Possibly the worst thing about illness (besides the illness itself) is that while you lie in bed you feel as if you can take on the world. Then you stand up and reality sets in reminding you that you feel crappy. To add insult to injury, that is usually when your kids begin laughing at your patheticness and tell you to go back to bed.
Simply determine which side is calling the other rude and disrespectful. That is the losing side.
Crabby, cruddy and crappy. What more needs to be said?
At least I have lost weight. (snicker)
Integrity is not simply standing up against the actions of others.
Integrity is STANDING TALL and BEING YOURSELF despite
the attitudes and the actions of others.
A little math calculation indicates I am writing on average between 10 – 12 pages a week for school, some weeks a bit more.
Didn’t know I had it in me.
It will be interesting someday in the future, when my mind clears, to read what I have written and see what I said.
While I may be the author of the words, I am not at all sure what I have written or what it all means.
Luckily, the professors seem to like my writing so I guess I must be writing something interesting.
The Simple Blessings…
We have obviously traded civility and reality in debate for aggression and fairy tales.
My last thought of the day turns out to be my first, because the clock has struck the midnight hour and moved into the new day.
Does anyone else think news coverage is like reality tv? The news media wants to keep everything hyped-up, spectacular and extreme simply to attract viewers and sell more ad time. The bigger the controversy, the more ads sold.
When did news stop being news and start becoming tabloid tv?
Anyone with a cat knows that they love reading a book with you. If the book is a small, one-hand-managed type, the cat’s pleasure is immense. From their perspective, you have become a dedicated lap focused on their pleasure.
However, if the book is large, you know your sweet kitten will become an annoyingly discontented, purring, nipping beast until you put the book down and give them the required attention they feel they need. Then, and only then, will your precious ball of fur settle down to enjoy the book.
All of this changes dramatically if, in fact, you are trying to study with a book. For the shedding hair and the highlighter tip do not get along, and cause odd markings to litter your page.
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. has developed a definition of Soft Power versus Hard Power. Hard power is based on coercion (military, economic, etc.). Soft Power is based on creating a system others want to emulate. He says,
“This soft power – getting others to want the outcomes that you want – co-opts people rather than coerces them.”
and
“When a country’s culture includes universal values and its policies promote values and interests that others share, it increases the relationship of attraction…”
“Narrow values and parochial cultures are less likely to produce soft power.”
So are we going about all this wrong? Are we, with our polarization of politics and talk of enemies, making ourselves less likable and thereby less attractive to the rest of the world?
Once we were seen as the Yanks who came to save the day. Then we became the worlds police force, or peacekeeping force. But something seems to have changed, and often we are disliked more than liked. In our attempt to protect ourselves from bullies, have we crossed a line and become the bully?
Just something to ponder…
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Nye, Joseph S., Jr. Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: PublicAffairs Books, 2004.
Pithy Ponderings 