Friday, June 27, 2008
The new Lookout at the Fort
Here we see the intrepid Cam a ram ram trying to take Fort Ticonderoga back from the savage females.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Drought Preparations
Looking Ahead to Times of Drought
By Carolyn Nicolaysen (Meridian Magazine)
It is high irony that with record flooding in the Midwest USA, many areas of the nation and world are experiencing severe drought. Farmers and ranchers in California have already had their water rations cut by 30% to 80%. Can rationing of household water be far behind? Australia, Spain, the Southeast USA, Texas, South Dakota, parts of Africa, Mexico, and China — all are dealing with drought.
This past week, economists were discussing our biggest global problems. Everyone recognizes that we have unprecedented price hikes for oil and gas. Food shortages and soaring prices follow closely behind in second place, and now many have a concern for water shortages and inevitable price increases for this essential commodity.
When the order comes to restrict your water use, what can you do?
Check for hidden water leaks. Record the reading on your water meter. After two hours, when no water is being used, check the meter again. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.
Check your toilets for leaks. Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank. Do not flush. Check after thirty minutes. If the water in the bowl has begun to change color, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately. Replacement parts are inexpensive, easy to install and available at all hardware stores.
Displace some water. Place a plastic bottle filled with water or pebbles in your toilet tank.
Be sure bottles are away from the mechanisms in the tank. Test to be sure you still have sufficient water for the toilet to work properly.
Don't flush. Every time you flush a facial tissue you waste five to seven gallons of water. Use your imagination for the rest.
Install water-saving shower heads. Water-saving shower heads are inexpensive and easy to install. Showers can use five to ten gallons every minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rinse off.
Think bath. If your water is rationed, think bath. A bath will use less water than an average shower. This can really be a benefit when children complain about being too hot. Throw them in the tub in their swim suits and just before getting them out wash them up and shampoo hair — two things accomplished at once.
Install low-flow faucet aerators. All household faucets should be fit with an aerator. Since you use your faucet far more than any other water source in your home, aerators can provide the greatest savings. If your faucets do not have them, install them. If they have them, make sure they are rated at 2.75 gallons per minute or less. The rating will be on the side of the aerator.
Take shorter showers. One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses 20 to 40 gallons of water. If you have kids, try setting a timer.
Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush. There is no need to keep the water running while brushing your teeth. Just wet your brush and fill a glass for rinsing. Better yet, brush your teeth in the shower. That's right, while you are waiting for the water to warm up use the cool water to brush and rinse.
Rinse your razor in the sink. Fill the sink with a few inches of warm water, swish and rinse.
Check for leaks. Even a small drip from a worn faucet washer can waste 20 gallons of water per day. Also check your clothes washer hoses regularly for cracks and leaks.
Insulate your water pipes. It's easy and inexpensive to insulate water pipes with foam pipe insulation. Your water will heat faster wasting less water and saving money on your utility bill.
Use your dishwasher and clothes washer sparingly . Dishwashers and washing machines should be fully loaded before using. Avoid the permanent press cycle, which uses extra water for the second rinse. If you have to wash a partial load, adjust water levels to match the size of the load. Remember it takes just as much electricity to run a small load as it does a large one.
Minimize use of the garbage disposal. Disposals require lots of water to operate properly, and also add to the volume of solids in a septic tank. This can lead to additional maintenance costs and more frequent pumping.
When washing dishes by hand, don't leave the water running. If you have a double sink, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have a single-basin sink, wash your dishes, place them in a rack, and rinse them all at once after all the washing is complete.
Don't let the faucet run while you clean vegetables. Scrub your sink, rinse and fill with water. Now you can safely rinse off your fruits and vegetables. Better yet, fill a large pot or bucket with water, rinse your produce and use that water to water plants.
Keep a bottle of drinking water in the fridge. How many times do we let the water run to cool it and then fill our glass, only to pour half of it back down the sink.
Use water bottles. In addition to having a pitcher in the fridge, use reusable water bottles or sports bottles for each family member. Fill the bottles, and the temptation to pour out the water remaining after a drink will be gone. This also saves on the number of glasses used during the day — saving money and water use, by reducing the number of loads you have to run in the dishwasher.
Defrosting food. Don't use running water to defrost food. Fill a pot with hot water and add the food or use a microwave to defrost.
Cut down on water when cooking. Cook food in as little water as possible. We are all guilty of filling a pot when a 1/2 pot of water would do. Again this also saves on the utility bill; it takes less energy to heat less water.
Install an instant water heater. Consider installing an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don't have to let the water run while it heats up. This will also reduce utility costs.
Save the ice. If you accidentally drop ice cubes when filling your glass from the freezer, don't throw them in the sink. Drop them in a house plant instead. If you have ice left after a picnic, water a plant or dry spot on a lawn.
Water your lawn only when it needs it. A good way to see if your lawn needs watering is to step on the grass. If it springs back up it doesn't need water. If it stays flat, the lawn is ready for watering. Letting the grass grow taller will decrease the rate of water evaporation and encourage root growth.
Give it a good soaking. When watering the lawn, do it long enough for the moisture to soak down to the roots. A light sprinkling will evaporate quickly and encourages shallow root systems. Not a good thing. Place an empty tuna can on your lawn - when it's full, you've watered about the right amount.
Water early. Early morning is generally the better time to water. Watering after dusk can encourage the growth of fungus, but when your evenings stay hot this is much less of a problem. Watering early or late reduces water loss to evaporation.
Time it. If you don't have an automatic sprinkler system, set a kitchen timer when watering your lawn or garden.
Not when it's windy. Try not to water when it's windy. Wind will blow water from sprinklers off target and speed evaporation.
High tech helps. Use watering systems for shrubs, flower beds and lawns. Use soaker hoses, drip irrigation, micro-sprinklers and timers. Add water-sensors to keep the sprinklers from running when it's raining.
Plant drought-resistant shrubs and plants. Many shrubs, trees and plants thrive with much less watering than others. Replace plantings with native plants.
Use your downspouts. Direct downspouts towards shrubs and trees. You can purchase perforated tubing for this or just slip a curved piece of metal under the spout.
Add a layer of mulch around trees and plants. Mulch will slow evaporation of moisture while discouraging weed growth. Adding 2-4 inches of mulch increases the ability of the soil to retain moisture.
Don't water the street. Position your sprinklers so water lands on the lawn or garden, not on paved areas such as walk ways and driveways.
