It's A New Year... Does That Make Any Difference?

It's a new year! I must admit, I'm a bit like a kid at Christmas about New Year's. It's like I've just been given 365 brand new days, brand new pages of a blank book to do with as I choose.

So, stop a minute and ask yourself that question: "What if I gave a party and nobody came?" . What feelings come up for you? While we may not ever have found ourselves in that particular situation, I think we can all identify with the feeling of insecurity... That feeling connects to so many things...

As I sit down to write this message, today is Father's Day. The day that children honor their fathers. However my message to you today is about honoring the children and the family. This is a plea to take action at some horrible injustices and callous behavior that is currently taking place in the USA.

Through the years, I've read many articles (and books) that recommend minding your own business. Never mind trying to "fix" the lives of your friends and family... deal with your own life. While I understand the concept of "keeping your nose out of others' business", I still find that I often disagree with that advice.

The opioid crisis in the US is a near perfect example why the current push for  unregulated free markets is mostly nonsense. That said the idea that full government regulations and control of markets is the answer is equally ludicrous.

When comparing notes with a neighbor I stated we are ordering more and more from Amazon. She on the other hand ordered from Walmart.

I was reminded lately of a thought that came to me as a child. I don't know what age I was, but I do remember that I was sitting in church on a Sunday morning. I vividly remember thinking to myself, almost as a declaration of life purpose, "when I grow up I want to be like Jesus".

I have a new favorite song. Well at least it's my favorite for today, or this week anyway. This is a song that currently is my new mantra, a thought that's staying to the forefront of my consciousness.

I love rewards. And I've noticed that the Universe functions on a reward system. I suppose if you were looking at it from the opposite perspective, which many religions do, you might say the Universe punishes people. This is the premise of the belief in sins and the punishment of hell.

I saw a cartoon the other day that posed the well-known question about whether the cup is half full or half empty. And the punch line was that if you think your cup is half empty, get a different another cup. 

You may have experienced situations in life where you felt there was just no point fighting "it" anymore... whatever the challenge it was you were facing. And someone may have said to you, "Why fight the inevitable?"

Recently Donald Trump stated, "Who knew healthcare could be so complicated." Democrats and most everyone else laughed and made fun of him. Healthcare for the US is actually not that complicated.

That the American electorate is fed up with business as usual is not in dispute.

I haven't bought products from Exxon knowingly in nearly 30 years except for a couple times for fear of running out of gas. My personal boycott of Exxon was proven correct when it was disclosed they were major funders of climate denial.

I know competition can provide motivation to try to be better in a particular field or skill. But I think we've taken this win at all costs attitude way too far. Competing against yourself in order to improve yourself is fine, but feeling like you've always got to compete...

If life is a school or a learning opportunity, then all the challenges we meet are tests administered to see if we've mastered the course material. Looking at current events that way, we can tell that we are in the middle of several exams all being administered at once.

People are taking a stand on what they believe in. And while some believe in things you may not believe in, yet at least people are speaking out, taking a stand, and making choices. They are no longer being just spectators. They are participating...

The idea of resistance to an authoritarian regime is long, proud, and ultimately successful.

Americans and the world should count their blessings that Donald Trump is the new President It could have been worse. A lot worse.

I've always believed that we can learn from others' mistakes. And of course, the opposite is obviously true, we learn from others' experiences as well.

The media and the general public usually pay little attention to this climate event that occurs around mid March every year.

There is a common theme in a lot of the things I hear, see, and read these days. It is the theme of "taking action". We are being encouraged from many directions to act, to stand up for what we believe in, to be proactive.

While discussing the poor potential of the incoming administration recently, a friend expressed hopes that they would shake things up.

The worst advice one can ever give, or receive, is "don't talk to yourself". Yes, I know! We're all told to stop talking to ourselves, but is that good advice? It definitely is not!

America today is a very different country than in my youth. I attended a segregated high school. We had separate drinking fountains for blacks and whites at the Greyhound Bus station.

The approval rating of the US Congress hovers persistently between 5 and 15 %. It has been stuck there for as long as most anyone can remember. Yet the voters keep returning many of the same scoundrels to office term after term.

Whatever path we're on, whatever attitude we've taken, we can probably recognize that we've experienced it before... with other partners, other bosses, other co-workers, other friends, other family members. We seem to repeat the same attitudes and the same experiences...

What needs to change? Wow! That's a loaded question. Or perhaps not loaded so much as extensive! If we were to start with a list of what needs to change, it could go on forever. Or at least my list could.

As with most questions, this one (Why Do We Do Things That We Know Are Bad For Us?) does not have just one answer. There are multiple reasons for different people's behavior, and multiple reasons for our own behavior as well.

I am fighting a hacker on the site that handles my email. That reminds of this ridiculous Russian Hack allegation.

A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

The recent attention given to the Russian government propaganda as being a driving force behind the Clinton loss or circumventing American democracy is laughable at best and propaganda itself.

There has been much written since the election about what went wrong. The wrong was not so much electing Trump but, as Michael Moore put it, more like thrusting a giant middle finger into the face of the establishment.

Pete Seeger has been called many things in his decades long career but no one can dispute that he was the consummate American musician activist. In both his music and his activism Seeger was a purist. Much has been written about Pete Seeger's contribution to the important social causes...