Learning from my first teacher and big sister.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
A Foundation of Politeness
Well after all these years I think I've learned a thing or two. One thing I've learned is that you never know what will happen next. That bit of knowledge usually keeps my mouth closed and my eyes and ears open, waiting. Sometimes I'm hesitant about sharing my knowledge because so many times I didn't know what was going to happen next and maybe I would be wrong.
I've learned that there's a way to combat not knowing what's going to happen next and that is by having a good foundation. Have a good foundation regarding your beliefs about yourself, others and the world. Know what works for you. Remember what you've seen or heard in the past.
With a good foundation you will always be prepared for what life throws at you. For example I have a good foundation regarding politeness and I've learned in most situations being polite works.
What foundations have you built your life on? What do you believe that supports you and dictates your actions? If you can't think of any, try politeness. That's a good place to start.
Thanks.
Michael
Learning from my first teacher and big sister.
Learning from my first teacher and big sister.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Monday, January 9, 2012
Bring Me Giants
“I feel too strong to war with mortals, bring me giants!” - Cyrano de Bergerac
Last week I went to the dentist for a root canal. I hate going to the dentist. I’m always looking for the “painless” dentist but have never found such a person. But my root canal was nearly painless and I think I know why.
Earlier in the year I made multiple trips to the orthodontist and the dentist to have a tooth extracted and an implant and crown put in its place. The procedure meant I would literally have a piece of metal screwed into my jawbone and later have it capped with a crown. Just thinking about it was painful for me.
The doctor was good and gentle. He talked me through the entire procedure and I didn’t have any real problems. My only problems were really in my head. The image of metal being screwed into my bones was just too much. The laughing gas and anesthesia minimized the physical pain but did nothing for the pain in my head.
Well like my older sister Becky used to tell me, “At least when you go to the dentist you know you’re going to come out alive. Its not life and death like serious surgery.” And once again, she was right.
Even with all the drama I produced in my own head, I didn’t die and it wasn’t “that” bad. So months later when I had to face getting a root canal, that procedure seemed to be less threatening. If I can handle getting an implant, a root canal would be a piece of cake. And it was.
I’ve noticed that my perspective plays a large role with other problems I’ve had to face. And I’ve learned how to use this knowledge to help me get through tough times.
For example a year ago my baby brother died after fighting leukemia for two years. It was tough watching him go through the final weeks in intensive care and later at the hospice center. It was tough watching him make life ending decisions, watching him have final words with his family and friends. It was tough speaking at his funeral and later visiting his grave site.
But as tough as it all was for me and others, we got through it. There were many tears and sleepless nights but with time things got easier. Its still tough but I’m getting through it.
Losing my brother is like getting that tooth implant. It makes all other problems seem so small when I compare them to what its been like for the past 3 years or more. It’s about perspective.
When I change my perspective I can thank my little brother for sharing with me experiences that will make my life easier in the future. When I change my perspective I can learn from past challenges. And most importantly, when I change my perspective the problems I have today seem small and trivial. I thank Jeff for that new perspective.
So I’m not saying I wish bad times on myself or anyone else. But I have learned that we can get something positive from every experience. Even going through sickness and pain with love ones can put minor problems like job issues, relationship ups and downs, money concerns and most everything else that happens into perspective.
My last few years have been tough but they’ve made me strong. That’s why I like the statement by Cyrano de Bergerac. Bring me giants. Give me big challenges. I’ve been through the tough times and I got stronger.
So I say, “Come on Life, shoot your best shot. I’m Jeffrey Brundy’s big brother. I come from strong stock. Let the problems come, let the giants come. I can handle it.”
“I feel too strong to war with mortals, bring me giants!”
Last week I went to the dentist for a root canal. I hate going to the dentist. I’m always looking for the “painless” dentist but have never found such a person. But my root canal was nearly painless and I think I know why.
Earlier in the year I made multiple trips to the orthodontist and the dentist to have a tooth extracted and an implant and crown put in its place. The procedure meant I would literally have a piece of metal screwed into my jawbone and later have it capped with a crown. Just thinking about it was painful for me.
