An Equal and Fair America

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What is fair? What would you consider fair? That is the big question, and it seems Obama is going to use that as his campaign theme. No longer is Hope and Change the charge, but now Fairness. But really, what is fair?

fair

/fɛər/   [fair]  adjective, fair·er, fair·est, adverb, fair·er, fair·est, noun, verb

adjective

1. free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice: a fair decision; a fair judge.

2. legitimately sought, pursued, done, given, etc.; proper under the rules: a fair fight.

3. moderately large; ample: a fair income.

4. neither excellent nor poor; moderately or tolerably good: fair health.

5. marked by favoring conditions; likely; promising: in a fair way to succeed.

(source)

Free from bias, dishonesty or injustice, that is the most common use of the word fair, yet many people distort this word to mean equal. Fair and equal are not the same thing

e·qual

/ˈikwəl/  [ee-kwuhl]  adjective, noun, verb, e·qualed, e·qual·ing or ( especially British ) e·qualled, e·qual·ling.

adjective

1. as great as; the same as (often followed by to or with ): The velocity of sound is not equal to that of light.

2. like or alike in quantity, degree, value, etc.; of the same rank, ability, merit, etc.: two students of equal brilliance.

3. evenly proportioned or balanced: an equal contest.

4. uniform in operation or effect: equal laws.

5. adequate or sufficient in quantity or degree: The supply is equal to the demand.

(source)

Equal, as great as, the same as… Hmmm, that does not sound at all like free from bias, dishonesty or injustice, but maybe its just me… So let see, the argument goes something like this, the Constitution guarantees fairness.. so lets look at that…

The Preamble: 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

(source)

Nope it’s not here.. general welfare doesn’t state equal or fair, just general… So maybe it was the Declaration of Independence…

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,^[75] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

(source)

Ok, so this time the word equal is here… “…That all men are created equal…” but you have to read on, “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”

Yes, we are all created equal, by God, we all are Gods creation, and love by him. We all have the right to pursuit happiness, but the pursuit of happiness does not mean that we will ever achieve it. That is up to us, as individuals. This does not change the fact that we are all created equal. This truth remains.

The current use of the word Fair as Equal is misleading and unjust. It is divisive and corruptive, it is poison to the mind of millions of people who are taught that fairness means equality and that equality redistribution and punishment of the successful.

Romney is Obama’s lattes example of this, Romney is now the poster child of an Unfair America, an America

where he makes millions and you and I do not. The Obama mantra is this, take what he has, give it to those who do not… But how is this fair? How is this American? Do you not think that is the Founding Fathers had wanted to create a governmental system that redistributed wealth, they would have written it into the governing documents? They did not do this for the very simple reason that they believed in the individual, they believed in fairness, they believed in the words they wrote “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,^[75] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….” They believed in freedom, freedom from the government, freedom to succeed or to fail. freedom to live life and to define your own happiness.

The Obama attack on wealth is as anti-American as J. Edgar Hovers attack on Hollywood stars for their political interest (source).  Freedom does not mean equal, but it does mean fairness, we, as Americans, al have the same rights, we all can achieve greatness or we all call remain mediocre, the choice is ours, and ours alone. History is full of people, disadvantaged people, who have stepped up and achieved their dreams and goals.  History is also full of people who have lost their wealth and become one of the marginalized. This, my friends, is freedom at its best, no government picking losers and winners, but rather, everyday Americans working hard to achieve there dreams, some making it and others not, that is Fair, that is equal, equal rights to try and equal rights to fail. That sounds fair to me…

This election, the election of 2012, is an election were we, the people, once again have to chose how we define America, do we define America as the founding Fathers defined her, as a nation of Free People, Free to follow their dreams, Free to achieve their Dreams or do we define America as a nation that punishes success, that takes from some to give to others. The rewards hard work with taxation and redistribution. The Founding Fathers fought a war, and shed their blood for the privilege to define their own destiny, to make it on their own, or to fail on their own. Yet, today we see a new definition emerging, one that wants to redefine America as a nation of people who want the government to define who makes it and who does not. They wish to recreate America into a Nation that no longer believes in humanity, but rather believes in Government. We have to fight for the preservation and restoration of America, to get back to the basics of what made this Nation the greatest Nation ever to adorn this Earth. A Nation that is blessed by God, as the Founding Fathers believed her to be. This November I, without a doubt, the most important election in the history of our great nation. This election will decide the fait of generations to come, as Ronald Reagan said

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

~Ronald Reagan

This election we will decide if Reagan was right, will we be telling out grandchildren and great-grandchildren what America use to be, how freedom use to be…. God will, no, instead we will be telling them how we saved freedom, preserved it for them and how they must always be diligent and alert in the cause of freedom.

