Personal growth is often overlooked in the midst of pressing responsibilities and challenging schedules. We get locked into a pattern and then we become blinded by the pattern to greater possibilities, opportunities, and dreams.
Never forget how to dream. Our dreams give meaning and purpose to our lives. Living without dreaming is merely existing. Never forget what it feels like to wake up every day excited about the possibilities and the potential of our future. Do you feel alive? Do you have a dream?
People who have lost the ability to dream live with a sense of dread. The future looks dark and foreboding. The saddest sight I have seen in my international travels are poverty stricken people who have lost all hope. To look in the eyes of a child who has lost hope is heartbreaking.
Poverty is not an empty pocketbook, but a crippled mind. Success begins in the mind. We must start thinking successfully before we can start living successfully. Athletes learn to win mentally before they win in their chosen sport. Financial traders spend much time learning how to think right so they can trade right.
Learn how to dream again. Start thinking like a winner. Then learn how to set goals and plan. Success seldom comes at random. We must have definite goals and a plan for getting there. Nothing of value is accomplished without planning. Think and dream with a pen in your hand.
Along with planning, learn to manage your time effectively. There are some basic time management skills that will enhance the implementation of your planning.
1. Get an appointment book. Plan each year the year before. Plan each month the month before. Plan each day the day before. You’ll sleep better at night when you know you have a written agenda for the next day. Much stress is generated by fearing that we’ll forget something. Writing down our schedule also forces us to prioritize our time.
2. Plan your time in specific blocks of activity. Don’t answer every phone call. The important ones will leave a message in voice mail. The ones who don’t leave a message do not expect a return call. Set aside two specific times per day to answer phone messages. Answering calls randomly throughout the day will hurt your focus and effectiveness.
3. Set aside time to do details and special projects beginning with the most important. If you don’t get them all done, you re-schedule the tasks that are the least important for another day with the satisfaction that the most important tasks have been accomplished.
4. Take time for creative thinking. It has been said that the hardest and most important work we do is the hard work of thinking. This is when our planning is tweaked and perfected. This is when new ideas and breakthroughs are accomplished.
5. Leisure time is our decompression chamber that gets us ready to work again. This is your reward that makes the rest of your week worth it. We work harder and better when we know that there is a reward coming at the end of the week.
Finding success is a combination of re-training our mind, dreaming big dreams, planning, and time management. Be all you can be. Everybody trades their life for something. This is not a dress rehearsal for life, it’s the real thing. We have one shot at success. Make the most of it.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Going Positive
We live in a negative world full of anger, hurt feelings, and grudges. Anyone with a positive attitude comes across odd, if not unbalanced. Negativity, if left unchecked, will rob you of every good thing in your life - relationships, personal well-being, and opportunity.
How do we become positive people in a negative world? It takes a shift in our mindset or world-view called a paradigm shift. I'm not talking about individual thoughts, but the filter through which those thoughts are processed. A decision must be made to become a positive person and embrace a new paradigm for our life. Once you have embraced your new paradigm, it is important to understand the relationship between thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, habits, lifestyle, character, and destiny. Our thoughts become our attitudes which becomes our words which become our actions which become habits which become our lifestyle which becomes our character which becomes our destiny. We need a total makeover of our thoughts, attitudes, and words.
1. Thoughts - We are what we think. We can change our thoughts by exposing ourselves to positive input, rejecting negative thoughts, dealing with our anger, and thinking pro-actively.
While we can't use environment as an excuse to avoid change, we must realize that what we see and hear can influence our thoughts. Choose carefully the people you spend large blocks of time with. Do they excuse themselves from positive action by focusing on problems? Do they have a "can-do" attitude? Are they angry, rude, complaining, or overly critical? Show me who your friends are and I'll show you the direction of your life.
Find people you want to become like. Ask them if you can learn from them and if they would mentor you. Most successful people find great fulfillment in helping others to realize their dreams. I have a friend who has been very successful as a financial trader. He mentors others for free. I know because I'm one of his students. Recently I called him with a problem I was having in my financial trading. I thought my problem was a technical issue. Within two minutes he identified my problem as a defect in my way of thinking and emailed me some material that would help me.
He also seeks out world class traders in the top 5% of their profession and asks them to mentor him. You must realize that these traders are worth billions, but they enjoy helping others who admire and look up to them.
