What Happened? ©

This has the potential of going in many different directions, so I apologize in advance.

During my morning commute, because my car stereo is pretty standard, (radio only) I’m left with very few choices for my listening pleasure. One of the stations I tune to sometimes, does their version of a TV court show. The wife calls into the station, shares her gripe about her husband/boyfriend with the personalities and all the thousands of listeners. The personality in turn, calls the husband blindly and confronts him with the issue. Of course, the initial reaction from the husband, and in my opinion rightfully so, is an anger-laced shock that their wives have aired their business out for all to know. The ‘cases’ have ranged from common stuff; not wanting to have fun anymore, leaving the bathroom light on, to what I consider as subjects that should totally remain in the home or a real Divorce Court. Such was the case on today’s show.

A woman called into the radio station and gave details of her recent discovery of a secret bank account belonging to her husband. A statement came to their home containing only his name that she opened and proceeded with a full-fledged investigation. Upon her snooping, she learned purchases were made at a trendy lingerie store (the secret is out!) I’m sure you can tell where this went. The husband explained his reasons for opening the account, that the lingerie was bought as a favor to a colleague, (and of course she demanded more answers,) and the radio hosts opened the phone lines for the listeners to give their opinion (I changed the station at this point)

Now, call me old-fashion, but what happened to dignity? Have we lost so much of ourselves that any attention is acceptable? As mentioned, I didn’t hear what the callers had to say, but I heard the husband’s frustration loud and clear. Behind his forced politeness was bitterness, and the wife’s venom was apparent from the beginning, and it continued.

I don’t know, call me crazy, but people have truly lost it. Whatever ‘it’ was that held families together and problems were discussed with sincerity without a Prime Time audience is gone. Whatever that thing was that triggered their love for each other to override the urge to act out on a national level for the sake of ratings; on the radio or TV.

And they wonder why there’s no sense of family (or individual) values…

Things I’ve Learned…©

There are lessons learned the traditional way, with planned assignments, tests, and studying. Then there are those that come unexpected, more in a “Pop-Quiz” kind of way; these are undoubtedly more intriguing and perhaps harder to absorb.

The lesson can be in Life, Love, Finance, Family, etc. Those are the heavy hitters, I call those the Majors (i.e. college) Then there are those I consider the Electives, they appear to be pointless, but you need them to complete the curriculum; Laundry, Packing…you know, the things that need some type of methodical logic to them, but not enough that will alter your life in a huge way.

Whether you Major in Life, Family, or in any of the core disciplines, you have to master them. This takes studying, dedication, and the aforementioned occasional test. Recently, I encountered a Family exam, and it was a hard lesson. Of course, I have taken a few exams before in this course and thought I had done pretty well. Unfortunately (unfortunate…still wondering about that) I realized that I was giving myself a biased curve. What I thought were common-sense realities, turned out to be jaded pretenses.

It dawned on me that I don’t have to be the Captain of the Clean-Up Crew, but instead a friendly helper. As a Captain, I’m all out of cleaner; the cleaner, being a metaphor for answers and solutions. I don’t have to swoop in, fix it, and fly back to home base.

I’ve put my cape in storage.

What I’ve learned: Let go, and Let God!

Your thoughts create your reality….

We’ve heard the old saying “You are what you eat” and it has been proven to be true. The same is true of our thoughts, what we think and believe becomes our reality. When we focus on the negative, the dark, the disappointing, we find ourselves in a world filled with such entities and people. I’m sure you can recall situations in your life when you were in the midst of some heavy happenings and thought the worst for the outcome. When the worst come about, you probably gave a cynical nod and said “I knew it.”

I’ve learned, and yes it is a constant lesson, that we must believe the Good in order for it to take place in our lives. The Bible states clearly in Proverbs 18 that there is power in the tongue. Not just the power to give great speeches, but of life and death. Since our words are products of our mind, of what we think, it makes sense that our thoughts should be guarded and protected from the grudge and grime of every day life.

I recommend to anyone who reads this: Protect Your Mind.