When a Win is a Loss
Like many people I have been watching the 2008 Olympic Games and I marvel everyday at the beautiful pageantry and the physically skillful accomplishments of the athletes.
These are truly gifted individuals and amazing human endeavor.
However, I awoke yesterday to see the headlines on one news channel:
“Heartbreaking loss for U.S. women gymnasts“
I was so disappointed to see this as our response to a silver medal winning performance by some extremely talented and determined young women athletes.
It seems almost normal now that when things don’t go the way people expect they start pointing fingers and finding fault. A pattern polished to a fine gloss everyday by children all around the world.
Even if the other competitors MAY be underage they are still there and accepted by the Olympic Committee as qualified to compete. Even if the scoring MIGHT seem biased or slow in coming it still met the standards of Olympic competition.
Each of the competitors from every nation badly wanted a medal around their neck. Some even held high expectations of gold because of their past performances, but nothing is guaranteed in sports competition.
Expectations are just that, expectations and hopes.
To characterize the accomplishments of the US Women’s Gymnastics team as a loss is to turn your back on all of the hard work these young ladies have endured and the achievements of their efforts.
What message are we sending to these athletes and our future children who become athletes? That only a gold medal performance is considered a win?
Every athlete in the Olympics is a winner just for being good enough to get there.
So, I celebrate the WIN of a silver medal performance and continue to wonder what in the world has happened to others that would make them so jaded, suspicious and demanding that they would think otherwise.
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Human Locusts Coming Soon
Today a close friend called me to come over and help him document a situation he had at one of his rental properties. When I arrived I was stunned at what confronted me.
His last tenants, a twenty-something couple with two small children had rented the home for a little over a year. This was a nice 3 bedroom ranch style home in a fairly quiet neighborhood.
Without paying their last two months’ rent they had disappeared into the night without notice or any mention of which state or country they might be headed toward.
The home was destroyed. There were massive holes in some of the walls and the carpets were torn, dirty and burned. Furniture had been torn apart and even the thermostat had been broken off the wall.
Why? Why would any young family even think of living like that? Every day I am confronted by someone complaining of the raw deal they get in life while they seem completely blind to the poor quality of their living patterns and decisions.
Human beings do not need to move about from place to place destroying and using up the resources like locusts. Humans supposedly have the reasoning to make decisions that are more structured than insects.
I can only imagine the quality of lifestyle these two small children will have as they grow and the lessons of life that will be placed before them by their parental role models.
The quality of your living experience and life doesn’t evolve from income and social influence. The spark of human quality is deep inside the brain and is brought forth in our thoughts and decisions. How brightly does your spark burn?
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Can You Really Afford Comfort
When I mentor people one thing becomes very apparent very quickly about the way others think of money and possessions. People can’t seem to separate comfort from means.
They seem to be driven by creature comforts and accept the cost of these comforts without applying reason to their available budget and means to live.
They simply want and that is enough to warrant the purchase of the next item that makes them feel good.
Then they reach a point where they ponder where their income is going and why they are always in debt.
Stop chasing after things you want just for the sake of satiating that desire and start to plan the comforts and extras of living within a preplanned budget.
Your lifestyle will improve and the stress level will go down.
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Diet Giving You Gas
After decades of observing some of the most outrageous behavior there is still room for even lower examples of poor human decision and behavior as witnessed in the news recently.
People are now renting moving trucks and then returning them with a full tank of water instead of gas. That’s right folks, water!
How low do you have to be, what will you accept as poor quality in your living pattern to destroy the function of the vehicle just to save yourself a few dollars on the responsibility of the rental?
There seem to be those that insist on a steady diet of deceit and crime to support their poor quality living experience. In some cases that diet is giving them gas.
How would you like it if someone borrowed your vehicle and then returned it with a full tank of water?
The person you are reflects in your decisions and results.
Who are you?
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Beware the Innocent Danger
When something seems dangerous or risky to a point that it makes you feel apprehensive the natural pattern is to shy away and avoid the entire situation altogether, but that is not always the case.
When you don’t see strong risk you allow danger into your life.
People shy from risk based on the feeling it stimulates within them. During the daily living experience there are moments that hide extreme dangers yet they are seen as acceptable because feelings of risk and danger are overshadowed by desires and intentions of fun and enjoyment.
There are those driving around with a pet sitting in their lap or hanging out the driver side window. This driver cannot turn the wheel easily with the animal there and vision may be impaired. There is always a chance the pet will leap or fall out of an open window or cause an accident.
Some operate riding lawn mowers or other machinery with small children in their arms unaware of the simple bump it takes to throw that child into harm’s way or they allow children to operate household devices or outdoor equipment without supervision or safety gear.
A small risk trusted to never occur can give rise to a devastating moment of living experience. Once the damage is done you cannot turn back the hands of time and undo the results.
Live safer and more aware of the major risks that you routinely label as nothing much to be concerned about.
This with the SOCIAL BOOKMARKING CONSOLE
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