Calvin Coolidge & Isaac Asimov -DOTM034

Calvin Coolidge, President Of The United States

 

“I have never been hurt by what I have not said.”

 

Most people hope that they have the right words to say at the right time, but have you ever contemplated the value of silence? Silence is probably the most underused form of speech. We somehow think we can make things better if we explain something more. This is clearly not always the case.

It is possible to lose a sale, or a customer altogether if you keep on talking after the deal has been accepted. You can cause additional grief at a funeral by talking too much when you are nervously trying to comfort someone. It’s even possible to cause wars when somebody like a President talks too much. President Coolidge had so little to say, his nickname was “Silent Cal”. I think we can learn a little from him on this point.

In Episode 10 of Daggers Of The Mind, I told of another time when silence was just what was needed.

Here is an excerpt:

When my father-in-law was ill and coming to the end of his life, he had an old friend who was still mobile, and would come to visit him about once a week. The delight of both men to see each other was quite evident, but after the initial greetings and small talk, they would lapse into silence. For more than an hour sometimes, there would be no words spoken at all, and they would just sit there smiling and looking around. Finally, the visitor would stand and take his leave, my father-in-law thanking him profusely for visiting and saying how much he enjoyed the talk.

If either of them had continued to talk, it would have ruined the visit. Their personalities and relationship made it the perfect solution.

This next quote illustrates another time when you could get into trouble by talking.

 

“How many people here have telekenetic powers? Raise my hand.”

Emo Philips

 

According to The Free Dictionary .com, Telekinesis is “The supposed inducement of movement of an object by mental or spiritual power.”

Bragging or telling others you can do things you aren’t able to do for extra attention or just to belong to a certain group can get you into a lot of trouble when you are asked to demonstrate your ability in the real world. Embarrassing and not very funny. It’s much better to keep your mouth shut.

I will be the first to admit that when I get excited about a subject, I can really get verbal. I try to school myself to check the listener’s expression to see if they really want to hear what I have to say, or if they would rather get back to what they were doing before I opened my mouth and broke the silence.

People who spend a lot of time with people who talk too much all the time totally understand the meaning of “Silence is golden.”

I think if we learn to be silent more often, we can all have a golden life.

 

Calvin Coolidge on Wikipedia

 

Calvin Coolidge at whitehouse.gov

 

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Isaac Asimov, Scientist and Prolific Writer

 

“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' “

 

As we go through the day to day routines of our lives, it is easy to get numb to pretty much everything. Our minds can become blunt objects. What we are lacking at this point is anticipation and curiosity about the world around us.

When we lose that sense of wonder, and the desire to learn about things that actually intrigue us, we are throwing away our main source of new knowledge and problem solving skills, that is, our curiosity.

Curiosity is something that comes naturally to babies and children. There are many things they don’t understand around them and there is a thirst simply to KNOW. Parents who find it too much trouble when their child asks questions is stifling their impulse to learn. 

 

Eleanor Roosevelt said,

“I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.”

 

In many adults, the destruction of this great resource is complete. Like zombies, many go through their routines with nothing more than a knowledge of the routine, thinking that some day they will retire and life will be somehow better.

Lately there have been a lot of ads regarding mind exercises to give people protection against developing dementia. Looking online, there are a bunch of websites that are supposed to keep you sharp as you age. I can’t really make any claims about this, but it certainly can’t hurt to exercise you mind. I really think, however that there is plenty to keep your mind occupied without having to pay someone to customize a program to keep your mental cylinders firing.

Simply reading a book instead of watching TV can stimulate the creative part of your brain as you imagine the scenes that are being described to you. Playing chess, crossword and other types of puzzles, and many other things that cause you to think about a solution, or be simply curious can give your brain a workout and keep sharp focus.

If you make this type of brain stimulation part of your everyday routine, it will become second nature, a habit that can only be good for you to practice. We need our brains. It’s not likely we will have the chance to obtain a spare anytime soon. Take really good care of the one you have. Oh yeah, if someone says, “That’s funny”, pay attention and learn something.

On the Science Daily website, there is an article that explores how curiosity can enhance the learning experience. Check it out! The link is included in the show notes for Episode 34 at daggersofthemind.com.

