STOP - You're Killing Yourself

This day and age is really a study in contrasts. It seems that we value sports figures more than we value educators. We do nothing when politicians lie to us, but we demand justice when a line in a contract between friends is not with "Ts" crossed or the "i'"s dotted. If someone on the road interferes with your travel speed, some turn to road rage, but when a company sells you enough pills to make sure that you are incapable of functioning without these chemicals, you call it "taking care of yourself."
Take any TV commerical by a drug company and the "side effects" are enough to make you ill. While the pill may cure what ails you at the moment, the side effects lately have been coming on stronger than the drugs. They can cause cancer, heart failure and even death. You will not die from what you took the pill for, but the pill itself just might put you to eternal rest.
Our system of checks and balances is also a bit lopsided. We call it murder or suicide if a person dies quickly, such as at their own hand or that of a stranger. But if a perpetrator lets you suffer for a very long time, and you die, then it is not murder, but a natural death. Tobacco companies continue to sell products that eventually will give you cancer or a painful death. They tone their ads to teen-agers because the longer you smoke, you will suffer more in the end but the outcome will still be the same. Your family will not have you as part of the home front - but it wasn't murder. It was your fault as the tobacco attorneys would tell you, because you picked up that smoke and inhaled that blue haze. The truth being that they produced a product that they knew was not a "healthy" product, but they are free to go and harm another person.
If a soldier from our country dies, he is defending his country and it's honor. He is a hero. A soldier from another country is an "attacker" even though we traveled into his land to "defend" what we believe is ours. The citizens of the other country are wrong and our soldier will always be a hero. A play on words, because both deaths are wrong - in the eyes of their families and in the eyes of those who love and care about them. Words are used to justify and place blame.
We slowly place ourselves in harm's way in a multitude of different ways each and every day. We inhale cancer causing chemicals, we poison our systems with additives and supplements in our food supply that have not been adequately checked for future damage in a human body, and we breathe unclean air every day from cars, factories, and other places. Even second hand smoke from smokers is a risk to any person, but we are not calling this murder. We tolerate all these dangers because society does not give it a name that matches what it does. If you picked up a gun and placed it to your head, you would be arrested. If you take a chemically laden box of treats that have enough artificial colors and flavors, preservatives, and assorted laboratory send-offs, you are fine - you are living the American dream.
The point to all this is that we have to take a stand to preserve our own lives and that of everyone else. There is no outrage for the daily assault on health for our children or for adults. We say nothing and the corporate giants continue to produce new and better ways to do us in. Our food is not pure, neither is the air we breathe or the water we drink. The plastic bottles that we carry with our water will cause cancer. The make-up you use may give you skin cancer and so forth, but still people are not offended enough to stand up and demand that changes be made, that profit margins do not include every third person dying from the side effects of new and better drugs - new maybe but better and for whom?
From tobacco giants to automakers, standards must be placed so that unsafe and harmful products are not sold on the open market, and they are not allowed into the hands of our children. That bottle of pills that you take for a cold can be used to get a teenager high. Even that detergent to get clothes cleaner than clean pollutes ground water and lakes.
The solution to this tragedy - is very simple. People, every man, woman, and child, must say "NO" to corporate greed and insensitivity to the lives of those who buy the products they entice us with through fancy commercials and ads in newspapers and magazines. They bombard the air waves so that children demand products that parents know are not quite tested for safety. We throw our hands up in the air when a foreign made product is said to cause harm, but we allow the companies within our borders to infiltrate the sacred boundaries of home and hearth through the very items that we need to live. Our food needs to be safer, our water needs to be cleaner, and our air should be fit to breathe.
Bottom line - if we don't car about ourselves right now and right here, then how can we preach to our children that they should not smoke, take medications that might do more harm than good, and to take a deep breath when they step outside. Something is very wrong here - and the main "wrong" is that we are not doing something. Words - if only we could as a society call a "wrong" exactly what it is - or it will continue to kill us.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Special Occasions Demand Special Gifts

