speaking with your wallet

As an expression of protest or disfavor with products, services, policies, or organizations, boycotts can accomplish a lot.  Usually the things I write about here are positive ones - suggestions about doing various things that will make a difference.  Sometimes though, simply NOT doing something can make a difference.  Not eating in a certain restaurant or not shopping in certain stores or not buying certain products can speak volumes.

 

A personal boycott might not do much, especially if nobody realizes you are boycotting.  There is always more strength in numbers and it is more helpful when you let it be known that you are protesting a particular policy or program or whatever your reason for the boycott might be.

 

For a long time I refused to go to a certain restaurant where I had been treated very badly.  On principle I of course should not go back there unless there is some kind of apology and amendment of policy, but by personal boycott wasn't making them change - they didn't even know I was boycotting.  When I finally realized this, it became clear that I also needed to communicate the problem that had occurred and to involve others.

 

If I disagree with the actions a company takes, whether they are small or huge, it makes no sense for me to give them my money.  It makes no sense for anyone to give them their money!  This is when we should be speaking with our wallets.  If an organization is anti-gay or anti-women or if it is racist or if it bullies or any number of other things that I disagree with, I boycott.  I urge you to be informed and to let your wallets do the talking too!

Flowerful days

Who can look at a colorful bunch of flowers and not be happy?  There is something very cheery about the image whether it is in a cut floral arrangement or a garden in back of our house or a pretty planting by the side of the street we are walking on.  Flowers are happy images.

 

I'll bet you cannot tell me every place where there is a flower between your home and your workplace.  Can you think where the closest garden is to where you are right now?  How about a florist - do you know where there is one?  Even our parks are places where there are beautiful flowers and plants for us to enjoy.

 

If you are at a reception or at a church service or at a funeral or a wedding, do you notice the flowers that might be around you?  People place them there for a reason.  Flowers brighten up our lives!  Take notice of them and be happy.

Working Together to Prevent Suicide

We hear about the death of a favorite performer and then hear that they died at their own hand.  A friend or relative dies suddenly and there are whispers that he took his life, but shh don't talk about it.  Well we need to talk about it and that is what today is about.

An estimated one million people per year die by suicide or about one person in 10,000.  Suicide rates in the United States have risen nearly 30 percent since 1999 according to the Centers For Disease Control.  The CDC also says that nearly 45,000 people in the US died by suicide in 2016. (Numbers for last year are incomplete).

Every September, the month is used to focus on prevention and awareness and World Suicide Prevention Day is a special awareness day observed on September 10th every year.  It should not just be when a friend or famous person dies.  We need to remember that it can happen any time to any person.  Think about those numbers.  We can get them lower, but we need to focus on it and we need to care about it.  Human beings can do anything.  This year's theme, "Working Together to Prevent Suicide," really says it all.  We need to work together.

 

Putting an end to hate and bullying is a great place to start.  Openly talking about our feelings is important too.  Nobody should ever feel like they are alone.  Reach out.  Be present.  Get involved.  Talk to professionals.  Find out other ways to help from The Trevor Project at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ and take note of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline HERE.

Before you kick it

 

I've always felt that having goals is a good thing. Lately I hear more and more people talk about their bucket lists. Are they really such a good idea though? Some people say we are rushing death (the term "bucket list" coming from kicking the bucket, a popular expression meaning to die) and others say we are creating lists with difficult to fill ideas. I'm thinking though that having defined goals, can't be a bad thing.

Some folks list very simple things and some come right out of a thrill-seekers guide. What about you though - are there places you would really like to visit or people you want to meet of see perform or maybe some special things you want to do?  How about this:  don't just make a list, but include other folks.  There are organizations that help fulfill the wishes of dying people, but how about if we all did something really special before someone else passed away - a shared bucket list if you will.  I think I could really get behind that idea!

So how many of you think that is a good idea? How many of you have a bucket list of any kind? Before you kick the bucket, is there something special you want to do for others?

more ways to brighten the day

Remember those lists we have begun here before?  Well let's see what else we can add to make a difference in the lives of others. In no particular order, here are a number of additional ideas. 

 

Give another driver your parking spot.  Give your full attention to someone in need and simply listen.  Stop by a nursing home, and visit someone who has no family nearby.  Have a clean-up party in the park.  Bring coworkers a special treat.  Buy cold drinks for the people next to you at a ball game.  Spend some time serving food at a meal program for the needy.  Volunteer to be a tutor in a school.  Remember the bereaved with phone calls, cards, plants, and food.

 

Volunteer to read to kids in the library.  Donate time at a senior center.  Give a pair of tickets to a concert or baseball game to a stranger.  Send a gift anonymously to a friend.  Transport someone who can’t drive.  Make telephone calls in support of equality urging others to put aside hate.  Send a treat to a school or day-care center.  Volunteer at an organization that needs help.  Go through your closets and find several nice items and then donate them to a shelter.  Buy books for a day care or school.  Give toys to the children at a shelter.  Volunteer to fix up an elderly couple’s home.

Invite someone new for dinner, either in your home or in a restaurant. Say nice things randomly to facebook and twitter friends.  Buy some bottles of water and randomly hand them out to strangers on the street.  Drop off a plant or a plate of cookies to your nearby police or fire station.  Clean graffiti from neighborhood walls and buildings.  Buy a stranger a free pizza.  Mow a neighbor’s grass or sweep a neighbor’s walk.  Offer to return a shopping cart to the store for someone loading a car.

Pay for the person behind you in the movie line.  Tell your parents/children why you love them.  Make a point of finding the name of a supermarket or drugstore employee and then praise him/her through that company’s corporate office.  When drivers try to merge into your lane, let them in with a wave and a smile.  Tell your boss that you think he/she does a good job.  Give blood.  Treat someone to fresh fruit.  Sing at a nursing home. 

 

Let's let this list keep on growing!

 

Hooray for Colin

Yesterday Nike announced that they will make Colin Kaepernick the face of their "Just Do It" 30th anniversary campaign and while I joined in the cheering of many, there were also the crazies who once again felt the need to tear down Mr Kaepernick.  I don't get it.  The man is a hero - I have said that before right here. 

 

For those who still think that Colin Kaepernick dislikes this country, it's flag, or the military, let me share with you once again his own words:  "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color." He went on saying "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

 

There have already been protests against Nike and against Colin and folks showing pictures of coffins and cemeteries saying "This is what a real hero looks like."  Seriously?  Some think you have to be dead to be a hero?  Folks there is no cookie-cutter type hero out there.  How wonderful it is that they don't all have to be the same!  A hero though is someone who makes a difference for the better, and that certainly is the case for Colin Kaepernick.  To quote Jason Chu's song Marvels,  "We become heroes because of what makes us human."

 

When I see pictures of Colin looking into the face of his mother Teresa, I see love.  When I see Colin kneeling on the sidelines, I see love.  When I see Colin on stage speaking to children, I see love.  This is not a man who hates his country.  This is a man who loves his country that he wants to make it better.  He has already done so much.  Listen to him my friends.  Cheer him on and join him.