This excerpt from a book called "Walk The Talk". I like this a lot, and it seems fitting this morning to be thinking about this.
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QUESTION: What does “courage” have to do with being a person of good character...with someone who stays true to their principles and their values?
ANSWER: EVERYTHING!
You see, being values-driven means two things:
1 - Doing what’s right – following our conscience; refusing to compromise our principles, despite pressures and temptations to the contrary, and
2 - Taking a stand against what’s wrong – speaking out, whenever we see others do things that are incorrect or inappropriate.
Unquestionably, both of those require guts and fortitude...they require courage.
Courage is...
- Following your conscience instead of “following the crowd”.
- Refusing to take part in hurtful or disrespectful behaviors.
- Sacrificing personal gain for the benefit of others.
- Speaking your mind even though others don’t agree.
- Taking complete responsibility for your actions...and your mistakes.
- Following the rules – and insisting that others do the same.
- Challenging the status quo in search of better ways.
- Doing what you know is right- regardless of the risks and potential consequences.
I’d like to share the “Cadet Prayer” that is repeated during chapel services at the U.S. Military
Academy:
Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole truth can be won. Endow us with the courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy.
That is truly the essence of courage.
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That really means a lot to me.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
... and now my yard is destroyed.
The title of my rant for today is one of the statements we all got to complete in school at one point in time. I can recall all the stuff I would put in mine to make it as dumb as possible, however this one is actually legit.
This story goes back a few days. I noticed my front yard a little wet in places. And that place happened to be in front of the water meter at my house. No big deal really. It had been raining a lot, and I did not think nothing of it. A couple days later I noticed that the wet area was still there, and their was no rain, so there was obviously a problem.
Pulling off the lid to the water meter, there it was. The whole thing was full of water, and slowly leaking out and causing a swamp area in my front yard, flowing down the hill, puddling up in places.
So first thing I did was call the land lord to advise him, I then also called the water company, leaving messages for both of them.
After some conversation with the water company and looking at the meter to realise it was not running, so the leak was not on my end, and was part of the pipe from the water company. They came up... looked around a little, and commented on how big of a pain it will be, and the next morning they will be there to get started to fix the leak.
The next day the electric company and water came up to the house and marked all over the yard with some bright spray paint. Making a pretty design all across the yard. After that the water company decided to start digging. Digging a hole out in the front of the yard around the meter, to see what they could see I guess, and then a matching hole in the back... not sure why for that one. I think they were wanting to move the line, and decided not to put the meter there, and eventually filled up the hole again.
Leaving filled holes in the yard they left.
The next morning, they came again, except this time with a bobcat, and a ditch witch. O_O
So they decided to put the meter from the side, and move it to the other end of the house, and cut off the pipe that was causing the leak. Again not really doing anything with the hole they dug in the back yard. Using the ditch witch they dug a ditch about 40 yards long and buried the pipe across my yard from where it was originally, to the end of the house. Luckily it was under the deck, so it is not as bad.
So to get the big picture, they filled in the holes they made, however they did not pack it at all. So it looks like I have a fresh grave in my back yard next to the back door, and another one in the front under my bedroom window. And a long ditch that some of the dirt has sunk into, last night making it look like I am living on a fault line. However none of the other holes were packed at all, they just set the dirt on top of the holes, I guess hoping that the dirt would all go back to where it was before, and would never be able to tell...
... and now my yard is destroyed.
This story goes back a few days. I noticed my front yard a little wet in places. And that place happened to be in front of the water meter at my house. No big deal really. It had been raining a lot, and I did not think nothing of it. A couple days later I noticed that the wet area was still there, and their was no rain, so there was obviously a problem.
Pulling off the lid to the water meter, there it was. The whole thing was full of water, and slowly leaking out and causing a swamp area in my front yard, flowing down the hill, puddling up in places.
So first thing I did was call the land lord to advise him, I then also called the water company, leaving messages for both of them.
