daily Mood Quotes - October 18, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 168 – October 18, 2011

Life is but thought.

~Sara Teasdale

Marcus Aurelius said, “the universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.” Well, right now my thoughts are confused. Recently, there has been a death in the family, and although we did not attend the funeral, we have heard the stories of hoarding and anger. Let me start at the beginning, I met my husband's family 30 years ago and they lived in a very nice house, filled with a lot of nice stuff . This was a good family, that gave me the gift of seeing what a family should be, instead of the battlefield I grew up on. I saw something better in life and decided that something better is what I wanted. I was 17 at the time, desperately counting down the days to 18, so I could leave home and begin the journey to a better life. I now knew a better life existed and that was good enough for me.

Unfortunately, time can change people and 30 years have past. The normal family I had dinner with is now sporting new attitudes; anger, hatred and selfishness. This is what I am struggling with. How does a family go from being a loving, kind and supportive family to spouting hatred loudly, with “everything belongs to me attitudes.” I saw this in my own family when the woman who raised me, past away. My siblings went in and "cleaned out" my dad's home. It was all about the stuff. My dad is still alive; did anyone bother to ask him before pillaging her stuff. The same thing happened in my husband's family, just with a little bit of a twist. The beautiful home my husband grew up in, the stuff that filled that house, the love that once was felt when you past through the doors is no longer. The house was sold and the parents were moved to a nursing home. The stuff; I have no idea where that went, and the love has been replaced with greed, selfishness and anger by the same children who grew up in that loving home. 

My father-in-law worked hard and tirelessly his entire life and provided a good life for his children and wife. All to just end up in a one room, four walls, nursing home. Is that the end goal? Do you work all your life to provide for your family; so your kids can fight and squabble over stuff, that has little to no meaning to anyone but the people who earned it? In the end is it just about the money, grab up as much as you can and sell it for what it is worth? Doesn't anyone have any sense of compassion anymore? And what about the surviving spouse? I know these are a lot of questions to ask, and I wish I had the answers. But, for the time being, all these questions only lead to more questions. Hence, the confusion.

I don't know about the readers of the blog; but I know for me, it is my most sincere hope that the next generation (the children I have raised) has better sense than the one(s) before them. Because, if they don't, then what does that say about us and the future of us all?

I have been shocked and very surprised by the greed demonstrated in the act of snatching up everything when someone passes away. It's the second time I've seen it and it makes me kind of sick in the stomach to see evil playing its hand at such a solemn time. My husband says he's "truly disappointed, they were raised better." I guess Carl Fox (played by Martin Sheen) in the movie Wall Street, with Michael Douglas, said a mouthful when he said, “Money's only something you need in case you don't die tomorrow...”

What do you think? Is it about getting stuff when Mom and Dad die? Or, is it about learning something positive from our parents to share forward?

How will you remember your parents today?

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Daily Mood Quotes - October 7, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 157 – October 7, 2011

“On Wall Street he and a few others – how many? three hundred, four hundred, five hundred? had become precisely that...Masters of the Universe.”

~Tom Wolfe

I prefer Rose's (Kate Winslet) statement from the movie Titanic when she said to Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), “Next it will be brandies in the smoking room...Now they will retreat into a cloud of smoke and congratulate each other on being masters of the universe.” What and who pays the price for these Master's of the Universe?

I had a conversation with my husband on this matter and I agree with his point of view. Granted, this has been a tough week for him and this may come across a bit grumpy, but here goes. Perhaps you are familiar with the protests that are going on around the country, people are banding together to voice frustration with the financial system of this country. The push me-pull you battles in Washington, the banking industry and top-ranked CEOs making millions and millions of dollars on the backs of the unemployed and working class; along with millions and millions of dollars that corporations are making as profits, while cutting jobs and sitting on the cash. Students are protesting the cost of student loans, they are going to have to pay back, if they are given the opportunity to complete the degree they are working towards. What a mess!!!

The way I see it, these folks, those who are protesting are to some degree right and in some ways maybe not so right. It depends on how one looks at the totality of the system that we are all part of. They most assuredly have the right and responsibility to organize and protest a financial system that promised to right its ways, when it was begging the American people for a bailout. Seems they have forgotten, or perhaps have no intention of showing gratitude for the mercy of the American people. I can't speak to their motivations. And I really don't care to hazard a guess. The point is the right to gather and protest is written into our Constitution and so they can. They will however, have little or no impact on the system, because they really aren’t causing any more inconvenience than midday traffic in Manhattan. I've been a parent for a very long time and I know you can't get anywhere with hardheaded boys by yelling.