Water less and more often. If you are unable to control run off divide your watering cycle into shorter periods to allow for better absorption.
Aerate your lawn. Punching holes in your lawn about six inches apart so water will reach the roots rather than run off the surface, also encourages healthy root growth. Walk around the yard in a pair of golf shoes.
Don't run the hose while washing your car. Clean the car using a pail of soapy water and a hose with a spray nozzle for rinsing for more efficient use of water. Wash your car on the grass and water your lawn at the same time. Better yet, use a commercial car wash that recycles water.
Make it a clean sweep. Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks.
Check for leaks outside. We often ignore leaks outside because they are not as visible . Check frequently to keep hose connections, faucets, pipes, pool pumps and sprinklers drip-free. Replace washers at spigots and hose connections yearly to eliminate leaks.
Grass is not always best. Avoid planting grass in areas that are hard to water, such as hillsides and narrow strips along sidewalks and driveways. Ground covers require less water and allow less run-off.
Plant in season. Plant during the spring or fall, when the watering requirements are lower. Not only will you save water and money on your bill but also on the cost to replace plants that die due to insufficient water.
Evaporative coolers. Evaporative coolers should be serviced at the beginning of each cooling season. They use lots of water and can be huge water wasters if not maintained. Turn on the water pump a few minutes before turning on the fan. This saturates the pads first, making your cooler more efficient.
Open a window a little in the rooms you are cooling. This draws the cooled air through. Install a thermostat and timer on your cooler so it only operates when necessary.
Cover up. Install covers on pools and spas to lessen evaporation and deduce the need for filling. Also, keep the temperature cool as cooler water evaporates less quickly.
Fish fertilizer. When you clean your fish tank, use the water you've drained on your plants. The water is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, the things you pay lots of money for when you purchase a fish fertilizer for your household plants.
Locate water shut off valves. Make sure you know where your master water shut-off valve is located. This could save gallons of water and lots damage to your home if a pipe were to burst.
Be selective about water features and fountains. Avoid installing ornamental water features and fountains that spray water into the air. It evaporates and is gone. Trickling or cascading fountains lose less water to evaporation but should still be turned off and drained during a drought.
A bath for Fido. Bathe your pets outdoors in an area in need of water.
Clean the pool filter. Manually clean your pool's filter. You'll do a more thorough job and use less water. The average backwash uses between 250 to 1,000 gallons of water.
Use ceiling fans. Use ceiling fans to circulate air within your home saving on cooling costs. Also use fans on patios; they not only cool but keep away the flies.
During these uncertain drought times we may be faced with rationing of water and/or higher water costs. Think about these facts from h2o4u.org, and then prepare to conserve.
* A shower can use 25 to 50 gallons (5 gallons per minute)
* Just washing your hands can use up to 3 gallons of water (with tap running at 3 gallons per minute)
* The average toilet uses 5 to 7 gallons of water per flush.
* Leaving the water running while you brush your teeth can waste 3 gallons of water (at 3 gallons per minute).
* Outdoor spigots can pump out 5 to 10 gallons per minute.
* Automatic dishwashers use about 15 gallons per load.
* Washing one load of clothes in an automatic washer uses about 45 gallons.
* The average bath takes about 36 gallons of water.
* The average individual uses about 125 gallons of water per day.
* An average residence uses 107,000 gallons of water per year.
* About 340 billion gallons of water are used every day in the United States. This total includes water used in irrigation, in industry, and in fire fighting and street cleaning.
* Cutting one minute off your shower time can save about 700 gallons of water per month.
* A faucet that drips 60 times in one minute would waste over 3 gallons a day, 1,225 gallons per year.
* Humans require about 2 1/2 quarts of water a day.
* A human can live more than a month without food but only as much as one week without water.
Water has made or broken civilizations and economies. It is always present in a land of plenty, and its absence has humbled nations like nothing else. One key to any emergency plan for a family or community is to anticipate the water required to survive any disaster scenario, should normal sources be cut-off or otherwise interrupted. Even in the flood-ravaged Midwest, communities underwater were importing trucks of fresh drinking water because of a shortage of safe wells.
Following an earthquake, we have been warned that one of the first big issues will be the interruption of water supplies. Every family should have a supply of safe, properly stored water — just in case. And during drought, when there may be restrictions, the methods we have discussed here for stretching a gallon of water will be good preparation for an event that limits us to using just what we have stored. In such a time, water might only be for the sustaining of life, and nothing else.
By Carolyn Nicolaysen (Meridian Magazine)
It is high irony that with record flooding in the Midwest USA, many areas of the nation and world are experiencing severe drought. Farmers and ranchers in California have already had their water rations cut by 30% to 80%. Can rationing of household water be far behind? Australia, Spain, the Southeast USA, Texas, South Dakota, parts of Africa, Mexico, and China — all are dealing with drought.
This past week, economists were discussing our biggest global problems. Everyone recognizes that we have unprecedented price hikes for oil and gas. Food shortages and soaring prices follow closely behind in second place, and now many have a concern for water shortages and inevitable price increases for this essential commodity.
When the order comes to restrict your water use, what can you do?
Check for hidden water leaks. Record the reading on your water meter. After two hours, when no water is being used, check the meter again. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.
Check your toilets for leaks. Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank. Do not flush. Check after thirty minutes. If the water in the bowl has begun to change color, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately. Replacement parts are inexpensive, easy to install and available at all hardware stores.
Displace some water. Place a plastic bottle filled with water or pebbles in your toilet tank.
Be sure bottles are away from the mechanisms in the tank. Test to be sure you still have sufficient water for the toilet to work properly.
Don't flush. Every time you flush a facial tissue you waste five to seven gallons of water. Use your imagination for the rest.
Install water-saving shower heads. Water-saving shower heads are inexpensive and easy to install. Showers can use five to ten gallons every minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rinse off.
Think bath. If your water is rationed, think bath. A bath will use less water than an average shower. This can really be a benefit when children complain about being too hot. Throw them in the tub in their swim suits and just before getting them out wash them up and shampoo hair — two things accomplished at once.
Install low-flow faucet aerators. All household faucets should be fit with an aerator. Since you use your faucet far more than any other water source in your home, aerators can provide the greatest savings. If your faucets do not have them, install them. If they have them, make sure they are rated at 2.75 gallons per minute or less. The rating will be on the side of the aerator.
Take shorter showers. One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses 20 to 40 gallons of water. If you have kids, try setting a timer.
Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush. There is no need to keep the water running while brushing your teeth. Just wet your brush and fill a glass for rinsing. Better yet, brush your teeth in the shower. That's right, while you are waiting for the water to warm up use the cool water to brush and rinse.
Rinse your razor in the sink. Fill the sink with a few inches of warm water, swish and rinse.
Check for leaks. Even a small drip from a worn faucet washer can waste 20 gallons of water per day. Also check your clothes washer hoses regularly for cracks and leaks.
Insulate your water pipes. It's easy and inexpensive to insulate water pipes with foam pipe insulation. Your water will heat faster wasting less water and saving money on your utility bill.
Use your dishwasher and clothes washer sparingly . Dishwashers and washing machines should be fully loaded before using. Avoid the permanent press cycle, which uses extra water for the second rinse. If you have to wash a partial load, adjust water levels to match the size of the load. Remember it takes just as much electricity to run a small load as it does a large one.
Minimize use of the garbage disposal. Disposals require lots of water to operate properly, and also add to the volume of solids in a septic tank. This can lead to additional maintenance costs and more frequent pumping.
When washing dishes by hand, don't leave the water running. If you have a double sink, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have a single-basin sink, wash your dishes, place them in a rack, and rinse them all at once after all the washing is complete.
Don't let the faucet run while you clean vegetables. Scrub your sink, rinse and fill with water. Now you can safely rinse off your fruits and vegetables. Better yet, fill a large pot or bucket with water, rinse your produce and use that water to water plants.
Keep a bottle of drinking water in the fridge. How many times do we let the water run to cool it and then fill our glass, only to pour half of it back down the sink.
Use water bottles. In addition to having a pitcher in the fridge, use reusable water bottles or sports bottles for each family member. Fill the bottles, and the temptation to pour out the water remaining after a drink will be gone. This also saves on the number of glasses used during the day — saving money and water use, by reducing the number of loads you have to run in the dishwasher.
Defrosting food. Don't use running water to defrost food. Fill a pot with hot water and add the food or use a microwave to defrost.
Cut down on water when cooking. Cook food in as little water as possible. We are all guilty of filling a pot when a 1/2 pot of water would do. Again this also saves on the utility bill; it takes less energy to heat less water.
Install an instant water heater. Consider installing an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don't have to let the water run while it heats up. This will also reduce utility costs.
Save the ice. If you accidentally drop ice cubes when filling your glass from the freezer, don't throw them in the sink. Drop them in a house plant instead. If you have ice left after a picnic, water a plant or dry spot on a lawn.
Water your lawn only when it needs it. A good way to see if your lawn needs watering is to step on the grass. If it springs back up it doesn't need water. If it stays flat, the lawn is ready for watering. Letting the grass grow taller will decrease the rate of water evaporation and encourage root growth.
Give it a good soaking. When watering the lawn, do it long enough for the moisture to soak down to the roots. A light sprinkling will evaporate quickly and encourages shallow root systems. Not a good thing. Place an empty tuna can on your lawn - when it's full, you've watered about the right amount.
Water early. Early morning is generally the better time to water. Watering after dusk can encourage the growth of fungus, but when your evenings stay hot this is much less of a problem. Watering early or late reduces water loss to evaporation.
Time it. If you don't have an automatic sprinkler system, set a kitchen timer when watering your lawn or garden.
Not when it's windy. Try not to water when it's windy. Wind will blow water from sprinklers off target and speed evaporation.
High tech helps. Use watering systems for shrubs, flower beds and lawns. Use soaker hoses, drip irrigation, micro-sprinklers and timers. Add water-sensors to keep the sprinklers from running when it's raining.
Plant drought-resistant shrubs and plants. Many shrubs, trees and plants thrive with much less watering than others. Replace plantings with native plants.
Use your downspouts. Direct downspouts towards shrubs and trees. You can purchase perforated tubing for this or just slip a curved piece of metal under the spout.
Add a layer of mulch around trees and plants. Mulch will slow evaporation of moisture while discouraging weed growth. Adding 2-4 inches of mulch increases the ability of the soil to retain moisture.
Don't water the street. Position your sprinklers so water lands on the lawn or garden, not on paved areas such as walk ways and driveways.
Water less and more often. If you are unable to control run off divide your watering cycle into shorter periods to allow for better absorption.
Aerate your lawn. Punching holes in your lawn about six inches apart so water will reach the roots rather than run off the surface, also encourages healthy root growth. Walk around the yard in a pair of golf shoes.
Don't run the hose while washing your car. Clean the car using a pail of soapy water and a hose with a spray nozzle for rinsing for more efficient use of water. Wash your car on the grass and water your lawn at the same time. Better yet, use a commercial car wash that recycles water.
Make it a clean sweep. Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks.
Check for leaks outside. We often ignore leaks outside because they are not as visible . Check frequently to keep hose connections, faucets, pipes, pool pumps and sprinklers drip-free. Replace washers at spigots and hose connections yearly to eliminate leaks.
Grass is not always best. Avoid planting grass in areas that are hard to water, such as hillsides and narrow strips along sidewalks and driveways. Ground covers require less water and allow less run-off.
Plant in season. Plant during the spring or fall, when the watering requirements are lower. Not only will you save water and money on your bill but also on the cost to replace plants that die due to insufficient water.
Evaporative coolers. Evaporative coolers should be serviced at the beginning of each cooling season. They use lots of water and can be huge water wasters if not maintained. Turn on the water pump a few minutes before turning on the fan. This saturates the pads first, making your cooler more efficient.
Open a window a little in the rooms you are cooling. This draws the cooled air through. Install a thermostat and timer on your cooler so it only operates when necessary.
Cover up. Install covers on pools and spas to lessen evaporation and deduce the need for filling. Also, keep the temperature cool as cooler water evaporates less quickly.
Fish fertilizer. When you clean your fish tank, use the water you've drained on your plants. The water is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, the things you pay lots of money for when you purchase a fish fertilizer for your household plants.
Locate water shut off valves. Make sure you know where your master water shut-off valve is located. This could save gallons of water and lots damage to your home if a pipe were to burst.
Be selective about water features and fountains. Avoid installing ornamental water features and fountains that spray water into the air. It evaporates and is gone. Trickling or cascading fountains lose less water to evaporation but should still be turned off and drained during a drought.
A bath for Fido. Bathe your pets outdoors in an area in need of water.
Clean the pool filter. Manually clean your pool's filter. You'll do a more thorough job and use less water. The average backwash uses between 250 to 1,000 gallons of water.