After some conversation with the water company and looking at the meter to realise it was not running, so the leak was not on my end, and was part of the pipe from the water company. They came up... looked around a little, and commented on how big of a pain it will be, and the next morning they will be there to get started to fix the leak.
The next day the electric company and water came up to the house and marked all over the yard with some bright spray paint. Making a pretty design all across the yard. After that the water company decided to start digging. Digging a hole out in the front of the yard around the meter, to see what they could see I guess, and then a matching hole in the back... not sure why for that one. I think they were wanting to move the line, and decided not to put the meter there, and eventually filled up the hole again.
Leaving filled holes in the yard they left.
The next morning, they came again, except this time with a bobcat, and a ditch witch. O_O
So they decided to put the meter from the side, and move it to the other end of the house, and cut off the pipe that was causing the leak. Again not really doing anything with the hole they dug in the back yard. Using the ditch witch they dug a ditch about 40 yards long and buried the pipe across my yard from where it was originally, to the end of the house. Luckily it was under the deck, so it is not as bad.
So to get the big picture, they filled in the holes they made, however they did not pack it at all. So it looks like I have a fresh grave in my back yard next to the back door, and another one in the front under my bedroom window. And a long ditch that some of the dirt has sunk into, last night making it look like I am living on a fault line. However none of the other holes were packed at all, they just set the dirt on top of the holes, I guess hoping that the dirt would all go back to where it was before, and would never be able to tell...
... and now my yard is destroyed.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Stupid FB and MySpace....
Ok... Not only am I a game addict, but now I am becoming a Facebook and MySpace addict also.
Facebook as all the little addicting games on it I can access from work and the little polls and crap to see what your chinese name would be, and how good a kisser you are. And of course some of them get your attention and you just have to click on it.
Then you have MySpace with all the different things you can format and rearrange on your page. Add songs, colors, text, etc... There is so much functionality with it, people cannot keep from going there.
Unfortunatly I am on both of them. Mainly the people from work are on my Facebook page, and then a couple of my good friends are on MySpace. So I am stuck in the middle. I like FB cause of the simplicity of it, but I like MySpace for the apps and freedom to rearrange stuff.
I prefer FB just cause it is easier to do, and far less flashy. However, it always locks up on me, and is very annoying.
So now I catch myself checking my messages on there all the time during the day. I quit smoking and so I surf and socialize with people. jumping back and fourth between them and a little twitter on the side, all while checking my gmail throughout the day, and checking my work email and talking to customers on the phone. UGH!
THANKS A LOT FOR MAKING MY DAY MORE PACKED FACEBOOK AND MYSPACE!
Facebook as all the little addicting games on it I can access from work and the little polls and crap to see what your chinese name would be, and how good a kisser you are. And of course some of them get your attention and you just have to click on it.
Then you have MySpace with all the different things you can format and rearrange on your page. Add songs, colors, text, etc... There is so much functionality with it, people cannot keep from going there.
Unfortunatly I am on both of them. Mainly the people from work are on my Facebook page, and then a couple of my good friends are on MySpace. So I am stuck in the middle. I like FB cause of the simplicity of it, but I like MySpace for the apps and freedom to rearrange stuff.
I prefer FB just cause it is easier to do, and far less flashy. However, it always locks up on me, and is very annoying.
So now I catch myself checking my messages on there all the time during the day. I quit smoking and so I surf and socialize with people. jumping back and fourth between them and a little twitter on the side, all while checking my gmail throughout the day, and checking my work email and talking to customers on the phone. UGH!
THANKS A LOT FOR MAKING MY DAY MORE PACKED FACEBOOK AND MYSPACE!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Just makes me sick.
Driving down the road the other day and I get behind a convertible Porsche. Oh and do not get me wrong it was a very nice car, and I liked it personally cause it was black. But as I look at the driver of the car, he looked like he was 18 or something.
WHOA!!!!
How in the heck did this 18 year old get to drive a Porsche?!?!