Anger is one of the biggest obstacles to personal development. People hold on to their anger for years and become bitter and focused on the past. I have a solution. Immediately forgive everyone all the time. Don't let the sun set on your anger. Get rid of it. Forgive and release and go forward with your goals and dreams. People who refuse to forgive become bitter and stuck in the past.
Change the way you think about problems. Look at them as challenges. Stop reacting and start responding. A reaction is thinking and saying what you feel in the moment. A response is thinking and saying after careful thought. Respond with pro-active thinking. How can I help? How can I encourage? Can I fix this or who can fix this? Always think solutions. If you can't think of an immediate solution, begin thinking that a solution is possible and your creative juices will begin to flow. Your mind will be freed to work on an answer. I've had answers come to me in the shower or in the middle of the night. Because I thought in terms of possibility, the creative part of my mind went to work on a solution.
2. Attitudes - Attitudes are thought patterns or habits of thought. Ninety per cent of communication is non-verbal. You are constantly broadcasting an attitude whether you are aware of it or not. Attitude is seen in the way we say something, not the exact words. It has been rightly stated that our attitude determines our altitude in life. Attitude alone can drive people away from us or attract them like a magnet.
A mother's attitude sets the atmosphere of the home. A person's attitude can open up doors of opportunity or close them. A husband's attitude can make a wife's life unbearable or enjoyable. A person's attitude will determine how many and what kind of friends they have. Uneducated people with great attitudes have a greater chance of getting promotions at work than do the highly educated with bad attitudes.
Whether you are aware of it or not, your thoughts produce attitudes which either create a positive or negative atmosphere around you.
3. Words - Words are powerful. They shape our world. They determine our future and our quality of life. The U.S.A. is the most influential and the most powerful nation on earth. The existence of our entire nation is based on a constitution which is made up of words. Our laws are made up of words. When the 9-11 attack came, the President got on international television and spoke words. When we get married, we make a life long commitment based on words. When we buy land, we get a deed with words on it. When wars are started and ended, words are spoken.
Choose your words carefully. Are they encouraging or discouraging? Are they helpful or hurtful? Do they bring hope or hopelessness? Are they pro-active?
Negative talkers spew out poison wherever they go. Perhaps they are bitter, unforgiving, and focused on the past. They can't figure out why everyone avoids them. They blame others for not being good friends. They refuse to take responsibility for their thoughts, attitudes, and actions.
Avoid griping, complaining, and criticizing. Don't categorize people and label them. See the best in everyone. See their possibilities and their value. Focus on their potential and help them achieve it.
Do you want to be happy and successful in life? Make a decision today to go positive.
How do we become positive people in a negative world? It takes a shift in our mindset or world-view called a paradigm shift. I'm not talking about individual thoughts, but the filter through which those thoughts are processed. A decision must be made to become a positive person and embrace a new paradigm for our life. Once you have embraced your new paradigm, it is important to understand the relationship between thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, habits, lifestyle, character, and destiny. Our thoughts become our attitudes which becomes our words which become our actions which become habits which become our lifestyle which becomes our character which becomes our destiny. We need a total makeover of our thoughts, attitudes, and words.
1. Thoughts - We are what we think. We can change our thoughts by exposing ourselves to positive input, rejecting negative thoughts, dealing with our anger, and thinking pro-actively.
While we can't use environment as an excuse to avoid change, we must realize that what we see and hear can influence our thoughts. Choose carefully the people you spend large blocks of time with. Do they excuse themselves from positive action by focusing on problems? Do they have a "can-do" attitude? Are they angry, rude, complaining, or overly critical? Show me who your friends are and I'll show you the direction of your life.
Find people you want to become like. Ask them if you can learn from them and if they would mentor you. Most successful people find great fulfillment in helping others to realize their dreams. I have a friend who has been very successful as a financial trader. He mentors others for free. I know because I'm one of his students. Recently I called him with a problem I was having in my financial trading. I thought my problem was a technical issue. Within two minutes he identified my problem as a defect in my way of thinking and emailed me some material that would help me.
He also seeks out world class traders in the top 5% of their profession and asks them to mentor him. You must realize that these traders are worth billions, but they enjoy helping others who admire and look up to them.