Use ceiling fans. Use ceiling fans to circulate air within your home saving on cooling costs. Also use fans on patios; they not only cool but keep away the flies.
During these uncertain drought times we may be faced with rationing of water and/or higher water costs. Think about these facts from h2o4u.org, and then prepare to conserve.
* A shower can use 25 to 50 gallons (5 gallons per minute)
* Just washing your hands can use up to 3 gallons of water (with tap running at 3 gallons per minute)
* The average toilet uses 5 to 7 gallons of water per flush.
* Leaving the water running while you brush your teeth can waste 3 gallons of water (at 3 gallons per minute).
* Outdoor spigots can pump out 5 to 10 gallons per minute.
* Automatic dishwashers use about 15 gallons per load.
* Washing one load of clothes in an automatic washer uses about 45 gallons.
* The average bath takes about 36 gallons of water.
* The average individual uses about 125 gallons of water per day.
* An average residence uses 107,000 gallons of water per year.
* About 340 billion gallons of water are used every day in the United States. This total includes water used in irrigation, in industry, and in fire fighting and street cleaning.
* Cutting one minute off your shower time can save about 700 gallons of water per month.
* A faucet that drips 60 times in one minute would waste over 3 gallons a day, 1,225 gallons per year.
* Humans require about 2 1/2 quarts of water a day.
* A human can live more than a month without food but only as much as one week without water.
Water has made or broken civilizations and economies. It is always present in a land of plenty, and its absence has humbled nations like nothing else. One key to any emergency plan for a family or community is to anticipate the water required to survive any disaster scenario, should normal sources be cut-off or otherwise interrupted. Even in the flood-ravaged Midwest, communities underwater were importing trucks of fresh drinking water because of a shortage of safe wells.
Following an earthquake, we have been warned that one of the first big issues will be the interruption of water supplies. Every family should have a supply of safe, properly stored water — just in case. And during drought, when there may be restrictions, the methods we have discussed here for stretching a gallon of water will be good preparation for an event that limits us to using just what we have stored. In such a time, water might only be for the sustaining of life, and nothing else.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Pioneers
My people were Mormon pioneers.
Is the blood still good?
They stood by in awe as truth
Flew by like a dove
And dropped a feather in the West.
Where truth flies you follow
If you are a pioneer.
I have searched the skies
And now and then
Another feather has fallen.
I have packed the handcart again
Packed it with the precious things
And thrown away the rest.
I will sing by the fires at night
Out there on uncharted ground
Where I am my own captain of tens
Where I blow the bugle
Bring myself to morning prayer
Map out the miles
And never know when or where
Or if at all
I will finally say,
“This is the place,”
I face the plains
On a good day for walking.
The sun rises
And the mist clears.
I will be alright:
My people were Mormon pioneers.
“Pioneers,”
by CAROL LYNN PEARSON
Is the blood still good?
They stood by in awe as truth
Flew by like a dove
And dropped a feather in the West.
Where truth flies you follow
If you are a pioneer.
I have searched the skies
And now and then
Another feather has fallen.
I have packed the handcart again
Packed it with the precious things
And thrown away the rest.
I will sing by the fires at night
Out there on uncharted ground
Where I am my own captain of tens
Where I blow the bugle
Bring myself to morning prayer
Map out the miles
And never know when or where
Or if at all
I will finally say,
“This is the place,”
I face the plains
On a good day for walking.
The sun rises
And the mist clears.
I will be alright:
My people were Mormon pioneers.
“Pioneers,”
by CAROL LYNN PEARSON
Monday, June 16, 2008
Money
It can buy STUPH!
It can buy a house
But not a home
It can buy a clock
But not time
It can buy you a position
But not respect
It can buy you a bed
But not sleep
It can buy you a book
But not knowledge
It can buy you medicine
But not health
It can buy you blood
But not life
So you see money isn't everything
And it often causes pain and suffering
I tell you this because I am your friend
And as your friend I want to
Take away your pain and suffering!!
So. . .
Send me all your money
And I will suffer for you!
Cash only please!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Hot Chocolate
A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives.
Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.
While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups.
The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly...
And enjoy your hot chocolate.
Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.
While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups.
The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly...
And enjoy your hot chocolate.
The Stranger
A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors:
Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.
If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.
My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.
I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name?....
We just call him, "TV."
He has a wife now....We call her "Computer."
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors:
Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.
If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.
My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.
I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name?....
We just call him, "TV."
He has a wife now....We call her "Computer."
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
WordsmythStuph
Some useful English system conversions:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi
2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Won ton
1 millionth of a mouthwash: 1 microscope
Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: 1 bananosecond
Weight an evangelist carries with God: 1 billigram
Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour: Knot-furlong
365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer because it's less filling: 1 lite year
16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone: 1 Rod Serling
Half of a large intestine: 1 semicolon
1000 aches: 1 megahurtz
Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower
Shortest distance between two jokes: A straight line (think about it for a moment)
453.6 graham crackers: 1 pound cake
1 million-million microphones: 1 megaphone
1 million bicycles: 2 megacycles
365.25 days: 1 unicycle
2000 mockingbirds: two kilomockingbirds (work on it....)
10 cards: 1 decacards
1 kilogram of falling figs: 1 Fig Newton
1000 grams of wet socks: 1 literhosen
1 millionth of a fish: 1 microfiche
1 trillion pins: 1 terrapin
10 rations: 1 decoration
100 rations: 1 C-ration
2 monograms: 1 diagram
8 nickels: 2 paradigms
2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital: 1 I.V. League
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi
2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Won ton
1 millionth of a mouthwash: 1 microscope
Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: 1 bananosecond
Weight an evangelist carries with God: 1 billigram
Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour: Knot-furlong
365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer because it's less filling: 1 lite year
16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone: 1 Rod Serling
Half of a large intestine: 1 semicolon
1000 aches: 1 megahurtz
Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower
Shortest distance between two jokes: A straight line (think about it for a moment)
453.6 graham crackers: 1 pound cake
1 million-million microphones: 1 megaphone
1 million bicycles: 2 megacycles
365.25 days: 1 unicycle
2000 mockingbirds: two kilomockingbirds (work on it....)
10 cards: 1 decacards
1 kilogram of falling figs: 1 Fig Newton
1000 grams of wet socks: 1 literhosen
1 millionth of a fish: 1 microfiche
1 trillion pins: 1 terrapin
10 rations: 1 decoration
100 rations: 1 C-ration
2 monograms: 1 diagram
8 nickels: 2 paradigms
2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital: 1 I.V. League
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Logophilia!
