My friend Camille posted on Facebook not too long ago, if someone is thought to be special by a big group of people what is it that makes that person so special? That is a very interesting question. We all have friends, we all belong to groups of friends, and there is always that one person in the bunch that everyone seems to flock to. We see it in the work place, in our families and in our social interactions. I have been giving this a lot of thought as of late and I think that there are some characteristics that we may be able to agree on.
I think the first quality is that they are a friend. It is someone that always seems to be there when you need them whether it is to help you move into a new home, or sits up and talks to you all night when you break up with your significant other, stops you from doing something stupid. It is that person that no matter what time or distance seperates you always makes time for you no matter what you need.
I think the next quality is that it is someone who makes you laugh. No one likes to be around angry people. This person has a definite sense of humor. They have a well timed joke, a laugh that makes you feel good and can definitely laugh at there own expense. The humor is not malicious at all.
The next quality is loyalty. This is a person who will not abandon you when things are at there worse. When all the world turns against you that person is there next to you. The loyalty is not blind, they will also be the first person to tell you that you are wrong or screwed up.
Finally I think that what makes a person special to a group of people is that they make you feel good about yourself. Through their freindship and/or guidance you discover things about yourself, test and surpass your limitations, and helps you discover things about yourslef.
These are of course my opinions, but I think what makes a person special to a group of people is that person represents that best in you. Love me, hate me, everyone is entitled to my opinion!
Friday, November 22, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Crossroads
Call it a mini mid life crisis, call it confusion, call it what you will. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I actually have no idea of what I have done, or how I got to where I am. It is funny how one thinks that there is all this time in the world, that there are infinite possibilities. Perhaps there are and perhaps I can't see them like I once did. I do not know anymore.
I feel like there is something more for me, that I have not reached my full potential as of yet. I have ideas of where I want to be, what I want to be doing. I have had a good run with my career so far. 14 years, not bad for a job that was only supposed to last one night. I do not know what I am to become, I just know that this is not it.
I do envy those that seem to have it all figured out at a young age. I look at the many people I know that wanted to be doctors, lawyers and fire fighters and now are. They had a goal and they stopped at nothing until their dreams had been realized. Some studied a little bit harder, stayed up a little bit longer, pushed themselves a little further. I also pity them.
I pity them because they did not leave themselves open to anything else. They did not see the other options, they had tunnel vision with their eyes on a solitary prize. The problem is there is not just one prize in life. There are so many different outcomes and possibilities. Granted there are just as many wrong paths. That is life.
I feel that there is nothing left to discover, no new grand adventures. We live in a world where we have conquered all of the lands, sailed the entire ocean, we have written the great novel, painted great master pieces. We have developed many cures for disease, and we have built weapons that could destroy us all. What else is left? We have barely touched the stars, have not sailed to the ocean's depths, and find new stories to write. We continue to cure disease and find new ways to destroy each other. It all seems mundane and exciting.
I could be the leader of the free world, a surgeon, or a computer programmer. There are options. I appear to be limited only by my desire, my hopes and my dreams. I do not know what is in store for me, I just know that this is not it. Love me, hate me, everyone is entitled to my opinion.
I feel like there is something more for me, that I have not reached my full potential as of yet. I have ideas of where I want to be, what I want to be doing. I have had a good run with my career so far. 14 years, not bad for a job that was only supposed to last one night. I do not know what I am to become, I just know that this is not it.
I do envy those that seem to have it all figured out at a young age. I look at the many people I know that wanted to be doctors, lawyers and fire fighters and now are. They had a goal and they stopped at nothing until their dreams had been realized. Some studied a little bit harder, stayed up a little bit longer, pushed themselves a little further. I also pity them.
I pity them because they did not leave themselves open to anything else. They did not see the other options, they had tunnel vision with their eyes on a solitary prize. The problem is there is not just one prize in life. There are so many different outcomes and possibilities. Granted there are just as many wrong paths. That is life.
I feel that there is nothing left to discover, no new grand adventures. We live in a world where we have conquered all of the lands, sailed the entire ocean, we have written the great novel, painted great master pieces. We have developed many cures for disease, and we have built weapons that could destroy us all. What else is left? We have barely touched the stars, have not sailed to the ocean's depths, and find new stories to write. We continue to cure disease and find new ways to destroy each other. It all seems mundane and exciting.