Celebrations are an enjoyable part of life. These special days highlight milestones in a person's life and accomplishment. Whether it is a birthday party, anniversary, or national holiday, taking the time to be part of a "celebration" is a privilege.
Gifts are usually part of any party and they are paramount when it comes to children being the guests of honor. Many people feel that it is the amount that a gift costs that leaves the best impression. While that may be true to some, it has taken a back seat to another manner of showing how much you care and what a person means to you. This new "wave" in today's economy, is simple - it is creativity and inspiration. If you are handy and can paint, sew, knit, or make things out of wood, then you have a store right there at your fingertips. If, you feel that this just isn't you, maybe you just haven't tried it out for size. Personalizing a gift is by far the more meaningful memento of any occasion. Store bought gifts are appreciated, but they soon find their way onto shelves and into boxes. It is that "special something" in a hand-made gift that stands out and is a source of joy and remembrance for a very long time. Hand-made is and always will be heart-made, but if you are a bit unsure of how to begin, then begin with what you can do. Going to tag sales or yard sales is a great way to "shop" for truly wonderful gifts. Keep in mind the interests and even the favorite colors of the person you are shopping for. When you see an object that "is just so" that person, let your creative mind take over and make it a one of a kind find. Embellishing is a fantastic way to begin "making special gifts." You can glue a picture, use sparkles, ribbons, lace, and even fish lures to create a special occasion treasure. With regard to those fishing lures, if you find an "outdoorsy" box or container, placing fishing lures or other sporting items in this special box, then decorating it to "personalize" it is all it takes to become part of this new way of celebrating. Ideas are everywhere and you can visit scrapbooking or crafting stores for supplies such as glitter, paints, and even emblems, monograms, and even insignias. Enhance your special find to fit the person it is going to, and have fun with it as well. Enrich it so that you make a point of just how special this person is and how great it is to be part of their lives.
Cards have always been "greetings" for special occasions and holidays. It seems that e-cards can be fun, but they are not the type of cards you want to store in a "treasure" box and check out once in a while when life just gets in the way, the way it has a tendency to do. Hand-made cards are not suppose to be difficult and only for the artistically inclined. They are choosing a picture or drawing that "means" something, or is symbolic of the occasion, and adding "your" greetings, your special "words" and feelings. When you use e-cards or store bought cards, some total stranger is making the "wish." If you, no matter your expertise at writing, adds a "memory" such as a special event, or meeting to individualize your card, this just adds more feeling to your "card." Photographs are sure-fire choices and even a favorite poem from a book you both might enjoy or even from a favorite movie or trip. It does not have to be "classical literature." It only has to come from the heart.
Gift wraps and ribbons - now here is a great way to add to the beauty of your gift. Wrapping a gift in a newspaper with the special day's headlines (only if they are uplifting), or even with a place mat from a favorite restaurant is first-rate. Ribbons can be plain that you have "added on" to with stickers, or sparkly add ons. They can be twine, lace trim, braid, yarn, or even a chain made from pine needles (great for that sportsman). The point is you match all the "extras" to the person and their interests, likes, and enjoyments.
People are unique and special - each one different. Gifts should follow suit. A gift from a store shelf will go to a lot of different people, but it is the same item to a myriad of personalities. Therefore, the gift is not highlighting the distinctive qualities of the celebrating person. It is a one size fits all instead of one of a kind delight.
Now is the perfect time to rethink gift-giving. It is the best opportunity to shop with meaning instead of wallet power, and to change your store bought gifts into true special day or holiday memories. It doesn't have to take a lot of time or effort, it just has to take quality time in looking for an item, and the effort of making it one of a kind.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Today's Economy is a Business Boom