God Bless

Paul Sposite

Guided Insight Life Coach

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A Man of Value

Image by cliff1066™ via Flickr

As part of my morning I search for a new quote to place on the Guided Insight Life Coach fan page on Facebook and sometime to place on my Linked In page. And sometimes I have an idea of what I am looking for, say like a quote from a certain person or on a particular topic and other times I just poke around looking for something that speaks to me… Well that’s what I did today, and boy does it speak to me:

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.~Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

 

All to often in today’s world we look at our fellow-man (using the term to describe all of humanity) and judge them based on status, money, power and prestige. Yet often times this shallow approach misses the deeper meaning. As always, Einstein looks at life a little differently than most, he had the ability to see things not as they appear but rather as the ought to appear. Mans success’ are worthless without values, or to put it another way, The success of a man is based on his virtues. What we do, and how we do it and why we do it is more important than all the money, power and prestige in the world. Don’t believe me, lets look at a few people from the past that we honor today:

• Marten Luther King Jr.
• George Washington
• Mother Theresa
• Abraham Lincoln
•  Mahatma Gondi
• George Washington Carver
• Albert Einstein
• Jesus Christ

Each and every one of them were persons of Character, morals and virtue. None were perfect, and each made mistakes, but the underling current of good character was present. Some had to work harder at it than others, but each achieved greatness not through power and money, but rather through good moral character. Something we all need to learn more of and something we all need to impress upon the youth.

One way to achieve this is to read about the lives of people whom you feel represent this attribute, such as the list above. I , over the years have read about a few of them, George Washington is my newest read and Lincoln will follow. Einstein will have to be revisited and Christ is always on my list, Mother Theresa will be added along with a few others. There are no shortages of examples out there, the lives of the Saints is always a good place to look, but by no means the only place. Dr. Wayne Dyer always offers sound and good advice on how to live a life of value and of course my blog, An American Point of View and my coaching service, Guided Insight Life Coach is also a good place to look (Shameless plug, I  know). But the point is, there are hundreds if not thousands of places to find inspiration on how to live a live of value.

We, as a nation, need to redefine what is of value, what is success. We have teens killing each other over Air Jordan shoes. We see people placing more value on a logo brand than on human life! Is this what we have come to? Is this what we want to teach our youth, is this how we want out children to grow up? It has nothing to do with economic conditions, Mother Theresa came from the poor to work with the poor, Jesus was poor his entire life. Money does not dictate nor is it a precursor to values. If, as the current thought process goes, money is the driving force behind values, than we would not have any corporate fraud or crime, but as we all know, this is not the case. Money, contrary to popular belief, is not the way to happiness, nor is it a path to values.

Character is learned, nurtured and grown. Sure, some had the seeds at birth, from all I have read, George Washington was such a person But he still had to learn, to grow into it, he was known as somewhat of a hot head in his youth. Quick to temper and lash out. He understood the downfalls and ramifications of this, and worked diligently at keeping his temper in check. I am sure each and every person on my list had to work at being a person of value. And we need to do the same, we have to make a commitment to do so, that is the first step.

A Man of Value is a lost are, or at least it seems to be. Lets try to rediscover this art form and learn to incorporate it into our daily lives, one place to start is Being George Washington, a website dedicated to restoring values into our lives. check it out, read the book Being George Washington and start your process of becoming a Man of Values, or a Woman of Values or what ever you want to label it, just start it!

God Bless

Paul W Sposite

Guided Insight Life Coach

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Open Letter to the State of Michigan Government

Image via Wikipedia

January 24, 2012

State of Michigan Government

Lansing Michigan

Honorable Representatives:

I write this open letter for several reasons, but mostly because of my deep love and pride in my state. I am a Michigander from birth, and God willing I will die in my home state. But this letter is not about why I love Michigan, nor is it about where I wish to die. Rather it is about my beloved home state succumbing to a slow death.

Much progress has been made this past year, but much is still needed. The underlying issues need to be addressed and a new perspective needs to be viewed. The social and political nature of this great State needs to be addressed and reworked. The morality of our State needs to be realigned and the priorities need adjusting.

Many of the issues are outside of the government’s direct control, such as morality and social issues. But the government can and does have influence on the overall tone of the state. It is the states responsibility to care for and be concerned with the betterment of her population. The citizenry of this great State is, to some extent, dependent upon the government, and the tone with which the seat of power sets is by default, the tone of her citizens.

We, being a vast and diverse society, have many views and opinions on many social issues. No one governmental body will ever please the complete and complex citizenry. Nor is it the responsibility of the government to do so. Rather, it is the responsibility of the government, in concern to social issues, to set the tone of this great state. To pass laws and resolutions that protect her citizens from harm and to provide the ability to succeed, be it in business, education or home life.

