700 Billion

The government proposed bailout of 700 billion for Wall street institutions, just seems to smell to me. I do not understand why we must bail out corrupt institutions and save their companies when they made the mistakes that made their balance sheets loaded with bad debt. I know when an individual is loaded with bad debt, they have really only two choices, pay the debt or go into bankruptcy. I believe we should try and pay our debts when it is possible but sometimes the debt load is too large and bankruptcy is the only choice. These individuals experinece pain for their bad decisions no matter which option they choose. Not, have someone pay them for their bad debt and let them off the hook without any discomfort.

So, why is it that we must pay with our taxes the debt of rich men's corporations? They say if we don't that the whole economy will collapse. That every business will not be able to get credit and money. Will I disagree, 99% of all businesses in this country are small businesses and the majority of those small business are ran day by day with a line of credit already established and or cash that the Owner has saved through good business practices.

So, the only institutions that may go under are the large corrupt Wall street banks or the weak small businesses that will fail due to a bad business plan anyway. I'm sure there will be pain, but we must make a stand and finally do what is right. Not, borrow against future generations to pay off the mistakes of our government, but to let the chips fall were they may and then sweep up the broken pieces.

I believe if we need to we should take the 700 Billion and use it to help anyone who needs food to survive. Use 700 billion for unemployment insurance, for aid, for compassion to help the people of this great country who may need help during a downturn in this economy. I'm sure the pain will be felt at the bottom the most, it always is, but I also feel it will strengthen the resolve of the American citizen and we will finally have the fortitude to vote honest servants to the government to do the will of the people and not the will of special interest groups.

I'm sure congress and the president will vote some bailout for these corrupt companies and it may smooth things over for awhile, but this is just a sugar pill for the cause and unless we cure the disease of corruption and greed in government and big business; we will not cure the patient (Our Great Country).

Call your Congressman, Senator, and or President and tell them what you think, for once maybe they will listen.

EMAIL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON NOW

God Bless America and God Bless our families.

Look above to see within

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will
find it.

Matthew 10:39 NIV

If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find
yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll
find both yourself and me.

Matthew 10:39 MSG

I had a hard time with this passage for a long time, but then it came to me what this means;

Look first for God and through that journey of discovering God you will also discover yourself.

I shortened this thought even further to the following:

Look above to see within!

This passage has meant so much to me and has helped me let go of my old ways and embrace the new ways of this walk with Jesus Christ. I'm no longer losing something by letting go of the past ways of my life, but I'm gaining everything through Jesus Christ who strengthens and enlightens me. My joy now is greater than at anytime in my past life. My life is not easier, but my joy is greater.

Listen to Win

I have set through a lot of meetings and negotiations due to my work over the years. During all of these interactions with other individuals, I have slowly been realizing that as I listen I learn. As I learn I understand and as I understand I can usually resolve the interaction in a win-win solution.

What I mean is that every time I set in a meeting and or start a negotiation I have an agenda. This is not a written agenda, but a list of wants and or needs in my mind that I need to get accomplished. Usually this means getting something done for a certain price and or getting something done during a certain time frame for a specific project. Previously I ignored the other persons needs and or wants and tried through manipulation to get what I wanted. Lately, I have realized that if I can find out what the other persons motivations are I can usually work out a deal that all parties involved will walk away with a win or at least a compromise that is the best for all involved.

I have found out through years of meetings and discussions that if I can understand the other persons reasons, I can usually explain my reasons and together the compromise can be reached. I know this has been written in numerous books over the years and I'm sure I have read it many times before, but until the light goes off in your head it is just words on a page. To me they are no longer words on a page but a well ingrained lesson. I will always pray to God that I first try to understand and then try to solve and with God's blessing I will always reach a win-win for all involved.

Never Rush - Just Live

Life is a journey to be enjoyed and not rushed. Every moment cherished and taken in by every one of our five senses that our body possesses. Each day is truly a present and not to enjoy every moment of every day is a wasted life. This is the one thing I fear more than anything else in this world, A WASTED LIFE.