Money is tight, businesses all over the world are closing their doors and unemployment has hit workers harder now then since the Great Depression. How can this environment be a boom to business? Very simply - if you are the owner, or manager of any business - you can make it work.
There is a quotation by Warren Buffett - It takes 20 years to build a reputation, but only 5 minutes to ruin it. Nothing could be more truthful than this one statement. If your business is based on quality and not quantity, your workers are your source of pride and not only bottom line, and you yourself have a direct hands-on passion for what you do - then recession, depression, or anything in between will be to your advantage.
Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's Hamburgers was another great example of what true business success is all about. His foundation for his restaurants was a combination of hard work, patience, and above all honesty in all dealings. If you, as the owner or manager, have a strong, passionate commitment to what you produce, the people you serve or sell to, and how you will stand behind every product you put out, then you have success guilded in bright letters for your business. As a business person, you know that the there will always be ways to get out of deals and guarantees, but this does and has lead to doors being chained and business dreams being added to the heap that is quickly piling up and known as America's small business enterprises. However, if you change your way of thinking and instead of knowing all the ways to get out of promises, if you never stop finding ways to save deals, commitments, and guarantees, then your front door to the buying public will be open and the fresh air of new business will flow.
Commitment is the very difference that can make or break a small shop, or a large mega-corporation. Everyone has read about the greed of some CEO's, and the fact that while they basked in the security of finances, their workers' pensions and benefits melted away. However, there have been owners and directors who turned the tables on "bad" business and instead made the headlines for sharing corporate profits with workers when things were tough and gave workers not only the monetary benefits but the moral and ego benefits needed to produce the best products and give the best service. You yourself know that being motivated and assured that what you are doing is the best you can do, taking one step further is the sign of success. If you can get this message across to your workers, you have to believe in it yourself and practice it until it is perfect. What is perfection? It is knowing that after you reach this high step, there can always be a step higher. It is never being satisfied with what is perfect, but letting those that work under you to know that you are grateful for this level of success, but together, and this is the key word, together it can be better and better.
In today's economy, doesn't it make sense to reach out to families that are struggling and give them their money's worth in what they purchase from you, as well as the trust that it takes so very long to build up to. If you continue with your quest to make every customer a return customer - then you have the answer to what ails American businesses today. The key that unlocks the chest of success in your business is that you - together with your workers - not your workers alone while you sit back and bask in their output - will keep that cash register ringing when other businesses and their registers sit silently in the dark. If you can turn first time buyers into returning customers, then that is a feather in your cap. If you can turn returning customers into passing the word about your way of doing business, then you have a gold mine. In this gold mine though, you have to pick up that pick and shovel and work just as hard as you are asking your workers to work. You have to pick up that phone and speak the truth to your customers instead of asking your workers to dance around the truth, but never tell it like it really is. If you have trust, and you let it go because of greed, or wanting to cut corners, then you might as well go and buy that chain and padlock from the hardware store that you trust and that you give repeat business to. Irony - you bet - but the type of irony that keeps you motivated and with your heart in the right place.
No body begrudges a business owner a profit, but if that profit is gotten on the backs of people who shell out hard earned money that is becoming harder to come by, then your profit will blow in the wind and disappear with every economic downturn. However, if you assure your customers that you stand behind that widget you sell, the car repair you just completed, and that they are welcome to ask questions and get answers, then clouds disappear and the sun does come out. If your customers can reach you, and not only your workers, then your place at the top of the business heap is ready and waiting for you. If you can't be bothered to talk to a simple customerbecause you are too busy or too important and you leave it up to only your workers, then the heap you find yourself on will not be to your liking.
It is not rocket science to know that your thoughts and endeavors should be in providing buyers with value and trust. Especially in today's hard times, you will be remembered, and the word spread around will not be anywhere close to what is being said about AIG or other "can never fail" businesses that now find themselves with tin cups and asking for bail-outs. Even the car dealers made offers that were good for the bottom line, but did you ever try to get a bad engine replaced even though there was a warranty and that if certain motors were known for certain problems, did any of the Big Three ever offer to make the difference between a sale and a commitment.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

What Color Chemical Are You Having For Dinner Tonight?

