Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day in the United States. Originally a holiday to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country, it has also become a time to remember all those who serve in the armed forces as well as a time to remember those we love who have died.

I am grateful for the men and women who serve their country. It is a dangerous, sometimes fatal service, and often done in harsh circumstances and with little or no thanks and sometimes opposition to them directly.

While I doubt many will read this, I want to publicly thank those who defend us, who serve beyond what I can know, and who do so even for such a flawed and self-centered group of citizens as we sometimes are.

Thank you.

Thought for the day: Being happy is a choice. It is not given or imposed from outside ourselves.

People are Good

Most people are good. Most parents want the best for their children. Most children like their parents. Religious families have fewer problems than non-religious families. Sometimes we just need to remember that, as it's rare to hear it from the media. Good news doesn't sell as well.

Let us be grateful for the positives and learn from the negatives. Might it not become commonplace that we have confidence in our youth and optimism about life if that is what we focus on instead of the negatives. There is research that demonstrates that we constantly overestimate the problems of society - because we don't hear about much else.

Thought for the day: You are what you think, so think positive, think good, and think happy.

Words of a Coach

I was re-reading an email sent to me some time ago about coach John Wooden, basketball coach at UCLA for many years. He is the sort of coach and sort of man that we rarely hear about any more. Here are some of the things he taught his players and others during his career and still does.

Discipline yourselves and others won't need to. Never lie, never cheat, never steal. Earn the right to be proud and confident.

He also taught his players high standards and proper speach. If a player used profanity he was through playing for the day. All together, a great man.

Thought for the day: "The worst things you can do for the ones you love are things they could and should do for themselves." -- John Wooden.

Frustrations and spiders

I often feel like my brain is filled with trivia. Being one who works with books I've had much opportunity to accumulate all sorts of information in my head. After any particularly frustrating task, the tale of the spider will often come to mind. Because I don't always retain all the details I can't reference the story properly, or tell it properly either.

The tale had something to do with a great warrior, hiding after a bitter defeat, who was inspired to try again after watching a spider near the entrance of his cave. The spider was attempting to spin a web and the breeze kept tearing it apart. This spider eventually managed to make an excellent, well-anchored web because she never gave up.

Thought for the day: We've only failed if we refuse to get up when knocked down.

Speaking ill of others

I was reading in the Book of Mormon and read the words of Jacob as he quoted the words of Isaiah Isaiah 51:7-8 and 2nd Nephi 8:7-8. It came at a good time as one of the Presidential candidates, a member of the LDS Church was accused not being a Christian. The prophets of God in ancient times have warned about those who revile against those who have God's law in their hearts.

It is better to respect the beliefs of others and not demean them.

Thought for the day: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

How we see our world

This is a statement that makes a lot of sense to me. I don't know the author and this is a paraphrase:

We don't describe the world we see, we see the world we describe.

This explains why two individuals seeing the exact same thing will experience it and describe it in very different ways. One person seeing a sunset might rejoice in the beauty of the created world that God made, while another might just see sun on clouds, or an impending storm, or polluted atmosphere.

Thought for the day: Miracles happen every day, but we only notice them if we are in tune enough to see them as such.

The Devil

To paraphrase C.S. Lewis,

There are two trains of thought that the devil loves. To have a morbid fascination with him or to believe he doesn't exist. Either one serves his purpose.

The devil exists and his temptations are real. He cannot tempt us beyond our ability to resist, but he makes the enticements seem so nice and often good. He rarely tempts us with big things in the beginning, preferring to lure us away gradually, and like the traveller in the sandstorm who let his camel into his tent a bit at time, we will find ourselves out of the tent.

Thought for the day: Take time each day to be grateful for all things big and small.

Semi on Schedule

I'm not the most energetic of people, so I don't get done as much as many people, but I try to look at what I did do instead of what I didn't do. It's a lot less depressing to look at the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives.

Thought for the Day: Courage is not lack of fear, courage is doing what is needed even if terrified.

Blogging on a schedule

With a regular schedule I will blog regularly. We'll see. If I post nothing else but a few thoughts, the habit will begin to form.

Thought for the day: Those that want to live with God someday will need to form themselves, or rather allow God to form them, into the sort of being that would be happy in God's presence. Heaven wouldn't be heavenly if we aren't happy there.