What time is it? Life time!

February 21, 2017

“Time is free, but it’s priceless.  You can’t own it, but you can use it.  You can’t keep it, but you can spend it.  Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.”  (Harvey MacKay) – source: the Jack’s Winning Words blog, of course. Jack went on to mention that there’s a famous Walter Payton quote: “Tomorrow is promised to no one.”

As I get older, time become much more precious and much less taken for granted. That’sworking against time why I often write about not wasting time on regrets about yesterday or worrying about tomorrow. That is time that you could be using to do something today. As today’s quote says, time is priceless; it is more valuable than money, but it is also fleeting. You need to invest your time wisely. If you do, you will get a return on it and that return will be the good feelings that you end the day with, having done the right things with your time.

Like a good investor, you need to do some research first, to see what things there are out there in which to invest your time. You have no charts or weighty market studies to read, but you do have your Bible and perhaps spending a little time with it and maybe with the Arthur will help you see what you need to spend your time upon. reading-bibleThat’s not to say that you won’t end up going to work and putting in your hours there; but a few moments of quiet reflection each morning might help you remember why you are putting in those hours and the important people in your life that the money which you make supports. Sometimes it’s hard to see your daily job as being God’s work; but it can be if you see it in the right light, as part of God’s larger plan for you.

So, take a few moments of your time each morning to thank God for giving you another day and think about how you will invest the time that you have been given. Yohelperu may have to give 8 hours to a job and you may sleep for another 8 hours; but, that still leave you with 8 hours that are totally yours to invest. If you choose to do nothing with those 8 hours, you will likely get nothing in return. However, if you find a way to use that time helping others, serving others or volunteering for others, you may find that the 8 hours you need for sleep come more easily and the feelings that you have at the end of the day transcend just being tired, because feeling satisfied makes being tired feel better.

Tomorrow is promised to no one, so make the best use of today. Got to go. I’m out of time.


Put it behind you and get on with life…

February 18, 2017

“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

Too many of us don’t heed the words of Emerson and start each day with a heavy load of baggage from the past. Those who can start each day with a “that was then, this is now”baggage frame of mind have a huge advantage in life. The absurdity of clinging to the past is demonstrated in the ads for Let Go, the web site for selling stuff that you don’t really need anymore. A person dangling over a cliff but stubbornly holding onto a bowling ball is no more absurd than us carrying around the worry or guilt about something that has already happened or may happen some time in the future. There is little that we can really do about either, but they both could consume immense amounts of our time and energy.

It is important that we move sad memories of losses of loved ones from the front of our minds, where they may weigh us down, to a place in the fond memories section of our minds, where we can revisit the memories of good times as often aas we’d like.  Worry and fear about things that may happen in the future need to be placed in little metal boxes and put aside to be opened and dealt with, should any of those things come to pass. Mistakes made yesterday need to be assigned a place in our mind’s knowledge base under the lessons learned category.

It might be helpful to end eacerasing-blackboardh day by putting away the things that you’ve been thinking about or worrying about or regret having done. File a place to file them in your mind or resolve to discard them, but don’t keep them for tomorrow. Those things, those mistakes, those doubts, those losses are over, so let them go. They are so yesterday. Erase them as you would a blackboard at school. Tomorrow you start with a clean slate that has yet to have any failures or successes written upon it.

Perhaps using a standard little business trick might help. The first step is to write down those things that you are carrying around with you from the past. Then prioritize that list from most important to least important. Then work your way down the list, using the thought process:

  • Is there anything that I can do to change this? (If it is in the past, the obvious answer is NO)
  • If I can’t change it, is there any value in keeping it in mind?
  • What can learn from this to help me in the future?
  • How can I let go of this?

Just going through that process may help you put the things on your list in the right perspective in your mind. It will, at a minimum put a less emotional and more rationalwoman-praying light on them. If you feel that yo still need a little more help in dealing with them, remember that God is always right there, ready to offload any burden that you want to give Him. The serenity that Emerson mentioned may be found in the act of prayer and the decision to let’s God’s will for you to prevail.

