When you’re a child, everything you have to remember is about how to get through the day. Parents get you up and tell you what to wear. You know you have to brush your teeth, go to school, when to be home and all the rest. If you forget something, it’s far from the end…
Even having read just the title I suspect there are some people who disagree with the statement. “Taking ‘it’ for granted is inevitable.” First, some will question what ‘it’ is. Second, some will argue that there are some things that are never taken for granted. To address the first – ‘it’ can be almost anything…
As I sit to type out this year’s Thanksgiving entry it occurs to me that I would never have considered doing such in my younger years. I don’t know if this is a sign that I appreciate life more in my maturity or if my focus on what’s of value has changed. Back in my…
One really spectacular benefit of social media is that it allows you to follow those you choose, ignore those you want to and share news or commentary on your day as you see fit. There are a great many people who use it purely for trivia or entertainment. There are many companies that use it…
Every now and then we get reminded of just how good the people in our world can be. And “our world” isn’t just our circle of nearby friends, or folks from our neighborhood, friends of friends, etc. It quite literally is people from around the world. Bear with me as I elaborate and follow along…
So, I received a private message on Facebook from a gentleman asking, “What qualifies you to give advice on life to anyone?” I had to think about this. It’s a good question. I found myself wondering if he has a point? What DOES qualify me to give advice on anything to anyone? For that matter,…
Recently I saw an image through the wizardry of social media and, after having read through it, thought about just how true it was. The title was “Simple Formula for Living,” but that didn’t really describe the list of items included. As I read them, I felt they more described lessons to be followed for…
NOTE: This blog isn’t being written, or even approached, with journalistic structure or professionalism in mind. The topic is suicide: awareness and (hopefully) avoidance or reduction. The statistics and data listed are gleaned from various sources and listed at the end. The rest of this is the result of input and comment from family, friends…
A long time ago (in my lifetime) a Drill Sergeant told me that every day I woke up above dirt was a good day. It was hard for me to appreciate that when I was cold, tired and miserable doing morning exercises and preparing for a run in the rain. After some years I realized…
Every year around this time, as all law enforcement professionals know, suicides and suicide attempts seem to climb in number. The stress of the season, for whatever reason, seems to outweigh the happiness and good cheer that (seemingly) all of us are trying to spread. The challenge is that not ALL of us really are…
Country music star Brad Paisley wrote a song called, “A Letter To Me,” and the basic idea of the song was… if he could write a letter to himself; write it now but somehow send it back to his teenage self, what would he say? In the song he takes the opportunity to give his…
Although we don’t tend to think about it much, our lives are full of traditions. We inherit them from our families without thinking about it. We learn them as young children and then either look forward to them as we get older or dread them; one or the other. How we celebrate holidays is usually…
Just recently I wrote an entry about “The True Value of Life & Wealth,” in which I discuss those things in our lives that cannot be bought but are of great value. As a few of these attached images popped up on my computer in the daily feeds I review, it occurred to me that…
I am blessed. There’s no question about that. One of my blessings is purely intrinsic (meaning it’s inside of me; innate to me) – I try to learn in every way I can from every experience, every conversation, everything I read, etc. One of my (many) blessings is purely extrinsic (from outside of me; from…