All to often we, the citizen, become dependent upon the Government, developing a entitlement mentality, placing undue burden and request upon our elected officials. For this, I am sorry. The predicament this must place you in, as servants of the public interest, must be, at times, unbearable. Yet, the responsibility in not totally that of your constituents, you, the elected, have a responsibility to educate us, your public and advocate for sound laws that will help us, not make us dependent. That responsibility falls on you and you alone. We, the citizens, have no ability to neither write nor enact laws; this is your responsibility, why you were elected.

The sad fact that many politicians, not only in the Great State of Michigan, but nationally, vote for reelection is a gross miss use of the powers granted to them, thru the trust of their constituents. Laws being brokered and passed, not based on what is best for the state or even the district they represent, but rather being passed to purchase votes. This practice is a sad commentary on the current state of affairs, not only in Michigan but nationally.

The current House and Senate along with the Governor have the opportunity to correct this, to set a new tone for the seat of power and the citizenry. You, ladies and gentleman of distinction and make a difference, put aside political parties, egos and votes. Look deeply into your hearts and souls and vow to fix that with is broken. Revamp the current social welfare of this state, re-invent the schools and invigorate the citizenry. Pass laws that return responsibilities to the people, making us, the citizens, responsible for our own actions and return power to the local governments allowing to community to care for themselves.

If we look at history, we look to the past generations to live and thrive in this state; we will see a theme, a theme of hard work, personal responsibility and ingenuity. We can read about Henry Ford and his ability to overcome many setbacks he faced, yet he faced them and found creative ways, without government hand outs, to overcome and create Ford Motor Company. We can read about the founding of this great state, the hardships and triumphs of our founders. We can look back to the heritage of Michiganders and see courage and strength, a no-nonsense attitude that created one of the Greatest States this Great Nation has ever known. But we can also look back and see the blemishes upon this state, the 67 riots the demise of the auto industries and the political scandals.

Each and every event has the power to uplift or tear down; the choice is ours and ours alone. We cannot and should not allow the National media define us. Yet we do, and we fall to the standards they set for us. We, as a state need to lift ourselves up and set our own standards, standards that raise the bar high, standards that are truly Michigan in nature, Standards that our fore Fathers would be proud of. Alas, we fail to do this, we choose to allow ourselves to tumble and fall the lowest common denominator, the public opinion of Michigan set by the outsiders, not by Michiganders.

But all is not lost, you, the Senate, House and Governor have the power to help set a new course for Michigan. You can help to set the new narrative that will define this Great State. You can help reshape and redirect Michigan. The citizens will do their part, we will be partners in this. But first we must know, we must feel, that you, our elected, are doing what is right and just, not doing what gets the most votes. Sure, you may not win reelection, but you will have lost knowing you have done the right thing.

Let’s start today, let’s work hard to recreate and reinvent Michigan.

God Bless you and the work you do

Paul W. Sposite

A proud citizen of the Great State of Michigan

 

Could Boys Town work today? And other thoughts on Charity and Social Justice.

Cover of Boys Town

‎“What’s “just” has been debated for centuries, but let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then, tell me how much of what I earn “belongs” to you — and why?”
– Walter Williams

Williams was born into an AfricanAmerican family. His family during childhood consisted of himself, his mother, and his sister. His father played no role in raising either child.^[3] He grew up in Philadelphia. The family initially lived in West Philadelphia, moving to North Philadelphia and the Richard Allen housing projects when Williams was ten. His neighbors included a young Bill Cosby. Williams knew many of the individuals that Cosby speaks of from his childhood, including Weird Harold and Fat Albert.^[4]

Williams was a talented high school student who displayed a very inconsistent performance in his studies. Following high school he came out to stay with his father in California, and attended one semester at Los Angeles City College, in regard to which he would later state that he was not ready yet to be a serious student.^[5] In 1959 he was drafted into the military, and served as a Private in the United States Army.^[4][6] While serving in the Army, he “waged a one man battle against Jim Crow from inside the army (where he was nearly court-martialed for challenging the racial order).”^[4] Williams:

wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy denouncing the pervasive racism of the American government and military. “Should Negroes be relieved of their service obligation or continue defending and dying for empty promises of freedom and equality,” Williams demanded of the president. “Or should we demand human rights as our Founding Fathers did at the risk of being called extremists….I contend that we relieve ourselves of oppression in a manner that is in keeping with the great heritage of our nation.”^{[4]  (Link)}

^{The above article, or at least part of the article from Wikipedia and the beginning quote should be an inspiration to all Americans, it talks of Faith, faith in the American system, faith in self and faith in humanity. It talks of self-reliance and justice, not handouts and welfare.  It talks about picking yourself up and taking care of business, your business, and not relaying on the government to do it for you. I like that!}

^{So what is “just”?}

^{As a Catholic, social justice is a huge part of my faith, we have Bishops and everyday pew sitters working on this issue daily, we have documents coming from the Vatican and our local Church. I could spend hours reading and re-reading the documents, many of them online and available for free. I can read the words of many a great men, saints and some not so saintly. But in the end, I think that simple quote above states it very distinctly:}

^…I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then, tell me how much of what I earn “belongs” to you — and why?”