Logophilia!
For all Logophiles: (look it up!)
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months. A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.
Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.
We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.
The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.
The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.
The dead batteries were given out free of charge.
If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.
A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
A will is a dead giveaway.
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.
You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
A calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery.
Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
Acupuncture: a jab well done.
For all Logophiles: (look it up!)
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months. A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.
Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.
We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.
The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.
The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.
The dead batteries were given out free of charge.
If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.
A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
A will is a dead giveaway.
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.
You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
A calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery.
Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
Acupuncture: a jab well done.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
40 great ways to start out your day
IN GOD WE TRUST
"We must remember that we have control over who we are no matter how difficult the world becomes."
----- Original Message -
1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit with your own thoughts for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a DVR/TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to ______today.'
5. Live with the 3 E's: Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Watch more movies and less TV, play more board games and less video games and read more books than you did in 2007.
7. Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food
that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild
Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let
new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires,
issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy dress. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special!
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years,
will this matter?'
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch.
32. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
33. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
34. The best is yet to come.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. Do the right thing!
37. Call your family often.
38. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
'I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.'
39. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
40. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you
certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
May your troubles be less,
May your blessings be more.
And may nothing but happiness come through your door
"We must remember that we have control over who we are no matter how difficult the world becomes."
----- Original Message -
1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit with your own thoughts for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a DVR/TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to ______today.'
5. Live with the 3 E's: Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Watch more movies and less TV, play more board games and less video games and read more books than you did in 2007.
7. Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food
that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild
Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let
new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires,
issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy dress. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special!
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years,
will this matter?'
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch.
32. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
33. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
34. The best is yet to come.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. Do the right thing!
37. Call your family often.
38. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
'I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.'
39. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
40. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you
certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
May your troubles be less,
May your blessings be more.
And may nothing but happiness come through your door
Optimism
A Healthy Dose of Optimism
by Elissa Sonnenberg

Take a close look at that glass of water. Half empty? Half full? What you see could make a difference, not only in your daily health, but in how long you live.
So say the results of a new Mayo Clinic study that tracked 839 people over 30 years. In the 1960s, study participants took a standardized test to determine whether they were optimistic, pessimistic or somewhere in between. Those who scored high on the pessimism scale turned out to have a 19% greater chance of premature death than those who scored more optimistically.
The Power of Optimism
"I believe we have compelling evidence that optimists and pessimists differ markedly in how long they will live," says psychologist Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania in his editorial accompanying the study. "It is not clear if pessimism shortens life, optimism prolongs life, or both."
Seligman says there are at least four ways that optimism can affect longevity:
Optimists tend to be less passive than pessimists and less likely to develop "learned helplessness" or negative and debilitating responses to things that happen to them.
Optimists tend to be more likely to practice preventive health measures because they believe their actions make a difference.
Optimists suffer depression at a markedly lower rate than pessimists; depression is associated with mortality.
Optimists' immune systems have been shown to function more effectively than those of pessimists.
Learning to See the Bright Side
For decades, psychologists have studied the link between positive thinking and physical and mental health. According to Seligman, author of Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, it's more important to change negative thought patterns into positive ones than to worry about being optimistic. The picture of optimism he paints is not one of Pollyanna-like blindness to reality, but of a learned optimism grounded in accuracy and non-negative thinking.
Based on the results of several large-scale, long-term, carefully controlled experiments, Seligman discovered that optimists are more successful than pessimists—optimistic politicians win more elections, optimistic students get better grades, optimistic athletes win more contests, and optimistic salespeople make more money.
Why would this be so? In his book Self-help Stuff That Works, Adam Kahn says it is "Because optimism and pessimism both tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies. If you think a setback is permanent, why would you try to change it? Pessimistic explanations tend to make you feel defeated—making you less likely to take constructive action. Optimistic explanations, on the other hand, make you more likely to act. If you think the setback is only temporary, you're apt to try to do something about it."
Optimist vs. Non-optimist
How can you determine whether you think more optimistically or pessimistically?
"I don't like to use the word pessimistic because most people would never consider themselves pessimistic," says Khan, "but many people are willing to admit they aren't optimistic."
Khan, like Seligman and other experts on motivation, defines optimists and non-optimists by how they explain events in their lives. Optimists see setbacks as specific, temporary and changeable, and are therefore motivated to take action. Non-optimists tend to look at setbacks as general, permanent and hopeless, symptoms of widespread failure that cannot be changed.
For example, an optimist who didn't follow through on an exercise routine for a week might say, "I had a lot going on this week. I didn't plan my time too well. I'll have to do better next week." A pessimist in the same situation might say, "I have no self-discipline. I obviously won't be able to meet my goals. Exercise just isn't for me."
A Matter of Degree
Dr. Pierce Howard, author of The Owner's Manual for the Brain, contends that the line between optimism and pessimism is far from clear-cut.
"You're not just an optimist or a pessimist, it's a matter of degree," Dr. Howard says. "You can be successful in life anywhere along the continuum." He points out that pessimistic thinkers make great tax accountants, while optimists are more suited for careers in sales.
Getting into a Good Mood
Mood also has an influence on whether optimistic or pessimistic thoughts dominate your brain, according to Dr. Susan Vaughan, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and researcher whose latest book, Half Empty, Half Full, explores how working to gain control over moods can result in more positive thinking.
"Mood is a powerful filter on how we see things," maintains Vaughan, who sees most people as a blend of optimism and pessimism, depending on the situation with which they are faced.
She points to three methods optimistic people tend to use to lift their moods:
Alternative thinking. When bad things happen, optimists tend to take them less personally and come up with multiple alternatives for why they might have happened, then work actively to fix the situation.
Downward comparison. Though it sounds unkind, optimists compare themselves to others who are in worse situations as a way to brighten their own spirits.
Relaxation. Optimists tend to use exercise, yoga, and even "putting on a happy face" as ways to relax and thereby improve their moods.
Choosing the Right Strategy
Seligman concurs that there are times when it pays not to be optimistic, such as when planning for a risky future, when advising those with poor chances for the future and when trying to be sympathetic to others' problems. When the cost of failure is high, he advises, optimism is the wrong strategy.
Still, there are times when optimism can be a powerful ally. When achievement is the goal, use optimism. If you're fighting off depression, optimistic thoughts can boost your morale.
