Happy Thanksgiving. It is hard to believe it is already here and that Christmas is just around the corner. It has been a tough fall emotionally. Too many things going on in and out of the family. I look forward to moving on and this is a great time to do so. I want to stop and truly appreciate what has been given to me.
1. Unconditional love. Lord knows I have tested my husbands patience and yet he still does all the little things that shows he loves me. He is such a great guy and I love him. I need to say that more often!
2. The bridge between past and future. AKA, my kids. It is exciting and challenging to watch them grow up. They change and sometimes I am not sure if the change is good or not. But they are their own person and will always remember the bigger lessons from the past, I hope. I remind myself when faced with the teenage challenges that they are actually put here to teach me something.
3. True friends. I have a lot of contacts but have just a few really good friends. That is all you need.
4. My health. Lately that has been a complaint but I am also at my lowest in fitness. Seems to me there is a connection. I had less sicknesses and ailments when I was fit. Time to get started again (oh, age really does not matter).
5. My SIL's. As I don't have a sister, I do love them like one. I wish we lived closer and we did not have so much going on all of the time. I can't wait until Christmas to see Jen and in February I see Sunni!
More reflection to come...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
So now we have a problem, where have you been?
I hear a lot of people talking about prices of gasoline, fuel oil, electricity, natural gas, etc. The next logical increase is the cost of all of the goods that are made from fossil fuels (90% of what we use daily is made from oil) and have to be trucked across the country. My only response: Where have you been?
My beef? Those who for decades talked about how all of the conservationists were out of their minds. How they discussed the downfall of the environment and their solution would destroy all of our ways of life and raise taxes. Are you kidding me? When are we going to learn to be proactive and stop the nonsense? The cost of changing/cleaning up, etc. is enormous.
So everyone is complaining and I know that we can't change the past, but what are you doing now? Are you going to continue to complain or are you going to do something to make a change for the better, model a better way of life for the future, and teach the younger generation that you do care. By the way, they think you don't. There are a lot of very angry young people upset about the state of the world. The problem seems enormous but everyone working together can accomplish much. We all have to give up a little now or we stand to have to give up a lot more in the future. It is all too easy to think it will just work out by itself. Ask yourself, what do you believe? What will you do?
So what do I do? For me, I have been concerned about this since the 70's. Sure, I still consume my share but take a definite stand on many issues. I have used my own cloth bags for shopping long before it became popular (is it where you are?). As a matter of fact, certain family members did not want to be seen with me when I used those bags. I have recycled as long as well (BTW I do not live where there is curbside recycling), I limit trips in a car (one with better gas mileage), combine my trips, grow my own produce and even make our own dog food. I can go on and on about computer use, using resources and electricity, but will actually be doing this for my high school classes soon.
As for my classes, I educate. We are researching, we are understanding viewpoints and problems around the world, and we are hoping to make change. The same message here I am giving to them. They have a voice and they want to be heard. I am encouraging thoughts turning into action. I hope it becomes contagious.
My beef? Those who for decades talked about how all of the conservationists were out of their minds. How they discussed the downfall of the environment and their solution would destroy all of our ways of life and raise taxes. Are you kidding me? When are we going to learn to be proactive and stop the nonsense? The cost of changing/cleaning up, etc. is enormous.
So everyone is complaining and I know that we can't change the past, but what are you doing now? Are you going to continue to complain or are you going to do something to make a change for the better, model a better way of life for the future, and teach the younger generation that you do care. By the way, they think you don't. There are a lot of very angry young people upset about the state of the world. The problem seems enormous but everyone working together can accomplish much. We all have to give up a little now or we stand to have to give up a lot more in the future. It is all too easy to think it will just work out by itself. Ask yourself, what do you believe? What will you do?
So what do I do? For me, I have been concerned about this since the 70's. Sure, I still consume my share but take a definite stand on many issues. I have used my own cloth bags for shopping long before it became popular (is it where you are?). As a matter of fact, certain family members did not want to be seen with me when I used those bags. I have recycled as long as well (BTW I do not live where there is curbside recycling), I limit trips in a car (one with better gas mileage), combine my trips, grow my own produce and even make our own dog food. I can go on and on about computer use, using resources and electricity, but will actually be doing this for my high school classes soon.
As for my classes, I educate. We are researching, we are understanding viewpoints and problems around the world, and we are hoping to make change. The same message here I am giving to them. They have a voice and they want to be heard. I am encouraging thoughts turning into action. I hope it becomes contagious.
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