 

^{That about states it all… Now I can hear everyone asking, what about the poor, who is going to help them… We need to take and give to them.. True, I agree, you are correct. But… And this is a big but… It’s not the government’s job to decide who or what charities I want to support, it is not the governments job to decide how much is too much. That my friends, it totally up to me… That is “just”.}

^{Humanity will, if allowed, care for herself. In the United Stated we have proven this, prior to big government stepping in, it was left to the local communities to care for one another, and they always did. During the many recessions and depressions this country has gone through, the local community always cared for their own. As it should be. The “Great Society” and the “New Deal” and all other forms of Social Engineering has done nothing to change the simple fact that we will always have the poor. But what it has done is created a whole generation that is now dependent upon the government to fix and provide for all there needs. No longer is it a community coming together, but now it laws and regulations and dependency.}

^{The local out reach programs, Faith based community services and alike are now governed by the Federal Government, bogged down with regulations and paperwork that much of there “good deeds” go undone due to lack of resources to meet the ever-expanding hands of Big Brother. Prior to the government handing out the tax payers money, the local community gathered its resources from the community itself, depended on the community and thrived with in the community it served.}

^{The Catholic church was the prominent provider in many communities, depending upon the Church and the community at large to provide free services to whomever needed them, regardless of their faith. Look at Boys Town as a perfect example. Fr. Flanagan did not ask the Federal Government for moneys to build his Town, nope, he depended upon the common person to send in donations, and the work of building the town, well that was left up the him and the boys. In todays “regulated” world this could never happen, the government would not allow the young men who made up the community of Boys Town to do the labor, they would consider it “degrading” and “child labor”, were as Fr. Flanagan and his boys considered it “Character building” and “Edifying” . How times have changed.}

^{The government would have required trained social workers were as Fr. Flanagan required love and respect. There is not law or regulations for love and respect, so the government would not consider them to be important. How times have changed…}

^{“Charity” and “Social Justice” and not be regulated or forced, they have to be organic in nature. they have to come from the souls of the ones offering. When government sticks its hands into our pockets and forces us to “give” the act of Charity and Justice has just become an act of redistribution and extortion.}

^{In the books “Who Really Cares” and “Gross National Happiness”} Arthur C. Brooks, the author, makes the case that charity is a human act, not a governmental act. That it is the benevolence of man and not the redistributionist of government that keeps charities rolling. Both books are well worth the reading.

The Catholic Church, like many organization, has its fair share of redistributionist, who feel that humanity in-of-its-self is not able or capable of caring for each other. To me this is a travesty and a slap in the collective face of man kind! But, truth be told, we allowed this mind-set to happen, we, as a nation have become “dependent” upon the government to not only govern our national affairs, but also our personal affairs.

A return to a simpler time, a time when communities cared for each other, relied upon each other and depended upon their neighbors was when true social justice existed in this nation. We now live in a nation of not social justice, but a nation of social engineering, other wise know as socialism, tyranny or any other work to describe personal liberties and personal responsibilities being replaced by group think. We are teaching our children not to depend upon themselves and the community at large, but rather to look to and depend upon the government. We have generations of Americans that have no concept of charity and giving, of time, talent and treasure. But we do have generations of Americans who understand the concepts of give me, I deserve and “fairness”. Using the term “fairness” not as it was meant, “Equal opportunity” but rather as “Equal treasures” regardless of effort put forth.

The America of pre-New Deal and The Great Society is not yet lost, but is quickly becoming so. We have the opportunity and obligation to change the course of this great nation. To right the wrongs and return American and her citizens back to personal responsibility and community minded obligations. We have a unique opportunity in America, the opportunity to wage a revolution with our guns and blood, a revolution that uses the most powerful weapon ever know to man, the vote. This November we must vote to return America back to Americans, to restore Charity and Social Justice back to the people. It is time to take up the mantel of liberty and forge a new path to prosperity by returning to the founding principles of this great nation. Principles spelled out in our founding documents, the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Documents that outline the path to prosperity and freedom, documents that never, not once, call upon the Government to care for the personal lives of its Citizenry. But rather call upon its Citizenry to care for the Government.

God Bless

Paul

Guided Insight Life Coach 

 

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Newt speaks the Truth…

Last night I watched the South Carolina debates on Fox News. What stuck me was the fact that the questions were not designed as “sound bites” and that they were fair. What a concept… It was refreshing to hear, for the most part, intelligent questions from the media. No “So if states want to ban birth control” type questions. In truth they all sounded good, except Ron Paul, for some reason he always sounds like he is disorganized and scattered. Newt, as always was right on and put the media in there place. His little spat with Juan Williams, who was trying to bring up the race card.

