Tag Archives: motivation

How Often Do You Eat Dinner with Your Family?

Posted on by
2

Could you use a little more connection, love, or understanding?  If so, it could be as close as your kitchen table and a family meal.  Want to get closer to your teens?  The family dinner might be the place to start.  While some say the family dinner is dying out,  a Time Magazine article says it is coming back. Think back to your past, the family dinner was one of the few rituals that a family could count on.  It was a time when the children knew they had the undivided attention of their parents and siblings to share or consult about issues going on in their lives.  Unfortunately, research shows that the institution of a family dinner is dying.  I know personally, we have a lot less dinners together now that we did years ago.  I got tired of cooking after 40 years of preparing meals for my family.  But, after reading the articles linked to this post, I’m rethinking the whole  thing.  I realize that I am not the only one who can cook.  I spoke with my family and we’ve promised to take turns cooking and bring the family dinner back. I like that!

Let’s Do Our Own Research

So which is it; is it dying out or coming back?  What about you; Do you have regular family dinners?  I mean dinners where you are all seated at the same table at the same time, with no phones and no TV on? Do you talk to each other and if you do, do you have meaningful conversations?  What do you remember about family dinners growing up, the cooking, eating,  and then cleaning up together? Please post your reply to the question: Do you still have family dinners?  How often? Do you miss them?

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

Humans Are Essentially Conscious Thinking Beings

Posted on by
3

We are conscious beings capable of discerning truth and creating a reality that supports the health, well-being, and survival of all.  But, to do that we must independently investigate truth for ourselves.  We must be open-minded seekers of truth.  Hopefully, more and more people will begin to question reality instead of just blindly following the leader.  And, if we are to follow someone, then we must demand that they are virtuous visionaries who are honest and trustworthy. Far too many follow those who are arrogant, prideful, and competitive and who value money, power, and prestige over justice and fairness.  That is why our trust is waning in so many of our once trusted institutions.  We are now realizing that they are run by fallible human beings whose value systems may be contrary to our own. Humans are essentially conscious thinking beings. When we refuse to think, we forfeit our noble advantage and become less than the animals.

Our Intellect Makes Us Superior to Animals

It is our intelligence and  capacity to think that separates us from the animal.  When we don’t use our mind, we are no different from the animals.  In fact, when compared to animals excluding our thought power we are inferior.  In all the senses which we share, there is some animal specie that surpasses humans.  Birds can see further, cheetahs can run faster, dogs and hear further, etc.  Only our rational minds separate us.  Only our minds make us superior.  Let’s commit to catering to our strengths, and that is our thoughts.  Let’s commit individually to think more often and about more important things.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

Joseph P. Overton: Character for a Free Society | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty

Posted on by
Reply

One of Martin Luther King Jr’s most well-known quotes was, “Judge me not by the color of my skin, but by the content of my character.”  While doing some research on Martin Luther King Jr’s March on Washington, I came across an article in the NY Times article discussing the event and asking for support.  There was a list of people on the article supporting the march.  I decided to randomly google one of the names ‘L Joseph Overton’ and came across this wonderful article (which isn’t the same person).  An excerpt is below.

“The world needs more men who do not have a price at which they can be bought; who do not borrow from integrity to pay for expediency; who have their priorities straight and in proper order; whose handshake is an ironclad contract; who are not afraid of taking risks to advance what is right; and who are honest in small matters as they are in large ones.

The world needs more men whose ambitions are big enough to include others; who know how to win with grace and lose with dignity; who do not believe that shrewdness and cunning and ruthlessness are the three keys to success; who still have friends they made twenty years ago; who put principle and consistency above politics or personal advancement; and who are not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion.

The world needs more men who do not forsake what is right just to get consensus because it makes them look good; who know how important it is to lead by example, not by barking orders; who would not have you do something they would not do themselves; who work to turn even the most adverse circumstances into opportunities to learn and improve; and who love even those who have done some injustice or unfairness to them. The world, in other words, needs more true leaders. More to the point, the world needs more Joe Overtons.”

via Joseph P. Overton: Character for a Free Society | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty.

Can You Believe that We Believed That?

Posted on by
1

Majority Acceptance Does Not Equal Truth

Centuries ago people generally accepted without question and as “fact” that the earth was flat.  Everyone now but a few know that this is not true and finds it preposterous that people once believed that.  Even more egregious, was the fact that the majority of people in the United States accepted that blacks should be treated as property and counted as three-fifths of a human in the constitution.

Race is merely a social construct.

Race was invented but nevertheless, people  readily accepted the concept that there was more than one human race.  People were divided by the color of their skin and racist systems were devised to keep the lie perpetuating.  When the human genome was decoded in 2000, scientists discovered that over 99.9% of our DNA is identical and that everyone alive today is related.

These are just a couple of examples, but everyday we are faced with misinformation, propaganda, and advertising that is trying to convince us of some “constructed truth.”  Usually they use fear to help make the case and many of us take the bait, hook, line, and sinker.  Don’t be duped.  Use the internet, check out multiple sources, have intelligent dialog with others, and check out “facts” before you repeat them.  This is our time; we are not the past and we are not the future.  With hindsight we can look back on people of the past with disdain, however unless we are alert, we are creating similar glaring and obvious dis-beliefs to boggle future societies.  Will they look back on us and say, “Can you believe they allowed people to convince them that….?”

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

Dr. Martin Luther King on Hope

Posted on by
Reply

Dr. King’s life was dedicated to uplifting his fellow-man, the downtrodden, the poor, the hopeless, and the forgotten.  In Trumpet of Conscience, Dr. King reflected on hope, “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose the courage to be, the quality that helps you to go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”

This year the economic situation is taking center stage.  Young people fresh out of college are trying to find jobs and mature adults laid off from their once secure jobs are having trouble finding (any) job and especially ones commensurate with their former income.  Two years ago this time our minds were on the catastrophic devastation in  Haiti.  (Note: Please don’t forget about them; they still need our help!) Last year it is on the senseless Arizona killings and the worsening respect for our public officials and for life itself.  This coupled with massive job layoffs, increasing numbers of people facing life altering health challenges, and those with jobs facing furloughs or no pay raises makes the need to pull together and help each other even more critical.  People are hurting.  United we stand and divided we fall.  We cannot let our fellow brothers and sisters lose hope and we can’t lose hope either.

Keep Hope Alive

We’ve got to do what we can to “keep hope alive.”  Not only for those in our families that are facing challenges, but also for the jobless, homeless, and hopeless people everywhere.  Reflect on the time in which Dr. King lived and how he responded to difficulties.  In spite of everything he endured, the hoses and attack dogs, his home bombed, being spit on, jailed, ridiculed, and threatened with death, he still had hope and faith.   You may not think that you have enough to share, but what the world needs now is love, encouragement, hope, and perhaps a big smile.  Now I know those things won’t pay the bills,  but they can perhaps lift someone’s spirit and help them get through that day. You never know when you might need a little encouragement.  Perhaps a smile might be just what you need to make it through a day.  Dr. King never gave up on his dream and fought for it until his dying breath.  So, don’t give up on your dream either and when you feel like giving up, remember Martin.

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out What does Barbara do? or visit  my website.