Have a great and unencumbered long weekend. Put all of yesterday’s nonsense behind you and get on with life.


Be the best you in existence…

February 16, 2017

Every now and then I go out and look for quotes about a theme that I might want to write about some day. Such was the case today when I decided to write about being yourself. Today’s headline come from a quote by famous inspirational trainer and speaker Zig Ziglar – “You will make a lousy anybody else, but you will be the best “you” in existence.”

So, that kicked off a whole series of quotes about being yourself that I found to bedepression2 inspirational and I hope you do, too. I particularly liked this one as a starting point for thought and discussion – “Be what you are. This is the first step towards becoming better than you are.” – J. C. Hare & A. W. Hare. Too many of use try to be what we think someone else wants us to be, sometimes to fit in and sometimes because we think that is the key to success and sometimes just because we don’t yet like ourselves. The first step towards being the best you that you can be is to drop the mask and abandon the fake persona that you have been hiding behind.

It is likely that all of us want to improve and be a better person than we think we are right now. The first step is getting real about what and where you are now and perhaps the walking mandirection in which you are heading, which I wrote about yesterday (see Do you need to change direction) . About your current state and the direction that you are currently taking, a quote from Hardy D. Jackson seems appropriate – “Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.”  Sometimes the “it” that quote is referring to your job, sometimes to the relationships that you are in right now or questionable friendships that you may have . If you look into your own heart and cannot see that they are right for you, then it might be time for a change. According to Carl Jung that pause to look into your heart is critical because, as he says – “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” So, look into your heart and awaken the real you.

As you are looking for, and awakening, the real you that is inside you, deep in your heart; maybe the words of Howard Thurman will help – “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Once you have looked inside and come alive the words of Dr. Suess will finally make sense to you – “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

Once you have freed your soul of the shackles of trying to be someone else or to be what you think someone else wants you to be, you are free to heed the advice of Parkenham Beatty –

“By your own soul, learn to live

And if men thwart you take no heed.

If men hate you have no care.

Sing your song, dream your dream,

Hope your hope and pray your prayer.”

 At that point you are well on your way to becoming the best you that you can be – the best you in existence. I think then you will find the words of Oprah Winfrey to be meaningful for you, too – “I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does she think she is?” Now Ithis-is-me have the courage to stand and say, ‘This is who I am.’”

For those who seek guidance in the Bible, visit 1 Corinthians 15:10 – “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” Stand up proudly and say “this is who I am” and then be the best you in existence. You’ll feel better about yourself and others will start feeling good about you, too.I’d like to meet that person someday.


Do you need to change direction?

February 15, 2017

“If we don’t change directions soon, we’ll end up where we’re going.”  (Prof Irwin irwin-coreyCorey) – from the Jack’s Winning Words blog. Jack went on to write a little about Professor Irwin Corey, who died recently at age 102. For those who don’t remember the Professor, here’s a link to one of his appearances on the show Late Night with David Letterman in 1983 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CsdRGbQPr0 .

Every now and then our lives can get as nonsensical as the Professor and we need to step back and take his advice. Fist we may need to clearly see where we are going and decide if we really want to get there or continue in that direction. The bedrock upon which AA and NA and all of the rest of the self-help programs that seek to aid people in changing their direction in life is recognizing that you have a problem and making the conscientious new-way-forwarddecision to change direction. All of the programs are really there to support that decision and change in direction your life.

In order to clearly see the direction in which you are currently headed and then make a rational decision about whether to continue along that path, it is important to be temporarily at peace and free of the distractions of your daily life. For many, those moments of peace and focus come during the times when they stop to pray. For some that is a rare occasion, but for many that is a daily time to pause, empty you mind of other things and have a frank discussion with God and with man prayingyourself. Some call it soul searching, you may call it meditation or whatever. The point is to temporarily let go of the things that clutter you mind and focus upon what it is that you want out of life and whether the path that you are on will take you there or not.