I wish I lived my life that way, but the truth is I get too bogged down by doing task as fast as possible until the day, week, month, year, and finally my life is over. I seem to be checking things off my to do list so quickly that I can not slow down to enjoy the moment. The few times my mind gets distracted by the beauty all around me and I take a moment to really live and enjoy what is happening at that point in time, I resist the gift and get right back to the mundane task at hand.

Enough is enough, I will slow down and enjoy the trip more than the destination. I will enjoy eating healthy and not worry about losing weight. I will enjoy exercising and not worry about if I'm in shape. I will enjoy saving money and not worry if I'm debt free. I will enjoy the moment and not worry about the future. I will enjoy my time at the moment and give the only thing I can not make more of, my time.

I will give my time to those I love, my family, my friends, and my neighbors. It is stated best in
Luke 6:38

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

So, as I give more of my most precious asset to those I love, they will give that most precious asset back to me, their time.

Failure Leads to Success

I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with my children and this song struck a cord with me, so I looked up the lyrics. So, if we fail try, try, and try again.

- The Roses of Success Lyrics from the Movie Chitty Chitty bang bang Every bursted bubble has a glory! Each abysmal failure makes a point! Every glowing path that goes astray, Shows you how to find a better way. So every time you stumble never grumble. Next time you'll bumble even less! For up from the ashes, up from the ashes, grow the roses of success! Grow the roses! Grow the roses! Grow the roses of success! Oh yes! Grow the roses! Those rosy roses! From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success! (spoken)Yes I know but he wants it to float. It will! For every big mistake you make be grateful! Here, here! That mistake you'll never make again! No sir! Every shiny dream that fades and dies, Generates the steam for two more tries! (Oh) There's magic in the wake of a fiasco! Correct! It gives you that chance to second guess! Oh yes! Then up from the ashes, up from the ashes grow the roses of success! Grow the roses! Grow the roses! Grow the roses of success! Grow the roses! Those rosy roses! From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success! Disaster didn't stymie Louis Pasteur! No sir! Edison took years to see the light! Right! Alexander Graham knew failure well; he took a lot of knocks to ring that bell! So when it gets distressing it's a blessing! Onward and upward you must press! Yes, Yes! Till up from the ashes, up from the ashes grow the roses of success. Grow the ro Grow the ro Grow the roses! Grow the ro Grow the ro Grow the roses! Grow the roses of success! Grow the ro Grow the ro Grow the roses! Those rosy ro Those rosy ro Those rosy roses! From the ashes of disaster, grow the roses of success! Start the engines! Success! Batten the hatches! Success! Man the shrouds! Lift the anchor! Success!

Lighten up because you know you like this movie and this song.

Halftime

I feel like I'm at a point in my life where I have played the first half of football and I'm now in the locker room waiting for my coaches motivational speech to prepare me for the second half of my life. If I was to recap my play during the first half of the game it would go something like this:

I struggled mightily during the first half of the game and I'm still in it. I'm behind, but victory is well within reach. The first quarter I was overwhelmed and ill prepared for what the game was going to throw at me and I got knocked back on my heels, but survived by pure determination. The second quarter I was tired and a little more savvy to life and its game and instead of using pure determination, I used cunning and trickery to score points. Every play in the first half was a hell Mary play and I scored some, but most of the time the trickery didn't work.

But at halftime, I'm still behind in this game called life, I have taken a beating during some plays, but I have faith that the coach will give me a game plan to come out and finish the game as a victor.

Well I don't have a coach and this isn't a game, it is my life. I do have a play book and a coach who wants the best for me. The play book is the Bible and my coach is God. The half time speech has worked and I'm ready for the second half of the game called life. The speech of course was me being saved and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Master.

I went into the locker room beat up and dreading what lied ahead and came out rejuvenated and eagerly awaiting the second half journey. I now have the game plan (Bible) that I need and the power (God) to succeed and win the second half. Life just like football takes a great coach and a great game plan to succeed. I will take each day as outlined by God in my game plan and eagerly await the next play. I will execute the game plan by faith knowing that the path I'm directed to is the only way to live a life that matters.