 

Science Daily Article

 

Isaac Asimov on Wikipedia

 

Asimov Book Titles

 

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Cesar Chavez & Giada De Laurentiis -DOTM033

Cesar Chavez, Co-founder of The National Farm Workers Association

 

“Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.”

 

Let’s do the definition of disrespect. This time from the Urban Dictionary: a user called “this means“ defined it as: “the act of putting someone down, trying to make them feel low, treating someone in a horrible manner, showing a person they mean less than nothing to you, a hurtful act that is both rude and ignorant towards another person’s feelings.”

Nicely done I think. That sums it up well. 

Most of us belong to multiple cultures. Race, gender, religion, and myriad of other things that we each identify with makes us who believe we are. Embracing each of these makes us the complete person have become. If we are comfortable with who we are, there is no need to put someone else down who is different in their thinking and experiences.

But are you truly comfortable with who you are? Feeling the need to put others down could be an indication that you really aren’t happy or comfortable with your own identity.

Most of us can look back in history and find incidents that involve injustices perpetrated by by one cultural group on our own. This begs the question of what we personally decide to do with this information.

One of my close friend is Scottish in ancestry, while mine is mostly English. There have been times in history when the English really lowered the boom and controlled the Scots. There are many stories of torture and other acts of brutality perpetrated on them in order to maintain that control with terror.

In Europe there were centuries of conflict between Catholic and Protestant monarchs who actively persecuted each other with completely innocent people being tortured and abused on both sides, just because they had a different belief.

With these two examples is it right for my Scottish friend to hate me, or for me to hate every Catholic I see? Of course not. There is one overriding reason for me to accept and be accepted by these two groups.

I didn’t do anything of this sort to my Scottish friend, and the Catholics have never done anything to me personally. Each of us are individuals who rise and fall on our own acts, not on those of our forebears. 

When we meet others, we should completely ignore what their grandfather may have done, and let them show who they are, and what they have become on their watch. We can only pay for our own sins, and can only succeed by the effort we have each put forth to make our own lives and those around us better. 

There are so many wonderful people we are missing the opportunity to be friends with because of the limitations we place on those with whom we will associate. Please don’t make a snap judgments based on stereotypes. It all comes down to this: Don’t be a hater. Just don’t do it.

 

Cesar Chavez in Wikipedia

 

Cesar Chavez Foundation

 

United Farm Workers

 

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Giada De Laurentiis, Celebrity Chef

 

“Pasta doesn’t make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat.”

 

Volume. In this application, Dictionary.com says, a mass or quantity, especially a large quantity, of something.

Most things that are good in moderation are not so good when you go extreme with the volume. Music with too much volume can damage your eardrums, and too much of a good food can make you fat, in this case, pasta.

For the record, pasta rocks. My wife, Dee is quite the cook, and she does Italian well. Her simple spaghetti with her home made sauce is totally excellent, and when she ups the ante with chicken parmesan, it is simply out of this world. I really do battle with volume when something that good to eat is available. As a result, I am not as svelte as I used to be.

The concept is self control. According to Joyce Meyer,

“I have learned that I really do have discipline, self-control, and patience. But they were given to me as a seed, and it's up to me to choose to develop them.”

Learning to control your appetite for food, drink and other things is pretty hard to do if you really weren’t taught to do so. A lack of discipline is this area moves a little closer to the beasts, who act on instinct and impulse, and lack the human level of reason and self control. That is the major dividing line between a savage and a civilized human being. 

Taking this a step further, there are many humans who have completely thrown off the shackles of self control, and have become anti social, even psychopathic. This type of human animal thinks of themselves first and foremost, with no room to spare a thought for anyone else. If they want something, obtaining it is the number one priority, and anyone who gets in the way is likely to get hurt.

A quote from Joseph P. Bradley:

“Brutes are governed by their appetites and impulses. Savages are but little removed in this respect from brutes. Brutish men and coarse natures are mostly led by their impulses, appetites and passions. The true nobility of our nature is evinced by self-control, which restrains, governs and subdues the impulses, appetites, passions and desires.”

I don’t know of many people who would like to be known as a brute. Sure, many are macho and ACT like they don’t care what others think, but the very act of being macho shows that a person is attempting to hide from others what they know to be true about themselves. They feel inadequate, and are desperately trying to keep others from finding out. 

