encounter someone who is angry or maybe down, you can look at that happy to be aliveencounter as something to be avoided or as an opportunity to help. There is something behind the anger or depression that you are seeing and sometimes what the person is really trying to do is to find someone else to share that something with, so that they can start on the road to healing. You can be their emotional first-responder, a human aspirin (as the lady on the HAP commercial on TV says), so to speak. You may be amazed how much better that other person will feel (and look to you) after spending a few moments talking with them. You’ll also be amazed how much better you may feel for having taken the time to help.

So try to change the way you see things – see opportunities rather than roadblocks, see the beauty in people rather than just the faces that they initially present, see the wonder of the world around you and not the day-to-day ugliness; and, by doing so, you will change the things that you see.

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Posted by Norm Werner

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