Dirty Little Secret

From a great group called Physicans Committee For Responsible Medicine.

A POWER statement.........................................

In the process of exploring my next career change, I came across this web page for a life coaching and spiritual counseling school. They send out these great quotes every week, and I thought I would share with you:

THE POWER OF LOVE

"We look forward to the time when the Power of Love

will replace the Love of Power.

Then will our world know the blessings of Peace."

~ William E. Gladstone

Surface seven different answers to this sentence completion,

"Because I have the Power of Love I …"

And just for fun, let's turn the sentence completion into a tag for anyone that would like to make their list and share it with the rest of us. I'll go first...

1. am able to express gratitude.

2. have the ability to make a positive difference in another's life.

3. let go of worry.

4. am not dependant on others for my self worth.

5. have a purpose, and the desire to be a light for others.

6. have a decreased need for other things.

7. AM blessed!

Lessons from Lifetime............................

Don't groan, ya know you all watch it. There was an extra strange movie on the other night. The mother ( in the flick) woke up one morning and had an imaginary child, Maggie. Go ahead laugh, but I couldn't help but be dazed by the amount of love the husband and daughter showed for this woman by the lengths they were willing to go to to protect her fragile mental health.

As the husband explained to the new nanny (who jumped on board with full acceptance of imaginary Maggie AFTER calling child protective services early on for a plot twist... It was a Lifetime movie don't forget) the woman was searching for a way to fix their marriage when he was working too much. Maggie was her answer. What else was there to do except go along because, and of course, if he took her to the mental health professionals she would be deemed "broken" and in need of being forced to face reality. Which from society's perspective she might have been, but within the safe cocoon of her families love she was able to work through things and eventually didn't need Maggie anymore. The power of love!

Ya, I know this was a silly, unrealistic made-up movie, but step inside of it for a moment. Have you ever loved or been loved that much? Have you ever done something for your beloved that you totally didn't get, simply because you loved them and they needed it? I hope you have because it is a gift like no other. When one is able to act in the best interest of another selflessly, the rewards are endless. Don't believe me? Give it a try sometime and you will have proof.

Doing well..............................

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes. Surgery went well, and I am home recovering. No cast to sign, darn! But, I HAVE ELBOW MOVEMENT (in the splint I didn't) and that is huge.

I will be missing a long training run, and a half-marathon in two weeks, but then the doc said he would make me a running splint and I will be back out there. Full marathon on October 21, 2007. Please keep praying for speedy recovery. Thanks!

Pray for me please................................

I will be having surgery on my wrist tomorrow 9/19/07 to have a metal plate put in (future airport fun). Please keep me and my surgeon in your thoughts and prayers that everything turn out just as it is suppose to.

Thank you so very much.

To let you know........................................

I have been handed (you will get the intended pun in a moment) an opportunity for a great adventure. I am sure I am up to it.

I was standing on a bed to get better leverage to stretch my youngest's hamstrings, fell backwards, and broke my (left) wrist.

So I may not be blogging much for a while. But I did want to take a vote on what color cast I should get. So those of you with first HAND/WRIST experience (or anyone else that wants to), please share. Thanks!

Life lesson number#957..............................................

If you give into a call from your bladder a time or two (or more) during a four hour training run, you might pick up something from the side of the road you could live without...

Apparently it is a bumper year for poison ivy, and I am allergic. I had been dealing with things quite well since the rash appeared on Sunday, and even though I woke up this morning with my left eye swollen shut I still believed I could ride things out without medication.


That was until 2:30 this afternoon when it became apparent that my right eye was heading down the same path the left had taken. I caved and went to Redi-care (a walk-in health clinic) to get a dose of steroids. Even as good as I am, I need to have some vision to provide quality OP care.
I am weighing the odds of getting arrested for indecent exposure if the "need" arises on any long runs between now and the first frost, and I opt to not go off the road and into the unknown. Maybe if I keep a copy of these pictures in my pack the arresting officer would have pity on me and let me off with just a warning...

FOR RANDOM...............................................

I know you don't like the rounded toes, but how cute are the argyle ones???