Macho persons are not dangerous like the psychopath, but are merely clumsy at being brutes and acting like they don’t care. If you can, help the macho person gain confidence, and avoid the true brutes altogether. Your life may depend on it.

 

Giada De Laurentiis Main Site

 

Giada De Laurentiis on Facebook

 

Giada De Laurentiis on Twitter

 

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Faith Hill & Jennifer Lopez -DOTM032

This first quote was contributed by my wife, Dee Holbrook.

 

Faith Hill, Country Music Superstar

 

“I don't know why 'happy' can't be a story.”

 

Most checkout lines in your local stores have them. People subscribe to get them, and there are entire TV shows dedicated to propagating them. Enough people want to hear them that millions are made. All those who want a piece of the business have to do, is publish bold faced lies. 

I just noticed this week that for probably the 20th time, that Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are fighting and getting a divorce. It’s going to get ugly. The expressions on their faces tell the whole story. You believe this….. Right?

Ms Hill spoke the words in our first quote when asked in an interview about their marital troubles. Since they weren’t having any, she wondered why the only thing that was newsworthy had to be bad.

That is a good question. How is it possible that so much money and time could be wasted on information that is clearly known to be completely false? The people who buy tabloid magazines know what they are getting. What is the attraction?

 I really think it is because many people want others who have a better life than they do to fail miserably. That way they can feel better about themselves without having to do anything to improve their own lives.

We lose so much by hoping for the failure of famous people instead of finding out what is actually working for them, and trying to learn from it and apply it to our own lives. The old fashioned hero doesn’t exist anymore. Anyone who seems to be doing great is somehow a threat instead of an example.

Sure, there are lot of famous people who fail, but there are a lot of us mere mortals who fail as well. It’s just a lot more public with celebrities. 

 

Two Quotes from Actor Kevin Bacon

 

“I want to see the numbers that prove that show-business marriages are any less successful than other marriages. It's just very public when they fail.”

“Part of being a man is learning to take responsibility for your successes and for your failures. You can't go blaming others or being jealous. Seeing somebody else's success as your failure is a cancerous way to live.”

 

Dictionary.com has the secondary definition of cancer as “any evil condition or thing that spreads destructively; blight.”

 

Things would be so much better if we could get rid of the blight of lies that spreads just like cancer. Obviously they have freedom of speech to publish any lie they want to. What makes it go so well for them is the fact that people are willing to shell out large sums of money to get this kind of trash.

Be constructive instead of destructive. Your life and those around you can be so much better if you will only make it so. Those who spend their time wanting others to fail as a substitute for their own failures aren’t going anywhere. Let ‘happy’ be your life story.

 

Faith Hill Official Site

Faith Hill on Twitter

Faith Hill on Wikipedia

 

 

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Jennifer Lopez, Actress and Singer

 

“My mom always told me that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. And it's true. It's one of the truest things ever.”

 

It’s easy to look at famous people and say that if someone gave you a chance you could be great too. I’ve heard this a lot. My response is that if they did what they did, they would have what they’ve got.

It’s like seeing a house that a skilled builder made, and somehow expecting that doing half the work the builder did would achieve the same result. Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. We all would love to get something for nothing. It is just basic human nature to want things to be easy instead of difficult. We make our mistake when we assume the fame achieved by others was a lot easier than reality.

We didn’t see all the work it takes to be an overnight success. Sometimes it takes decades of grueling labor to be suddenly discovered and elevated to stardom. The key to discovery is very simple. Just don’t quit.

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said,

“Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.”

 

Contrary to the lazy tendencies of the average human being, we have to keep plugging away at it until we achieve the success we desire, or die trying. If you aren’t dead yet, you should still be going for it.

Now working hard doesn’t mean that you work dumb. Do your homework and research what you are endeavoring to accomplish, set your goals and launch. You are really much better than you think you are. Set aside your fear and take that first step, then the next step and then the next. Concentrate on each step in turn, and you will look back a year from now and be surprised at how far you’ve come.

