Life is Now by Bob Conklin

A farmer had been desperately looking, with no success, for a hired hand. Finally a young man showed up and said, " I hear you've been looking for some help."
"I sure have," replied the farmer. What can you do? Can you run a tractor?" "Nope," answered the fellow. "How about a milking machine?" "Never worked one of those either."
After a few more questions with the same negative responses the farmer finally ask, "Well, what can you do?"
"I can sleep while the wind blows," said the young man.
In no mood for joking, the farmer almost told the fellow to be on his was. But he needed help so badly that he decided to give the youth a try.
A week or so later the farmer woke in the middle of the night. Outside a storm was blustering; swatches of windblown rain was battering away at the windows. The farmer jumps out of bed and went to the hired hand's bedroom. Efforts to rouse the helper were like trying to waken a sack of oats.
So the farmer by himself rushed outdoors to take care of things. But when he got to the barn the doors were shut and bolted. The animals were securely in the shelter. Remembering that there was straw and feed in back of the barn that could be ruined by the rain he hurried outside once more. But his concerns were unfounded for the piles were covered with canvas and fastened down.
It was then that he realized the significance of the youn man's prophetic claim, "I can sleep when the wind blows."

This is a neat little story that reminds us not to wait until we are burdened with desperation or calamity before accepting personal responsibility for living our lives successfully. Almost all of the strains, anxities, and worries of the future could be eliminated by the way we conduct ourselves today. We must remember, "Life is what happens while we are making other plans!" Even as we think about all the things that we are going to do someday, life is still going on.
Do you want happiness? Do you want success? Do you want more love and friendship? Start giving some away today. Write a letter. Phone a friend. Say a kind word. Smile. But do it now.
A lifetime is a bunch of moments, a lot of "right nows" that are chained together hour after hour, week after week, year after year. Using today to show kindness to those around you, you saturate your mind with positive thoughts, and to do your work as well as you know how will enable you to "sleep when the wind blows"!

Probably those who read what I have been putting on this blog do not really need the this type of information. I simply write it as a reminder and relay to you some of the things that have helped me thru the years.

Treat Others as You Want Them To Treat You

How well you relate to others is very important, because much of your success and happiness depends on it.
Christ gave the perfect rule for human relations, and for personal conduct. We call it the Golden Rule, a name it got somewhere around the 17th century.
Near the the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ summed up a series of sayings or profound thoughts on human conduct by saying, "Treat others as you want them to treat you."
This statement is the most remembered and most quoted one that Christ ever made.
Books are written about it.
Lectures given to expound on its meaning.
But the depths of its wisdom have never been fully probed, and never will be. It is profound beyond all human explanations. Yet, like so many divine laws, it appears very simple at first glance. See Luke, 6: 27-30

With these thoughts in mind, ask yourself how you want others to treat you.

Five things we want from others:
1. we want encouragement.
2. We want appreciation.
3. We want forgiveness.
4. We want attention.
5. We want understanding.

Encouragement:

Encouragement helps us to reach our goals more easily. It helps us to focus on our strenghts. It helps us to overcome weaknesses. When we give it to others, they are drawn closer to us. When we withhold it, we alienate them from us.
We all want encouragement, so we need to give it to others. By doing so, we practice the golden rule.
Look back at the times when someone encouraged you or praised you and caused your self- concept to grow. It formed new goals for you. It sold you on yourself and made certain accomplishments seem more possible.

Appreciation:

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
How much do you want to be appreciated?
How much do you want to be recognized?
How much?
The need for recognition is a powerful motivator. Its probably stronger than your need for money or material gain.
We all go through life silently screaming, "Notice me! Notice me!"Just stop and think how many of your actions result from this strong drive.
When properly handled, it becomes a very creative drive. The drive that causes many to excel-to become successful in business, teaching, athletics, housewives, writers and many other things.
We all want to be recognized and appreciated.
When you show appreciation to others, you show belief in them.

Forgiveness:

The kind of faith that brings peace of mind, confidence, and a feeling of well being must also be accompanied by a spirit of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the very essence of the Golden Rule, its involved in almost every application of this great law.
Christ said: "Love your enemies! Pray for them!"
How difficult is it for you to love someone who doesn't love you? Can you think of anything so opposite to human nature? But, Christ said, "I'll show you a more perfect way."
Remember; To condemn is human, to forgive is devine.