Sometimes when you meditate on your life you may have to admit that you’re off on a sidetrack, perhaps totally distracted by the urge to make money or to achieve some goal that will bring you temporary pleasure. Those may be the times that you need heed advice that I wrote about some time ago and say “so what”. So what if you get that next pay increase or that promotion. Will that really make you happier and take you another step to what you want out of life?  Most sidetracks on the railroad lines end up at a dead end and so will you, if you don’t change direction sometimes.

We become so consumed by the pace and requirements of our day-to-day lives that we goallose track of the goals that initially set out to achieve or the dream that originally launched us on our journey. No one sets out to work until they drop or to ignore their family and friends in pursuit of more success at work. They just end up with their heads down charging full speed ahead so much that they miss the turns and changes in direction that are needed some times to reach their ultimate goals in life. Neither does anyone really define their goals in life purely in terms of money or position. People who take the time to really reflect on their goals in life tend to use terms like happiness or fulfillment or usefulness or love to define their ultimate goals.

So, perhaps it is time to take the Professors advice and find a quiet moment (maybe in prayer) to assess if the direction that you are currently headed in will get you to where youwoman-praying really want to end up. It’s almost never too late to change directions, otherwise you will end up getting to where you’re going. If you do take that time during prayer, you might find the directions that God can provide for you to be the ultimate GPS system for your journey. Just like you do in your car, use prayer to reset your destination and then listen to the directions that God gives you.

I’ll see you along the way.


Put on a special face…

February 13, 2017

In today’s edition of the Jack’s Winning Words blog there is this little quote – “Without wearing any mask that we’re conscious of, we have a special face for each friend.”  (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

Jack went on to write – I’ve read, “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still likes you.”  Come to think about it, God is like that!

We tend to use the word friend a bit loosely these days; maybe it’s because of Facebookgirls hugging and the requests that we make for someone to “Friend me”. I don’t think we really put on a special face for each of the people on our “friends” list on Facebook. Those special faces are reserved for people with whom we have a real friendship, such as that described by Aristotle – “Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” 

Today we might classify those people as or BFF’s. Do you have friends like Aristotle described; those with whom you share such a bond that it’s like your two bodies share one soul?

We sometimes use the term soul-mate to describe those with whom we share our lives and; indeed, for most those are their best friends as well as beingpraying-together a spouse or partner in life. Marriages (partnerships) that last a lifetime have that longevity because of that ability to share your soul.

There was a term coined for the phenomenon that Oliver Wendell Homes was describing – his/her face lit up when he/she saw her friend. It’s that joy of the shared soul of the friendship that shines through in that moment and becomes the special face that we have for each true friend. For most of us that manifests itself as a smile. It’s an uncontrived and spontaneous display on our faces of the love that we have for that friend.

gods-hands-2In church services there is an oft-used line from Number 6:24-26,  “may God’s face shine upon you.” Perhaps that is what Jack meant when he wrote “God is like that”. When God is your friend, He shares his soul in our bodies and it shines through on our faces. If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, nothing will.

So, put on a special face. God is sharing his soul in your body and that is somethingsmiling-sun to
smile about. How can you not have a great day? Let’s God’s soul that dwells within you shine through on your face.


The struggle to be you…

February 11, 2017

In a recent post to his blog – Jack’s Winning Words – Jack Freed shared this quote – “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.”  (Rudyard Kipling)

We all struggle to some extent with the need to be an individual while living within the “tribal” space defined by our society. One could look to the TV show Alone to see the consequences of really living outside of the support system that the tribe (society) provides us all. Even in that TV reality series the contestants were allowed to take with them some of the things that are only available to us all because of the societies in which we live. Still, the conclusion that all of the contestants eventually come to is that they’d much rather be back with the tribe.

