Are You Doing Your Part?

You are not here to merely make a living. 

Your are here…

in order to enable the world to live more amply,

with greater vision,

and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.

  You are here to enrich the world,

and you impoverish yourself

if you forget the errand . 

-WoodrowWilson- 

Wordy Wednesday - Things on My Mind

Last weekend my son in law left for his third tour of duty. The last two years he has gone to Iraq, yet this year he will be heading to Afghanistan. I can not tell you how proud I am of this young man. He has been a wonderful husband to my daughter. He welcomed my grand kids into his life like they were his own and last February he adopted them and became their daddy also by name. In April my third grandchild was born and he proved once again just what a wonderful husband and daddy he was. Now he serving his country once again. I ask that you all keep him as well as his family in your thoughts and prayers .

In other news… Yesterday several vigils all over the world were held simultaneously in regards to kids who have to deal with bullies. I do not know if you have had this issue in your area, yet only a few months back, here in Oklahoma, an 11 year old boy committed suicide due to bullies. What could pressure an 11 year old boy to do such a thing? And then you come to the punishment of the bullies who caused the eventual incident. I have always had a bit of an issue with simply locking up young kids when they go astray. Mind you I am all for punishment for ones actions yet also I think that at an young age sometimes such experience has the chance of simply ingraining the behavior further into them.

I remember when my kids went to school and they had the “safe word” at school. I remember overhearing the principal tell a child, “if he bothers you all you have to do is say the safe word and he has to stop.” I wanted to laugh in that woman’s face. Mainly because just earlier in the parking lot, the boy she was talking about was acting out and she kept shouting the “safe word” at him and expected him to stop and come inside. Of course he did no such thing. I had to laugh.

As aged as it sounds, when I was in school if anyone done such a thing, they would get their butt paddled but good. Yea I know that spanking is no longer allowed in schools but I do not remember having any of the issues that we see in today’s schools back then. My heart goes out to those who have to endure the verbal and physical abuse from those who simply get their jollies from hurting someone, knowing that while they are at school they will not have to answer for their crimes.

My last words for today are about animal cruelty. A couple days ago a woman found 2 young puppies in a dumpster outside her place of work. They had been tossed there by an older woman and man and left to die. They lay in the sweltering heat we had (104 with a heat index of 110) until the woman found them. One of them was able to be nursed back to health yet the other was too far gone. They were riddled with worms and fleas on top of the fact that they were being literally cooked in the heat. Why I wonder do people have animals if they do not intend on taking care of them. Although I hate the number of animals that are put to sleep in shelters it is a much more humane death then what was being done to these puppies.

Another story I was told a couple days ago was from a woman who rescues horses who have been mistreated. She has recently adopted a horse that is not that pretty to look at yet it is not her fault. It was not fed properly and grew malnourished to the point that it could no longer stand. When it was too weak to stand, a cross was carved into its forehead and it was tied to the back of a tractor and drug causing cuts and bruising all over its body. Miraculously this horse survived and this woman took it into her care. She named it promise because she told me that as she nursed it all she could say to it was I promise you will always be safe here. I promise this will never happen to you again. I promise … I promise.

Why is it that people feel the need to be “tough” to things that are so much smaller than them? Whether it is bullies who pick on other kids or others who choose to abuse animals. Is it the powers they feel when they complete such acts, or do they even really think about it.

Although I know that there are laws against such behavior I wonder if the punishment really does fit the crime. It is lessened because it is an animal and not a human. Should it be? In my opinion no. Such action towards any living being, animal or human is wrong.

I chose to use photos of my own animals for this post as when I went to obtain actual photos of abused animals, the photos were so intense I could barely look at them myself.  Their content was far to graphic.  Although I knew that their reality would easily get my point across the pain that they caused me as I looked at the few I did see, was something that I did not wish to share.

In closing I would like to leave you with this thought. “Who we are might be predetermined, but the path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Our destiny cannot be changed but it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men, yet he dies as a single one.”

The Cost of Ones Actions

A little over a week ago a father was driving through the city with his two children. His son of five years with his bouncing head of red curls. His eyes that sparkled with a smile with what seemed to be continuously. A truly joyful child. His younger sister of two who like most sisters resembled her brother in many ways. Same red hair, same sparkling eyes. Both were just glad to be out with their father enjoying an afternoon.

Stopped at a stop light waiting for the red to turn to green so that they could continue on their way home from their time together, they enjoyed the few moments that it gave them to just sit and enjoy each other’s company. Brother and sister glancing at one another on occasion as siblings do. The father facing forward listening to the giggles and playful sounds his children made. All not knowing what a precious moment they were truly involved in.