The doctor was good and gentle. He talked me through the entire procedure and I didn’t have any real problems. My only problems were really in my head. The image of metal being screwed into my bones was just too much. The laughing gas and anesthesia minimized the physical pain but did nothing for the pain in my head.
Well like my older sister Becky used to tell me, “At least when you go to the dentist you know you’re going to come out alive. Its not life and death like serious surgery.” And once again, she was right.
Even with all the drama I produced in my own head, I didn’t die and it wasn’t “that” bad. So months later when I had to face getting a root canal, that procedure seemed to be less threatening. If I can handle getting an implant, a root canal would be a piece of cake. And it was.
I’ve noticed that my perspective plays a large role with other problems I’ve had to face. And I’ve learned how to use this knowledge to help me get through tough times.
For example a year ago my baby brother died after fighting leukemia for two years. It was tough watching him go through the final weeks in intensive care and later at the hospice center. It was tough watching him make life ending decisions, watching him have final words with his family and friends. It was tough speaking at his funeral and later visiting his grave site.
But as tough as it all was for me and others, we got through it. There were many tears and sleepless nights but with time things got easier. Its still tough but I’m getting through it.
Losing my brother is like getting that tooth implant. It makes all other problems seem so small when I compare them to what its been like for the past 3 years or more. It’s about perspective.
When I change my perspective I can thank my little brother for sharing with me experiences that will make my life easier in the future. When I change my perspective I can learn from past challenges. And most importantly, when I change my perspective the problems I have today seem small and trivial. I thank Jeff for that new perspective.
So I’m not saying I wish bad times on myself or anyone else. But I have learned that we can get something positive from every experience. Even going through sickness and pain with love ones can put minor problems like job issues, relationship ups and downs, money concerns and most everything else that happens into perspective.
My last few years have been tough but they’ve made me strong. That’s why I like the statement by Cyrano de Bergerac. Bring me giants. Give me big challenges. I’ve been through the tough times and I got stronger.
So I say, “Come on Life, shoot your best shot. I’m Jeffrey Brundy’s big brother. I come from strong stock. Let the problems come, let the giants come. I can handle it.”
“I feel too strong to war with mortals, bring me giants!”
Saturday, January 7, 2012
What's So Good About Getting Older?
I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself.
I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car?
But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become.
I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).
I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car?
But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become.
I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Tough Times
Tough Times
In 1975 I graduated from college. I didn’t know it then but the country was in the worse recession since World War II. When I look back its interesting how things have changed and remained the same.
I had just experienced all of the changes of the 1960s and was ready to grow up. But when I graduated from high school, even though there were more opportunities due to the civil rights movement, the choices were pretty much like today. You could go to work. But there were very few jobs. You could volunteer to go to the war (sign up for the armed services) or go to college. If you failed to get a job, maintain a 2.0 GPA in college, or got arrested, you were drafted and you went to the war. We had a different connection with society back then.
I remember that unemployment was at nearly 9% in the 1970s, and they were teaching us at college that 4% unemployment was normal and a good rate for the economy. I remember learning that it is the mix of taxes and interest rates that could determine the tolerable amount of unemployment. And 4% unemployment meant we had the proper mix of interest rates and taxes.
But with 9% unemployment not 4%, very few of my college friends left college with a great job in their chosen field. I ended up with a Social Science degree ready to help save the world but working in retail at a mall in Joplin, Mo. instead. This was sure not what I went to college for but at least I hadn’t died or been maimed in the war like so many others. These were not easy times.
Between 1973 and 1975 the prime interest rate hovered between 8.4% and 11.2%. As a college student this didn’t mean much to me. When I was in college there were no credit card companies throwing credit at unsuspecting students. Plastic cash, as we called it back then, was just a dream. ATMs hadn’t even been thought of. Instead we could look forward to going to the local savings and loan companies to borrow money at up to 20% interest rates.