For most of us the struggle to retain an individual identity within our societal structure does not involve being isolated in some far flung corner of the world. For the most part, our decisions about what we should or will do involve the decisions that we make about obeying or ignoring the rules of that the society has put in place, which we call laws. Most of the time obeying the laws is a no-brainer, since many of them were put into place to defaced-traffic-signprotect us from some common danger or to provide some common good for all. Sometimes obeying a specific law may seem to be a personal inconvenience, given whatever circumstances brought you to the point of having to make a decision about obeying them or ignoring them.  Stop signs, no turn on red signs and don’t walk until you are told you can walk instructions are examples of widely ignored rules (laws) that people make conscious decisions to ignore from time to time.

Religion is another area in which we make conscious decisions about what to accept and what to ignore or at least not honor in our everyday lives. The “tribe”, in the case of religion, is the church or denomination of the church. Each separate denomination has created its own set of rules and interpretations of the beliefs upon which religion is built. Perhaps the church was way ahead of the current administration in Washington in its use of the concept of “alternative facts”. Even the Bible, upon which all of the Christian christian-denominationsdenominations base their beliefs, has been subject to repeated changes and interpretations by various tribes within the Christian religion. There is a common core of beliefs that runs throughout Christianity; but, upon that core various tribal split-offs have imposed their own set of rules and interpretations. There is Yiddish proverb that I saw on Jack’s blog that probably applies to that – “God created a world full of many little worlds.” Maybe that proverb was created to describe the fragmented little tribes that Christianity has evolved into.

I think the little saying that we started with today was referencing the need to maintain some level of individual thinking and decision making to avoid being swept away by society (the tribe) into something that we may not want or with which we may not agree. When we are young children, we tend to “learn” how to fit in and do what is right by watching others and imitating them. We certainly get lots of advice from parents about what is right or wrong and whether how we are acting is good or bad.

At some point in our growing up phase (sometime pre-teen but almost always in the teen Gothyears) almost everyone hits that point where they start to rebel against some things that they are being told to do or about being told how to act. For some that rebellion may manifest itself in their appearance and for some in their choice of friends or behavior when in tribal (societal) settings. For some the rebellion never really takes hold and the mantra of “go along to get along” becomes their way of life. For all of us, the need to continually make personal decisions on the choices that life presents means that we are forever evolving as individuals.

The struggle to find your own identity is always going to be a balancing act between the things that you accept from the rules of the tribe (Society) and the things that seem important enough to you to cause you to go against the rules or mores of the tribe, or at least a part of the tribe. That’s where the Yiddish proverb comes in handy. It turns out that we don’t live “alone”; we live in lots of little worlds or tribes and we may even be able to be members of several of those tribes (worlds). In today’s worlds there is an attempt to define membership in simplistic terms such as “us and them.” Members of each little disagreement2world try to compartmentalize one as for or against something and allow little to no room for a middle ground. The decisions about which worlds to live in are what we struggle with to define ourselves as individuals. Those same decisions contribute greatly to what we call character in people.

Perhaps, as you struggle with defining what being you means, the most helpful thing to keep in mind is that being you and having your own opinions about things is not necessarily a matter of right and wrong. It is a matter of making personal choices for yourself. Others may, and will, make different choices and you need to accept that this is OK, too. If you look for them at all, you will see that, even people with diametrically opposed views from yours on some things, at the same time share many of the choices that you made when you accepted membership in the larger tribe (society) that you both live in. We have a term for accepting the differences that may exist without rancor – civility. If you extend civility to others, you will likely receive it in return; and, you will find that you can still be an individual within the context of the tribe.