Attention:

We are not always good listeners
We all have a psychological need for others to listen to us. This attention is very therepeutic and cleansing. People are drawn consciously and unconsciously, to those who listen to them.
Listening actually changes peoples attitude and actions
Listening draws out the best in people- it sells them on themselves. It gives them confidence and helps their creative powers.
There's probably no better way to help your self and others enjoy living more than listen to them.

Understanding:

How often do you feel misunderstood?
We all feel misunderstood at times--we want understanding from others although at times we won't admit it. We act tough and aggressive when in reality we are seeking understanding but we are just going about it in the wrong way. However, regardless of how we act, we want understanding from others.
When we get to know a person and find out some of his or her sorrows and suffering, we usually understand why they are like they are. This helps to melt down hostilities.
To practice the Golden Rule, we must give understanding to others since that is what we want from them.

A CREDO FOR OUR RELATIONSHIPS

You and I are in a relationship which I value and want to keep. Yet each of us is a separate person with unique needs and the right to meet those needs.

When you are having problems meeting your needs, I will try to listen with genuine acceptance, in order to facilitate your finding your own solutions instead of depending on mine. I will also try to respect your right to choose your own beliefs and develope your own values, different though they may be from mine.

However, when your behavior inteferes with what I must do to get my own needs met, I will tell you openly and honestly how your behavior affects me, trusting that you respect my needs and feelings enough to try to change the behavior that is unacceptable to me. Also, when some behavior of mine is unacceptable to you, I hope you will tell me openly and honestly so I can change my behavior.

At those times when we find that either of us cannot change to meet the other's needs,let us acknowledge that we have a conflict and commit ourselves to resolve each conflict without either of us resorting to the use of power or authority to win at the expense of the other's losing. I respect you needs, but I must also respect my own. So let us strive always to search for a solution that will be acceptable to both of us. Your needs will be met, and so will mine--neither will lose, both will win.

In this way, you can continue to develope as a person through satisfying your needs, and so can I. Thus, ours can be a healthy relationship in which both of us can strive to become what we are capable of being. And we can continue to relate to each other with mutual respect, love, and peace.

This works out in the real world, where differences and feelings exist that tend to drive a wedge between healthy relationships. In our christian relationships we should all be striving for the same things, but there are times when attitudes even cause differences in the church. Things cannot always be like what we think they should be, but the end solution is following the examples that Christ set forth.

SOME HUGS ARE NOT HUGS

Non Hug 1. The A-Frame Hug.
In this non-hug, two people come together; their heads touch, but nothing else does. The feet remain absolutely 3 - 4 feet away from their opposite pair. The effect is a massive leaning so that the two people look like a ski lodge or at least a collapsing pyramid.

Non Hug 2. Half a chest is better than none
Here people make contact with one-half of the top part of their bodies. They twist at the waist and touch in the most limited manner possible. These hugs are to be seen everywhere and I would ask you to keep your eyes open the next time you go to a party or a family gathering and count how many half chesters you see.

Non Hug 3. The chest to chest burp
Lucky us! We actually make full chest to chest contact here but it makes everyone so nervous that they have to defuse the contact immediately. As soon as the two bodies touch, one, two, three, or four hands all start to pat on the opposite back-- just as if they were burping a baby. It is a way of neutralizing and reducing the person being hugged to a safe, infantile status. Just observe the next ten hugs you get-- you'll be burped everytime.

Non Hug 4. The wallet rub
In this non-hug, the two people make contact by standing next to each other, not looking at one another but merely touching hips--or their wallets, as if it were.

Every Sunday I have a certain place to stand and a fairly large number of our church family comes by for a hug. I refer to it as the hugging line. Some will even look me up if for some reason we missed.

Hugging Can Improve Your Health

Hugging is a miracle medicine that can relieve many physical and emotional problems facing Americans, experts tell us.
The type of hugging recommended by Dr. David Bresler, Director of the Pain Control Unit at UCLA, is use both arms, face your partner and perform a full embrace.
"I often tell my patients to use hugging as a part of their treatment for pain. To be held is enormously therepeutic."
Researchers have also discovered that hugging can help you live longer, protect you against illness, cure depression and stress, strengthen family relationships and help ypu sleep without pills.
"Hugging is an excellent tonic," declared Dr Harold Voth, senior psychiatrist at the prestigious Menninger Foundation in Topeka Kansas. "It has been shown scientifically that people who are mentally run-down and depressed are far more prone to sickness than those who are not."
"Hugging can lift depression-- enabling the body's immune system to become tuned up. Hugging breathes fresh life into a tired body and makes you feel younger and more vibrant."
"In the home, daily hugging will strengthen relationships and significantly reduce friction."
"I'm convinced that the tender embrace can prevent or cure a host of different problems," said Dr. Robert Rynearson, who is chairman of the Psychiatry Department at Scott and White Clinic in Temple, Texas.
"A hug can have an astonishing therepeutic effect by providing a sense of companionship and happiness."
"Researchers discovered that when a person is touched the amount of hemoglobin in their blood increases significantly," said Helen Colton, author of "The Joy of Touching."


