MLK

Regardless of how you think about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he has affected your life. Some of us have a holiday tomorrow in his honor. Some of us will have to work more. Some of us will lose money or make more. Some of us will shop sales, some of us will sleep in. Some will truly honor him, most will ignore him. It doesn't matter what you do, he has already made his mark in history.



Most of us go through life doing what we feel is important and hoping others will do the same. That would be me. I'm not looking for 15 minutes of fame and fortune is not likely. I would be grateful to be able to pay the bills and retire at 70.



How do I affect the lives of others in day to day living? I, too, "Have a Dream". I dream of people taking responsibility for themselves. To teach those in my little corner of the world that respect for God means respect for all. That you do NOT have the right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. You have the priviledge of living in a country that does not restrict you from personal endeavors as long as they don't break laws.



Your priviledge to life on this planet is depenent on your efforts to survive. Even our generous government programs cannot make you compliant to basic health habits. Look at your genetics and get a clue. Look at your lifestyle and make changes.



Liberty is dependent on knowledge and wisdom. The more you know, the more liberty you have. Ignorance is laziness. Laziness is dependence on someone else, which is slavery. Liberty is education, application and hard work. Get off your excuses and get busy.

Fail to plan, plan to fail. What are you doing tomorrow?

Because blogs have fallen due to fb, I don't expect this to be read by anyone. Therefore, if you read it, be advised that it is to me not you.



The pursuit of happiness is easy. Understand that happiness is an attitude that you choose. No one else is responsible for your happiness. Circumstances and other people can make you unhappy, but only you can decide to be happy in spite of everything.

Happy New Year

It has been a longer time than intended for me to blog. My desktop computer wouldn't let me in due to some technical problem that remains unfixed. Now I have a new little laptop. Cool! I am intending to learn a few things this coming new year, and this laptop will be very helpful. One, I can do things with this one and photography that I can't do on the desktop. Two, I can be watching a couple of little boys in the living areas of the house. Freedom of sorts.

I am contemplating two classes one through TCC for photography, one through the Seniors Center of Hurst. I want to think that an exercise class will improve my body. I just have to do it. Ken wants to use the center, too. The cost for exercise classes, personal trainer and equipment for the year is $20. I think that is reasonable. At last, getting old has a benefit or two.

Ammon has discovered me, so I'm done. Now I push the publish button and it doesn't publish.

Job

The events of this last year and a talk last Sunday on Faith and Adversity led me to re-read Job in the Old Testament. I have always liked Job, not particularly his friends, though. As I prepared my talk, I read Job and based the first part of my talk on chapters 1 & 2. I got to the end of the second chapter and Job's wife gave him some poor advice. I started to think about her side of the story. The events were happening to her as much as him. They had been the wealthiest couple in the east, they lost everything in a matter of hours, including all of their children. She had remained faithful until Job got boils from head to toe. It probably dawned on her at that moment that she was suffering all of this because of Job, which was true. I think this story is where the idea "bad things happen to good people" came from. It also reminds me that our circumstances are not always due to our own efforts or lack thereof. Sometimes we are put into situations that don't seem fair (like Job and his wife). Anyway that you look at it, this life is our challenge to learn. I believe that Brigham Young noted that some of us have to learn the same lesson over and over. If you are frustrated with a certain area in your life, maybe you are not learning the lesson. I am learning once again how to deal with chaos, and people who can't do anything for themselves. This time my perspective is different so maybe I will learn the lessons faster. Maybe. I hope so.

I've been observing

I've been observing some weird things lately. Mostly concerning children of various ages. One thing is that parts of childcare is truly disgusting and it can make other parts equally disgusting. Think about peanut butter. Now think about a poopy diaper. PBJ anyone? Why do little boys grab their boy parts the minute the diaper is off? Grandpa says it is because they can. I think they are trying to pull it off so they can be girls.

Why do Walmart and Target carry 1500 different shoes for girls and 2 for boys? In fact, all clothing is marketed more for females than males. Why don't they have a little more creativity?

Why are school emergency cards in triplicate for each child? This seems redundant and inefficient to me.

I probably need to go take a nap.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Ken and I have been married 39 years today. Good for us. I can still remember the events of that day. Good for me.

Choices

I have been asked to give a talk on Choices leading to everlasting light; and, Choices leading to darkness and destruction. It seems pretty self-evident as to which is which. I am looking for scripture references that I can use. lds.org does not have a catagory listed as choices. That means I have to work at this. One thing I am sure of is that sometimes our choices are limited. Sometimes they are taken away by the actions of others. Sometimes circumstances create the limitations, sometimes they remove the limitations. Anything you do is known by Heavenly Father and he will compensate for the limitations, circumstances and actions of others. Your life is well-directed for your benefit through prayer. Like He told Joseph Smith, all these things are for your good, and if you endure them well, you will attain the glory I have reserved for you. I think that sometimes we forget that great promiese. Of course, the enduring to the end is the hard part, enduring them well is a whole other thing!

Swine Flu

I was somewhat amused by the news when it was announced that American pork was being rejected by other countries because of Swine Flu. I must assume their knowledge of medicine is greatly lacking. It reminds me of my father thinking that by drinking alcohol, he was medicating himself against getting a cold. The fact that it was a weekend, he sat around resting and was very relaxed would have done the same thing; but he insisted that the booze helped. He always got better, so how could we argue effectively? The mind is a powerful medication!

My second thought is that this is far more serious in Mexico--are they boycotting their pigs, too? I get the feeling we only get a fraction of the news. How about a nice pork loin for dinner on Sunday? I bet they will be on sale!