If you think, “I can’t do that!” Realize this is only something you haven’t accomplished YET. Study and learn about the steps to reach your goal, learn them, start taking them and don’t stop. Thinking you can is not magic, but it is important because if you don’t think you can, you will never even try. Your failure is then assured.

 

A quote by Thomas Edison

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

 

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Work hard and work smart. Never give up your dream.

 

Jennifer Lopez Official Site

Jennifer Lopez on Wikipedia

Jennifer Lopez on Twitter

 

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Amelia Earhart & Samuel L. Jackson -DOTM031

Amelia Earhart, Aviation Pioneer

 

"Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.”

 

In the 19th century. It was thought by experts that going at speeds of over 30 miles an hour on railroad trains would induce suffocation. I am assuming that this was because the normal force of outward breath was less than the pressure of air rushing by at high speeds. This actually is logical in the absence of experimentation. I am assuming the only persons who had gone faster were those who had fallen from great heights, and they weren’t talking.

Later it was proven to be just so much rubbish, and now we travel much faster with no ill effects other than the occasional bug on the windshield. 

Sailing past the edge of the world that was thought to be flat, crossing the sound barrier, reaching the moon, and a myriad of other amazing things were once thought to be impossible, but humans surpassed their fear and reached these milestones, and lived.

Humans who are less brave have a long history of predicting dire consequences when others are attempting something they are too afraid to try.  Those who spend so much time predicting doom and gloom are not going to accomplish much. Those who quietly experiment and work toward that “unreachable” goal, will have much more success. Remember, bravery is not the absence of fear, it is being afraid and pushing through that fear to accomplish the goal.

 

President of the United States, John Quincy Adams said:

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”

 

Don’t discount the value of discovery. Many of us are afraid to try things because we don’t know everything about the subject. It actually has nothing to do with being an expert. It doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It only means it hasn’t been accomplished YET. Learn what you need along the way, once you have set that theoretically unreachable goal.

Don’t listen to those who know it can’t be done. They may have had the ability to innovate educated right out of them. You believe it can be learned and accomplished. Go for it.

 

“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge.”

Daniel J. Boorstin

 

 

Amelia Earhart: The Official Site

 

Amelia Earhart on Wikipedia

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Samuel L. Jackson, Actor

 

“What kills me is that everybody thinks I like jazz.”

 

When humans meet each other, they feel the need to put others in a box for their own comfort. Stereotyping is something that we invent on our own. The fewer boxes we have to slot others into, the easier it is for us. Unfortunately, this makes it much harder for those we stuff into those boxes.

According to Dictionary.com, a stereotype in culture is defined as: A too simple and therefore distorted image of a group.

Believing that all old people are a certain way, all young people think this, all of a particular race have this habit, or rich people are all waiting to victimize any poor person that is out after dark, is simply wrong.

Why not meet someone and reserve judgement  until the new person has proven what they REALLY are? It is a lot harder than you think to find two people who are exactly alike. 

I was raised in a family with 5 boys, and no girls. One would think being raised in the same environment with the same parents would cause us to be identical. Not true. First of all, we each have a different turn to our personalities, and birth order has a lot to do with different pressures that shaped our lives and attitudes. Some live in town, some in the suburbs, and I like living out in the country. We have many different interests, and find that when one of us encounters a problem, we know who is best in a particular area, and we are each ready to listen to the expertise of the other.

In the real world, I don’t like being told what I am thinking or what my value system must be because of what I appear to be. “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is really good advice in this case. Read the person over time and learn what they are really like. Don’t let your preconceived notions box them in and don’t attempt to force them into behaviors they find alien, just to make yourself more comfortable.

There are so many variations in thought and experience that new people can’t help but be interesting if you are open to listen and learn about them. The people I find the most interesting are those who have had the most different lives than what I have lived.

How boring would life be if everyone were just like you, or at least could fit into the few little categories we each have created in our minds to keep everything nice and tidy. It’s only so our ways of thinking won’t be challenged by meeting someone who behaves differently than we think they should.

Let’s let everyone be who they really are, and let them show us themselves. Don’t try to make it up for them. Let them be who they are.  

 

A final quote:

“Acceptance is not love. You love a person because he or she has lovable traits, but you accept everybody just because they're alive and human.”