 

It seems to me that the race card is going to be the mode of operation this election season. If you state the truth, and dislike Obama, you must be a raciest. How sad is that, how low is that, I for one, am insulted! I dislike Obama because he is, in my opinion, the worst president EVER, He makes Carter look good, and that’s pretty bad. I would have thought that the fact that the current president won by a land slide would have dispelled the notion that America is raciest. But I guess that something are just to easy to fall back on.

It’s a no brainer to say it must be race, not policy, it makes good head lines to say White America is racist. By the way, as a side note, I hate when we Americans are described as:

• White Americans
• Black Americans
• African Americans

Are we not all just Americans? Is that not part of the issue, we keep a divide between us when we do that. And to me it is simply stupid and counter productive. Yes I know there are still some whites that dislike blacks, just like there are some blacks that dislike some whites. It will, sadly, always be that way. There will always be ignorant people in this world. There is not much we can do about that. But there is much we can do about the divided we create when we refer to each other by our race. How about just American? What’s wrong with that?

Well back to the topic at hand…

Newt has a way of responding that just makes the questioner take a step back, his simple “No” to Juan was brilliant, the follow up from Newt with the why, in simple terms and no concerned about political correctness, what a beautiful thing to see and hear from a politician!

With Newt as our President we would always know were we stand, what he thinks and how he is going to deal with any issue. What a refreshing thought….

As for Dr. Ron Paul… Not sure why, but I just get an uneasy feeling about him, the feeling that one night he is just going to wake up and decide to run nude through the White House, just a feeling that he is just a tad bit off center. Not nuts, just a one or two cards short of a full deck. Don’t know why I get that feeling, but I do…

Romney, well what can I say about him, I would vote for him if he was the republican, but that’s about it. I just am not drawn to him.

Perry, he looks like he is always stiff, almost like a Ken doll…

Santorum, I like him, he is my second in line, if not Newt, than Santorum. Why not my first, I just like Newt, always have.

This election year promises to be exciting and revealing. I think we will see what America is made of this election. The American fabric will be stretched to its limits, and we will see what she can stand. If we fail, if the fabric rips we will be headed down a long, steep and slippery road to socialism. A road we are currently on, a road that not just liberals have put us on, but, sad to say, so have many conservatives. It is time, this election is the election to decide what road we want, socialism or the road the Founding Fathers forged for us, the road carved out of the wilderness with the blood of our sons. The road of Liberty and freedom, the road of personal responsibility and sacrifice. The process will not be easy, and we will have a hard climb back up to the top of this current hill, a lot of back tracking to do, freedoms to restore and liberties to reinstate. But we are Americans, we can do it, if only we try and work hard. Something our history as a nation has show we are not afraid to do, hard work was what this nation was built on, and hard work is what will restore this nation.

God willing, we will do just that, we will restore this great nation back to is former glory!

God Bless

Guided Insight Life Coach

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• Video: Gingrich vs. Juan Williams on the "food-stamp president" (hotair.com)
• Ron Paul’s 11 Point Plan to Save Usa !!! (teapartywpbfl.wordpress.com)
• Ron Paul’s 11 Point Plan to Save Usa !!! (2012patriot.wordpress.com)
• Allen West to Obama: "Please don’t play the race card in 2012″ (usamericanfreedom.com)
• Q: Do Black Americans Believe Ron Paul Is Racist? (disclose.tv)
• Another Republican Primary Debate (horsesass.org)
• Mitt Romney Stumbles, Newt Gingrich Shines – ABC News (blog) (abcnews.go.com)

 

Faith in Humanity

Last week my house was broken into, for anyone who has had this happen, you know the feeling. The feeling of being violated. What they took is all replicable except some watches that use to belong to my day, but the rest is just stuff, and stuff can be replaced. I called the police, they found some evidence, but I am not very hopeful because, truth be told, this is not the biggest thing on their radar. Yes it was well over $4000.00 dollars of stuff, but still small stuff considering the larger picture.  The insurance company is taking care of it all, so it will all be replaced soon.

But what makes me mad is this simple concept, that some people feel they have the right to take what they want, to take what I have worked hard for, what I have purchased with my hard-earned money. And, sad to say, we have done it to ourselves. We have created a nation of “But I want it” a youth of “I deserve it” and a belief that “We just don’t understand them”.

Bull crap!

I understand, I understand that I have worked hard all my life for what I have. That I don’t just take what I want, that I understand that I know it is wrong to take what is not yours. And don’t give me that crap they just don’t know any better. I will wager that if I went up to on of the low fife thief’s and took something of there’s, they would understand that it was not right to take what they have, just because I wanted it. They understand right from wrong, it’s a basic to life. We are born with it, even a child knows they are not happy when you take something from them. Sure it takes time for them to understand that it works both ways, that its wrong to have something taken and to take. But anyone who can drive is old enough to have that basic skill set. Nope it has nothing to do with “They don’t understand”” but more to do with “They just don’t care”.