Being a member of the tribe (society) need not overwhelm you, but it does provide some useful boundaries and guideline about what is acceptable and not acceptable behavior, if one wishes to remain a member of the tribe and not to be alone. Young people in their explainingrebellious phase often experience hard bumps into those boundaries and learn lessons about life “the hard way.” We all will continue to bump into laws, rules, ordinances, restrictions and other barriers to doing whatever we want to do as we age. If we are civil about those encounters we will likely be able to find a way to be happy as individuals and stay within the tribe.

Have a great journey on the trip to discover who you are. Maybe I’ll see you along the way. Stop in and visit my little world.


Share in the dream – help build an Angel House

February 8, 2017

If you could save a child from a life of sex slavery or forced childhood marriage would you? How about if you could help save 50 children from that fate?

There are places in the world (too many places) where poverty and ignorance lead people into human trafficking, mainly of young girls, but also with young boys. One of the most dangerous places on earth to be a child is India, where abject poverty leads too many people to sell their children into slavery or into arranged childhood marriages that doom them to a miserable existence and rob them not only of their childhood but of any dreams that they may have had for their lives.

Two local people, John and Lisa Schiller have had a dream for many years to do more about john-and-lisait than just feel sorry for them. They have a long background in providing foster care of children in need of the love and discipline of a stable family environment. Now they are in the process of realizing a long-held dream to do more. They are behind a project to build an orphanage in India as part of the Angel House program there, which provides safe refuge for hundreds of children across India.

angel-house-logoThe Angel Hose that John and Lisa are building will begin construction in June of this year and is scheduled to open in the first week of December. Once it is built and open the on-going maintenance and operational costs will be picked up by a local church in India. John and Lisa plan on traveling to India in December of 2017 for the opening of their Angel House and to meet the 50 children who will live there.

Building the orphanage is a big undertaking financially and John and Lisa can uswoman-prayinge your prayers and financial help. You can see more about the Angel House Program please visit their web site at http://angelhouse.me/. To learn how to support John and Lisa’s project to build their orphanage at www.missions.me/angelhouseofhope. If you can help financially,
please contribute at that web site; if not, at least add them and their project to your prayers. I’m sure that John and Lisa will bring back pictures from India of the children that are being saved and given a chance and the opportunity for a less dangerous life.


Don’t end up as a flat squirrel…

February 1, 2017

From a recent post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog come these words of wisdom – “Right or wrong, make a decision.  The road of life is paved with flat squirrels.”  (Anon)

The Anon family has provided some of life’s best quotes and written material (see my post on Anon). Today’s quote is undoubtedly from a modern decedent of the Anon family, since the phenomenon of flat squirrels on the road didn’t occur until the invention of the automobile. We have probably all encountered the occasional squirrel who runs out in front of our car, stopped and then can’t decide whether to go on or go back. That moment of indecision unfortunately seals its fate all too often and a flat squirrel results.

squirrelSome people have the ability to make snap decisions in any situation, while others (and I count myself in this number) seem to hesitate while they try to gather more information upon which to base a decision. Many times an opportunity will pass us by while we are pondering the alternatives. To an extent, we have become flat squirrels, because we couldn’t decide whether to go on or run back to safety.

The need for more and more information before making a decision is really based upon the inability to deal with the uncertainty that is usually found in any decision; but you must develop an ability to accept that uncertainly.   Andy Stanley put it this way – “There will be very few occasions when you are absolutely certain about anything. You will consistently be called upon to make decisions with limited information. That being the case, your goal should not be to eliminate uncertainty. Instead, you must develop the art of being clear in the face of uncertainty.” Failing to act or acting without clarity of
purpose will result in you becoming a flat squirrel.

Arianna Huffington offers this helpful advice – “We need to accept that we won’t always failure2make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” For many the fear of failure is stronger than the perceived rewards of success, so doing nothing seems to offer the safer path. The view of the flat squirrel is that of a flat earth, with no ups or downs but also with no dimension. We may not always be right, but we don’t always have to become the flat squirrel.