In the 1980s and 1990s, 747 out of 3,234 savings and loans went out of business. In the 1960s savings and loans, known as “thrifts” started a ratings increase war that resulted in Congress regulating the rates they could pay on savings accounts. Thrifts are where most people would go for their savings, their mortgage, their car loan and their personal loans. Because of these new regulations people would move their money from the thrifts to investments where they could get a better return. Consequently, the “thrifts”, looking to maintain their profits came up with “creative” loans. By the 1970s the combination of loans, high interest rates and high inflation were too much resulting in the savings and loan crisis.
The savings and loans companies had to be bailed out at a cost of $87.9 billion. This seems like chump change compared to the bailouts of 2008 and 2009. But that bailout along with other factors like a big military build up lead to big federal deficits. (I challenge you not to take my brief historical explanation as the gospel. Check history and learn for yourself. And as a tease, see if you can name the member of the Bush family involved in the savings and loans crisis.) These were some sober economic times.
Just like today, U.S. foreign policy was casuing us many problems back home. As a young person trying to get started in the midst of the oil crisis and the hostage crisis, had to be just as difficult as it is for young folks today.
I remember having to get up before sun up just to get in line to get gas. Then because chivalry was still alive and well, I had to take my girlfriend's car to the gas station and stand in line some more. Those long lines and increases in prices were a shock.
Not just gas prices were increasing but due to inflation all prices were increasing. The price increases then were more devasting to my budget than any are now. Plus, I remember shortages of sugar, peanuts, and other foods just when I was having to buy all my own food. Then it was a fact that prices always went up. It was nothing like how we think today - that the prices will go down as the technology is accepted by more people.
Luxuries that my nieces and nephews enjoy now - like having your own car, flying anywhere, having a wardrobe versus just having some clothes, being able to rely on parents who have extra money, and the other extravagances that older folks think young folks take for grant - were unimaginable to me in the 1970s and early ‘80s.
As a result of happenings in the 50s, the 60s and the 70s, the late 1980s and 1990s were some good times.
With the beginning of President Regan’s term the hostages came home. The country built up the military, resulting in jobs, prosperity and less hassles from foreign countries. Even the Berlin wall came down and the cold war ended. It’s amazing how much of our consciousness the cold war occupied and now we don’t give it a thought. Now we do business with countries like Vietnam and Russia, sworn enemies.
By the time we completed President Clinton’s terms we had gotten used to peace and prosperity. But some how we forgot about the children of the hostage takers in Iran who now terrify us. We seemed to have forgotten that we all must be committed if we are threatened from the outside. We have to pay in taxes and with our lives. To me that means we should have the draft so everyone participates. Believe me things look different when you may have to die. We seem to forget so much of our history.
We really did have some difficult times when I was a young adult but we had some great propsperous times too. Blacks, women, gays and a host of others gained rights that nowdays we can’t imagine not sharing with everyone. We are concerned about the enviornment, animals and other people in a way that wasn’t thought of when I was a kid.
The Life Lesson
I have finally gotten old enough to be able to look back and see the cycles and I can say this too shall pass. And that’s the life lesson in this review of history.
I want young people to know that each generation faces it’s challenges. Each generation has it’s ups and downs. Just like you may be having it rough now, you will have some good times in your future. If you can just hold on to that hope and keep doing what you need to do to get from one day to the next, you will see that things do improve.
Life is ultimately good. It always flows forward, never backward and always toward good. The tough part is to hold on with faith during the tough times. But know that tough times don’t last, but tough people do.
Americans - we’re tough people. Hold on.
In 1975 I graduated from college. I didn’t know it then but the country was in the worse recession since World War II. When I look back its interesting how things have changed and remained the same.
I had just experienced all of the changes of the 1960s and was ready to grow up. But when I graduated from high school, even though there were more opportunities due to the civil rights movement, the choices were pretty much like today. You could go to work. But there were very few jobs. You could volunteer to go to the war (sign up for the armed services) or go to college. If you failed to get a job, maintain a 2.0 GPA in college, or got arrested, you were drafted and you went to the war. We had a different connection with society back then.