We have a basic moral code in us, we always have and always will, but free will allows us to choose do as we please, and they choose to take what was not theirs. Plain and simple!

Back in June my car was stolen, prior to that some change was stolen from my car and now this, add to this that my Dog passed away in April it has not been a good year.

But…

I have not lost faith in the human race, I still give people the benefit of the doubt… I still look to the future with hope, maybe a little more prayer that before last week, but still hope.

God Bless

Paul

Guided Insight Life Coach

 

Politically Sterile

The Christmas session is over, and the decorations are down, now starts the political session… Over the weekend I watched the ABC GOP Debates, if you can call them that. I was so mad that I found it hard to watch. The moderators were, well to put it simply, STUPID. They asked stupid questions, has stupid follow-ups and acted just plain stupid. George Stephanopoulos was the biggest idiot of them all (Drudge Report). But none of them should be proud of themselves.

The best moment for me, Newt’s monolog on the Catholic Church:

“I just want to raise, since we just spent this much time on these issues, I just want to raise a point about the news media bias. You don’t hear the opposite question asked. Should the Catholic Church be forced to close its adoption services in Massachusetts because it won’t accept gay couples? Which is exactly what the state has done.”

He continued:

Should the Catholic Church be driven out of providing charitable services in the District of Columbia because it won’t give in to secular bigotry? Should the Catholic Church find itself discriminated against by the Obama administration in a key delivery of services because of the bias and the bigotry of the administration? The bigotry question goes both ways, and there’s a lot more anti-Christian bigotry today than there is concerning the other side, and none of it gets covered by the liberal media.

God Bless him, got to love it…. We need more Catholics in public office and in the public eye to be more like Newt, and stand up for our faith. I wanted to get in my car and drive out there to shake his hand, but living in Michigan that would have been hard to do. But boy did I want to….

It seems to me that people are afraid to stand up for the faith because they are afraid of being labeled politically incorrect. But really is it? Does being politically correct mean that you have to stop standing up for your faith, your beliefs? I don’t think so, to me that is being politically sterile, having no value system no moral ground to stand on. How can I take your view points about anything seriously if you are afraid to stand up for them? The liberals stand up for what they want, a society of drowns with no original though, but we conservatives do not, for the fear of being labeled!

We have allowed the politically correct crowed do exactly what they are supposed to be against, we have allowed them to marginalize us and label us. We have allowed them to force their belief upon us, all in the name of political correctness… Does that really make sense?

We, conservatives and Christians are the new fair game when it comes to bigotry and discrimination, and the worst part, its been institutionalized bout our governments and our Churches! I know that in the Catholic Church the political correctness thing has done damage to the faith. We have Bishops who support gay marriage, want social health care and believe abortion is ok… All in the name of not wanting to offend!

I have to say this, but Jesus offended people, He spoke the truth and sometimes that truth was offensive to people. He spoke load and bold on issues, regardless of the political correctness that others sought… I would think that Jesus offended quite a few when he over turned the money changing tables in the Temple:

Cleansing the Temple
12And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

14And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant 16and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?” 17And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. (Matthew 21: 12-17)

In today’s world He would be arrested and the story would have been blasted all over the 24 hour news channels as an intolerant religious fool. Now, to be fair, Jesus was killed, but not for that, He was killed out of fear. The same fear that causes the liberals to do what they are doing now, the fear of Truth. The fear of being called to task, the fear of having to face the fact that you can not do as you please and that there is someone watching over you, someone greater than you, God.

Nope Newt did the right thing, he stood up, knowing it was on national TV, knowing people on the left will try to spin it, knowing it could hurt his run for the presidency, he stood up and proclaimed the truth… God Bless him! We need more like him, we need to do as he has done, and stand up and stop being politically streile.

God Bless

 

Paul

Guided Insight Life Coach

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• Newt Gingrich: ‘There’s a Lot More Anti-Christian Bigotry Today Than There Is Concerning The Other Side’(timesunion.com)
• Where Do You Start(tarpon.wordpress.com)
• This Qualifies as a ‘Scandal’ in the Catholic Church?(patheos.com)
• Catholic Gays Asked to NOT Have Sex(fallenfromgrace.net)
• Gingrich Declares Gay Rights Questions Are ‘Anti-Christian Bigotry’(crooksandliars.com)
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• Unexceptional Christians by Tim Challies(trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)
• NH Debate: Newt Blasts The Media For Anti-Christian Bigotry (Video)(nicedeb.wordpress.com)
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Questions of Force and Faith

The death of 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez has shaken this neighborhood along the U.S.-Mexico border, where parents already burdened by economic woes and street gangs are now faced with explaining the tragedy to their children.

