Different

The word different is a simple word and yet it can invoke so many emotions. This word can bring joy and anticipation when someone is visiting a new place with a different culture and history. It can cause wonder and delight when science discovers a different species. However, this same word can bring fear, anxiety, anger, hate, violence and division.
Most people feel the need to belong. It is common for us to desire to have others around us with similar beliefs and attitudes. It makes us feel safe and gives us a sense of security. When something or someone comes along that is different from us in either appearance or the way they think or live it makes us uncomfortable. It causes us to question the very things we hold true, this is not a problem unless we as a group of people believe there is only one right way to be, and it’s our way.
History is littered with examples of injustices perpetrated upon people because they were different. Some examples include, but are by no means limited to, Hitler and his treatment of the Jews, The genocide that has taken place between different groups of people in Africa, and in our own countries treatment of the Indians and African Americans. These issues are not just about race or culture; they flood over into religious, social, educational, and economic difference as well.
The bottom line is that we are all different in some way. There is no right or wrong way to look or believe. Many of these differences are out of our control and we need to be accepting of one another. The others, that we do have a choice about, need to be viewed with an open mind as we ask the question, is it right to mistreat or withhold a right from someone just because their different?

Sleeping like a baby....

Well hello, what can I say I've been sleeping like a baby! Thanks Chris, if not for you I wouldn't be writing right now. So, what's new? Lets see, we have a new president since my last entry....hmmm I'm not political so lets move forward.
My son is graduating this year and I turned fifty, two milestones by most peoples standards. Most people would say it flew by, where did the years go. I can't believe he's grown....why just yesterday he was a baby. All those thoughts came to mind and then I looked back and he wasn't just a baby yesterday. So many things have happened over these past eighteen years and I have been blessed to be there, just as I had hoped. Wonderful sleepless nights, and days. First words, first steps, awe and wonder, riding a two wheeler, learning to swim, preschool and the first day of kindergarten (we actually had relatives from Alabama there that day), Holidays and sleepovers. His first broken heart and first real girlfriend. Spring formals and proms, learning to drive and driving alone. Vacations and game nights, homework and playing in the snow. A lifetime in eighteen years....my time. I've been preparing for this time since he was a baby. I knew it was coming and I savored every minute and now I'm glad that I did.
Some would say that's not much to live for....I say it's everything. If not for each other and to give to others and meet their needs then what.... to get rich, to see the world, to find pleasure for ourselves. Life last for but a moment and then it is gone, a vapor in time.
I have been very blessed, I am comfortable and lack for nothing. I have family and friends who love me. I enjoy my life and more than that I enjoy other people. I define myself not by what I have, but by what I have done for others. Can I make someone smile who is having a bad day? If so, then it's been a good day. Am I willing to bless someone with some money I might have spent on myself, even if I think they don't deserve it? If so, then it's been a good day.
I understand that some people struggle because of the choices they have made. I know that a hand up, is better than a hand out. I don't have rose colored glasses, nor do I wear blinders but I do trust my own heart and Gods guidance. It hasn't failed me yet, nor will it.
I have lived fifty difficult, lonely, wonderful, amazing, scary, unsure, exhilarating, intimidating, exciting, fulfilling years. I wouldn't care to trade or relive one of them. My life is in my future, not my past. My past is to learn from and my future is to live. So here is to life and the wonderful people who have touched mine!

Cost yet to be seen

So hear I sit at 1:30 AM unable to sleep and pondering life’s issues. Where are we as a country headed? The prospects look grim at best. I feel as though I am a bystander watching an assault perpetuated on an unsuspecting victim and there’s nothing I can do to help. The victims are our nation’s financial system and every person that calls this country home.
Who is the perpetrator? Well there are many suspects. Some would say a lax and greedy, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours government. Yet others accuse the Top Dogs on Wall Street who are looking out for number one and then walking away leaving a shell of a financial system once they have drained it of all life. Last, but not least, is the general public, we the people if you will, so consumed with material gain that they are willing to do or believe anything to acquire the homes, cars, cloths, latest electronics, ect... that they desire regardless of the future cost to their finances. The instant gratification generation who fulfill all their wants right now and worry about the cost later. Most likely it’s a combination of all three. I’m sure there was deception on all sides and pointing fingers won’t fix the problem.
The hardest part of this financial pill to swallow is that there were people out there who looked at the “No interest loans” (meaning we’re not interested in how you’re going to pay this back) and said “I don’t think so – bad idea”, and they didn’t buy into the hype. These same people choose to live either within or below (yes, people actually still do that) their means and manage their debt. They save and buy things when they can afford it and pay off their current debt before acquiring more. These are the real victims, the responsible people who did the right thing and now have to pay the price anyway.
What options do we have? I don’t really know because I’m not an economist or a legal professional. I do know that if this happened to an individual person or small business the person who was in charge of the decision would be the last one to profit, but that doesn’t seem to be how it will play out in this case. Supposedly these people making these decisions are more intelligent than the average person but they to have forgotten the basics of good business. They have grossly neglected their responsibilities and the common sense of business decision making, and the cost is yet to be seen.