"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Let’s talk about moods and attitudes. Unless you have a chemical imbalance, they are pretty much in

your control. After puberty, anything less than a neutral mood is unprofessional, immature and certainly not any fun for those around you, so look for the sunshine and blow those black clouds away!

 

Pardon the quick, however, relevant transition. 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox is one of my all-time favorite poets. Probably this generation needs to be introduced to her. She is the one who wrote “Solitude” a much quoted poem by past generations.

Ella spent time with the troops in Europe during WW1, encouraging and uplifting them with her poetry.

Here is:

                                                                                Solitude       

Laugh and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;

Sigh, and its lost in the air,

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;

Grieve, and they turn and go.

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;

Be sad, and you lose them all-

There are none to decline your nectar’d wine,

But alone you must drink life’s gall

Feast, and your halls are crowded

Fast, and the world goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure

For a large and lordly train,

But one by one we must all file on

Through the narrow aisles of pain.

When I started, I wanted to choose something uplifting, then I realized that this is merely a dose of reality.

Reality is good. I’ll try to uplift you next time...or not.

G’Day,

Raintree

"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton

 

Barraged with political ads before election time, I am as bummed as anybody.Our government system is broken. Regular citizens like you and me, once disgruntled risk slipping into apathy, because we feel that there is nothing we can do to change it.That is mostly true, if we throw up our hands and give up. That is not our tradition!Did the colonists give up? They did not!

By the time the British were coming to put the colonists in their place, Paul Revere rode from town to town yelling the alert, "The British are coming. The British are coming." Our early Americans rose to the challenge and rallied and as you know, despite great odds prevailed! God bless our forebears who stood up and fought for our liberty. Had they not, I wouldn't be writing this.

We have a new "King" to defeat: our upper echelon of elected officials, especially, but not limited to Congress. As oppressive as King George was, our Oligarchy (ruled by the few) that pretends to be Democracy is King and we seem to have few recourses. Corporations and their representatives (Lobbyists), the rich and the powerful decide who will write the laws and what the laws will be.

What does it take to be a representative or senator?

1. Good communication skills; reading,writing,speaking.

2. Good problem solving skills and

3. Good negotiation and compromising skills.

4. Compassion for and empathy with the American people.

We do not need lawyers writing laws so that only lawyers can interpret said laws. That is clearly a conflict of interest and a threat to "...and justice for all."

One solution might be: Term limits for starters! I have heard the argument that Congressmen get more skilled with experience. Really?! Any thinking person can see that they are dead- locked a lot and they give themselves pay raises while we have hunger and homelessness in our streets and working Americans living paycheck to paycheck barely eking out a living acquiring credit card debt just to get by.

How can we take back our power? One small suggestion: Vote against incumbents! Think of the resources saved in media alone. Everyone from the president on down; one term (6 years?) No need to campaign for re-election and the sweetest part is we the people don't have to witness the dirty mudslinging. Wouldn't that be a relief?!

Just say NO! to the Status Quo because it is not fun for the majority of citizens anymore. Can we agree?