Albert Ellis

 

Samuel L. Jackson on International Movie Database

 

Samuel L. Jackson on Twitter

 

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Bart Starr & J. K. Rowling -DOTM030

Bart Starr, Legendary Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers

 

“We, all of us, could do a much better job of evoking what someone has called the universal principle of human altruism: the urge in us all to help others who are in danger.”

 

My wife and I were recently on a little jaunt to a park in a nearby town, when we saw a man laying by the road near his bicycle. As we got closer, it was clear that he was an older man, and that he was in pain. We pulled over and tried to see what we could do to help. My wife, who has some medical training, assessed the situation and told me to call 911. He had hurt his leg in the fall and it turned out he had actually broken his femur. At 83 years old, and 3 years out from a hip replacement, this wasn’t very funny.

Other than his leg, he was in good shape, and was very friendly and grateful for the help. My wife has an extremely comforting manner and held his hand all the while. When we got his cell phone out and he called a family member to tell them what was happening, he said, “An angel and her husband are here helping me!”

I am not telling this story to “toot our own horns” so to speak. What we did was the actual minimum a person should do to help someone in such a needful circumstance. We hear so many stories of someone being mugged on a city street and people just walking by them for extended periods of time, refusing to “get involved”. Helping others really costs so little and we should be ready when an opportunity presents itself.

Most of the time, those you meet are not in such a dire condition, and a simple smile can work wonders. A real life hero would be the person who practices encouragement. Feel compassion for those around you. Don’t be so much into competition and “beating the next guy” that you fail to see the needs that are all around you. It costs so little to help others. Happiness in life is all about the helping, not the domination we see so often in this world.

 

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” - Dalai Lama

 

I found this quote on a website called Zenhabits.com in a great article called “25 Ways to Help a Fellow Human Being Today. The link will be in the show notes at daggersofthemind.com.

 

 

 

Bart Starr on Wikipedia

 

Bart Starr Stats

 

Bart Starr at the Pro Football Hall Of Fame

 

http://zenhabits.net/25-ways-to-help-a-fellow-human-being-today/

 

 

 

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J.K. Rowling, Writer of The Harry Potter series.

 

“The spells are made up. I have met people who assure me, very seriously, that they are trying to do them, and I can assure them, just as seriously, that they don't work.”

 

When my daughter was a toddler, she came to me all upset about something she had seen happen on television, and was afraid for the safety of one of the characters. She was literally in tears over it.

I proceeded to explain the difference in “real” and “make believe”. She seemed to understand the concept and over the next week or two would point to something on the screen, and pronounce it “real” or “make believe”, not missing the mark even once.

Now aged 25, this early lesson has served her well. While she still loves to play video games and watch situation comedies on television, she has a very serious approach to life, so far earning 2 degrees with plans to go for her masters and then a doctorate. If you will indulge me, I will say that I am extremely proud of her and her accomplishments.

But what happens if one cannot separate the real world from an imagined one? I have heard of a few cases of the children of people I know that never had a job and since their early teens have done nothing with their lives but play video games. I didn’t really believe this possible until it was confirmed by hearing of multiple cases.

Now, I am not saying that video games themselves are evil. It is just that some, who’s accomplishments in life consist only of what games they have beaten, find that real life is a completely different matter.

In 2011 a role playing game called Skyrim came out. I was actually new to gaming, but had been playing a military style game online once a week with family members and really enjoyed the interaction. When our schedules ended it, I discovered Skyrim. 

In real life, you have success and failure based on what your actions and circumstances dictate. We can all achieve success in real life, but in a video game like Skyrim, you can be a god. You can do all kinds of things that you could never do in real life, slaying dragons, owning several estates and amassing enormous wealth. 

When certain requirements are met, you are acknowledged as the hero we all dream of being. While the road to achievement is sometimes difficult, with a small amount of persistence, you will triumph. The rewards and acclaim are way out of proportion to what you could ever get in real life. 

A person that has lived in this world for an extended period of time and has never had to fend for themselves in the real world, can have quite the life of fantasy, as long as Mom and Dad continue to bankroll them. It’s time for some tough love. Dig them out and introduce them to what really matters in life.

Hey, anybody can be a dragon slayer, but if you really want to be tough, get a job and deal with a real life boss. That really takes all you’ve got to win.