I remember that unemployment was at nearly 9% in the 1970s, and they were teaching us at college that 4% unemployment was normal and a good rate for the economy. I remember learning that it is the mix of taxes and interest rates that could determine the tolerable amount of unemployment. And 4% unemployment meant we had the proper mix of interest rates and taxes.
But with 9% unemployment not 4%, very few of my college friends left college with a great job in their chosen field. I ended up with a Social Science degree ready to help save the world but working in retail at a mall in Joplin, Mo. instead. This was sure not what I went to college for but at least I hadn’t died or been maimed in the war like so many others. These were not easy times.
Between 1973 and 1975 the prime interest rate hovered between 8.4% and 11.2%. As a college student this didn’t mean much to me. When I was in college there were no credit card companies throwing credit at unsuspecting students. Plastic cash, as we called it back then, was just a dream. ATMs hadn’t even been thought of. Instead we could look forward to going to the local savings and loan companies to borrow money at up to 20% interest rates.
In the 1980s and 1990s, 747 out of 3,234 savings and loans went out of business. In the 1960s savings and loans, known as “thrifts” started a ratings increase war that resulted in Congress regulating the rates they could pay on savings accounts. Thrifts are where most people would go for their savings, their mortgage, their car loan and their personal loans. Because of these new regulations people would move their money from the thrifts to investments where they could get a better return. Consequently, the “thrifts”, looking to maintain their profits came up with “creative” loans. By the 1970s the combination of loans, high interest rates and high inflation were too much resulting in the savings and loan crisis.
The savings and loans companies had to be bailed out at a cost of $87.9 billion. This seems like chump change compared to the bailouts of 2008 and 2009. But that bailout along with other factors like a big military build up lead to big federal deficits. (I challenge you not to take my brief historical explanation as the gospel. Check history and learn for yourself. And as a tease, see if you can name the member of the Bush family involved in the savings and loans crisis.) These were some sober economic times.
Just like today, U.S. foreign policy was casuing us many problems back home. As a young person trying to get started in the midst of the oil crisis and the hostage crisis, had to be just as difficult as it is for young folks today.
I remember having to get up before sun up just to get in line to get gas. Then because chivalry was still alive and well, I had to take my girlfriend's car to the gas station and stand in line some more. Those long lines and increases in prices were a shock.
Not just gas prices were increasing but due to inflation all prices were increasing. The price increases then were more devasting to my budget than any are now. Plus, I remember shortages of sugar, peanuts, and other foods just when I was having to buy all my own food. Then it was a fact that prices always went up. It was nothing like how we think today - that the prices will go down as the technology is accepted by more people.
Luxuries that my nieces and nephews enjoy now - like having your own car, flying anywhere, having a wardrobe versus just having some clothes, being able to rely on parents who have extra money, and the other extravagances that older folks think young folks take for grant - were unimaginable to me in the 1970s and early ‘80s.
As a result of happenings in the 50s, the 60s and the 70s, the late 1980s and 1990s were some good times.
With the beginning of President Regan’s term the hostages came home. The country built up the military, resulting in jobs, prosperity and less hassles from foreign countries. Even the Berlin wall came down and the cold war ended. It’s amazing how much of our consciousness the cold war occupied and now we don’t give it a thought. Now we do business with countries like Vietnam and Russia, sworn enemies.
By the time we completed President Clinton’s terms we had gotten used to peace and prosperity. But some how we forgot about the children of the hostage takers in Iran who now terrify us. We seemed to have forgotten that we all must be committed if we are threatened from the outside. We have to pay in taxes and with our lives. To me that means we should have the draft so everyone participates. Believe me things look different when you may have to die. We seem to forget so much of our history.
We really did have some difficult times when I was a young adult but we had some great propsperous times too. Blacks, women, gays and a host of others gained rights that nowdays we can’t imagine not sharing with everyone. We are concerned about the enviornment, animals and other people in a way that wasn’t thought of when I was a kid.
The Life Lesson
I have finally gotten old enough to be able to look back and see the cycles and I can say this too shall pass. And that’s the life lesson in this review of history.