Perhaps Wayne Dyer’s advice on choosing first what your attitude in life will be is most import. Dyer said –  “One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make is choosing the kind of universe you exist in: is it helpful and supportive or hostile and unsupportive? Your answer to this question will make all the difference in terms of how you live your life and what kind of Divine assistance you attract.” Choosing to live in an worriesoptimistic and supportive world can help prevent us from become flat squirrels.

Living in a helpful and supportive environment doesn’t mean delegating your decision to others, but rather, when needed, seeking their advice and support for the decisions that you have to make. Many insecure people seek to base their decisions only on the advice from others. Thomas Sowell saw the danger in that when he said – “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” Imagine if you will a bird sitting in a tree beside the road telling the squirrel, “Go that way. No, wait!  Go the other way.” If the squirrel listens to the bird, he ends up flat on the road of life. And what about the bird? Well he say’s “that stupid squirrel made the wrong decision” and then flies away. The bird paid no price for heeding the advice he was giving.

It is almost as bad to base your decisions too heavily upon how you think others wilsorry 3l react – Heath Ledger said – “If you make decisions based upon people’s reactions or judgments then you make really boring choices.” How many times have you looked back on bad decisions in your personal life and realized that you were just “going along to get along” or maybe you’ve said to someone else (or at least thought), “Gee,
I thought that’s what you wanted.” Those are the words of regret from a flat squirrel who couldn’t make a decision on his own.

In the end, one may ask for and receive advice and knowledge from others, but the decision making is always a very personal and lonely process. That’s not necessarily bad.  Thornton Wilder pointed out – “The more decisions that you are forced to make alone, the more you are aware of your freedom to choose.” The insight that you have that freedom; that your decisions need not be based upon what others tell you to do or what others may think of your decisions, eventually leads you to the next great decisionsinsight –  “Our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day, and those decisions are determined by our priorities.” –  Myles Munroe. If you can get your priorities straight and base your decisions upon those priorities; you will go a long way towards avoiding becoming a flat squirrel in life.

Nike has used the same catch phrase for years – “Just do it.” Perhaps in the end that is the simplest and most straightforward way to look at the decisions that you have to make in life. If your life is properwoman-prayingly centered and based upon the priorities established by a strong faith, the decisions that you have to make will come more easily and are more likely to have good outcomes. Steven Covey was quoted as
saying about business – “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” That is good advice in life if you keep your faith as the main thing. Do that and you won’t have trouble making decisions and you won’t end up as a flat squirrel.

Keeping a balanced life and keeping the main thing the main thing takes work and sometimes some help or guidance is needed. Local author and life coach Norma Nickolson norma-nickolosonof Wise Owl Enterprises has just published her latest book that can help with that –  Living a Balanced Life Journal . You can visit her website at https://wiseowlenterprises.org/ for contact information for Norma. Both the book and the web site benefit from Norma’s collaboration with Marla Schalow of of Jademar Design. Norma and Marla are accountability partners who regularly meet and hold each other accountable for the things that they tell each other they are committed to doing. You should try that with someone, too. Perhaps, if you feel accountable to someone to get done the things that you said you would do, you won’t end up as a flat squirrel on life’s road.

Have a great and decisive rest of your week.


Time to move our feet…

January 31, 2017

You can think it. You can say it. You can pray it. But, unless you get up and do it, nothing changes. These two quotes, both from the Jack’s Wining Words blog, but which were posted weeks apart seem to go together and seem to be especially appropriate right now.

“Optimism for me isn’t a passive expectation that things will get better; it’s a conviction that we can make things better.”  (Melinda Gates)

“When you pray, move your feet.”  (African Proverb)

We have been thrust into times that demand more of us that just sitting by optimistically hoping and praying that things get better.

