JUST A SCRIBBLE
We all do have some control over how things turn out. Planning helps, just remember to always have a backup plan in case "stuff" happens. And we all know it does happen at times. Usually when we least expect it.
JUST A SCRIBBLE
SELF-LOVE
Today I hope you wake up with love, love for life, love for others, and most importantly, love for yourself.
FRIENDS
What exactly are friends good for? There was a song titled, That's What Friends Are For, by Dione Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John that speaks volumes about what friends are for. They are there through good times and the bad times. They know most everything about you and yet they still love you.
It turns out that friends are so very good for our health. They don't just help you enjoy life but they may make you healthier too. How you may ask? From The Upside by Twill I found quite a bit of information.
SIMPLY GRATITUDE
By now, if you read my blogs often enough, you may be asking yourself, "Just how many blogs can she write about gratitude?" I will answer that with as many as my mind can continue to come up with. I found a great saying that simply was 'Everyone understands kindness!' There was a picture of a sweet young boy and girl with one giving a flower to the other one. So simple. So sweet. But then I thought...wouldn't that be so wonderful if everyone really and truly did understand kindness?
At that time, yet another mass shooting took place in the US. And even on a much lesser scale of kindness and gratitude I thought of my drive to pick up my granddaughters from school and how on a road in my neighborhood where the speed is 35, I was passed by another car going at great speed on a road that is not wide enough to pass someone safely on. And yet again on another road that was ok to pass someone in another lane but at a speed that was at least 25 - 35 miles per hour faster than the speed limit. All I can think is that somehow those drivers never learned to take their turns, not to butt in line nor how to be kind. They really are NOT more important than anyone else. Be kind to all and that will lead to having gratitude.
First let me put up the definition of gratitude:
Again, more studies with cardiac patients showed that keeping a gratitude journal resulted in a significant drop in cardiac risks compared to other groups. Just try being your very own science experiment for a good cause.
SIBLING FIGHTING
WHEN WILL IT END?
HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE DAY
AGING GRACEFULLY
OUR FURBABIES BECOME A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY
(a memorial to our beloved Davis Miles)
WHY?
This particular blog expresses how I truly feel about the gun problem in our country. Others may or may not agree with me and that is just fine. We will just have to agree to disagree. I just happen to feel that if nothing is done then nothing will ever change. Something must change. Mass shootings are happening way too often. It breaks my heart that no one is truly safe anymore no matter where they go. More than anything, our children are not in a safe environment at their schools.
Let's start with some arguments that I hear frequently when gun control is the topic of conversation. "Guns don't kill people - people kill people." Well, yes, it does take a person using a gun that he/she does not have any business owning. I say NO ordinary citizen should own or have a need for an assault weapon. And before purchasing any weapon, a thorough background check should take place to eliminate those with prior arrests and/or convictions or mental health issues. It has been reported that many of the shooters had some of these issues, yet they ended up with a gun, usually more than one.
The argument that there is no need to make gun owners carry a permit. It is against their constitutional rights. Our state governor is among one of twenty-five who believe there is no need to carry a permit for a concealed weapon. Plus, I might add that after the school shooting in Nashville, TN., his comment was that NOW is not the time to talk about gun legislation. My question to him is, "Then when is the time?" According to the paper he stated that one of the victims was his wife's best friend and they had plans to have dinner with her that very night.
It is time for our politicians to start taking action to stop these mass shootings. The US had the most of any other advanced wealthy country; having over a hundred while the closest other countries ranged from 6 to 4 in Germany and France. They have specific laws about who is allowed to carry a handgun and no assault weapons are allowed. Obviously they are doing something right.
I am not talking about taking away the right to own a handgun for protection in our homes or a rifle for hunting. There is a way to get this under control if the NRA lobby did not have so much power and our politicians had backbones.
~ "Ask our lawmakers, 'Do you side with the overwhelming number of Americans who support basic gun safety measures, or do you side with the gun lobby?'"
~ Colin Goddard, Virginia Tech shooting survivor
THE BIG PICTURE