WILL YOU BE THE NEXT VICTIM? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 152

There was a time in this country when a murder was a rarity in most cities and towns, and killing seemed to be confined to wars.  When a murder occurred it was on the front page of every newspaper, and before TV it would also be on the radio news.  Today it is no longer a rarity but rather an epidemic. Gang members are killing other gang members.  Children are being abused, assaulted and killed.  College students are being killed, spouses are being killed by spouses, significant others are killed by significant others, neighbors killing neighbors, and now young children are killing parents, teachers, and students.  This is not about owning guns. This is about parenting, education, mental health, accountability, and responsibility.

We have arrived at a time when too many people no longer respect or value life ..........not their own nor the life of anyone else.  If you are a parent have you taught your children to respect life, to value life, to love life? What about you?  Do you respect and value life?  Are you participating in their education?  Do you give them responsibility and hold them accountable?  Do you hold yourself accountable?  If your answer to any of these questions is negative, then it is time you started to do the right things..  If you have grandchildren are they being taught to appreciate life and to know how fragile it is?  If you do not teach them who will?

I am saddened to say this, but we have become a nation of pigs.  Greed and self-absorption abound at all ages and in all occupations and professions.  Lies have become the coin of the realm.  The anger and rage which are rampant, and the total lack of respect for anyone or anything exhibited by far too many people today will become the downfall of all of us.  Think about our children and grandchildren.  What kind of life can they expect to have?  Between the pigs and the ridiculous politicians we are paying to treat us less well than they treat themselves, I fear their lives will be a living hell.

Only we can change things, and the first thing we must believe and share with others is that

LIFE MATTERS! 

IS THERE LOVE IN YOUR LIFE? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 130

These things are casting a pall over our everyday lives:

• The political childishness and incompetence in our government, 
• the racial and financial divisiveness being fueled by politicians,
• the rage of many citizens resulting in harm to others and even murder,
• the abdication of responsibility by many parents,
• their children seeking to belong to a family joining gangs,
• the horrific gang violence, the youth mobs attacking people,
• the outrageous lies being told by politicians and the main stream media,
• the lack of resolution to any of the huge problems we have faced for 5+ years,
• the ill-informed or uninformed people having no clue about what is really happening,
• the sweeping under the rug of scandal after scandal,
• the financial problems and unemployment millions are facing,
• the dreadful dumbing down of our schools,
• the poor academic performance of our children,
• and the fear of what our children and grandchildren will face in their lifetimes.

We receive daily doses of bad news relating to all of these things, and sometimes we must wonder if there is still anything good left in our country or the world.  The answer is there are millions of good people and many wonderful things still happening despite the ugliness of the daily news.

Love abounds if we give it and if we accept it.  So many kinds of love are available to us......parental love; love between siblings, friends, colleagues; puppy love, first love, love of your life, marital love, physical love; spiritual love, love of family, love of country, and love of pets.  

Be sure you are open to love, and it will make life so enjoyable despite all the trouble in the world.  If you give love, you will get love.  It's out there.  Go get it!

LOVE ABOUNDS!

YOU CAN MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE - CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 37

The news coming out of every part of the world seems to be bad.  People are fighting, killing, cheating, spying, and suffering.  There is much anger, rage, and hatred making life miserable for millions of people.

Mahatma Gandhi said something to the effect that we should make the changes in ourselves that we would like to see made in the world.  He was quite right because if everyone behaved better the conditions for all people would ultimately get better.

Kindness begets kindness so try being kinder than usual, and it will come back to you in abundance. A word, a touch, a card, a phone call,  a helping hand, a smile can all make a difference to others and to you.

Today's message is:

Pass on kindness. 

Whispers, Butterflies, Rose Petals, Satin, and A Mother's Touch

What do these things have in common?  They are all delicate, soft, fragile...........but what do they have to do with today's message?  They are gentle things.  To change your life with words, try being gentle in your treatment of others as well as yourself. Speak gently and softly to children, the elderly, animals, friends, and colleagues.  I realize there are occasions and situations which are not conducive to gentleness.  However, with so much anger and rage in today's society you can change your corner of the world with gentleness.  Gentle words, gentle touches, gentle approaches to people and situations, gentle correction of children and grandchildren, gentle living..............give them all a try.

Be Gentle! 

          

 

Love, Sweet Love

Back in the late 60's or early 70's there was a song with lyrics that said, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  It's the only thing that there's just too little of..................."  Yesterday I was speaking with my daughter who lives in Manhattan.  Because of the recent tragedy at the Empire State Building we talked of  many things:

• the insanity in today's world, 
• the senseless crimes, 
• the red flags that are ignored which could prevent tragedies,
• the rage and anger exhibited by many people, 
• the killing and wounding of innocent people, 
• the bickering, dishonesty, and lack of action of our elected representatives, 
• the insane greed and lust for power, money, and 15 minutes of fame,
• the overwhelming national debt,
• the millions of people looking for jobs,
• the loss of moral compasses by many people,
• the ever-increasing numbers of homeless people and addicts of every kind,
• the looting and stealing of other people's property by thugs,
• the destruction of property over stupid things like a sporting event won or lost,
• the great lack of respect for authority, anything or anyone, 
• the huge number of single mothers and abdication of responsibility by fathers,
• the boys who think that they are tough because they belong to gangs and are no strangers to drive-by shootings and other criminal acts,
• the ridiculous mismanagement of funds in cities, towns, and states causing the loss of needed protection provided by police, fire fighters, and our military.  
• and so many, many more issues that taint life in the world today.

You will notice we did not mention natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires,  hurricanes or tornadoes as they are things over which humans have no control. The problems we discussed are all man made and, therefore, in truth can be resolved by mankind if we are inclined to fix them.  We talked about things that could, should, or might be done to resolve the problems and make the world a better, safer place.

We believe the thing that could start to make things better is LOVE.  All children and adults need love, compassion and kindness, and when they don't get it anger, rage, and bad behavior are the results.  There have always been evil people and evil acts, and there are people who have been loved but still choose to go down a wrong path in life. Many people want to fight, quarrel, kill, threaten, attack, and generally behave like jerks.  Love, kindness and compassion can help many of them and, over time, prevent the numbers from increasing.

Such a simple answer but a true answer.  Will we all ask ourselves what do we do that we need to stop doing, and what do we not do that we need to start doing?  Will we begin in our own homes, on our own streets, in our own cities and towns?  Bad people and bad deeds make the daily news, but there are still millions of good people in this world who are never mentioned................there are enough good people so that we could turn the world around if we join forces and decide to do it.

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love......................"  How about it?  Are you in?