My Buddy Ben....................................
I heard on the news a bit of a story about a couple of teens that were being held responsible for the worse case of animal abuse in our area's history. I say a bit of the story because after hearing a description of the first two things they did I couldn't stand to listen any longer.

We have had Ben for going on five years now. He came into our lives because his previous owner ousted him for a new puppy. We didn't get the full run down on the extent of his abuse, but there are a few things that have always made him snap, more than likely a result of the way he was mistreated.

Don't judge folks, but I feed my dogs the occasional table scrap. Not the entire meal like they would like, but a choice scrap here and there. We learned quickly that one was better off tossing the scrap to Ben; if they valued their hand that is. The description of "lunging ferociously" at a treat does not adequately describe Ben's behavior when he first came to live with us.

A couple of days ago it occurred to me that now, close to five years later, if I remember to say, "Be nice Ben," he hardly ever lunges for the scrap anymore. This made me wonder if the reason the behavior was born in the first place was because his previous owners used to taunt him with treats and then pull them out of his reach at the last second so he couldn't get it? Just typing that makes me sick to my stomach, and yes I know he is a dog, but he does have some kind of a soul, and is a living, breathing creature. That another soul could actually derive pleasure by causing deliberate him pain is a sickening thought.

What pain and suffering got those teens to the point that they got a kick out of torturing a small puppy? Did they just wake up one day and say to one another, "Hey! Let's go ______. It will be fun?" Or did they suffer personal abuse (real and/or imagined) to the point that passing it on to someone less defenseless than themselves seemed like an acceptable thing to do?

Lots of TLC, patience, and pampering has allowed Ben to recover from his early treatment, but only to an extent. I still don't let him around small children alone, and warn everyone not to try and pick him up. He still has boundaries, and he still reacts in anger/fear when certain triggers occur.

Is there hope for those teens? Can they receive enough TLC and rehabilitation to be able to re-pattern their behavior? Was the damaged caused by an irresponsible parent that abused their own body while these teens were in utero? If so, does that mean we write them off as damaged goods? Stick them into a system that isn't working, and hope for the best?

If we do, then are we any different than the teens themselves?. Is it not a form of abuse to turn ones back on a need?

Am I saying to run out and adopt these teens? Only if you are led to do so. I have learned lots about FAC (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) from Sheri and know that the struggles can be enormous. And yet she hangs in there and keeps fighting for her son, against great odds. I also admit that I am not sure I could do what she does on a daily basis, and have a huge admiration for her strength and commitment. Maybe I am not good parent material for a special needs child, but I can pray for them. I can pray for those that step up to help troubled teens. Pray for the system that is in great need for repair. Pray that each of you reading this post will pick up the call to offer up prayer and positive thoughts that "Thy will (may)be done."

Shhhhhhhh...................................

When I was doing my twenty mile run on Saturday I found a set of keys. Along with the keys there were some of those store things that one swipes for discounts, and the electronic key card for the library. Small town and all I took the keys up to the library so they could scan the card and get the keys back to the owner.

After I turned in the keys I decided to check out a couple of my favorite authors and see if they had released any new books. As I was looking I couldn't help but be distracted by two girls making (very) loud conversation. Since they were discussing college subjects I think they were old enough to know better. It took much restraint on my part to not go over and start grilling them on did they know where they were, and didn't their mother's raise them to be respectful, blah, blah, yada, yada. Instead I ask the librarian to ask them to tone it down.

Why is it that these simple social graces have seemed to have disappeared? I have no problem with whispering in the library (though in a movie theater even whispering is not cool in my book), but I had no need or desire to get all the dirt on their instructors six rows away from them. This ranks right up there with walking out in the middle of a concert performance. Wait for the song to end and sneak out during the applause would you? Whether you have an appreciation for the event or are just their because your kid is in the band does not negate the fact that someone on that stage worked long and hard to get there and it is just plain rude to leave in the middle of their moment.

Simple acts of respect can go a long way to making this world a better place. I won't disrespect you by listing the many that one will see in an average day. You can fill in your own three most annoying. 1, 2, 3,...

It may be old school, but the Golden Rule still has a place in our society. Or at least it should.