Memorial Day 2021

 Today is the last Monday of the month: it is also the last day of May as well. I believe everything Memorial Day has stood for is at its last.

The U.S.A. has become a failed experiment. The country is overrun by people who don't share the American Dream and in my opinion, hate our way of life. 

How did this happen? I believe Satan's favorite tool to destroy America is the Public School System.The schools have indoctrinated and brainwashed generations and we are reaping the rotten fruit.

Bye, bye Miss American Pie!

Leaving DFW in the rear view mirror

  We just got back from visiting DFW. We lived there forty-plus years and just two years ago moved to a small rural suburb of KCMO. After being away from DFW for two years and living in a small area, one notices how massive the metroplex is.  Even KCMO and Johnson County, KS. are decent-sized metro areas; it is nothing like what DFW has become.

Tolls, traffic, and other factors, such as the distance between places you want to go, are overwelling. We live in a 5-mile radius now. Our two cars haven't seen 10 k in two years, between them. 

Sure there are a lot of things we miss. DFW is growing and has always eluded high-energy,  growth, and booming hustle. Every bit of food and entertainment one could wish for. It is the place for younger folks to be. 

Now at our stage of life. The more bucolic and quiet life find more appeal. DFW has become like NYC. It is often said, "they're nice places to visit, but I won't like to live there." Not at our stage of life anyway. 

What price do you put on freedom?

 What price do you put on freedom? We all must ask ourselves this question. The recent pandemic and the government's response to it pretty much separated the freedom fighters from the sheeple.  

If you are so afraid to die and want to preserve your life at all costs, you are in one camp.  If you have a dare-devil attitude and are sure life is not worth living if it is lived in fear, you are in the other camp. Now a lot of folks are in between camps. 

Your worldview and your religious belief systems come into play here but to what extent do they sway the argument in my thesis?

I read a novel about a dystopian society where safety, personal peace, and security were the new religion. The book is "That Perfect Day" by Ira Levine. It's scary because it's so much like today's drama being played out.

The theme of trading peace and safety for freedom has been the theme of many books, plays, music, movies, etc. Is there a balance, and at what cost?

Just an observation, I see folks advocating extreme measures to the pandemic and mandating others to do so. Yet, they are driving cars (risky), smoking cigarettes ( leftover smoke billowing out from around their mask), and obese folk (don't interfere with their right to be unhealthy) all worried about a virus.

Is it just me, or are we being tested? Is this a global experiment on how far "big brother" can limit you?

Mondays

Mondays are a challenge for a lot of us. At least they are for me. I get out of bed and think, here we go again. The weekends always go by so fast. Mondays seem to be a downer, and  I have tried every way I know how to improve them or get my week off to a better start. 

 

I tried to treat myself to a tasty breakfast that would get my day off to a good start. I made all kinds of little Monday-only rewards and special incentives to no avail. 

It's not even that I hate the thought of the workweek; that's not it. I enjoy my work. I frankly don't like Mondays. I tried to change my attitude and self-affirmations to embrace Mondays, but nothing seems to help.

Maybe we can change Monday to Funday in our language. Perhaps we can reverse the workweek and start on Friday and go backward. I don't think that will help in the long haul.

Any suggestions about what works for you?

Setting out a course

We are often asked to stretch our dreams and expand our vision. It all sounds good until the theoretical has to become practical. Now the dream has to have some real-world practical application. How those fancy slogans and pithy saying get worked out in real life is the problem.

Sometimes the breakdown in implementation is because we never really believed that we could achieve the desired outcome. Maybe we didn't count the cost as the Bible mentions and gave up because the risk/reward were out of sync. Do we really buy into what we ourselves planned?

When making vision statements and planning goals, we should always ask ourselves first, are these really in line with where we are headed. Is there a roadmap for the destination? How and when do we get there? How much does it require in resources? Are we willing to go there, or are we being forced to by circumstances? 

When we set out, it is always advisable to rely on the sage advice of others who have made the journey before we did. The details change, but principles and lessons learned are applicable to the road ahead.  

Be cautiously optimistic and always be rooted in faith. Never trust yourself only at the same time don't depend completely on anyone else either.  

Proverbs 16: 9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. Proverbs 27:23 Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds. Proverbs 24:27 Prepare your work outside and make it ready for yourself in the field; afterward, then, build your house.