Anger is one of the biggest obstacles to personal development. People hold on to their anger for years and become bitter and focused on the past. I have a solution. Immediately forgive everyone all the time. Don't let the sun set on your anger. Get rid of it. Forgive and release and go forward with your goals and dreams. People who refuse to forgive become bitter and stuck in the past.
Change the way you think about problems. Look at them as challenges. Stop reacting and start responding. A reaction is thinking and saying what you feel in the moment. A response is thinking and saying after careful thought. Respond with pro-active thinking. How can I help? How can I encourage? Can I fix this or who can fix this? Always think solutions. If you can't think of an immediate solution, begin thinking that a solution is possible and your creative juices will begin to flow. Your mind will be freed to work on an answer. I've had answers come to me in the shower or in the middle of the night. Because I thought in terms of possibility, the creative part of my mind went to work on a solution.
2. Attitudes - Attitudes are thought patterns or habits of thought. Ninety per cent of communication is non-verbal. You are constantly broadcasting an attitude whether you are aware of it or not. Attitude is seen in the way we say something, not the exact words. It has been rightly stated that our attitude determines our altitude in life. Attitude alone can drive people away from us or attract them like a magnet.
A mother's attitude sets the atmosphere of the home. A person's attitude can open up doors of opportunity or close them. A husband's attitude can make a wife's life unbearable or enjoyable. A person's attitude will determine how many and what kind of friends they have. Uneducated people with great attitudes have a greater chance of getting promotions at work than do the highly educated with bad attitudes.
Whether you are aware of it or not, your thoughts produce attitudes which either create a positive or negative atmosphere around you.
3. Words - Words are powerful. They shape our world. They determine our future and our quality of life. The U.S.A. is the most influential and the most powerful nation on earth. The existence of our entire nation is based on a constitution which is made up of words. Our laws are made up of words. When the 9-11 attack came, the President got on international television and spoke words. When we get married, we make a life long commitment based on words. When we buy land, we get a deed with words on it. When wars are started and ended, words are spoken.
Choose your words carefully. Are they encouraging or discouraging? Are they helpful or hurtful? Do they bring hope or hopelessness? Are they pro-active?
Negative talkers spew out poison wherever they go. Perhaps they are bitter, unforgiving, and focused on the past. They can't figure out why everyone avoids them. They blame others for not being good friends. They refuse to take responsibility for their thoughts, attitudes, and actions.
Avoid griping, complaining, and criticizing. Don't categorize people and label them. See the best in everyone. See their possibilities and their value. Focus on their potential and help them achieve it.
Do you want to be happy and successful in life? Make a decision today to go positive.
Monday, March 31, 2008
High Oil Prices And Revolution
What the media thinks is important news and what the average guy on the street thinks is important are worlds apart. To the media, politics and the things that impact the election are paramount. Then there is the war and the debate about the war and the latest scandal concerning someone of celebrity, these are a few of their favorite things. But how much do these issues impact the daily lifestyle and comfort zone of those who are working hard and raising families?
The one issue that impacts all our lives more than any other right now is the high price of oil. We feel it at the gasoline pump and in the price of home heating oil. The long arm of high oil prices reaches into every area of our lives. Anything that moves by truck or automobile is affected: groceries, building supplies, clothing, all forms of transportation, tourism, and even services such as lawn care, building maintenance, and house cleaning.
Financial gestures by the government to "...have mercy on the workin' man," have dealt with short term peripheral things rather than long term economic solutions. The greatest thing the government could help us with is to do whatever necessary to get oil prices under control.
In a CNBC interview with a fund manager responsible for over a billion dollars under management, the correspondent asked how much impact the government give-away would have on the U.S. economy. His response was that the only thing that would have any long term influence on the economy is a large decrease in the price of oil. Clearly, the price of oil touches every sector of our economy.
High oil prices have become a threat to national security. We send money to the mid-east for oil and they in turn sponsor terrorist organizations. Then we get taxed to support a war against terrorism that is bankrolled by our own purchase of over-priced oil from Arab countries. They literally have us over a barrel, an oil barrel. I'm not a big fan of government intervention into the free market process, but the very survival of our nation is at stake.