 

J. K. Rowling on International Movie Database

 

J. K. Rowling on Wikipedia

 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in Wikipedia

 

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Juliette Lewis & Albert Einstein -DOTM029

Juliette Lewis, Actress

 

“The worst thing you can do to a kid is tell them their dreams are invalid.”

 

I know a person who spent their childhood being told that almost anything they said or thought was “nonsense”. Just as frequently, she was told what she thought didn’t matter because, she was “just a girl”.

In this day and time, this type of treatment is considered completely outrageous. Back then it was tolerated in some circles. Many of us carry the scars of mental cruelty engendered by some of the harsher old fashioned attitudes.

Now past the age of 50, this wonderful lady still hears the voice of her dead father condemning everything she decides to do. The damage was so intense that he reaches from beyond the grave and still attempts to exert his will over every action.

His aim was to keep her under his thumb and maintain control over her entire life. He felt betrayed when she married, and interestingly enough she married someone who was almost the exact opposite of her father. Her husband actually BELIEVES she is a wonderful, talented person, and tells her so daily.

So now, what phobia have you reinforced in your child today? There seems to be two kinds of mental damage we can inflict on them. The first is cruel, intentional damage, but this is not as common as the unintentional harm caused by the unconscious forcing of our own phobias into the next generation.

The first is self explanatory, the second is much more stealthy. Without some self analysis, you don’t even recognize the long term damage you are causing.

Imagine a person who has had the aforementioned relationship with their own father, and then having a child with a similar personality. It could be very hard not to transfer the angst they feel for their father to their own child without even realizing it. 

No parent is perfect. All have and will continue to make mistakes. The fewer mistakes made however, the better the child will turn out.

Spend some time taking a look in the mirror of your life and be honest. You could be doing unintentional damage to the hearts and minds of those you love the most. They are your most precious accomplishment and legacy. Please don’t sabotage their future.

An article on the Child Development Institute website by Erik Erikson is called “Stages of Social-Emotional Development”. A link will be included in the show notes for this excellent and concise analysis. Check it out!

 

http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/erickson/

 

Juliette Lewis on Twitter

 

Juliette Lewis on Wikipedia

 

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Albert Einstein, A really smart guy.

 

“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”

 

I don’t know about you, but I would rather kiss my wife than drive. Trying to do both at the same time though, could be disastrous. I care enough about her to want to kiss her again later, and then there is the other thing of her well being and not being responsible for untimely deaths….. Hers, mine and even others in the car we may collide with.

According to Wikipedia, Distracted driving is the act of driving while engaged in other activities—such as looking after children, texting, talking on the phone or to a passenger, watching videos, eating, or reading—that take the driver’s attention away from the road. All distractions compromise the safety of the driver, passengers, bystanders and those in other vehicles.

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 5000 people are killed every year in crashes caused by distracted driving. Most of today’s focus on the issue involves the newest form of distraction: cell phone use. It seems every person you see is hunched over their phones, but not much talking is being done on them. It is mostly visual, and requires the eyes of the user to be on the screen a lot of the time.

A friend was attempting to order a pizza recently at work, but was having a problem getting the website on his phone. When he asked me about another site, I asked him if he had called their phone number. He looked shocked and said it had never occurred to him.

Cell phones are rarely used for phone calls anymore. They are a complete communications and entertainment device, and it is fully capable of letting you conduct business as well. The same friend mentioned earlier went on a 15 minute break, and before he came back, had completed and filed both his federal and state tax returns. All on his phone.

All of this power in your hands makes it hard to ignore when driving. When that little tone comes out of the phone, not picking it up takes a lot of will power.

If you have a 30 minute commute, there are very few things that could be so urgent that you can’t wait until you arrive at your destination to check your messages. If you are afraid of some emergency, or simply can’t stand it, pull off in a parking lot somewhere and indulge your obsession for connectivity in a safe place. 

Don’t think it could never happen to you. Your life, those you love, and the others you could kill or maim in your self absorbed obsession are in peril. Live to kiss another day.

The show notes for this episode, #29 will include links to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and other sites with helpful info on distracted driving. As far as the kissing goes, you are on your own!

