“I’m a great believer that we all create our own bliss. Whiners never get very far with me. I always secretly think, Isn’t it easier just to be happy?”
~Stephen Drucker, Editor in Chief
~Stephen Drucker, Editor in Chief
Category: FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proof that words, respect and listening really do matter…
This is the motto I have on my desk and I try to live by every day.
Do you have a teenage girl in your life? 14, 15, 16, 17 years old? Do you dread the day you’ll hear “I met a guy”, “He’s really great”, “He respects me”, “We went to the beach for the day”? Are you waiting for the other show to drop? I was!
When I was is college I remember a class for my Health Education Major/Human Sexuality minor (once upon a time before I got sick I was going to teach high school) that taught us to speak to young adults as adults, to listen to them and what they have to say and most importantly to respect them.
I have always tried to follow that advice and you know what? It really paid off. Recently when I heard those exact sentences and sat waiting for that other shoe to drop, I received a wonderful reward for all my efforts. I heard, “When I try to figure out what my choices are I hear your voice in my head and it helps me think right.”
I have to admit I cried. There was nothing she could have said that would have me me happier or prouder of her as a young woman.
♥
Monday Musings
Thought for the Day
Penelope at The Cafe at the End of the Universe sent me this in an email today and I thought it was something I’d like to share with everyone as it is the epitome’ of much of what I’ve been feeling recently.
There comes a point in your life when you realize
who matters,
who never did,
who won’t anymore…
and who always will.
So, don’t worry about people from your past,
there’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future.
‘Be kinder than necessary because everyone
you meet is fighting some kind of battle.’
you meet is fighting some kind of battle.’
♥
Food for thought
Food for Thought
Does anyone remember Emily Post? or is common courtesy not so common anymore?
A friend of mine emailed this to me today: “Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one’s who don’t. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. Friends are like balloons; once you let them go, you can’t get them back. So I’m gonna tie you to my heart so I never lose you.”
It really made me tie together several thoughts I’d been having lately.
When I was a little girl I was taught (as most of us were) to say please, thank you, you’re welcome, may I? (which is truly different than can I?), excuse or pardon me, etc… I was forced to sit and write letters and thank you notes to grandparents and aunts and uncles for gifts they had sent because it was the thought that mattered and we needed to let them know that we felt blessed because they wanted to give to us… I was taught children had to be polite and courteous to their elders…
My father once told me as a teenager that it was okay for me to ‘debate’, but not to argue with an elder and that I better have my facts straight before I get too deep into the ‘debate’.
He also taught me that if you have something negative to say, you should always start with a positive so you don’t put the other person on the defensive before they hear what you actually have to say. He was also known for saying, “You can’t have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.” which became one of my personal favorites as I grew up and met more and more people.
So, here’s my question, if we were all taught this, why isn’t it being passed on to the next generation? Or am I just having that battle of wits with unarmed people.
There are a couple of family members (who shall remain nameless) who seem to be under the impression that what they believe, what they want and what they say is more important than anyone else’s thoughts, beliefs, wants & needs. Their ‘silver spoon’ sense of entitlement has been the subject of many a conversation at our house. These family members are the same ones that we never receive a phone call, card, gift or thank you note from for ANY event in our lives. Not to mention they feel it is okay to complain about their gift and or request a certain item in advance for their ‘day’. I have threatened more than once to send them each a copy of Emily Post with the necessary passages highlighted. My hubby always talks me out of it. Thank God for Fedex. At least I can track and know the packages get there. Is it too much to expect that they at least let me know the package arrived or at least appear to appreciate the time, thought and effort it took to pick out the gift that best fits them?
All of this reminds me of a Bill Cosby quote, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone.” that pretty much says it all!
I believe the next time a ‘gift’ event rolls around that I will send a donation in their name to my favorite charity and ‘kill 2 birds with 1 stone’. At least the charity and I will both be pleased.
Does anyone out there agree with me?Thought for the Day
You need to make up your mind whether you are going to add to the ugly in the world or Add to the joy in the world.
If you need more incentive see this story.
If you need more incentive see this story.
Thought for the Day
Thought for the Day
Food for thought during our Election Year
This email came across my computer today and seemed to need to be passed on. No matter your views on candidates, this kind of hits home regarding politicians in general.
When President Truman retired from office in 1952, his income was substantially a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an ‘allowance’ and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.
When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, ‘You don’t want me. You want the office of the president, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.’ Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, ‘I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.’
Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale.
Good old Harry may have been correct when he observed, ‘My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference. I, for one, believe the piano player job to be much more honorable than current politicians.’