There are signs of an uprising. Independent truckers are threatening to close down all deliveries. Trucking companies are beginning to lower driving speeds of their large national fleets, saving them millions, but slowing down the interstate highway system. Many independent truckers have turned in their truck keys, no longer able to buy diesel fuel and make their payments. People are losing their livelihoods, their homes, and all their possessions.
Make no mistake, the threat is great. More than any other one issue, this issue threatens the American way of life and the stability of our nation. Desperate families that would never have resorted to crime are out of work and doing whatever they have to do to survive. Anger among the disenfranchised and unemployed is reaching an apex of frustration. If things don't change, a revolt will come as it has in similar times in history.
At stake, is our national security. We forget much too easily that this nation was created because another world empire looked the other way while colonists languished under a system of high taxation, a rising cost of living, and an erosion of personal freedoms. There is only one solution to the current economic crisis and that is to lower the cost of oil significantly and quickly. Anything less will result in the collapse of our economy and widespread political upheaval.
A loss of stability could birth something worse than the attack of foreign terrorists. We could see the social chemistry necessary for the rise of homegrown terrorism and chaos. The most dangerous move our government could make at this time is the act of turning a deaf ear to the suffering of it's citizens at the unmerciful and relentless oppression of OPEC and the oil producing nations.
The one issue that impacts all our lives more than any other right now is the high price of oil. We feel it at the gasoline pump and in the price of home heating oil. The long arm of high oil prices reaches into every area of our lives. Anything that moves by truck or automobile is affected: groceries, building supplies, clothing, all forms of transportation, tourism, and even services such as lawn care, building maintenance, and house cleaning.
Financial gestures by the government to "...have mercy on the workin' man," have dealt with short term peripheral things rather than long term economic solutions. The greatest thing the government could help us with is to do whatever necessary to get oil prices under control.
In a CNBC interview with a fund manager responsible for over a billion dollars under management, the correspondent asked how much impact the government give-away would have on the U.S. economy. His response was that the only thing that would have any long term influence on the economy is a large decrease in the price of oil. Clearly, the price of oil touches every sector of our economy.
High oil prices have become a threat to national security. We send money to the mid-east for oil and they in turn sponsor terrorist organizations. Then we get taxed to support a war against terrorism that is bankrolled by our own purchase of over-priced oil from Arab countries. They literally have us over a barrel, an oil barrel. I'm not a big fan of government intervention into the free market process, but the very survival of our nation is at stake.
There are signs of an uprising. Independent truckers are threatening to close down all deliveries. Trucking companies are beginning to lower driving speeds of their large national fleets, saving them millions, but slowing down the interstate highway system. Many independent truckers have turned in their truck keys, no longer able to buy diesel fuel and make their payments. People are losing their livelihoods, their homes, and all their possessions.
Make no mistake, the threat is great. More than any other one issue, this issue threatens the American way of life and the stability of our nation. Desperate families that would never have resorted to crime are out of work and doing whatever they have to do to survive. Anger among the disenfranchised and unemployed is reaching an apex of frustration. If things don't change, a revolt will come as it has in similar times in history.
At stake, is our national security. We forget much too easily that this nation was created because another world empire looked the other way while colonists languished under a system of high taxation, a rising cost of living, and an erosion of personal freedoms. There is only one solution to the current economic crisis and that is to lower the cost of oil significantly and quickly. Anything less will result in the collapse of our economy and widespread political upheaval.
A loss of stability could birth something worse than the attack of foreign terrorists. We could see the social chemistry necessary for the rise of homegrown terrorism and chaos. The most dangerous move our government could make at this time is the act of turning a deaf ear to the suffering of it's citizens at the unmerciful and relentless oppression of OPEC and the oil producing nations.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Raising Kids With Disabilities
When asked if they want a boy or a girl, I have heard expecting couples remark, "As long as it's healthy." No one wishes for a child that is less than perfect. In some sense they are all less than perfect. In our case we had identical twins with Down Syndrome twenty four years ago.
After walking around like zombies for two weeks, my wife and I found strength in God and rose to tackle the task of living and raising Joey and Matt. We had no manual on what to do or how to do it. One of the first things we did is join with a nurse in the area and start a support group for parents of children with disabilities. From there we attended conferences for families who were dealing with disabilities and even got involved in being volunteer lobbyists to our state legislature. All of these things helped our emotional well being but also put us in touch with cutting edge information on disability issues.
