Is the Right the Issue or the Individual?

Amendment II states:

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Why is this being questioned?  I'm confused.  Why attack our right to bear arms because some lunatic shoots someone or some moron walks into a gun show with a loaded gun?  Should we be questioning the right or the individual?  When I was growing up a man drove his van through a preschool playground and killed a child and wounded many more. Do we outlaw vans and our right to drive?  Someone picks up a bat and beats someone maybe even to death.  Now do we outlaw bats and our freedom to play baseball?  Doesn't even make sense does it? How is it that the government wants to attack this so adamantly but they aren't concerned about curing the root of the issue?  Where is the anger and hatred coming from? Who and or what in this person's past has caused the initial wound that has yet to be healed?

Did you know alcohol use is involved in more incidents of sexual violence, including rape and child molestation than any single drug?  Why hasn't the government attacked that? Now, I don't think alcohol or our right to drink should be banned but how about exercising a little common sense and educating people of the dangers, then if an issue arises address the individual.  Are you getting the picture?  It's not the object it's the objective.  What's the person's reasoning and where does the anger come from?

This is simply a call to think before you act or re-act.

24 Miles...

I missed a day and I apologize for that!  We ate supper as a family last night at one of our favorite Italian places and when we came home with our bellies full I laid down with the kiddos to read a book and the next thing I remember was the clock at 1:30 am!

Today was beautiful, reaching almost 70 here and we took advantage of it.  After work yesterday I ran for a couple miles and today a buddy of mine set out to bike a few miles.  We ended up going 24 miles it was a great ride.  First ride of the season for both of us so we are sore but had a great time.

So what's the nugget in the story?  I can't tell you how many times today I wanted to quit, my legs began to burn my thighs cramped on mile 18.  I lead us down a wrong road and so we had to backtrack once which was a momentum killer! Here's the thing though, we never quit.  We never gave up and when we rolled back up to my friends garage and the emotions and feelings of success set in it was fantastic!  Darren Hardy's book The Compound Effect (a must read), shares that it's the daily disciplines repeated daily that created the MASSIVE results.  Simply put; not quitting.  So many people give up on their dreams and their families dreams when things get tough, maybe a wrong turn or choice, pain is experienced or they've never done it before.  What did you do or not do today that will compound over time?  Jim Rohn says be cautious of the little things like throwing our clothes on the bed or dresser instead of putting them away, not washing that one dish, not making that one call. Remember the key is not quitting.

#Hashtags

Living and operating in Twitterland and don't understand the power of hash tags and their value? That's okay because it's not too late! Here are a few simple and quick tips to help you get started!

1. Visit hashtag.org and type in a phrase, product, event, or service. (i.e. apple, stevejobs, marketing)
   
2. When wanting to get more views on your post place a # and something that has to do with the post. Example, "Baking my famous apple pie." #applepie #greatrecipes. People look for these hash tags and choose to follow you and glean information based upon your common interests.
3. Give people something worth viewing on the hash tags. If you are talking about your amazing pie then link the recipe, don't leave us hanging!
4. Hash tags are a great way to find out about your product or service so pay attention. Want to develop better services or better listen to what people are saying about a subject? Again, pay attention hash tags can allow us all to be better equipped in today's market.

Happy #hashtagging!

Life is Full of Choices...

Or is it choices are full of life?

Today I talked to the High School students about choices, probably my favorite day, the day it all comes together. I start the eight day program with students having little to no clue what they are walking into and who they are walking in with. I let them know my goal is to provide them facts, what they chose to do with those facts eight days later is their choice. At no point in our lessons do I cram down their throat my beliefs or opinions I simply speak the truth and always point out that it's ultimately their choice of paths. I always have students comment about that, "I love how you presented facts and then left it up to us." The final day we have a few things we cover but the main thing is we share our goals for life with each other. I'm a firm believer that if we have a vision of where we are heading that will help us avoid the risky behaviors that sometimes can seem to be the "norm" or accepted. If we have a clear picture it drives us to remember no temporary high; physically, emotionally or mentally is worth what we desire in the future. I've had students in my classes that you can watch in the 2012 Summer Olympics, one swimming against Michael Phelps and the other playing volleyball! How great is that? I have students that are going to be famous authors, politicians, school teachers, great parents, travel the world and the list goes on and on! It's so exciting for me to hear and be a part of the lives of these students who have a vision for their future and are going to truly change the world. The Bible says, "Where there is no vision the people will perish." Before the class is all over I always thank the students and here is my following comments to them and I ask you to let it be my final comment to you today as well.

"You are fixing to walk out this door and into a world that has consequences for poor decisions, you have goals, you just shared them with me, these consequences can destroy those goals. You now have good information and you can make better choices, your past does not dictate your future. The best news is the choice is yours and in those choices lies freedom."

Every 6 Months...whether I need to or not.

I just got off the phone with Chris Widener, on our first coaching call regarding goal setting. I mentioned to him how I wanted to blog more and how much I enjoyed blogging and felt I was decent at it. He asked my blog website, looked it up and said, "looks like you blog about every 6 months." Ouch. EVERY SIX MONTHS! Impossible, it must be more! Nope, every 6 months on average. There is power in blogging, power to save, power to change, power to inform and power to empower! I've seen this first hand from the non-profit I work with called Reality Check Inc. We were hosting a fundraiser called "Dancing with the NWA Stars" and had a "blogger mom", aka Kelly Stamps from Northwest Arkansas competing. Her blog has a massive following and the day she announced her help in our fundraiser our website had over 3,000 hits over night! Wow! So what if I treated taking other things that are important like I have my blogging? Like brushing my teeth, or taking a bath? That just wouldn't be right. So here is my commitment to this blog and those interesting in reading. I am marking off 15 minutes a day to blog about something that hopefully will bring value into your lives. It may be a laugh that you needed and can relate to or a challenge in my life we can discuss and glean from. So, hope you have a great night and enjoy!


*If you come across something of value you would like to share feel free to email me at undergrace3@gmail.com. I have twitter, etc and would love to connect in that way as well. I will figure out how to get that on my blog soon! =)