Changing From Negative to Positive
Seligman argues that optimism, like other interpersonal skills, can be learned.
"The way you explain setbacks to yourself is as much a habit as the way you tie your shoes," agrees Khan. "It is no harder or easier to change a thought habit than it is to change a physical habit." He recommends writing about setbacks and practicing arguing with your less optimistic thoughts until a more realistic vision of what has happened and what is likely to happen in the future emerges.
"It takes work, discipline and focus," Khan says. "But if you don't think you have these things, those are the first non-optimistic thoughts to tear apart."
RESOURCES:
Positive psychology. Martin Seligman Research Alliance at the University of Pennsylvania website. Available at: http://psych.upenn.edu/seligman/pospsy.htm.
Segerstrom SC, Taylor SE, Kemeny ME, et al. Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998;74(6).
by Elissa Sonnenberg

Take a close look at that glass of water. Half empty? Half full? What you see could make a difference, not only in your daily health, but in how long you live.
So say the results of a new Mayo Clinic study that tracked 839 people over 30 years. In the 1960s, study participants took a standardized test to determine whether they were optimistic, pessimistic or somewhere in between. Those who scored high on the pessimism scale turned out to have a 19% greater chance of premature death than those who scored more optimistically.
The Power of Optimism
"I believe we have compelling evidence that optimists and pessimists differ markedly in how long they will live," says psychologist Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania in his editorial accompanying the study. "It is not clear if pessimism shortens life, optimism prolongs life, or both."
Seligman says there are at least four ways that optimism can affect longevity:
Optimists tend to be less passive than pessimists and less likely to develop "learned helplessness" or negative and debilitating responses to things that happen to them.
Optimists tend to be more likely to practice preventive health measures because they believe their actions make a difference.
Optimists suffer depression at a markedly lower rate than pessimists; depression is associated with mortality.
Optimists' immune systems have been shown to function more effectively than those of pessimists.
Learning to See the Bright Side
For decades, psychologists have studied the link between positive thinking and physical and mental health. According to Seligman, author of Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, it's more important to change negative thought patterns into positive ones than to worry about being optimistic. The picture of optimism he paints is not one of Pollyanna-like blindness to reality, but of a learned optimism grounded in accuracy and non-negative thinking.
Based on the results of several large-scale, long-term, carefully controlled experiments, Seligman discovered that optimists are more successful than pessimists—optimistic politicians win more elections, optimistic students get better grades, optimistic athletes win more contests, and optimistic salespeople make more money.
Why would this be so? In his book Self-help Stuff That Works, Adam Kahn says it is "Because optimism and pessimism both tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies. If you think a setback is permanent, why would you try to change it? Pessimistic explanations tend to make you feel defeated—making you less likely to take constructive action. Optimistic explanations, on the other hand, make you more likely to act. If you think the setback is only temporary, you're apt to try to do something about it."
Optimist vs. Non-optimist
How can you determine whether you think more optimistically or pessimistically?
"I don't like to use the word pessimistic because most people would never consider themselves pessimistic," says Khan, "but many people are willing to admit they aren't optimistic."
Khan, like Seligman and other experts on motivation, defines optimists and non-optimists by how they explain events in their lives. Optimists see setbacks as specific, temporary and changeable, and are therefore motivated to take action. Non-optimists tend to look at setbacks as general, permanent and hopeless, symptoms of widespread failure that cannot be changed.
For example, an optimist who didn't follow through on an exercise routine for a week might say, "I had a lot going on this week. I didn't plan my time too well. I'll have to do better next week." A pessimist in the same situation might say, "I have no self-discipline. I obviously won't be able to meet my goals. Exercise just isn't for me."
A Matter of Degree
Dr. Pierce Howard, author of The Owner's Manual for the Brain, contends that the line between optimism and pessimism is far from clear-cut.
"You're not just an optimist or a pessimist, it's a matter of degree," Dr. Howard says. "You can be successful in life anywhere along the continuum." He points out that pessimistic thinkers make great tax accountants, while optimists are more suited for careers in sales.
Getting into a Good Mood
Mood also has an influence on whether optimistic or pessimistic thoughts dominate your brain, according to Dr. Susan Vaughan, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and researcher whose latest book, Half Empty, Half Full, explores how working to gain control over moods can result in more positive thinking.
"Mood is a powerful filter on how we see things," maintains Vaughan, who sees most people as a blend of optimism and pessimism, depending on the situation with which they are faced.
She points to three methods optimistic people tend to use to lift their moods:
Alternative thinking. When bad things happen, optimists tend to take them less personally and come up with multiple alternatives for why they might have happened, then work actively to fix the situation.
Downward comparison. Though it sounds unkind, optimists compare themselves to others who are in worse situations as a way to brighten their own spirits.
Relaxation. Optimists tend to use exercise, yoga, and even "putting on a happy face" as ways to relax and thereby improve their moods.
Choosing the Right Strategy
Seligman concurs that there are times when it pays not to be optimistic, such as when planning for a risky future, when advising those with poor chances for the future and when trying to be sympathetic to others' problems. When the cost of failure is high, he advises, optimism is the wrong strategy.
Still, there are times when optimism can be a powerful ally. When achievement is the goal, use optimism. If you're fighting off depression, optimistic thoughts can boost your morale.
Changing From Negative to Positive
Seligman argues that optimism, like other interpersonal skills, can be learned.
"The way you explain setbacks to yourself is as much a habit as the way you tie your shoes," agrees Khan. "It is no harder or easier to change a thought habit than it is to change a physical habit." He recommends writing about setbacks and practicing arguing with your less optimistic thoughts until a more realistic vision of what has happened and what is likely to happen in the future emerges.
"It takes work, discipline and focus," Khan says. "But if you don't think you have these things, those are the first non-optimistic thoughts to tear apart."
RESOURCES:
Positive psychology. Martin Seligman Research Alliance at the University of Pennsylvania website. Available at: http://psych.upenn.edu/seligman/pospsy.htm.
Segerstrom SC, Taylor SE, Kemeny ME, et al. Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998;74(6).
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
(For My Granddaughters) Which Disney Princess Are You?
http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354"><> size=+1>You Are Pocahantas!
Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.
Which'>http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354">Which Disney Princess Are You?
