Past Articles from 2004 until last year. Many important lessons can be found in each of these articles.
Thumbing through an old copy of the Atlantic (June 2003) I read a report citing a study by the research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas saying that the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament cost the U.S. economy 1.4 billion a year in wasted time at work. I’m sure that four years later the cost has risen. If the average American worker spends 10 minutes a day over the three weeks of the tournament talking about the tournament, filling out brackets, placing bets, painting themselves Gator Blue (no one spent a lot of time painting themselves Duke-blue this year), or singing “Hang On Sloopy,” the time adds up.
“Focus on your circle of influence!” Those six words, spoken to me by a Youth Minister many years ago, completely changed my life. The words and the concept changed how I look at the world and how I spend my time. I came across the concept again about twelve years ago while reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey. His first habit – Be Proactive – involves focusing one’s efforts on a Circle of Influence.
Blood is life for vertebrate life forms. Blood connects tissue with all that tissue needs to remain alive, and to function properly – oxygen, nutrients, chemical hormones, and water – especially water. Blood, in order to accomplish its task contains red blood cells, white blood cells platelets, salts, proteins, glucose, nitrogen, chemical hormones, and water – especially water.
I have an irrational, but growing fear of being locked in the Disney Vault. The Disney Vault, whose existence is well publicized on Television, is a sort of Gitmo for animated characters. There they are held without writ of habeas corpus for a decade, only to be released for a few short weeks then locked away again. Peter Pan is enjoying his brief moment of freedom now, but the commercials constantly remind us that his incarceration will resume very soon.
This week we are running the new CARE group lists. We began the CARE group program in 1994, the year I arrived. Over the years we have organized them in various ways with various results, but the purpose of the CARE group program has never changed. CARE groups help the family here at Manassas be better at CAring for each other, and being REsponsible for each other.
