Tag Archives: Courage

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Saith Me… Express and Share

I love this blog post…

I was considering Grad School…and then I saw this. HILARIOUS!  (POSTED ON DECEMBER 13, 2011 BY ) 

 

… especially since I should be graduating in May with my Master’s. After 20 years away from school, it is such a lift to realize the craziness is due to the goal and not the age. I learned a very long time ago that you have to laugh at weaknesses and stress, and this post (and comments) indicates that other women pursuing higher education ‘get it’. We do have weaknesses and we do have stress, but not because we are women, but because we are human. The fact that we can complain and laugh – in essence express and share our feelings is what makes us strong and resilient so that we can overcome our weaknesses and stress. I find it funny that the very people who criticize this parody are the very ones comparing women to men and finding women lacking. Why should women change to be like men? We should not, but rather we should embrace all that makes us women – including what some call ‘warts’. Our ability to laugh at ourselves is not what will hold us back, but will propel us to success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Saith Me… Country Living

There are so many positives about country living which make life a joy, but learning to deal with the negatives is often frustrating.

The battle to keep a home mice free is ongoing and can get a bit troublesome at times. However, when one week you find a bat in your hallway, and the following week you find a snake in your basement, those pesky little mice become much less worrisome to contemplate.

Homestead 2013

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Saith Me… Success

Success is not measured by the things we accumulate. It is measured by the love we share and by our individual growth. It is also measured by how much we are loved by others.

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Saith Me… Teaching Fear or Self-worth?

We are a society that teaches fear rather than choice and accountability.

This process of teaching fear begins at our basic needs of ‘food and shelter’. Clothing is part of the “shelter” and we are taught that our choices in clothing are responsible for the actions of others. Should not the choices and actions of others make them accountable and not us?

Teaching fear is not an effective way of teaching the importance of choice and accountability.  It does not help us make wise decisions and does not promote the development of wisdom. Fear weakens us rather than strengthens us. It creates victims rather than creating self-worth. 

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Saith Me… A Note to My Child

It is easy for people to hate when times seem tough. It is also easy for people to justify their hate because they are ignorant of real history – they only know the glossy myth. I am proud that you are not one of those people, but seek to love all of mankind. I am also proud that you seek out the history and culture behind the myth. I love that you ask “why” and have learned to chart your own course rather than to allow yourself to blindly follow those who would seek to lead you astray (even if they know not what they do). I am proud of you for who you are and who you will grow to be because of the choices you make, particularly the choice to love not hate.

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History of Intervention

Over the past few months, I have been studying the history of intervention as part of my pursuit of a Master’s in Military and Diplomatic History. There seems to be two common lessons to learn from the history of military intervention.

First:

There is no “getting it right.” Military intervention forcibly halts conflict for a time but does not end conflict. It always comes back. Inaction will cause many to suffer. Action will cause many to suffer. Therefore, do we intervene and cause suffering in order to stop suffering, all the while simply postponing war for the next generation? Or do we let war run its course and watch a generation die?

Second:

Stopping regional war but risking international world war is not usually worth the price. Unfortunately, no one can figure out when the price is worth paying. When 100,000 die? When multiple nations topple? When the threat reaches your own back door?

 

There is one new lesson being recorded for our posterity even as I post this.

Those who call for war are seldom the ones who fight the war. This is nothing new, but it is being documented in great volume in the news and social media. Armchair warriors cry for a strong stand against tyranny and call it weakness when diplomacy is used. They approve of the jobs created by military buildup but disapprove of paying the bill. They think war is like a game of Risk, a game that when an impasse is reached you box it up and put it on the shelf for the next time you feel like prancing around like a peacock. Being strong means looking strong rather than acting strong.

What we should be learning.

The one thing that history doesn’t seem to teach anymore is the value of stepping back from a fight and trying for peace once again. When this choice is made, if it is made, it is belittled and viewed as a weakness. It, rather than warmongering, is called the cause of future conflict.

President Teddy Roosevelt said “Speak softly and carry a big stick…” But we do not speak softly any more.

Machiavelli advised to be respected rather than loved. He used the word “feared” but his context inferred respected because the Prince should avoid being hated.

The person who always carries a big stick will eventually be hated – hated for acting, hated for not acting, and hated for the threat of the big stick. Sadly, this is the lesson history is trying to teach but a lesson we just don’t seem to be learning.