I want young people to know that each generation faces it’s challenges. Each generation has it’s ups and downs. Just like you may be having it rough now, you will have some good times in your future. If you can just hold on to that hope and keep doing what you need to do to get from one day to the next, you will see that things do improve.
Life is ultimately good. It always flows forward, never backward and always toward good. The tough part is to hold on with faith during the tough times. But know that tough times don’t last, but tough people do.
Americans - we’re tough people. Hold on.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Tough Times
In 1975 I graduated from college. I didn't know it then but the country was in the worse recession since World War II. When I look back its interesting how things have changed and remained the same.
I had just experienced all of the changes of the 1960s and was ready to grow up. But when I graduated from high school, even though there were more opportunities due to the civil rights movement, the choices were pretty much like today. You could go to work. But there were very few jobs. You could volunteer to go to the war (sign up for the armed services) or go to college. If you failed to get a job, maintain a 2.0 GPA in college, or got arrested, you were drafted and you went to the war. We had a different connection with society back then.
I remember that unemployment was at nearly 9% in the 1970s, and they were teaching us at college that 4% unemployment was normal and a good rate for the economy. I remember learning that it is the mix of taxes and interest rates that could determine the tolerable amount of unemployment. And 4% unemployment meant we had the proper mix of interest rates and taxes.
But with 9% unemployment not 4%, very few of my college friends left college with a great job in their chosen field. I ended up with a Social Science degree ready to help save the world but working in retail at a mall in Joplin, Mo. instead. This was sure not what I went to college for but at least I hadn't died or been maimed in the war like so many others. These were not easy times.
Between 1973 and 1975 the prime interest rate hovered between 8.4% and 11.2%. As a college student this didn't mean much to me. When I was in college there were no credit card companies throwing credit at unsuspecting students. Plastic cash, as we called it back then, was just a dream. ATMs hadn't even been thought of. Instead we could look forward to going to the local savings and loan companies to borrow money at up to 20% interest rates.
In the 1980s and 1990s, 747 out of 3,234 savings and loans went out of business. In the 1960s savings and loans, known as "thrifts" started a ratings increase war that resulted in Congress regulating the rates they could pay on savings accounts. Thrifts are where most people would go for their savings, their mortgage, their car loan and their personal loans. Because of these new regulations people would move their money from the thrifts to investments where they could get a better return. Consequently, the "thrifts", looking to maintain their profits came up with "creative" loans. By the 1970s the combination of loans, high interest rates and high inflation were too much resulting in the savings and loan crisis.
The savings and loans companies had to be bailed out at a cost of $87.9 billion. This seems like chump change compared to the bailouts of 2008 and 2009. But that bailout along with other factors like a big military build up lead to big federal deficits. (I challenge you not to take my brief historical explanation as the gospel. Check history and learn for yourself. And as a tease, see if you can name the member of the Bush family involved in the savings and loans crisis.) These were some sober economic times.
Just like today, U.S. foreign policy was casuing us many problems back home. As a young person trying to get started in the midst of the oil crisis and the hostage crisis had to be just as difficult as it is for young folks today.
I remember having to get up before sun up just to get in line to get gas. Then because chivalry was still alive and well, I had to take my girlfriends car to the gas station and stand in line some more. Those long lines and increases in prices were a shock.
Not just gas prices were increasing but due to inflation all prices were increasing. The price increases then were more devasting to my budget than any are now. Plus, I remember shortages of sugar, peanuts, and other foods just when I was having to buy all my own food. Then it was a fact that prices always went up. It was nothing like how we think the prices will go down as the technology is accepted by more people.
Luxuries that my nieces and nephews enjoy now - like having your own car, flying anywhere, having a wardrobe versus just having some clothes, being able to rely on parents who have extra money, and the other extravagances that older folks think young folks take for granted - were unimaginable to me in the 1970s and early '80s.
As a result of happenings in the 50s, the 60s and the 70s, the late 1980s and 1990s were some good times.
With the beginning of President Regan's term the hostages came home. The country built up the military, resulting in jobs, prosperity and less hassles from foreign countries. Even the Berlin wall came down and the cold war ended. It's amazing how much of our consciousness the cold war occupied and now we don't give it a thought. Now we do business with countries like Vietnam and Russia, sworn enemies.