After a couple seconds of being confused the feeling of anger swept over me. I realized that I was driving through an upper class neighborhood and it was not surprising to see the nice cars and spoiled kids.
So, here is my problem. It is obvious some people have more money than they know what to do with to give a new driver a very pricey sports car. The reasons being:
1 - These cars are very expensive and from what I gather you need to special order them. Meaning that they require a lot of money up front, and a heavy shipping fee to get it delivered.
2 - Most all new drivers 15-21 do some stupid stuff. Showing off, hot roding, and other stupid things. So an accident is going to happen, and that expensive car will be ripped to pieces.
3 - Everyone knows about these cars are expensive, and driving it around lets everyone know you have money. Just like a status symbol.
So, what makes me really sick is the fact that this 18 year old kid has this very nice car, and cruising around in it. I am certain he did not buy it and has no great respect for it. He also probably does not pay the insurance on the car, cause being a sports car and a convertible it is bound to be costly. He is likely having everything they want given to him, and not earning or respecting it. And here I am along with several other of the US citizens with barely enough to make ends meet and driving a car that needs more work done to it that it is worth, and still making payments on it.
My problem with this whole situation is that these people that are making the big bucks, yeah I am sure they have some big bills to pay too, and that is a problem. Should they live like everyone else, and buy all this extra crap (Status Symbols) they could be using all this extra money in their areas improving the economy. Take the money it cost for that freaking Porsche and by a 24,000 car and take the rest and buy gas, food and drinks from the local gas stations. They can go buy a pallet of food from Wal Mart and donate it to a food bank, or give some money directly to the food banks, to where they can help feed people that need it. Or heck... go by about 15 cars for the price of that Porsche and donate the cars to charities for helping them get funds to pay for their services (Shriners).
It just makes me sick to see these people that have all this money, and them wasting it on material things and yet their neighbor is having a hard time keeping their electricity on in their house and sharing 1 car for the family.
WHOA!!!!
How in the heck did this 18 year old get to drive a Porsche?!?!
After a couple seconds of being confused the feeling of anger swept over me. I realized that I was driving through an upper class neighborhood and it was not surprising to see the nice cars and spoiled kids.
So, here is my problem. It is obvious some people have more money than they know what to do with to give a new driver a very pricey sports car. The reasons being:
1 - These cars are very expensive and from what I gather you need to special order them. Meaning that they require a lot of money up front, and a heavy shipping fee to get it delivered.
2 - Most all new drivers 15-21 do some stupid stuff. Showing off, hot roding, and other stupid things. So an accident is going to happen, and that expensive car will be ripped to pieces.
3 - Everyone knows about these cars are expensive, and driving it around lets everyone know you have money. Just like a status symbol.
So, what makes me really sick is the fact that this 18 year old kid has this very nice car, and cruising around in it. I am certain he did not buy it and has no great respect for it. He also probably does not pay the insurance on the car, cause being a sports car and a convertible it is bound to be costly. He is likely having everything they want given to him, and not earning or respecting it. And here I am along with several other of the US citizens with barely enough to make ends meet and driving a car that needs more work done to it that it is worth, and still making payments on it.
My problem with this whole situation is that these people that are making the big bucks, yeah I am sure they have some big bills to pay too, and that is a problem. Should they live like everyone else, and buy all this extra crap (Status Symbols) they could be using all this extra money in their areas improving the economy. Take the money it cost for that freaking Porsche and by a 24,000 car and take the rest and buy gas, food and drinks from the local gas stations. They can go buy a pallet of food from Wal Mart and donate it to a food bank, or give some money directly to the food banks, to where they can help feed people that need it. Or heck... go by about 15 cars for the price of that Porsche and donate the cars to charities for helping them get funds to pay for their services (Shriners).
It just makes me sick to see these people that have all this money, and them wasting it on material things and yet their neighbor is having a hard time keeping their electricity on in their house and sharing 1 car for the family.
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