Coming next . Some hugs aren't hugs

The previous article and some others to come are selected from my files during the many years I spent in Management.

I read a lot of comments regarding writers views on the word of God. I find peace and contentment in what the bible teaches us about his word and his direction for us.

BE MY SERVANT

This is God speaking--
I made you a human being, but I still want you to be as much like me as you can. So try your best to act as I would act and do my work in the world. Tell the truth about me. Set an example for others to follow. Show them what it is like to keep my agreement and live the good life.
Start living according to my guidelines now. Don't ever hide the fact that you are following me. Be like that city that is built on a hill--that is seen from all directions--or a bright light that is not covered or turned off--let the light that is in you because of me, shine, so people can get to know me through you.

If you turn away from me and refuse to live according to my guidelines, you are like the salt that has lost its saltiness. You don't do yourself or anyone else any good. So listen to me carefully, learn from me and do your best to understand me. Serve with your heart and soul. Do everything I tell you to do--make it clear to those who refuse to follow me just how much you love me.

If you try to be as much like me as you can, anyone who knows you will also know me. Someone who thinks highly of you will think highly of me.

Being my servant is a joyful task. Sing and rejoice in everything you do. Think of keeping my agreement as a privelege and not a hardship, even though you may give up certain things in order to follow my guidelines, you will gain much more in return.

This may sound too elementary but I see too much out in the world today with individuals wanting to change God's word. The bible is sufficient and it is God's love and grace that sustains us. What else could be any better?

Well, this afternoon word out of Fayetteville is Mitch Mustain has ask to transfer. No word as of yet on Cleveland. Anyway, this solves the problem of who will be the starting QB for the Razorbacks. We have a red shirt freshman and Robert Johnson will be back. It was great to see Johnson get the Paul E. award recently.

I spent about two hours watching the American Idol program to see what all the hoop is about this show. I determined it was a total disaster and offered nothing spectacular. Maybe 2 or 3 had some talent but nothing to brag about. Ted Mack would turn over in his grave if he knew how talent shows were conducted today. Especially with the ones calling themselves judges. Who is this Simeon anyway? He is one of the rudest I've seen and all the coverage of people crying because they were sent away shows no compassion for hurt feelings. Is this the same program where Carrie Underwood got her start? Carrie had talent. Why aren't these contestants screened before putting them on National Television to be downgraded? This is the first time for me to watch so I am not up to date on how it is run and will not be watching it unless they improve it drastically.

Hopefully, the rain has subsided and we can dry out with out mildewing. It has turned somewhat colder though today. Sure hope everyone has escaped the terrible weather that has come our way without any damage.
There has not been much happening here so far this year to write about. One joyous note is the upcoming marriage of Treece and Noah. Noah came by last Friday and showed Mom and myself the ring. He told of his plans for the evening and how it was planned out to give her the engagement ring. We are excited about the event and especially having Treece as one of our granddaughters.
Maybe soon we can have something more to write about. I get disturbed with a lot of the things happening in our country so I am just waiting for something to do outside the house. There is only so much housework inside that is enjoyable but at the sametime that has to be done.

Well, the new year arrived with little fan fare here at home. We want to wish each and everyone a very Happy New Year with many blessings and good health. We never know what tomorrow holds for us so we should enjoy each day. In other words, we don't know what the future holds but we do know who holds the future.
I am not a person who makes New Year Resolutions, but there are a few things Mom and I hope this new year brings. 1. Some additional relief from the pain each of us have on a daily basis. 2. That you all have a good safe and healthy year without incident. 3. We hope for some intervention with our new Governor on Steve's behalf. 4. Hope for some mending of hard feelings in family members. 5. Hope for George to get the job he is seeking.
There are many things that we could mention and the list would go on and on. However, our hopes and prayers are for each of you and we ask God for a special measure of his love on you in this year of 2007. And by the way, a special one for Treece and Noah on their upcoming marriage. We are anxiously waiting to find out when.