A Semester in Blogging

Well, here we are. It’s the last (required) blog post of the semester. To be completely honest, I didn’t think I would enjoy blogging as much as I have, but through the experience of having to do it weekly, I’ve found myself thoroughly enjoying the experience. In fact, I’ve enjoyed it so much that I’ve decided to purchase a web domain (complete with hosting) and pursue it with an increased intensity (I’ll post the address on here when I do).  

The rest of this blog will probably jump around as I am simply typing my thoughts about the experience without a whole lot of conscious direction in the process. I’m writing as it comes to me allowing my fingers to flow freely without placing too much restraint or ridicule on my writing style in an attempt to maintain a more honest approach throughout.

Back to blogging…it was valuable because there’s something that just seems to clear the mind when we write our thoughts down and have the opportunity to see our internal, mental energy expressed through an external, physical medium, such as blogging. As this happens our thoughts become more focused and our thinking process is sharpened. These actions bring our talents to a new level of ability through their intentional usage.

However, to be completely honest, it was a challenge at first learning to blog 500 words twice a week. I had written long blogs previous, but there were usually several months spanning the distance behind each one. Having the opportunity to make the practice a weekly one really served to take my blogging experience and ability to new level of proficiency. It’s something I would definitely recommend for others to become involved with.

I also enjoyed reading the blogs of various other students. There are several that I intend to keep following should they continue to keep writing simply because of how much I enjoyed reading their perspective on various topics.

I really enjoyed the class experience as a whole as well. Professor Chism did a wonderful job at maintaining a professional atmosphere while not allowing her high standards to supersede her ability to make the learning experience enjoyable throughout. While one would hope this would be the goal of all professors, there are some that just seem to go the extra mile in order to make a course that adds quality to the selection of courses offered at Missouri Southern State University, not just quantity. I can honestly say that I feel like Professor Chism does this very well. 

If you’ve enjoyed my blog at all, feel free to continue stopping by from time to time to see whatever new posts might be available. I can’t promise new content every week, but I’ll try to post something fairly regular as my schedule permits. Feel free to mention a topic, or even a word you would live to see written on and I’ll do my best to make it something that adds value to your life and serves you in all your endeavors. On that same note, If you write something, feel free to tell me about it and I would love to read whatever you come up with once the class is over.

It’s been a wonderful journey and I wish you all the best in your future pursuits, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dealing with Difficult People

Sometimes it can be so easy to base our opinions of people on our own personal persepective without taking into consideration everything they might be dealing with in their lives, or the root beliefs and attitudes that are causing it.

My father always cautioned me to never speak ill of anyone that someone else thought well of in front of them. He said the reason was because my experience might be different from theirs and to try to get them to judge someone from any experience other than their own was unfair and would end up making me look bad in the process as well.

I have to admit, there have been many times when I did not like that advice and quite a few when I did not follow it! It can be so difficult sometimes to remember our experience may not be all that there is to someone and even then, our perceptions might be tainted by circumstances as well.

I recently read a great story detailing this concept that originated with Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for19 years on Robben Island. During his imprisonment, he sometimes faced difficulty in dealing with the officers with some being harder to deal with than others. One particular commanding officer was the most brutal of them all:

“A few days before Badenhorst’s departure, I was called to the main office. General Steyn was visiting the island and wanted to know if we had any complaints. Badenhorst was there as I went through a list of demands. When I had finished, Badenhorst spoke to me directly.
He told me he would be leaving the island and added: ‘I just want to wish you people good luck’. I do not know if I looked dumbfounded, but I was amazed. He spoke these words like a human being and showed a side of himself we had never seen before. I thanked him for his good wishes and wished him luck in his endeavours.
I thought about this moment for a long time afterwards. Badenhorst had perhaps been the most callous and barbaric commanding officer we had had on Robben Island. But that day in the office, he had revealed that that there was another side to his nature, a side that had been obscured but still existed.
It was a useful reminder that all men, even the most seemingly cold-blooded, have a core of decency and that, if their hearts are touched, they are capable of changing. Ultimately, Badenhorst was not evil; his inhumanity had been foisted upon him by an inhuman system. He behaved like a brute because he was rewarded for brutish behaviour.”

(Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk To Fredom”)

If only we could take this into more account in our daily lives and try to see the world through the eyes of our offender before judging them.

Zig Ziglar said, “Every obnoxious act is a cry for help”

Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

It’s not always the easiest path, but it will make the path a lot easier.

Responsibility and Action!

In 1908, the Times newspaper, asked a number of authors to write on the topic: “What’s wrong with the world?” G. K. Chesterton wrote back with an answer that proved to be the shortest of those submitted – he simply wrote: 

“Dear Sirs, 

I am. 

Sincerely yours, 

G.K. Chesterton”.

How wonderful to see someone being willing to take responsibility for the change so desperately needed in their world. What a different world we would live in if we would all be willing to take personal responsibility for our own action in it, instead of blaming our circumstances on the outside influences that surround us. So many people are constantly calling for a change, but they never clearly define what change means to them or what their personal role will be in bringing it about. Their voices echo on and on like a creditor who haunts, but isn’t actually there to be paid.