Sunday, June 1, 2008
My Children and Grandchildren
TIME TO UPDATE -Nathan, married to Liz McKinley, with three daughters, Sydney, Holly and Emily with number 4, the 'Born-Bourne' baby on the way; our sweet daughter Andrea, who passed away this past July, eternally married to Kyle Lemmon, three daughters, Brooklyn, Karalee Jo and Katelyn Jane; Ryan, married to Kacy Cutts, with three children, Hailey, Cooper and Bowen; Loralee, married to Taylor Warner, with Cameron, Mallory and baby brother on the way; daughter Julina; and Karalyn, married to Paul Groesbeck.
The Book of Mormon Challenge
THE BOOK OF MORMON CHALLENGE
The Book of Mormon claims to be the word of God, translated from ancient plates made of Gold, transcribed and maintained anciently by descendents of people of the tribes of Israel, brought by the hand of the Lord to the Americas.
Joseph Smith claimed that he received the plates from an Angel, a resurrected prophet from this ancient culture and was instructed in how he, as a modern day revelator could translate the record contained on the plates into the English language, to be published to the world today in millions of copies in more than 60 languages.
Below is the Book of Mormon Challenge, an assignment that Professor Hugh Nibley at BYU sometimes gave to students in a required class on the Book of Mormon. Though it is several decades old, it still offers a challenge worth pondering.
The challenge the Book of Mormon makes to the world is that of duplication; because the Book of Mormon complies with every one of the following conditions.
Here is the challenge. CAN YOU MEET IT?
1. You must write a history of ancient Tibet covering a period of 2200 B.C. to 400 A.D. This is because Joseph Smith, in 1827 knew as much about ancient Central America as you do about Tibet.
2. At the time you write, you must be 23 years of age.
3. You can have had no more than three years of formal education and must have spent your life in rural backwoods communities.
4. Your history is to be written on the basis of what you know. As with Joseph Smith there is no library available to provide background information. You must use none. You are to conduct no prior research of any kind.
5. Your book must be 522 pages and over 300,000 words in length.
6. Other than a few grammatical errors, you must make no changes in the text. The first edition, as you dictate it to your secretary must stand forever.
7. The record is to contain the history of two distinct and separate nations, along with histories of different contemporary nations or groups of people.
8. You must describe their religious, economic, political and social cultures and institutions.
9. Change your writing style many times. Examination of the Book of Mormon reveals widely diverging writing style, attributable to different authors, written over thousands of years.
10. Weave into your history the religion of Jesus Christ and the pattern of Christian living.
11. You must then claim to the world that your smooth narrative is not fiction with moral value, but a true and sacred history
12. You must include in your book fifty-four chapters dealing with wars, twenty-one historical chapters, fifty-five chapters on visions and prophecies, and remember when you begin to write on the visions and prophecies, you must have your record agree meticulously with the Bible.
The only Bible you will have at your disposal is an old 18th century family Bible, without concordance or index.
13. You must write seventy-one chapters on doctrine and exhortation, and here too you must check every statement with scriptures or you will be proven a fraud. You must write twenty-one chapters on the ministry of Christ, and everything you claim He said and did and every testimony you write us your book about Him must agree with the New Testament.
14. Many of the facts, claims, ideas, and statements given as absolutely true in your writings must be entirely inconsistent with the prevailing beliefs in the world. Some of these worldly beliefs must prove to be direct opposite of your claims.
15. Included in your narrative must be authentic accounts regarding modes of travel, the use by these ancient people of such advancements as the wheel; descriptions of their clothing, crops, customs, and types of government. You must invent 280 new names that will stand under scrutiny through the years as to their proper application, citation and derivation.
16. You must invite the ablest scholars and experts to examine the text with care, and you must strive diligently to see that your book gets into the hands of those eager to prove it a forgery, and who are most competent to expose every flaw in it.
17. Thorough investigation, scientific and historical evidence, and archeological discovery for the next 125 years must verify its claims and prove detail after detail to be true, for many of the details you put in your history are still buried beneath the soil of Tibet.
18. You must publish it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people declaring it to be the word of God and another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
19. The book must not contain any absurd, impossible, or contradictory statements. Your history must not contain any statement that will contradict any other statement elsewhere in the volume.
20. Many theories and ideas as to its origin must arise, and after discovering and examining the facts, they must fail. You have claimed that your knowledge had come from divine origin, and this claim continues to stand as the only possible explanation. The strength of this explanation must not decrease as time passes, but actually increases to the point where it becomes the only logical explanation.
21. Your record is to fulfill many Bible prophecies, even in the exact manner in which it shall come forth, to whom delivered, its purposes, and its accomplishments.
22. Call down an angel from heaven in the middle of the day and have him bear testimony to three honest, dignified citizens of your community that the record is the word of God. These witnesses must bear the angel's testimony to the world, not for profit or gain, but under great sacrifice and severe persecution, even to their death beds. You must put that testimony to the test by becoming an enemy to these men.
23. Thousands of great men, intellectual giants, national and international personalities, and scholars for 125 years must accept your history and its teachings even to the point of laying down their life rather than deny their testimony of it.
24. You must include within the record this promise: "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost."
25. Missionaries must bear record to the world for the next 125 years that they know the record to be true because they put the promise to the test and found it to be true. The truth of it was manifested to them by the power of the Holy Ghost.
26. Over 60,000 plus competent salesman must be so sold on your book that they gladly give up two or more years of their lives to take it to all parts of the world for distribution. They not only pay their own way during these years, but return bearing testimony that the time spent will remain as one of the highlights of their lives. They receive nothing in return for their efforts but the joy of having shared your book with others.
27. Your book must not only raise the standards of millions of people but do it in such a way that they become one of the great moral, ethical, and dynamic marvels of the day. They must become world renowned for this.
28. For the next 20 years you must watch those that follow you, your family, and the dearest of your loved ones persecuted, driven time after time from their homes, beaten, tortured, starved, frozen and killed. Tens of thousands must undergo the most extreme hardships in your presence just because they believe you claims concerning the origin and content of what you have written on ancient Tibet.
29. You must gain no wealth from your work, but many time lose all that you have. Like those that believe you, you must submit yourself to the most vile persecution. And finally after 20 years of this, give your own life in a very savage and brutal manner, for your testimony concerning your history book. This must be done willingly on your part.
30. Start right now and produce this record which covers 2600 years of history, doing it, not in the peaceful atmosphere of your community, but under the most trying of circumstances which include having to work hard agrarian labor to raise your own food, being driven from your home several times, and receiving constant threats upon your life. Please have your book completed, talk a friend into mortgaging his farm to raise money to have it printed - all in 60-70 days.