I'm excited about the possibility of the second half of my life and I have hope and more importantly dreams of what a fully lived life will be like. Your either hurrying up to live or hurrying up to die, I plan on living.

Good Habits

This is the final blog about character. Search my blogs by topic - character - and you will see all of my posts concerning this trait.

Habits are not something we are born with, but they are developed through effort and repetition. I believe a couple of quotes below says how habits are created best:

Be careful of your thoughts, for they become words.
Be careful of your words, for they become actions.
Be careful of your actions, for they become HABITS.
Be careful of your habits, for they become your character.
Be careful of your character, for it becomes your destiny. Author Unknown

The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has
acquired during the first half. ~Feodor Dostoevski

Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.
~Confucius

Loyalty

Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person or cause as defined by Wikipedia.

I believe that loyalty should be held for many things, but those things definitely have a hierarchical level of importance. See below how I would rate my loyalty:

1. God
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Country
5. Job

By having in my heart what is most important and so on, it makes my quick decisions easier and avoids having confusion on where my loyalties should lie. I shall endeavor to never forget where my loyalties lie.

Honesty

Honesty is the human quality of communicating and acting truthfully related
to truth as a value. This includes listening, and any action in the human
repertoire — as well as speaking as defined by Wikipedia.

I have for many years given it no thought as to weather I was telling the truth and or a lie, the only thing I wanted was the easiest path. I no longer believe that and understand how important it is for someone to be completely honest. I strive in everything I do to tell the truth.
Where I think I come up short is not so much the spoken word as the unspoken words that I have. I will not tell someone everything I know in order to avoid conflict, hurt, etc. I have thought about this more and I will strive to be 100% honest in all my dealings. No white lies, no half truths, no easy paths, only the truth as I know it.


Being a man of character is the not the easy path, but it is the path I must travel.

If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. ~Mark Twain

A half truth is a whole lie. ~Yiddish Proverb

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. ~Thomas
Jefferson

The cruelest lies are often told in silence. ~Adlai Stevenson

Fortitude

It could be defined as: Strength of mind that allows one to endure pain or adversity with courage.

To have fortitude one must have no doubt as to what is important, one must have unwavering faith as to what is at the core of their belief. I believe that in order for someone to have unwavering faith deep to their core they must use the only book that can give us that belief. The only book that has all the answers and shows what the rewards will be of having that unwavering faith, the Bible.

Since, I have been reading and praying on the words of God written in the Bible, I have started to see what really matters. What at my core I should hold as important. The bible gives me those answers. Knowing that my beliefs are in line with God's words makes it easier to have fortitude, because it it is mot me, but God who strengthens me at all times.

The strength to keep on the straight line, the correct path that my accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Master has started me on.

Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.

Francis Bacon

Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.

John Locke

Courage

Courage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity, and fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. "Physical courage" is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, or threat of death, while "moral courage" is the courage to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement as defined by Wikipedia.

So, to me courage is the ability to do what is right even if it means physical and or mental pain. It means telling a friend or loved one that they are wrong if their idea or comments differ from your moral compass. I know I have not always been courageous in telling other people that I disagree with their comments, etc. Usually, I do not give any encouraging comments and or that I agree with their comments. Most of the time I do not come right out and tell them that I disagree and that I feel they are wrong.

I must speak what I feel is right and not be silent. I will try to be courageous in my convictions and live a life that I know I'm suppose to live.

Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.

Clare Booth Luce

Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.

James Freeman Clarke

I believe our conscience is God talking to us through or inner voice.

Integrity

Integrity is the concept of basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles as defined by Wikipedia.

This is so much more profound to me now that I have a guide to help me with my principles. What I mean is that I wondered aimlessly for most of my life until I became a Christian and now I have the Bible as my guide. This has given me a strong foundation for all my decisions, it has firmly planted my feet on stable ground. This is the greatest reference book ever written and all decisions and or questions are contained withing its words. So, using the Bible as my framework, I try and base all my decision and actions on its words.


A "No" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a "Yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean question: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well - or ill? John Steinbeck