Making it especially hard: It remains unclear to his parents and investigators why Jaime — a drum major who danced in his church’s annual religious festival, stayed out of gangs and had two parents who closely watched him — could swerve off course and bring a weapon to school. The weapon, police later determined, was a pellet gun. (link)

Reading this article makes me think about many things. The sadness the parents and friends must feel, the questions it opens and the wounds that will never heal. It makes me think about the questioning and second guessing the officers must be going thru, did we have to shoot to kill, did we do the right thing. It makes me wounded what was going on in the head of this young man, whom, by all reports I have read, seems like a normal 15 year old, staying clean and out of trouble.

It’s a sad story, and I truly feel for the parents and all involved, I pray for the young mans soul, and that God will have mercy on him.  But I feel that there is more to the story, that we are missing something…. I’m not say he was not a good boy, or that that parents were not good parents, but there is something missing…

I would have to say that most likely what was missing was community, safety and security with in the community. we all have hear that is take a village to raise a child, and its true. Think about it, we spend more time outside of the family than we do in it, as a school aged young man, he spent more hours away from home than in the home. Be it at the school or hanging out with friends. And that is as it should be, that is how a young man becomes a man. But the dynamics of that “village” plays a roll, a very big roll…

The village is not a physical location as much as it is a concept. The boundaries of the village grow and the youth grows, as a 8 year old, his village most likely was school and home, maybe daycare. His friends were local and his parents had more control over who he played with and not. As he grew, so did his village, as a 15 year old his village would now include more physical space, able to go more places and hang with more types of people. His school becomes just one of many places with in the village. And his parents influence is, to some degree, less than the influence of his friends. And all this is as it should be, the process of growing up, and becoming a young man.

It is this force that helps shape the boy into a man, and by all accounts it seemed to be doing a fine job. So what happen, what made this young man bring a gun, all-be-it a harmless gun, but still a gun, to school. What possessed him to run thru the halls, refusing to put it down? All questions we will never know the answer to. Sad… Very sad…

But now this is were faith comes in, the parents must have faith that they did the best they could, that they did not let there son down, and faith that God, in HIs own way, will make it all clear to them. But we must also examine the village, and see were, if any, safety nets may have failed. Was there a sign that was over looked, was he crying for help, but know one noticed, or cared to take action. Just questions…

God Bless

Paul W Sposite

Related articles

• After Texas School Shooting, Many Questions Loom (abcnews.go.com)
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• Parents hit out at police after boy carrying pellet gun shot dead (smh.com.au)
• Questions loom after Texas boy’s death (cbsnews.com)
• Student Shot Dead by Police Had Pellet Gun (foxnews.com)
• Texas Police Kill 15-Year-Old Carrying Pellet Gun – NPR (npr.org)
• Texas Police Kill 8th-grader Carrying Pellet Gun (maboulette.wordpress.com)
• Cops shoot and kill 8th grader brandishing a pellet gun in middle school hallway (examiner.com)
• Texas police kill student carrying pellet gun – CBC.ca (cbc.ca)

 

Declutter for the New You

Image via Wikipedia

Here is a challenge, declutter your life starting now… Where ever you are reading this, stop reading and look around, find 5 things you can toss out or donate… And do it, toss it or donate it… Only 5 things…

The act of cleansing or decluttering is a hard thing for us to do, we seem to collect things in our lives. If I look around my office I can see 5 things I need to toss, but can I do it? will I do it? That is the real question. I know I should, I know that I have way to much “stuff” but can I part with any of it? Does it have any value or meaning to me?

Decluttering our office,home,cars our lives is a positive thing to do, but all to often we don’t. We may organize it, put it away, because maybe, just maybe we will need it again, sometime in the future… But we never do and it just sits there taking up space.

This is true with our desks as much as with our souls and minds. How much “stuff” do we have in our souls that we just don’t need?

• Resentment
• Jealousy
• Envy
• Hatred

All of that takes up valuable space in our souls, the more we hold on to it, the more dust covers it, the harder it is to part with it. We begin to feel that it is a part of us, bad as it maybe, but still apart of us. The envy turns into a constant coveting of others, we began to expect things to be given to us, in the name of fairness. No longer thinking that we must work for what we want, just expecting what others have. The resentment turns into a feeling of disdain towards all, not just who hurt us, but all. The dust keeps us from seeing the hatred that is filling our hearts, replacing the kindness and love we once had for mankind. Turning our lives into death.

The act of decluttering will make room for:

• Forgiveness
• Love
• Charity
• Trust

Growth cannot happen if there is no room to grow, if we keep all that is old and harmful, we allow no room for what is new and beneficial. So look around you, did you find 5 things to toss? Now look inside you, did you find 5 things to toss? Keep looking, I know you will find something… We all have our things to toss, I know I do, and I know how are it can be. But I will keep looking, and I will keep trying… That is the only way I will ever succeed at change and growth.