To get the attention of the misdirected children, parents usually find it effective to take away the toys. I'm just saying... Banks depend on stock prices to give their company value. If folks were to decide to drop financial institutions from their 401Ks, and other investment portfolios, there are less toys and they'll find it tougher to borrow new toys too. I've also heard that Federal Credit Unions are great places for folks to put the money that they would usually lend to banks. Oh yeah, lets remember that every dime you put in a checking account is an interest free loan to the bank. I'm just saying the intention can be right, but the strategy? Well maybe, its not so right.

Also, as long as we're on the subject... How about looking to the house in the next election cycle. Those boys aren’t behaving any better and they are letting the big kids from the corner of Wall and Nassau, the decidedly wrong side of the tracks, make up the rules, pretty much as they go along... Soooo, how do we get them to behave? Take their cushy toys (read jobs) away too. Abraham Lincoln said “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” So to with unemployment.... If incumbents won't do something, well then don't the American people have the right and responsibility to correct our mistake of letting them stay and play with the bad kids from Manhattan? In the movie Wall Street with Michael Douglas, Carl Fox (played by Martin Sheen) said, “Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others.” Who serves who here? To quote Donal Trump, “your fired” come the next election. That is a choice we can make, it is our right and our responsibility.

Let's not make any mistake. Our political system is still better than any yet developed and I know global economics can be a very complex issue. In the near future, tons of misinformation from both sides will flow like floodwater, all over the media. They will lap it up and spit it back out as genuine news. But, people of all ages are people, and they tend to pay attention when the things they desire most are used to correct them; just like kids (take away their toys). Or perhaps not, that just how I see this mess.  Something to think about.

How will you become a master of the universe today?

The latest news about the protest on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/politics/occupy-wall-street/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote.

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quotes - August 10, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 99 – August 10, 2011

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~Mark Twain

The funny thing is, it was more than 20 years ago, in fact is was 29 years ago that I set my sails and tacked out into the seas of life. (lots of metaphors today, “batten down the hatches!”) I was young, inexperienced, uneducated and untrained for life. I stepped on the plane and sat in my seat. I was nervous, scared and anxious, because I didn't know what to expect. I was also excited, enthusiastic and ready for something new and different.

The day was February 21, 1983, my “Independence Day” (thanks Bill Pullman as President Whitmore from the movie Independence Day). I was eighteen and on my way to Orlando, Florida for boot camp. It was a long road to be accepted into the United States Navy. Like many things in my life at that time, I had to fight to be accepted and eventually I was. Now, I found myself on a jet (my first ever) gripping the seats armrests, clinching my teeth and holding my breath as I watched the plane take off. I had a middle seat and it was exciting.

Now here I sit, many years later, looking back on life and trimming the sails for the rest of life. I can't say “my life” anymore because it's not just my life any longer. I have a husband, children, and pets and whatever adjustments are made, they must be made with everyone's input. I have met people throughout my life who control every aspect of their and their families lives, and I see misery, lack of enthusiasm for life and lost gusto for adventure. They have everything, a beautiful home, money, affluent friends, nice cars, etc... but no peace or genuine experiences to share “so they have everything and yet they have nothing” (thanks Iron Man). From canned vacations to desperately seeking social acceptance, they resign themselves to viewing life from a safe distance and haven't really braved the vast seas of their potential. The choice is; do you dare to set your sail into the potentially stormy seas of life, or stay “stuck” in safe harbor and only gaze upon the ocean of possibilities.

If you stay in safe harbor, you will have plenty of company. I haven't met many intrepid voyagers out here. Perhaps that's because the ocean of possibilities is so big and passages seldom cross. I don't really know. Granted, as anyone who has traded stocks on Wall Street will tell you, large rewards of any kind entail large risks. So, as you sail, you may come upon a hidden reef, or shoal and run aground. Even the best captains in history have done that. Or, occasionally like us, you may encounter The Perfect Storm of circumstances and be capsized without warning. That's the risk you take. But in my experience, you don your vest, man the life boats and paddle on. The alternative is to surrender and sink... that's not an option, so we paddle on.

In the movie, Titanic, Jack (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) said to a group of wealthy passengers, “I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count.” The point is, life is a gift and we are the captains and navigators of our lives... and the sea? Well, she doesn't care, she just is. We can always appreciate it from a distance wondering “what if”, or we can sail out into the mysterious waters and embrace the journey. Amelia Earhart said, “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.”

How will you set your sail today?

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Thank you for reading