The point of all this is that all 30 of these factors are aspects of the translation, publication and distribution of the Book of Mormon, in a small farming community on the rural frontier of Western New York state in 1828. Of course, the power and majesty of the Book of Mormon in changing lives, come because of a witness borne to honest, sincere seeking individuals through Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.
The Book of Mormon claims to be the word of God, translated from ancient plates made of Gold, transcribed and maintained anciently by descendents of people of the tribes of Israel, brought by the hand of the Lord to the Americas.
Joseph Smith claimed that he received the plates from an Angel, a resurrected prophet from this ancient culture and was instructed in how he, as a modern day revelator could translate the record contained on the plates into the English language, to be published to the world today in millions of copies in more than 60 languages.
Below is the Book of Mormon Challenge, an assignment that Professor Hugh Nibley at BYU sometimes gave to students in a required class on the Book of Mormon. Though it is several decades old, it still offers a challenge worth pondering.
The challenge the Book of Mormon makes to the world is that of duplication; because the Book of Mormon complies with every one of the following conditions.
Here is the challenge. CAN YOU MEET IT?
1. You must write a history of ancient Tibet covering a period of 2200 B.C. to 400 A.D. This is because Joseph Smith, in 1827 knew as much about ancient Central America as you do about Tibet.
2. At the time you write, you must be 23 years of age.
3. You can have had no more than three years of formal education and must have spent your life in rural backwoods communities.
4. Your history is to be written on the basis of what you know. As with Joseph Smith there is no library available to provide background information. You must use none. You are to conduct no prior research of any kind.
5. Your book must be 522 pages and over 300,000 words in length.
6. Other than a few grammatical errors, you must make no changes in the text. The first edition, as you dictate it to your secretary must stand forever.
7. The record is to contain the history of two distinct and separate nations, along with histories of different contemporary nations or groups of people.
8. You must describe their religious, economic, political and social cultures and institutions.
9. Change your writing style many times. Examination of the Book of Mormon reveals widely diverging writing style, attributable to different authors, written over thousands of years.
10. Weave into your history the religion of Jesus Christ and the pattern of Christian living.
11. You must then claim to the world that your smooth narrative is not fiction with moral value, but a true and sacred history
12. You must include in your book fifty-four chapters dealing with wars, twenty-one historical chapters, fifty-five chapters on visions and prophecies, and remember when you begin to write on the visions and prophecies, you must have your record agree meticulously with the Bible.
The only Bible you will have at your disposal is an old 18th century family Bible, without concordance or index.
13. You must write seventy-one chapters on doctrine and exhortation, and here too you must check every statement with scriptures or you will be proven a fraud. You must write twenty-one chapters on the ministry of Christ, and everything you claim He said and did and every testimony you write us your book about Him must agree with the New Testament.
14. Many of the facts, claims, ideas, and statements given as absolutely true in your writings must be entirely inconsistent with the prevailing beliefs in the world. Some of these worldly beliefs must prove to be direct opposite of your claims.
15. Included in your narrative must be authentic accounts regarding modes of travel, the use by these ancient people of such advancements as the wheel; descriptions of their clothing, crops, customs, and types of government. You must invent 280 new names that will stand under scrutiny through the years as to their proper application, citation and derivation.
16. You must invite the ablest scholars and experts to examine the text with care, and you must strive diligently to see that your book gets into the hands of those eager to prove it a forgery, and who are most competent to expose every flaw in it.
17. Thorough investigation, scientific and historical evidence, and archeological discovery for the next 125 years must verify its claims and prove detail after detail to be true, for many of the details you put in your history are still buried beneath the soil of Tibet.
18. You must publish it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people declaring it to be the word of God and another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
19. The book must not contain any absurd, impossible, or contradictory statements. Your history must not contain any statement that will contradict any other statement elsewhere in the volume.
20. Many theories and ideas as to its origin must arise, and after discovering and examining the facts, they must fail. You have claimed that your knowledge had come from divine origin, and this claim continues to stand as the only possible explanation. The strength of this explanation must not decrease as time passes, but actually increases to the point where it becomes the only logical explanation.
21. Your record is to fulfill many Bible prophecies, even in the exact manner in which it shall come forth, to whom delivered, its purposes, and its accomplishments.
22. Call down an angel from heaven in the middle of the day and have him bear testimony to three honest, dignified citizens of your community that the record is the word of God. These witnesses must bear the angel's testimony to the world, not for profit or gain, but under great sacrifice and severe persecution, even to their death beds. You must put that testimony to the test by becoming an enemy to these men.
23. Thousands of great men, intellectual giants, national and international personalities, and scholars for 125 years must accept your history and its teachings even to the point of laying down their life rather than deny their testimony of it.
24. You must include within the record this promise: "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost."
25. Missionaries must bear record to the world for the next 125 years that they know the record to be true because they put the promise to the test and found it to be true. The truth of it was manifested to them by the power of the Holy Ghost.
26. Over 60,000 plus competent salesman must be so sold on your book that they gladly give up two or more years of their lives to take it to all parts of the world for distribution. They not only pay their own way during these years, but return bearing testimony that the time spent will remain as one of the highlights of their lives. They receive nothing in return for their efforts but the joy of having shared your book with others.
27. Your book must not only raise the standards of millions of people but do it in such a way that they become one of the great moral, ethical, and dynamic marvels of the day. They must become world renowned for this.
28. For the next 20 years you must watch those that follow you, your family, and the dearest of your loved ones persecuted, driven time after time from their homes, beaten, tortured, starved, frozen and killed. Tens of thousands must undergo the most extreme hardships in your presence just because they believe you claims concerning the origin and content of what you have written on ancient Tibet.
29. You must gain no wealth from your work, but many time lose all that you have. Like those that believe you, you must submit yourself to the most vile persecution. And finally after 20 years of this, give your own life in a very savage and brutal manner, for your testimony concerning your history book. This must be done willingly on your part.
30. Start right now and produce this record which covers 2600 years of history, doing it, not in the peaceful atmosphere of your community, but under the most trying of circumstances which include having to work hard agrarian labor to raise your own food, being driven from your home several times, and receiving constant threats upon your life. Please have your book completed, talk a friend into mortgaging his farm to raise money to have it printed - all in 60-70 days.
The point of all this is that all 30 of these factors are aspects of the translation, publication and distribution of the Book of Mormon, in a small farming community on the rural frontier of Western New York state in 1828. Of course, the power and majesty of the Book of Mormon in changing lives, come because of a witness borne to honest, sincere seeking individuals through Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.
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