October 26, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

How to Enrich Your Life

If you find that life is flat,
Full of this and none of that,
Try giving!
Introspection makes it flatter;
Things all tend to make a quitter—-
Try giving!
If the world is dark and bitter;
Things all tend to make a quitter—
Try giving!
Forgot yourself in helping others;
Know that all men and women are your brothers and sisters,
You will see then life is sweeter
Than you thought, and far completer—
When you give.

—— Margaret Gordon Kuhlman.

I realize that for many giving to others is not something some people are comfortable with. Then there are others who give in a gracious way. During the most painful and saddest times in my life; doing good for others has taken the pain and translated it into healing actions for others. I started giving to others about 45 years ago. The surprise is that others gave much more to me than I gave to them.

Giving doesn’t mean money. It actually is so easy for many to write a check. I recognize charities need these monies. But I am also talking about volunteering, standing by a friend or family member going through a difficult time. It is by sincerely listening to another’s story and responding with empathy. It is a comforting word, or a home cooked meal for someone who is ill.

If you ask Divinity what you can do, I guarantee it will come to you and you will find your life turning into an exciting and fulfilling life. An unimaginable life that you can embrace and live fully.

October 25, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Our Love Hate Relationship With Mother Earth

Our beloved Mother Earth

” I’m going to plant a heart in the earth
Water it with love from a vein
I’m going to praise it with the push of muscle
And care for it in the sound of all dimensions.
I’m going to leave a heart in the earth
So it may grow and flower
A heart that throbs with longing
That adores everything green
That will be strength and nourishment for birds
That will be the sap of plants and mountains.

—-Rosario Murillo

We have a great gift from the Universe. It is the planet upon which we stand. The crust of our earth is full of rich metals that formed billions of years ago. Is there a directive to use every single molecule for our own needs? I think not. I also realize that we have already injured Mother Earth with our mining, and stripping and building.

There is much discussion these days about drilling more, mining more, electing someone will allow everyone to do anything they want to get energy out of our planet. It is a temptation to want to create jobs and provide cheaper energy. So what is the problem?

Fracking, drilling, mining, and all of the methods used to procure the energy, do just that: give us accessible energy. So, energy voters and neighbors on Mother Earth, why do some abhor this use of Mother Earth? It is because we are harming this beautiful planet which sustains us. Earth is a living entity. She is as alive as you and I are. We cause her pain and injure her ability to heal herself. Some day we may do more damage than she is able to repair and in the future she will die.

If Mother Earth turns from a living breathing planet to a dead cold planet, what will that mean to the sentient beings who live here? We will all die with our planet. I see no benefits to this.

In the book Earth Prayers: The Passion of the Earth, Editors Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon remind us:

“While many of us are aware of the destruction taking place on our planet, it is difficult to integrate this knowledge into our daily life. What do we do when it is not a war that is killing us, but progress? When the problem is not the actions of an evil “other,” but ourselves? We fear the despair such information provokes. We don’t want to feel the grief over all that is lost, nor our own complicity in the damage. This denial of feeling takes a heave toll on us, impoverishing our sensory and emotional lives. Ultimately, it puts us out of touch with reality.

There is an historical tradition of prayer that foresees the ruination of the world because of human transgression. We find it in the Torah, we find it again in the prayers of Native Americans as they witnessed the destruction of their way of life by the European conquerors.

We are hearing it again now, as citizens from around the world express their fears and their grief at what is happening to the Earth.”

We have forgotten who we are.

We have sought only our own security

We have exploited simply for our own ends

We have distorted our knowledge

We have abused our power.

——-Aaron Kramer; U.N. Environmental Sabbath Program

Cuyahoga Falls, OH Photo by Barbara Mattio

Cuyahogua Falls, Ohio; Photo by Barbara Mattio

October 24, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Beautiful Blogger Award

A very gifted young lady has honored me by awarding me the Beautiful Blogger Award. Not only did she honor me in this manner but she also wrote some really flattering things about my blog. Pat is a very gifted and published writer and this truly makes this award so special! Pat also paints silks and makes beautiful handmade gifts. Please check this out and join me as being one of Tersia loyal blog-followers/ fans. http://tersiaburger.com/2012/10/24/beautiful-blogger-award-2/

Tersia thank you for this award. Thank you for all your heartfelt comments and loyal following of my blog.

You are truly a Beautiful Blogger.

Seven things about myself:

I have 9 grandchildren
I believe in every moment of life having meaning
I have a passion for shoes and purses
I love sunshine
I love beaches
I love mountains
I love artichokes

Now here is where I get to nominate other people:

I suggest you check out:

I do hope you will go and take a look at them. They really deserve their awards and your visit.

Thank you again Tersia for your kind nomination. I will do my best to be a Beautiful Blogger!

