What do you believe?

I have begun to think the world is always waiting for someone to apologize for things it did or might have done. Always waiting for compensation for the destruction that the evil of this world has ravaged. The problem with a world view like that is people forget it is often an individual or small group who owes the apology and not the larger masses. What I'm trying to say is that it all begins with one person stepping up and saying something. Then that person gets someone to listen to them who then may or may not agree. It escalates from there until it either is resolved or snuffed out. Evil things have been done by individuals with the help of those who they were able to convince. Hitler, Mao and Stalin to name a few (who combined were responsible for more than 94 million deaths).


This pattern works for good individuals too, but often we don't hear their names as much as we hear the bad ones. People like Sister Theresa, Abraham Lincoln, Jim Henson, Helen Keller, Mahatma Ghandi, Albert Einstein, and Louis Pasteur made their mark on the world while trying not to harm it or those who live on it. There is a lot to be said about those who choose to create over those who choose to destroy or bring chaos. They are the foundation of what human kind considers the most valuable. Good vs Evil.

I thank God that there are more good people then there are bad ones. I stand up right now and yell it to the mountains and all who can hear me...
I believe in Love, Peace, Hope, Compassion and Mercy! I believe in myself and my heart's ability to keep me in line! I believe in you, and your ability to become more than you are! I believe that there is nothing more valuable than the ability to trust and love one another!
I believe in holding babies close and breathing deep. I believe in sitting on the porch on a summer day drinking iced tea with your family and laughing at life's little ironies. I believe in telling those you care about that you love them. I believe in driving down the road and singing along with a happy tune. I believe in taking time to listen to your fellow man (or woman) and interacting with them on a personal level. I believe in giving a damn. I believe this so strongly that I will never waiver from this, nor will I ask another human being to do so. I believe. Do you?

Even Trustworthy People Get Tempted

Once in a while something comes along that makes you stop and pay attention.  It can be something simple and seemingly unimportant or very big and obviously tempting.  Where is the line that says it is 'ok to want this, it isn't really that big'?  Somewhere in our childhood we found that line (if we are lucky).  A moment of clarity about the temptation and its being wrong to give in.

For me it was stealing a piece of gum from a small grocery store at the age of ten.  Luckily guilt kicked in and I returned later and apologized to the store owner.  It is easy to be judgemental about others doing things we wouldn't do because that line is highly personal.  Everyone learned where the line is, in an approximate not exact term and all the lines are based on personal bias.  It is just as easy for an Amish child to be tempted as a big city kid, or a preachers kid.  True character must come from how we deal with the realization.

Now that we've wrapped out minds around that thought, try this one.  Why do we give ourselves permission to cross that line?  We adjust it based on personal bias.  I think it is a fundamental tool we use to 'hone' our ethics.  Unfortunately it often can be used the wrong way and we 'allow' ourselves to 'fudge' over the line because we think it won't do any perceived harm.

Is this the reason we have murderers and theives?  Have they crossed the line so many times they can't find it anymore?  I would imagine that relearning it is harder than maintaining it... and once you habitually cross that line you're then always fighting to find it again.

In the end we pay consequences for our actions.  I think we weigh those against the temptation to see if we are willing to pay the price.  Hence that extra piece of cake or extra hour of TV when we should be doing something else.  It might also explain why we as Americans tend to eat so much.

You Better Get You Some Higher Education!

What is Higher Education? Well, that term is easy to define. Getting more education than you currently have achieved. Since this is the case, then we are all working to achieve higher education. If you think about it, there are so many ways to be an educated person in today's society. You can be socially educated, legally educated, naturally educated, or even earn a life education.

Personally I feel like life education is enhanced by fundamental education (school). Although natural education (learning by example) is also a huge part of what makes us educated people.  I don't believe there are uneducated people out there anymore. Every person who is exposed to the world earns an education of some kind. It may not be a good one, but it is knowledge and experience. The true character of a person is defined by how they take and use that education.

The underprivileged individual is only held in check by their ability to use the knowledge they have achieved. That is a direct result of this amazing country in which we live. No one is left in a status or level they can't get out of with some effort. You are only limited by the limits you place on yourself. Look at these self educated people (called autodidactic) who made it in a big way. Abraham Lincoln was a self educated lawyer. Bill Gates was a college drop out. Andrew Carnegie was one of the best known men of industrialization and he never went to school. Famous author Arthur C Clark never went to college. Walter Cronkite, one of America's best beloved journalists and long time CBS anchor dropped out of college. Charles Dickens never got to finish his childhood schooling.

Arguably these individuals took on life education and made it work. What makes it even better is that they had support. People who cared about what happened to them, giving encouragement from time to time. By far my favorite self educated person was Thomas Alva Edison. His teachers thought him unteachable. So his mother taught him at home during his early years. He went on to produce such wonderful inventions as electric light and early recording technologies.

So my point? No one is without opportunity and he/she who has support can conquer the world.

SQUEAK!

When does efficiency become inefficient? What kind of price have we put on supporting the worker? The word itself indicates that it is all about doing the best with what is available in the least amount of time. What it doesn't say is that there are far to many companies expecting high levels of efficiency without cultivating it by helping workers maintain health, acquire skills, through encouragement and getting adequate rest. It is foolish for any size company to treat their workers as if they are replaceable parts in a machine.


There is a popular show out now called 'Undercover Boss'. It is an attempt by the media to touch on the sympathies of the largest part of their audience, the average working man. Time and again you hear the upper level executive state that he was 'surprised' by how hard the work was and how well people got it done anyway. Hip hip hooray for the working man who only achieves this out of fear that he won't be able to feed his family. I wonder though, how many of those executives keep up their new found knowledge and work to bring back the support so many companies have dropped in the name of efficiency (and the dollar). Gone are the days when you retired from a company after giving a lifetime of hard work and they handed you a pension and a gold watch. Now, you are lucky if the company hasn't squandered the retirement money that you worked so hard to save while you worked for them.

This problem arose because many companies make 'efficiency' a motto, and expect the company to keep squeezing out higher efficiency from the employees. They push the upper management to make the changes, but don't ask or research the impact to the lower levels. The management searches diligently looking for that one more spot they can get credit for making more efficient. But there comes a time when the practice reaches a point of saturation. Efficiency has been obtained, but because they are pushed to find more ways, they make themselves inefficient through forced failure and the process begins all over again. Workers get frustrated and leave, looking for somewhere where they don't have to put up with micro-management in such ways as having to raise your hand to go to the bathroom at work. (I know of two companies off the top of my head who do that.) It is kind of like tightening a screw until the ridges are stripped and no longer able to hold the screw in place.
If all that wasted energy was actually turned toward improving the company environment and quality of products, imagine what an amazing corporation it would be in which to work. I'm not saying all complaining would cease, but I am saying that high employee turnover, high health costs due to stress and poor support, product complaints and the divisions put into place to deal with them would simply disappear along with the costs involved in repair. But then again, I'm just a cog in the wheel, and no one listens unless it squeaks....hmmm. SQUEAK!

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