Courtesy between family members helps elevate relationships.

A simple ‘Please’ & ‘Thank You’ can become an effective way to increase courtesy.

Given the tense times we live in, good manners should be used in every home.

You probably use these words in situations outside your home.

We refer to them as common courtesy, but are they used inside your home?

Maybe it is time to consider it.

If not today, when?

Many people can’t or won’t forgive.

So they carry a burden through most or all of their life.

If they have a conscience the burden is always there.

Once, however, they forgive, the relief is one of joy!

And both parties feel that joy.

Don’t complete your life with some unfinished business.

Step up and do the right thing!

If not today, when?

Our parish priest was hurrying to a dinner appointment on a sidewalk in NYC.

He past a man begging for money.

He didn’t give him money.

The man doing the begging said, “You didn’t even look at me.”

In another incident, one of my daughters gave a homeless man a $20 dollar bill.

The homeless man told her, ” Something you did was worth more than the $20.

You looked at me!”

Everyone wants to be acknowledged.

Regardless of status, each of us is a member of the human family.

“You Didn’t Even Look At Me!”

Around 84 percent of respondents in China said they were excited about A.I., according to a recent Stanford report.

Meanwhile, American skepticism toward the technology remains high.

Communities across the United States are fighting the construction of data centers.

Parents worry about children forming unhealthy attachments to A.I. companions.

Workers fear being replaced.

Policymakers warn of national security vulnerabilities.

Researchers debate catastrophic risks.

These fears are not irrational.

People are asking a simple question: Will A.I. make my life better, or make it worse? (NYT)

(Michael Altshuler)

It is your life!

No one else’s.

Are you living the kind of life you want to live?

I know you may have obligations to others that may be limiting your options.

But aren’t there things you can do and be while keeping your promises?

Discuss it with your spouse. He or she might have ideas.

We only go around once.

Think about it!

If not today, when?

Behind closed doors, millions of Americans are stepping into one of the hardest roles they’ll ever take on: caring for their aging parents.

New York Times Opinion interviewed dozens of family caregivers across the country to paint a portrait of the American elder care crisis.

In the photo above, this caregiver describes the heavy emotional toll and personal sacrifices required to keep their loved ones safe and comfortable.

The United States currently relies on unpaid caregivers to provide $870 billion worth of labor each year, often at an extreme cost to the caregivers’ own well-being, finances and futures.

“What if this goes on for another 10 years?” one caregiver said. “How long am I going to be able to maintain this?”

(NYT)

Teenage years have always been chaotic.

AI tells us that the word chaotic implies a state of complete disorder…

…Confusion or unpredictability.

Have I gone too far in describing your kids?

I hope so.

We have raised a lot of kids and I know the teens are tough for them and for us.

And there are many 30 year olds today who exhibit the same tendencies.

Regardless of their ages, they still need you to be who and what you are!

And they want to see that you have and live by the same values you’ve always lived by.

They need some predictability in their lives and that isYOU!

If not today, when?

(George Addair)

Fear is real!

There are many forms.

I would like to discuss whatever fear is preventing you from realising your goal or dream.

I lived with fear for many years of racing to Mackinac Island aboard a racing yacht

I reached the age of 63 before I did it.

I will always be grateful to the skipper of the boat who gave me the opportunity.

The lesson I learned is you should not live your life with regrets.

It is always better to try and fail than to never try at all.

Shuji Nakamura already transformed the world once. His invention of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) changed everything about our daily lives.

Computers, phones, big screens, traffic lights and electronic billboards light up because of his invention.

Nakamura earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014, along with two other Japanese scientists, Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, for their contributions to his LED breakthrough.

His goal: To create a power plant that uses a new kind of high-pulse laser for nuclear fusion, producing an “endless” supply of efficient, clean energy.

With nuclear fusion, there is no uranium involved and no chance for a meltdown.

Some experts have hailed his invention as important as Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb.

Well, the first 250 years are behind us.

Obviously, many improvements must be made in the way we treat fellow Americans.

What will I do to make our peoples a more perfect union?

What will YOU do to make our peoples a more perfect union?

Regardless of your age or political leanings, this is THE MOMENT to decide!

I think most of us are inclined to look at yesterday and think, “There were a lot of great parades.”

No, it was more than that.

It was a very important juncture and we must treat it as such.

This is a chance for a NEW BEGINNING!

We must begin again to do whatever we can to make this “A More Perfect Union!”

If not today, when?