There is a commercial on television in which an actress states that "I have this one life and this one body." While this statement is used to sell a medication, it is a truism in itself.
We live in a world that started out with all the basics - fresh green grass, food that was natural and very organic, and families had to make due and find ways to keep healthy, happy, and fed. While advancements have taken place, they have not all been geared to helping each man, woman, and child to be given the pleasure of knowing that all that they put into their bodies is clean, fresh, and not produced in a laboratory under a microscope. The food supply in the United States has always been abundant, but many mega-corporations needed to find a way to make sure that part of this abundance was in the form of cash into their bank accounts. Chemicals, preservatives, and artificial flavors and colors were produced. Following on this premise, every category of the diet was infiltrated by pseudo products that might have smelled like food, tasted like food, but were a far reach from what food is suppose to be. In addition, if you watch or listen to any commercials in the media, the prescription drug products have exploded and you now are told that you need a pill to take before you eat, after you eat, and just before you settle down to sleep because the food that you ate won't let you rest. When you get up, you are told that you have to take a pill to face the day, take another one just in case you might contract a dreaded disease, and then in the evening, that yellow pill in the box will make sure that you are ready to face your life as parent, wife/husband, or Olympic athlete. We are now finding out that well-known athletestook pills so that they could do their sport, and teen-agers feel that drugs are necessary to face peer pressure and even to understand homework. Adults who should know better, take pills that are a rainbow in themselves and there even has to be a cabinet in the kitchen just for the pill bottles.
If you look back a bit, before the world was "recreated" by chemical companies, food was the source of vitamins, minerals and all that was good for you. Vegetables, fruits, and herbs were the ingredients to health and the good life. But somehow all this got confused in the laboratories across the world. There had to be a better way, or in essence, a more profitable way, to eat. Eating was essential no matter the gender, religion or ethnic background of a person. Food was the one item in the human make-up that was a stable and would be around for as long as humans were around. So in came the laboratory workers and you now have aisles in stores filled with cans, bottles, and boxes with ingredients that you can't pronounce, let alone understand. We stopped eating by the seasons and we wanted fresh fruit and exotic vegetables all twelve months of the year. There was need for instant gratification and meals had to be a trip into the twilight zone, but served in nine courses.
Cancer is more prevalent, illnesses are surpassing the abilities of antibiotics and children are facing a multitude of ailments that were never heard of in the past. People are dying by the numbers, but the numbers that get to see another day face quantity of life because the quality is gone. Food is not food any more. They are chemical formulations and treated products that kill insects and weeds, but are suppose to keep people healthy and thriving.
Do you see anything wrong with this situation? If you are a parent, then the truth of what you are eating or serving to your family must become paramount and important once again. Fast food is becoming a quick trip to heart disease and cancer. Food that looks as fresh as a picture in a magazine is shining because of pesticides and herbicides.
What is the answer to this new problem that has arisen in the grocery aisles across the country? One very potent and true way to make your way through the jungle of preservatives and three letter potent ingredients such as BTH, BTT, etc. is to know your food, where it comes from, who grew it, and even take a hand at growing it yourself. Farmer markets are virtual catalogs of fresh ingredients and chemical-free is guaranteed if you do the gardening yourself. While it may take more time or challenge then you really want to put out, then join with groups, neighbors, and organizations and then share in the work, and in the joy of the harvest. Good food is not dead and gone - it is alive and well and just waiting for people to rediscover its goodness, taste, and health appeal.
If you are tired of being tired, and if the sight of hospitals, nursing facilities, and pictures of children, adults, and the elderly wasting away and science not being able to keep the tide of new diseases and maladies at bay, take matters into your own hands. Put on the gloves and fight back. Gardens can be grown in any area from kitchen windows to twenty acre fields. Cities are volunteering areas to be taken over by community gardens and there are farm stores and co-op stores just brimming with vitamins and minerals all courtesy of the sun and the rain. Even commercial buildings and apartment complexes are heading upward with roof tops gardens. Think about food, plan your menu and then find the solution to ridding your mealtime plans of chemically laden and hazardous to your health products. Read labels and go to libraries for more information. However you tackle this deadly crisis of altered food, it will be to your benefit and to the benefit of those you love. Start today and know that all your efforts will be rewarded and that cabinet in the kitchen with the pill bottles could be put to better use.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

How Do Children Spell Love?