Over the weekend groups of people were suddenly been thrust into an unfavorable spotlight for no other reason that where they came from when they came (or tried to come) to America. It was more than just a coincidence that they also happen to mainly praying-muslimshave religious beliefs that are different from those in power here right now. The picture of them on their knees, shoes off, bowed down and praying in an airport is apparently frightening to those who see their religion as a threat. Of course these same “leaders” see people pursuing different lifestyles as a threat, too; enough so that they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to pass laws about what they can and cannot do, with whom and where they can do it.

Those of us who may not have yet joined one side or the other in the happenings around us now find it more and more difficult to sit idly by watching the reports on TV of others who are out and moving their feet in public places in protest to what is happening. The same was true in the 60’s when the Civil Rights movement showed us the dark underbelly of racism and bigotry. Eventually enough people got off their couches and moved their feet to get the attention of those in power. When they did change happened. Recently not enough people moved their feet to keep someone from power that everyone thought shouldn’t be, couldn’t be and wouldn’t be elected to lead the country – #POTUS.

Now we are faced with the need to mobilize and move our feet to prevent the destruction protest-marchof the very values that made America the great country that it is. Instead of continuing to welcome newcomers who will carry forward the wonderful story of success that our diverse history is based upon, the new leaders are trying to shut off the flow of people who strive to be a part of the American Dream. They would have us build walls instead of bridges. They would single out and discriminate against whole nations of people because of their religious beliefs. Where have we seen that idea before?

The really ironic thing is that our new leaders don’t even represent the majority of the population. The majority voted for the other candidate. The very system that was invented to protect the minorities from smaller states, in fact worked to propel the minority into leadership. One has to believe that if the majority got better organized and moved their feet more, change could be effected. In as little as two years enough change is possible in the Legislative branch of our government to stop the insanity currently being wrecked upon, or proposed for, America. In the meantime, there needs to be a vigilant and constant effort in the courts to thwart the most outrageous moves by the current leaders.

This too shall pass; but it will not pass without considerable pain and damage unless enough of the majority in America move their feet and get out on the streets in protest and into court to challenge and into the voting booths next time, to cause change. Yes, we should still pray about it, but we should move our feet, too.


Lighten up somebody’s life today; give them a compliment.

January 24, 2017

This little quote was in a recent post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog – “Compliments are the helium that fills everybody’s balloon.”  (Bernie Siegel)

Everybody can use the helium of compliments to lighten the load of day-to-day living. There are many things that we tend to worry about and which tend to weigh us down. Receiving a compliment from someone about how we look or how we have acted or about something that we have done serves as a counterbalance to lighten our day a bit.

At my local Chamber of Commerce referral networking group, I recently presented somegreat-job information from articles that I read about why businesses lose clients and employees. The main reason in both cases was that the client or employee didn’t feel that they were appreciated. I think saying a few “thank you’s” and giving some compliments in both cases could go a long way to preventing those losses and the costs to the business that goes with them.

In our personal lives we too often begin to take our life partners and the things they do for us for granted. All too often in our modern society that can lead to problems and even divorce. Taking the time to give a few compliments about how they look or thanking them for the things that they do every day to make our lives easier or better can go a long way to keeping the relationship vibrant and together.

At a personal level, if you really stop and think about it; don’t you feel better when someone compliments you or acknowledges the work that you’ve been doing? It makes complimentyour day a little brighter if someone says that you look great today or perhaps even “that color looks so good on you.” A boss or even a fellow worker who recognizes and thanks you for the good work that you’ve been doing is reward enough to make your day. One of the articles that I had read on this had the line “people don’t work for companies; they work for other people.” That drives home the point that workers are looking for positive reinforcement from the people that they work for and with; they’re hoping to be recognized and complimented by the boss and co-workers.

So, make the day better for those that you encounter today and find something to compliment them on. Your little greeting of “You sure look good today” will put them in the right frame of mind to have a great day. They’ll leave you thinking “You’re right. I do look good today. This is going to be a great day.” You’ve filled their life with the helium of a compliment and lightened their load. While you’re at it, give yourself a compliment, “That was a nice thing to do and I feel good about it.”