God Bless

Paul

Guided Insight Life Coach

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• On Decluttering (temenos2.wordpress.com)
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• January Challenge: Decluttering! (wellnessmom.wordpress.com)
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• Decluttering Update#13 -decluttering my daughter’s bedroom (littlegreenvillage.wordpress.com)
• My Closet, My Self Why cleaning out this space can change your life (deals.com)
• What Fred Astaire can teach you about New Year Resolutions (anamericanpointofview.wordpress.com)
• Overcoming Jealousy (everydayhealth.com)

 

 

Change, to fear or not to fear, that is the question…

Change is an important part of our lives, its something we need to be doing, constantly. The act of standing still is the act of slowly dyeing. We are made to be active, to be on the move, at all times. It is in our DMA. And by being active I not only mean physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We are naturally in a state of constant motion, our cells are bombarding each other, splitting and creating new from old, we breath in and out and blink our eyes with out giving it a second thought. On the molecular level, change is a constant, and the cognitive level we are always learning, growing and becoming anew. Yet for some reason we all seem to fear change, we seem to look upon change as something bad and harmful…

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

~Tolstoy

Change has to start with you… This past Sunday at Mass my priest said the following:

“To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
― Confucius

That right, the Catholic priest quotes Confucius, because Confucius understood that change starts with you… We must change, we must continue to grow and to become… To become what ever it is that God intends us to be. We most start with self, and we cannot change unless we remove the negative from our life.

TOP 10 on how to change your behavior from negative to positive:

Stop worrying about what others get but be grateful of what you got! For example, after your yearly review, you and John Doe (the person that drives you nuts everyday) have the same rating, but your employer gives John a $5000 raise and you only got $3000. Be grateful for John and yourself for both getting a raise. Don’t compare what you got versus what John got, because bottom line it is not your money to begin with but your employer’s money…and he can do with it as he pleases. Be grateful for what you got!

Change your vocabulary! Many people do not even realize that they are negative. They use words and phrases on a daily basis that are negatively impacting their surroundings. Stay away from negative words such as "can’t" and "won’t" and instead rephrase and replace with "can" and "will"! Swearing is also very negative…and it actually shows others your lack of education…so stop that right away!

Change your tone of voice. A tone is very important when speaking. Always try to "up-end" as oppose to "down-end" your tone. Try it with "can I do that for you" to get the just of it.

Watch your body language. Body language is another way to easily be negative. I don’t mean using the ever popular middle finger either! Take a look at your shoulders…are they up and strong or down and droopy? Is your head high and proud or down and looking at the floor? Do you look into the other person’s eyes when speaking or always look away? These are some obvious signs of negativity. Stand strong and be confident, this will automatically bring you a positive vibe!

Coach yourself. No one is perfect, so the most important thing you can do is to coach yourself. After a conversation or event that you feel was negative, replay it in your head. Write down some of your "negative" behaviors or the ones that you noticed in you or others). Then rewrite them to focus on the positive. By doing this "writing" exercise, your brain will automatically start to change and you will improve day after day.

The quarter exercise. At the beginning of each day, take 8 (you can start with 2 and slowly move up to 8) quarters and put them in your pockets (as lose change that drives you crazy). The goal is to give out a positive comment to someone or use a positive gesture of some sort. Each time this is accomplish, remove one quarter. By the end of the day, your pockets need to be empty (and not because you bought a chocolate bar with the money, but because you had eight positive reinforcement)!

Speak out. If you are experiencing someone being negative, don’t just stand there and absorb it. Tell the person how they make you feel and how you are tying to change. Two things can happen, they will question you and follow you in this change or they will not hang around you any longer. If the later happens, then stay positive by inviting them for a coffee and explaining your reasoning. Offer help. If this doesn’t work, then you know that this person was not meant to be around you in the first place. Now start looking for other positive thinkers like you to hang with!

Forgive. One of the hardest things for humans to do is forgive others. Let me assure you that letting go and forgiving is a life saving event! Write down a list of the people that need forgiving and the reasons and reach out to them to forgive them. Do not discuss or dwell on the reason why there needed to be forgiving involved in the first place, just say "you know, I forgive and forget and just want to move on with our relationship. Let’s not talk about it and just accept that we are both forgiving today".

No blaming. This one is easy (yah right). When you start blaming…stop pointing the finger to the other party and turn it towards you. Focus on what YOU can do to change the situation from negative into positive. Then, act on these actions!

Act. Don’t just act positive but live positively! Surround yourself with everything and anything positive…you will see, it’s a much better quality of life!

(Full Article here)

The above was not written by me, but is good advice. And just for good measure one more quote from Confucius….

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.”
― Confucius

Change is good, but change is hard… Just remember that we, by nature are always in a constant state of change, so to be truly in harmony with ourselves, we to must be in a constant state of change. Change is good…

God Bless

Paul

Guided Insight Life Coach

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