Do you want to slow your life down?

And become wiser in the process?

Read a book!

The beauty of reading a book is that your can do it your own speed.

And on a topic of your choosing.

I have read about anything ever written about the life and times of Winston Churchill.

I think he was the greatest person of the twentieth century.

The world served up a crisis only he could solve. And he did.

Do you have someone who fascinates you

Well, read all you can about him or her.

It will become a great quest that will make you wiser.

If not today, when?

(Bill Richardson with Sadaam Hussein)

Bill Richardson was a SUPER PATRIOT, but he did it HIS WAY.

He was the New Mexico governor and congressman, cabinet member and UN ambassador.

His greatest accomplishments were the successful release of Americans held prisoner by bad dictators around the world.

The title of this blog is the title of his book.

He would go on his own to negotiate the freedom of Americans held captive.

Here was his negotiating approach:

Respect the other side;

Try to connect personally;

Use a sense of humor;

Let the other side save face.

He died this past Friday at the age of 75.

Thank you Bill Richardson for your service to America!

A great Jimmy Buffett song.

“It’s only half past twelve, but I don’t care.

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!”

I guess most of us live by the clock.

Should we watch our lives tick away?

I say “NO!”

Go out and do something you’ve NEVER DONE.

Live your life with as few regrets as possible!

Remember, we can only go forward. We can’t go back.

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!

Do you remember, “The little engine that could?”

The little engine had to climb a steep hill.

It began saying, “I think I can.”

All the way up the hill, it kept saying, “I think I can.”

As it reached the top of the hill, it said, “I thought I could!”

Are you that person?

I think every success begins with, “I think I can!”

You may not accurately see all the challenges ahead.

But, you feel you can can overcome them somehow.

Optimism leads to success!

If not today, when?

The proper name for it is Atelophobia.

It is a fear of imperfection.

A person who has this condition is afraid of new situations or decisions because they don’t know how they will turn out.

So, they are risk averse.

I think a little caution before taking on something new is warranted.

But, we shouldn’t over do it.

My dad believed in the latin saying, “In medio stat veritas!”

From Aristotle, “In the middle stands the truth.”

He didn’t believe the truth wasn’t found in either extreme.

Think about it!

If not today, when?

Moral Courage is the willingness to stand up for and practice that which one considers ethical or correct behavior.

This is done even if it means going against countervailing pressure to do otherwise.

Moral courage is usually more difficult to practice than physical courage.

With the rampant use of social media, your children may find it difficult to practice moral courage.

This makes parenting much more challenging.

Current peer pressure to do the wrong thing is often exhibited by public officials today.

Yet, it is incumbent upon us, as parents and citizens, to practice moral courage!

If not today, when?

When Vash Chhabra started thinking about how to propose to his girlfriend, Riiya Shukla, his mind went straight to her favorite Bollywood films.

But instead of trying to create a complicated song-and-dance routine, he had another idea: THE AIRPORT.

Shukla, an Auckland native, lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she works for the Victoria state government. She and Chhabra, who still lives in New Zealand, have been in a long-distance relationship.

So Chhabra hatched a plan: he’d arrange for their loved ones to be at the Auckland Airport when Shukla arrived for a visit.

He would propose to Shukla via the airport announcement system!

Getting their loved ones on board for the big day was easy, but going through the layers of airport staff and protocol was a challenge.

He finally connected with Laura Platts, the Auckland Airport communications manager, that everything began to fall into place. (CNN)

Love conquers all!

(She said “YES!”)

Sometimes, it’s hard not to.

But, we all know the longer you persist in being upset, each day starts unhappy.

Should you allow something in your past become a drag on your future?

It’s possible that the offending party has moved on while you are stuck with your grudge

When you carry a grudge, it is like carrying a backpack all day, every day.

So, you wake up each morning with a self-imposed downer.

Be good to yourself. Leave the backpack behind, make ammends and get on with your life.

Life is too short to hold a grudge.

Give yourself the great, very positive day you deserve.

If not today, when?

The Strategy and Plan of Action acknowledges that hate speech has the potential to incite violence and undermine social unity. It recognizes that hate speech has been a precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide, over the past 75 years.

This approach to coordinating efforts across the UN system to identify, prevent and confront hate speech is grounded in international human rights standards, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, principles of equality and non-discrimination, as well as other fundamental rights.

The Strategy aims to give the United Nations the room and the resources to address hate speech, which poses a threat to UN principles, values and programmes. It guides the UN system on how to address hate speech and includes ways to support United Nations Resident Coordinators’ action in addressing and countering hate speech on the ground.

The Strategy and Plan of Action has two overriding objectives:

Enhance UN efforts to address the root causes and drivers of hate speech in a coordinated way, with a focus on education as a preventive tool to raise awareness and build unity.

The UN intends to support a new generation of digital citizens, empowered to recognize, reject and stand up to hate speech in the digital age.

Below is the UN website to learn more:

https://www.un.org/en/hate-speech/un-strategy-and-plan-of-action-on-hate-speech

New YorkCNN — 

Extreme weather events are growing more common, while an increasingly globalized world means disasters on one side of the planet reverberate on the other.

In the midst of uncertainty, people are becoming more aware of personal emergency measures.

These incude equipment kits marketed and sold specifically for crisis situations.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends assembling a disaster supply kit as part of its “12 Ways to Prepare” guideline.

While some people choose to gather their own supplies, a number of retailers carry ready-made kits.

Are you prepared?

If not today, when?