 

AAA Foundation

 

Distracted Driving on Wikipedia

 

End Distracted Driving

 

 

Albert Einstein on Wikipedia

 

Albert Einstein on Nobelprize.org

 

 

Go to the National Safety Council’s website and download a Free Cell Phone Policy Kit to make it easier to formulate a safe cell phone usage plan for your workplace.

 

http://www.nsc.org/learn/NSC-Initiatives/Pages/distracted-driving.aspx

 

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Kristi Yamaguchi & John Travolta -DOTM028

Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic Champion

 

“Having achieved my own dreams, I want to give to kids who are less fortunate, who struggle with everyday obstacles. I want to give them something positive in their lives: support.”

 

After winning the gold in women’s singles figure skating in the 1992 Olympics and having an amazing amateur and pro career. Kristi Yamaguchi had lived her dreams. 

 

She decided it was time to give back to the world by starting the Always Dream foundation. 

 

From the Always Dream website:

 

Our Mission: To inspire underserved children to reach for their dreams through innovative reading programs and by advancing the cause of early childhood literacy. Our Always Reading literacy program combines technology with books to raise literacy skills, increase overall academic success and life potential. We also inspire children to “dream big” through engaging families with community events and serving as an advocate, highlighting the importance of early childhood literacy. 

 

I have spoken before of the need for early literacy as a vehicle to success. Instilling a love of reading before the 4th grade is absolutely essential. The skills  acquired are used for their entire lifetime and become second nature. After a while they don’t even have to think about it. Looking at something means that it automatically reads for them.

 

Arriving at this level of competence requires some early help from parents and teachers, and also organizations like Always Dream.

 

It is crucial that our next generation learns the skills they need to survive and thrive when they are old enough to be the next leaders. The future, ours and theirs, totally depends on it. We can’t afford to drop the ball on this one. Check out the links to Kristi Yamaguchi and her great organization. They will be included in the show notes for this episode at Daggers Of The Mind.com.

 

St. Francis of Assisi

 

“For it is in giving that we receive.”

 

 

 

http://kristiyamaguchi.com/

 

https://www.alwaysdream.org/

 

Kristi Yamaguchi in Wikipedia

 

 

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Actor John Travolta

 

“Autism and seizures are the least known areas of illnesses.”

 

 

I will be the first to confess I knew little about Autism until I began talking to a friend at work about his son. The tenderness in his eyes when he talked definitely showed the love he had, and the desire to help and protect his child. There was also a sense of helplessness at facing Autism, and not being able to just make it go away.

 

Parents want to protect and save their offspring, and would give their lives to do so. Physical threats you can see coming are one thing, disorders from within create an anguish that is impossible to describe.

 

From the National Institutes of Health:

 

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior.

 

The hallmark feature of ASD is impaired social interaction. As early as infancy, a baby with ASD may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with ASD may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement. 

 

Children with an ASD may fail to respond to their names and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They may lack empathy. 

 

Many children with an ASD engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I” or “me.” Children with an ASD don’t know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking. About 20 to 30 percent of children with an ASD develop epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood.

 

There is no cure for ASDs. Therapies and behavioral interventions are designed to remedy specific symptoms and can bring about substantial improvement. The ideal treatment plan coordinates therapies and interventions that meet the specific needs of individual children. Most health care professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better. 

 

 From the Autism Speaks Website:

 

Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 68 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years. Careful research shows that this increase is only partly explained by improved diagnosis and awareness. Studies also show that autism is four to five times more common among boys than girls. An estimated 1 out of 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States.

 

With statistics like these, we all stand an incredible chance of being touched by Autism and its related disorders. Just like me, many will not give it any thought. But then the statistics catch up, and someone you know, even a family member is stricken. Don’t wait until it touches you. Help now. 

 

There is a great site called Paracord By Design that sells paracord bracelets, key chains, and lanyards at great prices. This is really nice, but the really cool thing is the Autism Keychain they offer that gives all the proceeds to Autism Research.

 

The notes for this show will include a link to Paracord By Design, and also some great autism resources.

 

http://www.paracordbydesign.com/

 

National Institutes of Health -Autism

 

Autism Speaks

 

Autism Society

 

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