Talking to older parents of Down Syndrome children did not help much. Most were old school. Keep them clean and healthy and then put them in front of a TV. We wanted more than that for Joey and Matt. We shot high in our goals for them. The medical community and the education system kept telling us that we needed to shoot lower and be content with what we got. We ignored most of it and plunged onward.
Fast forward twenty four years. Joey and Matt have achieved a lot. They have worked in restaurants doing food prep until a recent lay off. The restaraunt they were working at laid off 20 people prior to selling. They are actively looking again at this time. They take Tae Kwon Do and take it seriously. It is based on mimicking the actions of the teacher and repetition, which they're good at. They are active in church activities and a have friends and now have steady girl friends. They tried to get their driver's licenses, but with a grade school reading level, they couldn't pass the test. They know all the road signs and tell me how to drive. They have an awareness of their disability and are not afraid to take on new challenges.
I wanted to give new parents of disabled children a few short guidelines for your challenge that lies ahead:
1. Get yourself as emotionally healthy as possible. The support group was helpful and the help of grandparents and extended family was invaluable. Have quality time with your kids, but take time to go on a date without the kids. We went on a cruise for three days and it was like medicine. Joey and Matt "punished" us for a week which is a normal baby behavior. They ignored us after we got back but eventually forgave us.
2. Treat your child like a normal child. I'm not saying to deny reality, just don't accept it as the finality. Take them to T ball, dance classes, karate, soccer, and scouting. We did, and they learned to model normal kids' behaviors and socialize. The other people's normal kids learned sensitivity at an early age.
3. Get all of the professional help you can as early as you can. Joey and Matt started getting early education from the public school system at 3 months old. About the same time they started physical, occupational, and speech therapy funded by state programs. Don't make the mistake of thinking that this level of help is only for the rich. We weren't rich and our kids got top drawer care their entire lives.
4. Keep them in the educational mainstream. I would add the footnote, "when practical and in their best interest." Teachers and school administrators urged us to put them in an all-handicapped setting. During grade school, they spent some time in special education classes and some time in the mainstream. In high school, they went to a special education class for academics and were mainstreamed for physical education. During this time they were water boys for the football team but joined the team in their junior and senior years. They participated in the practices and got to play in their last game.
5. Set realistic long term goals. Aim high, but don't deny reality. As your child enters their high school years, both their abilities and limitations will start to paint a picture of their vocational abilities. Educational choices need to be made with some vocational goals in mind. You have to begin to get a feel for what they will do with their life once the school years are behind them. Educators are sometimes reluctant to allow parents access to the inner workings of the educational world. My wife was a constant presence in our school system, volunteering for committees, helping to write a grant, and pushing the envelope on multiple occasions. Some of the changes she pushed for and got are still helping the special education students today.
6. Be your child's best advocate. The handicapped individuals don't have the skills to go to bat for themselves, they need our help. Don't curse the darkness, light a candle.....and if that doesn't work, build a bonfire. Don't be afraid to make people in the system uncomfortable. Your child has one chance to be all they can be.
7. Don't let your child's disability become the center of your life. This is the toughest point to follow. We reached a breaking point when our kids were in junior high school, when we realized that our entire lifestyle was centered around handicapped issues. Our daughter was about 10 and most people didn't even know we had a daughter. We made a conscious decision as a couple to not let handicapped issues dominate all our time and energy for the rest of our lives. We dropped out of support groups, lobbying, and conferences, and focused our advocacy efforts on the local school system.
Siblings of disabled children are often neglected on some level, because of the intense struggle that parents of the disabled go through. Don't deny love and attention to your other children in the midst of your crusade to help your disabled child.
If you are the parent of a disabled child, let me encourage you. You can make it with God's help. Don't become bitter against God. I don't understand everything (especially about God) and trying to wastes precious time and energy. Ask for God's help and get plugged into a bible based church that believes that God answers prayer. We made it through the storm with 2 kids with disabilities, you can make it with one. Please feel free to contact us for advice.
I am writing a book on this theme. If you would like to buy a copy when it comes out, email me at JLBURKE57@HOTMAIL.COM and you'll go on a list to be notified by email when it is available. With God's help, you can do this.
