THE RIGHT TO STAND UP FOR ONE BELIEVES

     I've been looking at Facebook and all of the comments about the NFL and kneeling during the presentation of the colors. There are many different postings concerning this so I decided to add my feelings to those others in my blog.
     I believe in standing, having my hand over my heart, and singing "The Stars Spangled Banner" and/or reciting the Pledge of allegiance when the flag of the United States is presented. However, I respect other's rights to not do so.
     The thing that I find so interesting, is that these football players were respectful in their protest. I didn't see any of them swinging posters, using microphones to be able to be heard, using guns to show their strength. I didn't see any fighting  because of a disagreement with those not kneeling. I didn't see policemen being called in, dressed in their combat uniforms, swinging billy clubs and spraying participants with pepper spray, because that wasn't necessary. I didn't see anyone breaking windows on shop windows, turning cars upside down, starting fires on police cars, and being hauled off to jail. From what I could see, there was no shouting or shoving or trying to get anyone else to do what they were doing.
     Are we so enamored in violence that we have to criticize a peaceful demonstration? Do we want to create violence by insisting that all players by fired, that we put up protests outside of the playing field?.
     Maybe we all need to take a step back and think about our reaction to this. Are we being drawn into a crowd mentality wanting more action, more excitement, more deaths, more media coverage? Is social media helping to incite these types of feelings? Are people in authority helping to incite these destructive behaviors?
     I respect everyone's right to their opinion, even if it differs from mine. I respect their right to protest and I especially admire those who protest peacefully.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

          Ah, that time again when we make our new year’s resolutions. By this time in January I’m usually breaking most of mine anyway. But it is fun to listen as people talk about what they are going to do. The most common resolution seems to be that of losing weight. Yes, I’ve had it on my list for many years, until I quit making resolutions that is.

It seems to me though that the week after Christmas would probably be a good time to implement that goal whether as a New Year’s resolution of just a goal. We personally get so many gifts of candy, cookies, cakes, and nuts at Christmas time, that I can’t resist them. I’ve tried to hide them but that doesn’t work because I know where they are hidden. Leaving them out makes them a bigger temptations.  And I love to get them at Christmas time because I’ve never been one to make candy. Tried it a few times and failed.

So I’ve been listening to others as they discuss their resolutions, especially losing weight and thought I would share some thoughts. It seems there are a lot of ideas of how to lose weight from impossible to starvation. These include:

·         Grow taller. This will spread the weight further. Now if we only knew how to do this I think it would work. Just two or three inches for me would definitely diminish the need to cut out chocolate and desserts.

·         Be aware of the foods that you eat. I think this might be one that I can work on. I hereby resolve to not eat any meat from animals that have been given growth stimulating hormones. Because we are ranchers and sell a lot of our calves to feed lots, we are aware that growth stimulating hormones are given often to increase the weight quickly on animals. I wonder if that hormone works with humans when we eat the meat of the animals that have been given it. Sure sounds reasonable to me. We don’t use this hormone with our animals so when we take one to be butchered I know it doesn’t have any residue of growth stimulants in it. I will have to watch labels and do some research for any meat I purchase.

·         Be aware of other products which I use. I listened to a conversation the other day that got me thinking. These women were talking about their favorite shampoo that “adds body.” Now if I didn’t wash my hair when I showered I probably wouldn’t be concerned, but the shampoo runs down my entire body when I wash and rinse my hair that way. AND I certainly don’t need to “add body” to my body. I will definitely read labels more closely when I buy shampoo from now on! And I think I will check lotions and creams too.

·         Calorie counting is supposed to work but it never has for me. I always figured that calories were a measure of heat, so if I eat my food cold there shouldn’t be any calories. Apparently I’m wrong on that assumption.

·         There are always weight loss groups you can join but a few years ago I did join one such group that must have been a fly-by-night bunch because it folded up before I finished the time I had paid for. And of course I didn’t get any money back from them. However, I did get the weight back that I lost. I don’t think that was a real selling point of that group.

There are other resolutions that are just as challenging to me to work on: get organized; keep up with the bookwork for the farm; keep a journal; face each day as a joy not a challenge; and lots more

I know we all go through something similar to this goal setting this time of the year. You know that every morning is a “new beginning.” So I don’t think we need to feel like we fail if we can’t follow through on yearly goals. Daily goals and resolutions are going to be my aim for this New Year. We’ll see how that works.