WORTH WATCHING: Kindness (click to see slide show)
http://youtu.be/uvG1iVw8IjQ
COMMENTARY: Courtesy is Kindness in Action 749.3
As a society, we have become almost obsessed with identifying and asserting our rights – to think, say, and do what we want. That’s not surprising, given the history of our country and the prominent role the Constitution and Bill of Rights have played in shaping our culture. We have a right to be unkind, thoughtless, and disrespectful – but …
WORTH READING: Friends
from Positive Outlooks
WORTH WATCHING: I’ve selected a few videos that convey on a deeper level than words the range of feelings – pride, patriotism, fear, boredom, pain and grief – associated with military service.
I hope you will take a few minutes to view them as your tribute to the men and women we owe so much. Watching them all will take less than 20 minutes.
COMMENTARY: Ask What Can You Do for Your Country
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy, invoked my generation to “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” We are fortunate to live in a free and democratic society where millions of civilians and soldiers serve their fellow citizens. Last Friday was Veteran’s Day and the weekend provided the nation …
WORTH READING & WATCHING: A Perspective of Service from a P.O.W.
It’s hard for some folks to take off their political glasses with lenses that like or dislike, see or not see, according to political predispositions. I think it’s important to remove these glasses when thinking about the nature of the experience that men and women who serve in the armed forces may be subjected to. This story, oft told by …
ANNOUNCEMENT: Who Gets to Go to Lunch? Please vote.
When my radio commentaries were canceled by KNX, a radio station in Los Angeles, listeners were invited to write short essays on what the commentaries have meant to them. The authors of the top five essays will be invited to a special lunch. I was amazed to receive 76 essays — all personally moving. I loved them all and couldn’t …
WORTH READING: Here’s to the Heroes
Here’s to the heroes Those few who dare, Heading for glory,’ Living a prayer. Here’s to the heroes Who change our lives. Thanks to the heroes, Freedom survives. Here’s to the heroes Who never rest. They are the chosen, We are the blessed. Here’s to the heroes Who aim so high. Here’s to the heroes Who do or die. Here’s …
Land of the Free
“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” — Elmer Davis
OBSERVATION: “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.” — Helen Keller.
Pessimism and optimism are not just ways we predict the future; these attitudes profoundly affect the future. Pessimism makes our disposition dark and gloomy. Optimism is a source of light and energy for everyone in range of its power. Both are contagious. It’s true that some people are more naturally optimistic, cheerful, and hopeful than others but even people with …
COMMENTARY: What Your Checkbook and Calendar Say About Your Values 749.1
If I wanted to check your credit worthiness, I’d look at your balance sheet – what you have and what you owe – and I’d want to know about your history of paying your debts. If I wanted to know your values, I’d look at your calendar and checkbook. How come? Well, the term “values” refers
COMMENTARY: Sorry, Joe, You Have to Go 748.5
At the risk of losing my credibility, I have to retract my previous commentary, “Say It Ain’t So, Joe,” in which I urged readers to be generous in assessing the moral culpability of Penn State Coach Joe Paterno in relation to an undeniably horrendous situation involving the sexual abuse of children by former coach Jerry Sandusky. This change of position …
OBSERVATION: I Changed My Mind – What do you think?
In this week’s newsletter you will read a commentary, “Say It Ain’t So, Joe,” where I argued that we should give the benefit of the doubt to legendary coach Joe Paterno, who should have done more to assure that the accusation that former coach Jerry Sandusky raped a young boy in a Penn State shower room was brought to the …
OBSERVATION: Necessity is not a fact, it’s an interpretation. – Nietzsche
When good people do bad things they usually have convinced themselves it’s not bad. One of the most common justifications is that “I had to do it.” That the stakes were so high it was necessary. This rationalization is a form of the idea that “the end justifies the means” and is at the root of every cover-up from Watergate …
COMMENTARY: “Say it Ain’t So, Joe” 748.4
“Say it ain’t so, Joe” These words, directed at Shoeless Joe Jackson as he emerged from a courthouse where he and seven other White Sox players were accused of taking bribes to manipulate games, expressed the profound sense of betrayal and disappointment suffered when an idol falls from grace. Though Jackson, one of the finest players of his era, claimed …
COMMENTARY: Favorite Quips 748.3
As a break from heavy thoughts about heavy matters, I’d like to share with you a list of some of my favorite quips collected over the years. I don’t know the original sources of these one-liners, but they definitely weren’t from me. 1) If women can have PMS, then men can have ESPN. 2) If quitters never win and
COMMENTARY: Just Keep on Knocking 748.2
In the summer of my junior year in college I took a job as a door-to-door salesman for the Fuller Brush Company. My mother had just lost a long battle with cancer, and I wanted to earn enough money to have a photo of her turned into a painted portrait to give to my dad. What I earned depended entirely …
OBSERVATION: You can’t control the winds, but you determine your direction and speed if you control the sails.
You can’t control what people say to you or do to you but you control how you feel about and react to what they say and do. You can’t control the demands and expectations of others, but you control which to live by and which to ignore. You can’t control who has opinions on how you live your life, but …
OBSERVATION: In a democracy, every citizen is a public official.
Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was used to partisan politics and intense debates, pointed out that, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.” When we instinctively choose to believe what we want to believe or construe all evidence in favor of our predispositions, we effectively disable our ability to participate in rational discourse. If
COMMENTARY: The Cowboy Code 748.1
I grew up in much simpler times. Television was in its infancy and the idea of a hero was exemplified by a white-hatted cowboy. There was a clarity and simplicity to the moral code of these heroes that left no doubt that there is a right and wrong. As I became more sophisticated, it was easy to ridicule these simplistic …
OBSERVATION: Carpe Diem!
Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Horace advised his readers to “think of each day as if it were to be your last,” and to seize the day (Carpe Diem!) because you cannot trust what tomorrow will bring. His purpose was not to instill pessimism and fear but to urge us to find joy in each day and to …
OBSERVATION: Enjoy the struggle
F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the most profoundly redeeming qualities of life are found not in moments of pure happiness or pleasure, but in the deeper satisfactions that come out of struggle. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard put it another way: “Life must be understood backward, but lived forward.” Thus, we need to regularly remind ourselves to learn from the …
COMMENTARY: The Truth About Trust
Everyone seems to understand the importance of trust. No one seems to doubt the vital role that it plays in personal relationships, business, and politics. We want to trust the people in our lives and we want them to trust us.