October 24, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Tea Party Slayer

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/10/battleground-dispatches-virginia-voters-eye-possible-defense-cuts.html

See Link Above – Sequestration a ‘Main Street’ Issue in Virginia

Virginia’s economy relies heavily on the Pentagon’s defense spending. Changing demographics would have put this state easily back in Obama’s column again, in my opinion. However, the threat of severe defense cuts via sequestration and Romney’s $2 trillion defense spending bait have given Romney a slight edge in the state.

However, Obama and Tim Kaine are fighting back there with the following argument: 1) The sequestration is less likely to happen under Obama than Romney because Obama can control the liberals; 2) Obama does not want to cut defense spending, he wants to keep it flat; while on the other hand Romney shoots unrealistic defense spending through the roof to the detriment of other needs; and 3) an increase in revenues from the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy can offset even more dramatic defense cuts.

I’ve also heard that…

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October 24, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

The World of Special Olympics

The following is a guest post in the form of an open letter from Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens to Ann Coulter after this tweet during last night’s Presidential debate.

Dear Ann Coulter,

Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult?

I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow. I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you. In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night.

I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child…

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October 24, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Tea Party Slayer

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/23/obama-navy-richard-danzig_n_2005201.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

See Link Above – Obama Was Right On Navy, Says Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig

BOCA RATON, Fla. — President Barack Obama’s “horses and bayonets” zinger, shooting down Mitt Romney’s concerns about the state of the Navy, may have drawn reproach from Republicans, who called it “petty” and “belittling.” But at least one former Navy secretary told The Huffington Post after Monday night’s foreign policy debate that Obama was right on the mark.
“I thought the president’s line was terrific,” said Richard Danzig, who served as secretary of the Navy for two years under President Bill Clinton. “You don’t measure efficacy by the number of ships. You measure it by your firepower, by the character of your people, the character of your equipment.”
During the Boca Raton debate, Romney repeated his campaign call to build new ships for the Navy and accused Obama of allowing the number of…

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October 24, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Our Daughters and Granddaughters Need to Have Same Rights as Our Sons and Grandsons

I have listened to a lot of talking today. One person from the House of Representatives says that when rape ends in pregnancy, that is God’s will. I say The Divine does not work this way. Does not victimize those who have suffered because of the hatred of other beings.

” I want us to move forward and to continue fighting for justice in those areas where triumph has so far eluded us.

I want us to feel not only our power, but the absolute necessity of using it to the fullest.

I want each of us to connect what is happening politically in the world and in our country to what is happening and will happen in our own lives, to understand the real, practical meaning of the aphorism, “The Personal is Political.”

“What we do individually and collectively does make a difference. Each of us can, and must, play a role; we face challenges on so many fronts, and we have so much to do.”

—–Patricia Ireland, Past President of Now, The National Organization for Women

October 23, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Rights for Women Won’t End on November sixth

November 6, 2012 does decide who will be our President for the next four years.What won’t be decided is what will happen to women and our rights and issues.

In 2013, we face another important battle in Congress. We need to have passed the legislation to make women legally equal. Think it is not necessary? That is what they said about women voting. Essentially, they said we weren’t smart enough to vote. Not only are we smart enough but we are smarter than some men. Nothing personal.

Women are still going to require access to contraception. The whole “be fruitful and multiply” thing is well past the point of no return. We have seven billion plus human beings on this planet and I believe we have fulfilled the directive.

Children around the world are dying from hunger, lack of clean water, violent revolutions, greed, bigotry, racism and in some countries if a girl is born she will be left to die. Baby girls die alone, unwanted and unloved. Even if their mothers want them, the husband will throw both of them out, if necessary.

Here in America, the most prosperous country in the world, our children aren’t golden. They often lack proper education, health care, food, love, encouragement. Why you ask? Because they weren’t born into rich families, but into poor and disadvantaged families. Most of society turns away from the reality of what these children lack and what they suffer.

Domestic Violence is gaining victims. The laws we worked so hard to get on the books, are often not being enforced. Young girls are not being told no one has the right to pinch, punch, slap, rape, hit, demean, kick, or call them names. We must tell these girls there is help and they should not be forced to live in violence. There are help lines and shelters where then will be helped and legally protected in every state and in almost every town.

Human trafficking is where many boys and girls end up. Sold into sexual slavery and facing decades of being objectified and beaten by any man who has the money to pay for their services. These kids live in hell on earth. Their innocent souls corrupted and ravaged by men who only care about themselves and what their money can buy them.

All people have the right to live authentically. No one should have to pretend to fit in. Everyone needs to be accepted for who they are. Parents, society and governments need to make this possible…

I have barely scratched the surface, but I will continue to address these issues as time goes on.