By the time we completed President Clinton's terms we had gotten used to peace and prosperity. But some how we forgot about the children of the hostage takers in Iran who now terrify us. We seemed to have forgotten that we all must be committed if we are threatened from the outside. We have to pay in taxes and with our lives. To me that means we should have the draft so everyone participates. Believe me things look different when you may have to die. We seem to forget so much of our history.
We really did have some difficult times when I was a young adult but we had some great propsperous times too. Blacks, women, gays and a host of others gained rights that nowdays we can't imagine not sharing with everyone. We are concerned about the enviornment, animals and other people in a way that wasn't thought of when I was a kid.
The Life Lesson
I have finally gotten old enough to be able to look back and see the cycles and I can say this too shall pass. And that's the life lesson in this review of history.
I want young people to know that each generation faces it's challenges. Each generation has it's ups and downs. Just like you may be having it rough now, you will have some good times in your future. If you can just hold on to that hope and keep doing what you need to do to get from one day to the next, you will see that things do improve.
Life is ultimately good. It always flows forward, never backward and always toward good. The tough part is to hold on with faith during the tough times. But know that tough times don't last, but tough people do.
Americans - we're tough people. Hold on.
I had just experienced all of the changes of the 1960s and was ready to grow up. But when I graduated from high school, even though there were more opportunities due to the civil rights movement, the choices were pretty much like today. You could go to work. But there were very few jobs. You could volunteer to go to the war (sign up for the armed services) or go to college. If you failed to get a job, maintain a 2.0 GPA in college, or got arrested, you were drafted and you went to the war. We had a different connection with society back then.
I remember that unemployment was at nearly 9% in the 1970s, and they were teaching us at college that 4% unemployment was normal and a good rate for the economy. I remember learning that it is the mix of taxes and interest rates that could determine the tolerable amount of unemployment. And 4% unemployment meant we had the proper mix of interest rates and taxes.
But with 9% unemployment not 4%, very few of my college friends left college with a great job in their chosen field. I ended up with a Social Science degree ready to help save the world but working in retail at a mall in Joplin, Mo. instead. This was sure not what I went to college for but at least I hadn't died or been maimed in the war like so many others. These were not easy times.
Between 1973 and 1975 the prime interest rate hovered between 8.4% and 11.2%. As a college student this didn't mean much to me. When I was in college there were no credit card companies throwing credit at unsuspecting students. Plastic cash, as we called it back then, was just a dream. ATMs hadn't even been thought of. Instead we could look forward to going to the local savings and loan companies to borrow money at up to 20% interest rates.
In the 1980s and 1990s, 747 out of 3,234 savings and loans went out of business. In the 1960s savings and loans, known as "thrifts" started a ratings increase war that resulted in Congress regulating the rates they could pay on savings accounts. Thrifts are where most people would go for their savings, their mortgage, their car loan and their personal loans. Because of these new regulations people would move their money from the thrifts to investments where they could get a better return. Consequently, the "thrifts", looking to maintain their profits came up with "creative" loans. By the 1970s the combination of loans, high interest rates and high inflation were too much resulting in the savings and loan crisis.
The savings and loans companies had to be bailed out at a cost of $87.9 billion. This seems like chump change compared to the bailouts of 2008 and 2009. But that bailout along with other factors like a big military build up lead to big federal deficits. (I challenge you not to take my brief historical explanation as the gospel. Check history and learn for yourself. And as a tease, see if you can name the member of the Bush family involved in the savings and loans crisis.) These were some sober economic times.
Just like today, U.S. foreign policy was casuing us many problems back home. As a young person trying to get started in the midst of the oil crisis and the hostage crisis had to be just as difficult as it is for young folks today.
I remember having to get up before sun up just to get in line to get gas. Then because chivalry was still alive and well, I had to take my girlfriends car to the gas station and stand in line some more. Those long lines and increases in prices were a shock.