John Mayer wrote an interesting song called, “Waiting on the World to Change”. The melody is great, but it seems that that is all anyone is ever willing to do…wait.

Regardless of how many opportunities are available to them, they simply continue to wait.

The sad truth is that no matter how long you wait or how hard you hope, simply waiting will not get the job done. There must always be action at some point to match the attitude that is creating the behavior. However, it seems so few are willing to do this.

Mahatmas Ghandi said it best when he said, 

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”  

Where have all those great leaders gone?

Where are the Rosa Parks of this generation?

Where are the Billy Grahams?

Where are future Steve Jobs?

These were people who realized their circumstances in life, but refused to accept them, choosing rather to take life as it came and make lemonade out of the lemons that hardship had dealt them. They recognized that the status quo could no longer be the status quo and instead of waiting for the right person or the right moment to show up, they became that person and seized that moment.

Some people never accomplish what they could in life simply because they are so comfortable with their own excuses. Robin Sharma was correct when he said that, 

“Excuses are just a bunch of lies your fears told you.”

Yes, it will be hard and there will be failure on the path to success, but even an imperfect action is better than no action.

So many would rather sit in comfort and criticize the dreamer and the daredevil, but even while they are criticizing they are making the mistake of living without having ever really been alive.

Theodore Roosevelt said it like this,

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Do not let this be your epitaph! Take responsibility for the change you wish to see and make your world a better place!

An Attitude of Gratitude!

     When you compare America to many other nations in the world, it is easy to recognize that we are an infinitely more prosperous people than the gratitude we commonly show. So often we are shown a kindness, given a service, or offered a compliment and if we aren’t careful, it becomes easy to take it for granted and see it as being something we deserve rather than something to be grateful for. I recently read the following illustration which details this beautifully.  

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water.

She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it so slowly, and then asked, How much do I owe you?"

You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness."

He said, "Then I thank you from my heart."

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Many years later that same young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once.

He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to her case. After a long struggle, the battle was won.

Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.

She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words:

"Paid in full with one glass of milk.

(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly."

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: "Thank You, God, that Your love has spread broad through human hearts and hands."

     There's a saying which goes something like this: Bread cast on the waters comes back to you. The good deed you do today may benefit you or someone you love at the least expected time. If you never see the deed again at least you will have made the world a better place - And, after all, isn't that what life is all about?

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving, may we all remember to maintain an attitude of gratitude.

God Bless you and your family.

A Story from the Past...

Time for a story from the past… 

THE DAY I HAD MY WISDOM TEETH TAKEN OUT!!!

Okay, it was way back in 2007, but it’s still a fun story.

It was in that year that my dentist told me that he thought I needed to have my wisdom teeth taken out. Both he and the surgeon said I didn't actually have to, but if I didn't now, I'd have to when I was older and that would be very painful.

So we scheduled a consultation with the recommended oral surgeon and went to talk to him. He had not been in the room for five minutes before I realized this was not my typical oral surgeon. He was entirely too happy to be there! This was the type of guy who might operate wearing a red clown nose and a rubber chicken in his pocket. He seemed pretty cool to me, and assured me that when he was in the NAVY, he had done the procedure hundreds of times, all over the world. So we scheduled to have him do the surgery.

Finally the day came and I went in to have it done. I went into the waiting room and waited for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for my name to be called as I remembered everyone I'd heard tell their horror story about the ordeal. My name was called, and I followed the nurse back to the room where the procedure was to take place.

I laid in the chair she pointed out to me, and she began preparing for the doctor. She left the room, and when she came back in, she had a tray that was so big and had so much stuff on it, one could've easily thought I was having complex brain surgery (which probably would've done more good)!

The doctor came in and asked me a few questions. Once I told him I was ready to proceed, he walked behind me and placed a mask over my face which was for me to inhale the, "Laughing Gas". It does not make you laugh though (big disappointment there), but merely relaxes you. I wasn't expecting him to do that when he did, and remember thinking, "If this was a horror movie, it's already too late for me now".

They then inserted a drip into my arm which contained the "potion" to make me go to sleep. I don't remember going to sleep, only her saying, "in a few seconds you won't remember any of this, or be aware of anything" then I was 'out'.

I remember waking up to find two nurses helping me to stand up and walking me to the recovery room which contained a large recliner. I could stand and walk fine, although I was a little dizzy. From the moment I woke, I was fully aware of myself and my surroundings (they had told me I wouldn't be until I had been in the recovery room for a while and was ready to go home).

As we were walking to the recovery room, they asked me how I felt, and I (being relieved at the ease at which the whole thing had taken place) said, "I feel great, that was awesome. If I could, I'd grow more wisdom teeth and let you do it again." They just nodded, smiled and kept walking.

The only real odd thing was that when I went into the recovery room, the walls were orange, with blue and white pen-stripes going down them, but the more I became aware I realized they were plain blue (yet another disappointment).

I then just relaxed in the recliner, let them give me instructions and prescriptions for Motrin and Vicodin (Woohoo!) and went home. It went super!

I think Vicodin is over-rated though. I mean, it's a wonderful pain killer, but for me it contained no "buzz" whatsoever. I can't see how anyone gets addicted or why they would buy it off the street.

Ah well....

So that's the story of My Oral Surgery