Children are unique in many ways. From crib to college, they are personalities that are as different as the wild flowers in any field. Just like these blooms, they are the golden beauty of the hand that created them, and the graceful delicate notes of a sonnet. They are just beginning and so the freshness of all they see, do, and say are gems that may need a lot of polishing, but underneath there is always the brilliance of precious jewels and stones that only can come from years of absorbing love, care, and nurturing.
It is a very sad fact that over three billion people go to bed hungryin the world every single night. A fact that is much sadder is that over four billion children go to bed hungry for love, attention, and encouragement. While their physical bodies are growing, their need for more than sustenance seems to expand and encompass their entire existence.
Many parents lament the fact that children just don't listen to them. These parents are positive that their knowledge from facing every day life, getting through hurdles in handling situations such as jobs, careers, and money are far beyond the reach of their offspring, but still children just don't hear what a parent is trying to teach them. The truth of the matter is that children do not really care how much you know or just how smart you are until they know and are sure just how much you care about them and love them. They can sense a parent who feels only the need to be a parent, but not someone who a child can turn to, talk to, or even dream with. I am not saying that parents should be "pals" with their children. They are and always will be the parents, the adults in the home, but children want a confidant, a listener, and someone who loves with no strings and no boundaries. They realize that if you don't love them with open arms no matter what they do, you have to love them with bear hugs for who they are and who they are yet to become. Parents may hate and detest an action, but the child should always be the recipient of unconditional love and always to be allowed to start over and move on.
It may only take the parents' time to eat meals together at least a few times a week, or for one parent to walk to the library with a child and just "listen." It can be taking out some books yourself, as the example of your wanting to nurture reading in your child will then be more of a concrete belief than just "words." If you want your child to follow, words may introduce a concept, but actions will culminate the lesson. While driving, if you don't wear a seatbelt, then the message is not "Put on your seat belt", it will be "Choose the law you wish to obey or the one you would like to ignore." Which lesson then is the one that you are trying to convey?
If you as a parent regard your job as a paycheck from week to week, then the directive that is being given to the child is that work is a chore, it is only an economic means of getting what you really want in life, and you must take a job as only "making time." If this is the message, then the sad fact is that a child sees it as a person's outlook on life determining their output into life. If you only do the minimum to get by, then what you put out will reflect this as your goal. However, if your passion for work or hobby is exuberant and worth pursuing, then the child will follow suit and find challenges and problems only bridges to be crossed and setbacks as small hills to be conquered. Makes quite a difference doesn't it?
However you decide to make your child feel loved and special, know that it is not the amount of money you spend on them, or the elaborate ways you try to communicate, because in the long-run, the bottom line is that children will always spell love as T-I-M-E. This time is spent with you, it is time spent in growing and learning, and together with you, they can grow in both body and character, and they can learn ways to reach the stars, but they will need that map and those directions that only come with TIME, because TIME will always translate into LOVE.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

The Power of Profanity

Everyone has heard it and probably a very large number of individuals have used profanity to make a point in a conversation. Does profanity in the business community have an impact or is it a barometer to just how intelligent a client, manager, or CEO is?
Charles Osgood once made a comment on "words." He said "Compared to the spoken word, a picture is a very pitiful thing." Words can be so powerful that they change the course of history and they can and have brought powerful nations down to their knees. It is the choice of words, whether in social or business situations, that tracks the course of the meeting, the evening, or even just a walk through the park. Have you ever gone to eat with your family to an upscale restaurant and the table next to you - an after business meeting get-together of men/women, or other group of adults, that used language that more than emphasized their laughter and their gestures. Did you leave that restaurant refreshed and grateful that you were privvy to such language? Could you honestly say that the conversation at the next table made your night out memorable? It may have if your vocabulary was built around the premise that the harsher the words, the more authority the speaker commands.
Most individuals who have reached the point of being managers or in places of authority in their chosen fields did not get there because they were well-versed in foul language. They moved up the ladder of success because they had a command of the English language that motivated and moved their staff to productivity and to results. At performance meetings between employers and employees, do you actually think that when the subject of how you would advance the company or bring better workmanship to your department that the use of profanity gave you a better score? Why do colleges and higher institutes of learning have English/ grammar, and even public speaking classes but none have Profanity 101 - a class that will better your chances for success in the business world? Point in case, the more advanced your vocabulary, the better handle you have on expressing your needs with words, the use and need for profanity decreases tremendously because you are in control, you have nothing to hide with vulgarity, and it is more important to you to get your point across in a way that motivates and inspires those you are in charge of, whether that be an assembly line, a sales department, or even a branch office.
Profanity does have its place - in the mouths and on the minds of those whose limits of language is to be pitied not copied. In any business setting, vulgar language is a marker of someone who does not have the capacity to lead, but only to the immature level of not being able to control his/her own temper or outbursts and can only use tactics that are not business worthy. Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