I could be the leader of the free world, a surgeon, or a computer programmer. There are options. I appear to be limited only by my desire, my hopes and my dreams. I do not know what is in store for me, I just know that this is not it. Love me, hate me, everyone is entitled to my opinion.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
They Deserve More Than Our Thanks
I may be a bit partial having grown up as a military brat, but I feel that we in this country do not do enough to assist our veterans. Some of you will think that these people voluntarily sign up to do this job and at the end of the their service they move on to do a new job and that they don't deserve any more. How many other jobs does one sign up for that may require you to risk your life? These men and women may have signed up for the armed forces because they had no other option, but they give there all every day, wether it be peacetime or in times of conflict.
Everyone that enters the military is trained for combat first regardless of their job that they will do during their service. They are trained in physical fitness, marksmanship, and mental agility. After they complete boot camp they are given training in a particular job, anything from infantry, to medical to even nuclear. They are given training to perform in a military setting. Those who stay in when their service contract is completed do not have to worry, it is business as usual. The problem comes when those who leave the service adjust to the civilian world. We need to better prepare them for the transition, more importantly we need to make sure that there are jobs available for them as well.
23% of the homeless are veterans, including 33% of the male homeless population. Of the homeless veterans population, 97% are male and 70% suffer from substance abuse. What are the causes of this? The first is the transition to civilian life. If you look at the homeless veterans population, 47% were from the Vietnam era. When Vietnam veterans returned home, they returned home to scorn. They were outcasts, and what was worse they got a "thank you for your service, don't let the door hit you on the way out." They were trained for jungle combat. No one explained there GI benefits, no one explained what to do with their money, and no one said I have a job for you. As combat operations wind down if Iraq and Afghanistan, we have an opportunity to correct mistakes of the past, and an obligation to make sure that our service members transition to civilian life.
Jobless rates among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is nearly 13% compared to a national average among civilians of nealry 8%. Those that are 18-24 have a jobless rate of nearly 30%. Veterans are ideal employees. They understand teamwork. Veterans can excel under stressful situations. Finally veterans are proven leaders. We hire people right out of college for many entry level positions that they learned about in a classroom. Veterans typically had real world experience. Look at the infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan, much of that was built by US troops in a combat zone, they are the people we need fixing roads, bridges, and dams.
Finally, we also need to remember the families of our veterans. We send these troops into harms way, we ask them to leave there families behind for months at a time, we ask their families to struggle, and we do nothing to help. I don't know how many of us could do that. These families need help with daily necessities like shopping for food, child care, paying utility bills, covering rent and mortgages. These families also need help transitioning to when their loved ones return.
"On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free." --Dan Lipinski
Love me, hate me, everyone is entitled to my opinion!
Everyone that enters the military is trained for combat first regardless of their job that they will do during their service. They are trained in physical fitness, marksmanship, and mental agility. After they complete boot camp they are given training in a particular job, anything from infantry, to medical to even nuclear. They are given training to perform in a military setting. Those who stay in when their service contract is completed do not have to worry, it is business as usual. The problem comes when those who leave the service adjust to the civilian world. We need to better prepare them for the transition, more importantly we need to make sure that there are jobs available for them as well.
23% of the homeless are veterans, including 33% of the male homeless population. Of the homeless veterans population, 97% are male and 70% suffer from substance abuse. What are the causes of this? The first is the transition to civilian life. If you look at the homeless veterans population, 47% were from the Vietnam era. When Vietnam veterans returned home, they returned home to scorn. They were outcasts, and what was worse they got a "thank you for your service, don't let the door hit you on the way out." They were trained for jungle combat. No one explained there GI benefits, no one explained what to do with their money, and no one said I have a job for you. As combat operations wind down if Iraq and Afghanistan, we have an opportunity to correct mistakes of the past, and an obligation to make sure that our service members transition to civilian life.
Jobless rates among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is nearly 13% compared to a national average among civilians of nealry 8%. Those that are 18-24 have a jobless rate of nearly 30%. Veterans are ideal employees. They understand teamwork. Veterans can excel under stressful situations. Finally veterans are proven leaders. We hire people right out of college for many entry level positions that they learned about in a classroom. Veterans typically had real world experience. Look at the infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan, much of that was built by US troops in a combat zone, they are the people we need fixing roads, bridges, and dams.
Finally, we also need to remember the families of our veterans. We send these troops into harms way, we ask them to leave there families behind for months at a time, we ask their families to struggle, and we do nothing to help. I don't know how many of us could do that. These families need help with daily necessities like shopping for food, child care, paying utility bills, covering rent and mortgages. These families also need help transitioning to when their loved ones return.
"On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free." --Dan Lipinski
Love me, hate me, everyone is entitled to my opinion!
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