Not just gas prices were increasing but due to inflation all prices were increasing. The price increases then were more devasting to my budget than any are now. Plus, I remember shortages of sugar, peanuts, and other foods just when I was having to buy all my own food. Then it was a fact that prices always went up. It was nothing like how we think the prices will go down as the technology is accepted by more people.
Luxuries that my nieces and nephews enjoy now - like having your own car, flying anywhere, having a wardrobe versus just having some clothes, being able to rely on parents who have extra money, and the other extravagances that older folks think young folks take for granted - were unimaginable to me in the 1970s and early '80s.
As a result of happenings in the 50s, the 60s and the 70s, the late 1980s and 1990s were some good times.
With the beginning of President Regan's term the hostages came home. The country built up the military, resulting in jobs, prosperity and less hassles from foreign countries. Even the Berlin wall came down and the cold war ended. It's amazing how much of our consciousness the cold war occupied and now we don't give it a thought. Now we do business with countries like Vietnam and Russia, sworn enemies.
By the time we completed President Clinton's terms we had gotten used to peace and prosperity. But some how we forgot about the children of the hostage takers in Iran who now terrify us. We seemed to have forgotten that we all must be committed if we are threatened from the outside. We have to pay in taxes and with our lives. To me that means we should have the draft so everyone participates. Believe me things look different when you may have to die. We seem to forget so much of our history.
We really did have some difficult times when I was a young adult but we had some great propsperous times too. Blacks, women, gays and a host of others gained rights that nowdays we can't imagine not sharing with everyone. We are concerned about the enviornment, animals and other people in a way that wasn't thought of when I was a kid.
The Life Lesson
I have finally gotten old enough to be able to look back and see the cycles and I can say this too shall pass. And that's the life lesson in this review of history.
I want young people to know that each generation faces it's challenges. Each generation has it's ups and downs. Just like you may be having it rough now, you will have some good times in your future. If you can just hold on to that hope and keep doing what you need to do to get from one day to the next, you will see that things do improve.
Life is ultimately good. It always flows forward, never backward and always toward good. The tough part is to hold on with faith during the tough times. But know that tough times don't last, but tough people do.
Americans - we're tough people. Hold on.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Love Life
Love Life
I have found if you love life, life will love you back. I accept life unconditionally. Life holds so much - so much to be happy about always. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can be felt only if you don't set conditions. - Arthur Rubinstein
Tips for an Exceptional, Superb & Powerful Life!
1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate antidepressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a TiVo (DVR) and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning , complete the following statement:
"My purpose today is to..............................."
5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Watch more movies, play more games, and read more books than you did last year.
7. Make time to exercise, practice meditation, do yoga.
8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts, or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class......but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed-out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. Go on and burn those "special" scented candles, use the 600 thread count sheets, the good china, and wear your fancy lingerie or clothes now. Stop waiting for a special occasion. Everyday is special.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time!
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch with them.
32. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
33. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
34. The best is yet to come.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. Do the right thing!
37. Call your family often.
38. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
- "I am thankful for ........................." "Today I accomplished ........................... "
39. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
40. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it.
Sincerely,
Michael Brundy
I Speak!
I have found if you love life, life will love you back. I accept life unconditionally. Life holds so much - so much to be happy about always. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can be felt only if you don't set conditions. - Arthur Rubinstein
Tips for an Exceptional, Superb & Powerful Life!
1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate antidepressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a TiVo (DVR) and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning , complete the following statement:
"My purpose today is to..............................."
5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6. Watch more movies, play more games, and read more books than you did last year.
7. Make time to exercise, practice meditation, do yoga.
8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts, or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class......but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed-out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. Go on and burn those "special" scented candles, use the 600 thread count sheets, the good china, and wear your fancy lingerie or clothes now. Stop waiting for a special occasion. Everyday is special.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time!
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch with them.
32. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
33. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
34. The best is yet to come.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. Do the right thing!
37. Call your family often.
38. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
- "I am thankful for ........................." "Today I accomplished ........................... "
39. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
40. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it.
Sincerely,
Michael Brundy
I Speak!
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