After walking around like zombies for two weeks, my wife and I found strength in God and rose to tackle the task of living and raising Joey and Matt. We had no manual on what to do or how to do it. One of the first things we did is join with a nurse in the area and start a support group for parents of children with disabilities. From there we attended conferences for families who were dealing with disabilities and even got involved in being volunteer lobbyists to our state legislature. All of these things helped our emotional well being but also put us in touch with cutting edge information on disability issues.
Talking to older parents of Down Syndrome children did not help much. Most were old school. Keep them clean and healthy and then put them in front of a TV. We wanted more than that for Joey and Matt. We shot high in our goals for them. The medical community and the education system kept telling us that we needed to shoot lower and be content with what we got. We ignored most of it and plunged onward.
Fast forward twenty four years. Joey and Matt have achieved a lot. They have worked in restaurants doing food prep until a recent lay off. The restaraunt they were working at laid off 20 people prior to selling. They are actively looking again at this time. They take Tae Kwon Do and take it seriously. It is based on mimicking the actions of the teacher and repetition, which they're good at. They are active in church activities and a have friends and now have steady girl friends. They tried to get their driver's licenses, but with a grade school reading level, they couldn't pass the test. They know all the road signs and tell me how to drive. They have an awareness of their disability and are not afraid to take on new challenges.
I wanted to give new parents of disabled children a few short guidelines for your challenge that lies ahead:
1. Get yourself as emotionally healthy as possible. The support group was helpful and the help of grandparents and extended family was invaluable. Have quality time with your kids, but take time to go on a date without the kids. We went on a cruise for three days and it was like medicine. Joey and Matt "punished" us for a week which is a normal baby behavior. They ignored us after we got back but eventually forgave us.
2. Treat your child like a normal child. I'm not saying to deny reality, just don't accept it as the finality. Take them to T ball, dance classes, karate, soccer, and scouting. We did, and they learned to model normal kids' behaviors and socialize. The other people's normal kids learned sensitivity at an early age.
3. Get all of the professional help you can as early as you can. Joey and Matt started getting early education from the public school system at 3 months old. About the same time they started physical, occupational, and speech therapy funded by state programs. Don't make the mistake of thinking that this level of help is only for the rich. We weren't rich and our kids got top drawer care their entire lives.
4. Keep them in the educational mainstream. I would add the footnote, "when practical and in their best interest." Teachers and school administrators urged us to put them in an all-handicapped setting. During grade school, they spent some time in special education classes and some time in the mainstream. In high school, they went to a special education class for academics and were mainstreamed for physical education. During this time they were water boys for the football team but joined the team in their junior and senior years. They participated in the practices and got to play in their last game.
5. Set realistic long term goals. Aim high, but don't deny reality. As your child enters their high school years, both their abilities and limitations will start to paint a picture of their vocational abilities. Educational choices need to be made with some vocational goals in mind. You have to begin to get a feel for what they will do with their life once the school years are behind them. Educators are sometimes reluctant to allow parents access to the inner workings of the educational world. My wife was a constant presence in our school system, volunteering for committees, helping to write a grant, and pushing the envelope on multiple occasions. Some of the changes she pushed for and got are still helping the special education students today.
6. Be your child's best advocate. The handicapped individuals don't have the skills to go to bat for themselves, they need our help. Don't curse the darkness, light a candle.....and if that doesn't work, build a bonfire. Don't be afraid to make people in the system uncomfortable. Your child has one chance to be all they can be.
7. Don't let your child's disability become the center of your life. This is the toughest point to follow. We reached a breaking point when our kids were in junior high school, when we realized that our entire lifestyle was centered around handicapped issues. Our daughter was about 10 and most people didn't even know we had a daughter. We made a conscious decision as a couple to not let handicapped issues dominate all our time and energy for the rest of our lives. We dropped out of support groups, lobbying, and conferences, and focused our advocacy efforts on the local school system.
Siblings of disabled children are often neglected on some level, because of the intense struggle that parents of the disabled go through. Don't deny love and attention to your other children in the midst of your crusade to help your disabled child.