Within an instant the tranquility and joy that before was so obvious and welcomed was cut short and turned to a darkness that would eventually consume so many. From behind a speeding pickup came. It barreled up the off ramp towards the back end of the waiting SUV which housed the happy family. It did not slow as it approached the car. It continued until it rammed into the back end of the stationary vehicle.

Without any warning lives were changed. The truck spun around after it hit the SUV eventually landing to the side of the road. The front end smashed. The driver unconscious. The SUV stood motionless. It had been thrust forward by the jolt. The back of it was no more. Pushed into what before was the middle. Emergency vehicles were quick to come to the aid of those in need. Police to investigate the accident, Firemen to help free those who may be trapped, and Ambulances to rush those hurt to the nearest hospital. The father was taken with cuts and bruises to the hospital for observation and review. The little sister likewise was taken to the hospital as she was in the back seat and sustained much of the force which struck the back end.

The little boy with the bouncing red curls and the sparkling eyes that smiled before would smile no more. His tiny body lay motionless. Crushed and mangled by what had just occurred. His life with those who cherished him so would be no more. No longer would his father hear his laughter, his mother hold him close as he fell asleep at night, his little sister grow up and enjoy the wonderful gifts that only an older brother can bestow. He had passed.

The man who drove the pickup: He was injured yet not to the degree as the others. He was taken to the hospital and later released. When told that a five year old boy had been killed due to his negligence, he stated… kill me now. He failed the sobriety test which was given to him on the scene and later was found to have prescription drugs in his system as well. He drove with a suspended license which should have kept him off the road all together. Although his life of freedom was all but ended, he had experienced over 60 years of life prior. Yes he is in jail awaiting trial. Yes he will pay for his actions. But at what cost?

The father was released from the hospital with minor injuries. The sister still lies in the hospital in serious condition. She is still not aware that her brother will no longer be with her. A family has been changed forever and at no fault of their own. All because one person decided to get behind the wheel when he should not have.

Adam's Online Rememberance Book

The Path Ahead

It seems that as of late there has been much talk from many in blog land about the feeling of change in the air. From a sense of restlessness to the need to make major changes in the path some are traveling. It is natural for us to want to turn inward at this time of the year. It is natural for us to reflect inward and ask ourselves questions concerning the path we are traveling and possibly the detours that we may want or sometimes need to consider. Yet still the sense seems to be heavy this year. We feel the need to re-evaluate our stance in the bigger picture of it all.

I myself have felt this pull. I will say that it has been a new thing for me. Although Fall has always been a season that I truly love it has never been a time for retrospect or major change. Yet here it is and like so many others I too feel the pull that is so obvious in the air. Many have been talking in regards to their past and the struggles they endured and overcame; the key word being “overcame”. Others have spoken of the need they have felt to re-examine their belief structure and the path they may be following.

It seems that many are heavy with the sense of a coming change. We have attempted to quench this feeling with making subtle, sometimes major, changes in our own lives yet still the feeling is there. The world is a different place today. No one can argue that point. The simplicity that used to be an everyday occurrence is often hard to find, and many times nonexistent if one does not actually put it there themselves. The world is running at full speed trying to maintain as well as evolve continuously into bigger and better things. Is this really good? I cannot help but ask myself these questions. Often I sit and long for a more quiet time; when technology was not so prevalent in the world, when it did not control us as it does now.

The only constant I have is my beliefs and the solace they bring to me. The knowledge or should I say inner feeling that at the end of the day it still is all good, despite the deaths occurring each day due to war, crime, injustice, hatred, and so on. Despite the natural disasters that occur killing hundreds and sometimes thousands of people not to mention the ones who do survive yet lose everything. Despite the thousands of children who have to live in unspeakable conditions due to poverty and abuse. Whose young years are lived without someone to tuck them in each night and tell them they are loved. And the list could go on and on.

To look at the accumulation of all such things can easily be overwhelming to anyone. To ignore its presence is even worse. Yet what can one do? Still the world spins, and still it continues to “evolve”. There is a change coming, or at least a change needed. This is the weight that many of us feel. What is it that needs to happen to “set things right” again? Can it be set right? My feeling is that it will probably get worse before it gets better. As anytime you work to get a festering thorn out of an infected area, it is painful.

Grounding ourselves in what we believe, remembering that there are others who need us, and keeping our eyes and minds open to the occurrences around us (ie: not sticking our heads in the sand and ignoring the signs) are just a few of the things that can help. It is a wise man who listens and sees the signs that are around him, taking notice to that which he knows to be right and acting upon those enlightenments. It is a fool who sees them and does nothing, for his fate is chosen by no one but himself.