A Quilt In Time

There is one item that is not only universal in bringing comfort, warmth and security, but it has gone through the test of time and has come out stronger and more versatile. This generation-enduring gift of making cold nights warm, and worrisome tossing and turning into peace and tranquility - it is a quilt.
Throughout history quilts have been made as a necessity, but that turned into works of art as well as gifts that are treasured and passed on from one generation to another. While their simple components are merely pieces of scrap material and thread, they are woven with the personality of the quilt artist into a time machine of past, present and future. If you ever come across quilts that are torn, soiled, and worn, you can't just toss them away. Just looking at them, you can envision the multitude of "chores" they went through, from keeping a family warm when snow and blizzards blew, but they also provided a welcome mat for picnics near the lake with cooling lemonade served while conversations flourished and friendships became forever. Quilts brought beauty to road-ways as they waved in the breeze while hanging on clotheslines in back yards. They sometimes were endowed with pieces of cloth taken from clothing, or from nostalgic fabric used not only to highlight events in someone's life but to bring back the memory with the colors and feel of the fabric. They have become scrapbooks of family ancestry and walls for play houses when children need a place to read and just dream.
Quilts today are more elaborate than in bygone days, but they still are the messengers of "Happy Anniversary" or "Welcome Baby." They bring banners of "Get Well" or "So Sorry for Your Loss". They make a house of wood and mortar into a home that you want to come back to, no matter how your day went. They are always close by when a "chill" enters a room, or a problem needs a bit of deep thinking. They are a one size fits all, but they are one of a kind and unique. Quilts are the ties that bind, and they are the reminder that home is wherever you are,no matter the miles in between. Whether they are simple in design or fit to hang in a museum, they are "quilts," and in living up to what their mission is, they will always hug a child, or bring solace and comfort to the aged. In fact, they are there to lend themselves to whatever "ails" you, but they can also inspire and bring that certain touch to your decor that just can't be explained. Quilts will never become "old", they will just be given to those who follow and intended for those you love.
Whether you make a quilt for yourself or as a token or gift to someone you know or even someone you may never meet, such as a returning veteran or someone in a care facility due to life just being life, they don't need "words" to express feelings - you can just "know" that whoever made this quilt was giving more than their time - they were giving material and thread that was also woven into their hearts and lives. Each quilt is a warm handshake and a bear hug. It can take the heat of a roaring fire on a winter night, but it can cool and refresh when a nap on a summer afternoon is called for.
Quilts have quite a job ahead of them when they are finished by the crafter, but they also have a legacy of love behind them. Quilts have so many personalities that some-times they are hard to categorize. They can be "crazy" and wild and bring a smile, or they can "patchwork" and hold a life story in their borders. They are always "comforters" but "coverlet" sometimes is all that is needed. The words of description are not the important part, but the "giving" power of all that a quilt brings to someone is all that is needed to convey what words can never do justice. If you make quilts, then you are an artist who knows no boundaries, and if you find an antique quilt, then your pot of gold is overflowing. However, if you receive a quilt, then you are loved. Something to think about ©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009