If you are the parent of a disabled child, let me encourage you. You can make it with God's help. Don't become bitter against God. I don't understand everything (especially about God) and trying to wastes precious time and energy. Ask for God's help and get plugged into a bible based church that believes that God answers prayer. We made it through the storm with 2 kids with disabilities, you can make it with one. Please feel free to contact us for advice.
I am writing a book on this theme. If you would like to buy a copy when it comes out, email me at JLBURKE57@HOTMAIL.COM and you'll go on a list to be notified by email when it is available. With God's help, you can do this.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Stop Messin' Around
The political media has become a tabloid, more concerned about personalities, emotional issues, and associations than actual issues that impact the daily lives of voters. The emphasis has been on the drama that surrounds the process rather than the purpose of the process, which is to serve and protect the people.
The empasis needs to shift from peripheral chit chat to a focus on improving the security and quality of our nation. Problematic to making that shift is the tendency of campaigns to focus on the short term rather than the long term. Politicians have a tendency to do what is popular at the moment and leave long term problems to future generations.
Perspective on priorities flows from our values. We have a value deficit in our culture. Life has become less protected for the very young and the very old. The family unit has broken down with less children being raised by two parent families. The moral lines have been blurred in issues of integrity and honesty. We have lost our moral compass.
For many, there is no definite measurable standard for morality. I am a conservative on moral issues, but more liberal in social issues. Having twins with disabilities, I tend to see more that government could do to help those who find themselves struggling on this planet without all the needed equipment. Having been raised in a Christian culture, I see the need for moral absolutes and a return to a sense of right and wrong. Having said all that, how can we get away from the he-said, she-said approach and get back to discussing real issues as we navigate through our process of choosing the leader of the free world?
First, the candidates must address their stand on the protection of human life. Which leads us to a debate on when life begins. For many of us, this is the fundamental issue of the election. Sixty million fetuses have been terminated since Roe v. Wade. Even if you are in the pro-choice camp and insist on calling them fetuses, you must deal with the fact that millions of viable fetuses have been stopped from coming to term. Every poll shows that the majority of Americans are pro-life. If they are babies in reality, then we have legally killed six times more innocents than did the Nazis. If the majority of Americans believe that we have a mega-holocaust on our hands, this is a serious issue that must be debated.
There are more important issues than what a liberal socialist pastor of a black racist church has to say. Innocent children are dying by the millions, wars are being waged, we have multitudes of unemployed and hungry, the homeless ranks are swelling, the economy is in real danger, the court system is replacing our democracy, and personal freedoms are shrinking. We have serious work to do, so let's stop messin' around.
The empasis needs to shift from peripheral chit chat to a focus on improving the security and quality of our nation. Problematic to making that shift is the tendency of campaigns to focus on the short term rather than the long term. Politicians have a tendency to do what is popular at the moment and leave long term problems to future generations.
Perspective on priorities flows from our values. We have a value deficit in our culture. Life has become less protected for the very young and the very old. The family unit has broken down with less children being raised by two parent families. The moral lines have been blurred in issues of integrity and honesty. We have lost our moral compass.
For many, there is no definite measurable standard for morality. I am a conservative on moral issues, but more liberal in social issues. Having twins with disabilities, I tend to see more that government could do to help those who find themselves struggling on this planet without all the needed equipment. Having been raised in a Christian culture, I see the need for moral absolutes and a return to a sense of right and wrong. Having said all that, how can we get away from the he-said, she-said approach and get back to discussing real issues as we navigate through our process of choosing the leader of the free world?
First, the candidates must address their stand on the protection of human life. Which leads us to a debate on when life begins. For many of us, this is the fundamental issue of the election. Sixty million fetuses have been terminated since Roe v. Wade. Even if you are in the pro-choice camp and insist on calling them fetuses, you must deal with the fact that millions of viable fetuses have been stopped from coming to term. Every poll shows that the majority of Americans are pro-life. If they are babies in reality, then we have legally killed six times more innocents than did the Nazis. If the majority of Americans believe that we have a mega-holocaust on our hands, this is a serious issue that must be debated.
There are more important issues than what a liberal socialist pastor of a black racist church has to say. Innocent children are dying by the millions, wars are being waged, we have multitudes of unemployed and hungry, the homeless ranks are swelling, the economy is in real danger, the court system is replacing our democracy, and personal freedoms are shrinking. We have serious work to do, so let's stop messin' around.
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