Congratulations Class of 2021!

Your senior year has been beyond unique, yet you have succeeded in your goal of graduation.  Virtual learning, social distancing, wearing masks, and giving up a more normal senior year has been a great sacrifice and accomplishment.  Some of you became sick and had friends and relatives suffer.  As you slowly return to a more normal life, you will appreciate regaining the freedoms you temporarily lost.  Be patient and follow the advice of the scientists. 

This year hasn't been completely negative.  You found ways to keep connected with each other and had the opportunity to spend lots of time with family.  You learned to protect yourself and therefore protected others.  Perhaps you will be more prepared to be independent learners which will be an asset in life after graduation.  Seeing how the whole world had to face a common problem and find solutions should make you realize how human beings are basically the same, want to be healthy and live satisfying lives.  Technology has allowed us to see how others live, and therefore we can appreciate the advantages we have in the USA.  We have also became more aware of our political system and how democracy must be protected.  Please get involved in your government and use your vote to better your community, state, and country.  Some of you may even choose to become leaders.

Just like this year has been unique, realize that each of you is also unique.  Your experiences can make you wiser.  You have the opportunity to expand your talents, prepare yourself for the adult world, and understand what is important to you and how you can contribute to the betterment of our world.  Try to choose a career that you will enjoy.  As you understand yourself better, realize the advantages of understanding others.  Even though we are all basically the same, many differences can divide us.  Please try to understand  and appreciate other points of view and have empathy for other people around you and around the world.   Also learn ways to keep our environment healthy.  Your generation may find solutions to improve and restore our habitat. 

Many of you will be leaving your family home for further education.  Always remember how your family loves and cares for you.  Also realize what your teachers have done for you over the years.

Congratulations Class of 2021! 

 

Vaccine

 

A foreign substance enters our arm, then our body gets busy learning how to fight the virus.  Later, if the COVID virus enters our system, our body remembers how to fight.  We trust that science knows what best to put into vaccines to train our bodies to respond to the actual virus.

Nature produces organisms that can be good or bad for humans.  Humans must learn how to accept, adapt to, or fight against these organisms.  Nature allows viruses to mutate, and at the same time, enables scientists to expand their knowledge and create ways to combat harmful organisms.  This is part of evolution and the survival of the fittest.

We humans also need to evolve our thinking, but sometimes something blocks reality from taking hold.  Outdated ideas from the past linger.  Logic doesn't always prevail.  We may trust people who claim to understand better than we do.  When our minds need help evolving, we may need a shot of reality,  a vaccine to help us fight off harmful thinking.

Risks

 

By wearing a mask, we reduce the risk of passing on a virus or bacteria to others.  This helps everyone by curtailing the number of people becoming infected, becoming sick, requiring hospital care, suffering and dying.  Consider how each death causes tragedy in the families losing loved ones.  Social distancing, washing hands, and other measures are also better for everyone.  In addition, vaccinations will greatly reduce the risk.  Then why do some people take the risk of not following these measures?  

The tendency of some people not understanding science and doubting scientific advice can be one explanation.   Ignorance is no excuse in these times of the proliferation of information.  Inconvenience and adopting new habits might be another reason.  Some people just want to do what they want without considering the ramifications to themselves and others.  These selfish impulses show immaturity.  Unfortunately, some risk-takers believe false information.

Anytime you take a risk, the effects can be positive or negative.  The higher the risk, the more probable something bad may happen.  Often, the results are unpredictable.  When your health is concerned and the health of others is at stake, please follow the advice of the experts.

Weaving

 

Two yarns interlace together to form a cloth.  Husband and wife combine to form a marriage.  Children are  added to form a fabric of life.  

As children marry, they leave their original  family which may feel like a loss of sorts.  A new family begins.  Their children are added. The original family continues with just a warp and weft.

When one spouse is no longer present, the weaving stops and the marriage has been completed.  What remains at the end is the fringe.  Often widows and widowers feel like they are on the fringe, no longer part of the weaving of life, no longer an integral part of a cloth.  The remaining spouse can look back on their life and be proud of the cloth they have woven.
 

  

Transition

 

     Making a transition involves going from one thing to another: one position to another, one idea to another, or one opinion to another.  Some transitions are voluntary; some are forced upon us.

     When someone is leaving a position, they often help the person taking over the job.  A smooth transition gives the new worker a better understanding of the requirements of the job and shows them how the former worker operated.  

     When that job is an elected position, the outgoing official can help the incoming one.  Citizens who had put their trust in the former official may have trouble accepting the new one.  By delaying acceptance of the new, the government may suffer.  Those who agree with the change may have an easier time than those who wish things were different.  A smooth transition will benefit the future.

     Some transitions are forced upon us. We may not want to change, but we have to adjust and look to the future.  Other changes come as we evolve from one opinion to another.   A time of transition can be uncomfortable as we go from a past way of thinking to a new, perhaps uncharted future.  People around us may become confused as to what is going on.  It may be easier for them if we stay the same.

     Our lives require changes.  As we go from one thing to another, we have to journey through transition. 

Modesty

                                                                                                                                                               

Down through history,  men have made rules about how women should dress.  Some believed that a women should only show her body to her husband, even to the extreme of completely covering up in public with only a peep hole to see out into the world.  Women would be preventing men from having lustful thoughts.  This mode of dress they claimed came from God.

Gradually cultures changed and allowed the head, arms, cleavage, and ankles to be exposed.  Fashion began to be important especially to those who could afford clothes that went beyond function.  Men would have lustful thoughts no matter what was covered up or what was exposed.

Today, most women realize they can choose what they want to wear.  Influences still exist from religion, culture, and society.  The media and pop culture often presents the ideal.  The fashion industry and other influencers promote the newest trendy styles.  Then as styles change, many women add to their wardrobe.

Some women dress to reveal much of their bodies.  They give away a view to anyone who cares to look, to flaunt their "beauty" to the world and attract the male.  Most males do not complain.  There doesn't seem to be any negatives in dressing this way.

In order to participate in this lack of modesty, women feel they need to have a perfect youthful body.  Exercise regimens and special diets are used to sustain a sexy appearance.  Improving general health seems a secondary benefit. When the body shows signs of aging, plastic surgery is considered.   Many women loose self-esteem when their bodies don't match up to the ideal.  Perhaps a better idea would be to dress modestly and force men to use their imagination.

Women, take pride in the way you choose to look.  Include modesty as part of your decision.   

Filters

 

                                                                                                                                                                           

     To brew good coffee, use an effective filter to allow the water to absorb the desired flavor while keeping out the unwanted grounds.  Our brain uses a filter that allows some info to be absorbed while keeping other info from passing into our thoughts.  We brew up our life by using a filter.

     Our filter is formed from the time we are born.  Our parents teach us what they believe, what  they think is important to flavor our lives and what we should discard.  Other influential people guide our thoughts, sometimes for our benefit, sometimes to our detriment.  Teenagers begin to realize they can alter their filter and change to a new way of thinking.  Adults may realize that they need a fresh filter. 

     We have the ability even the responsibility to become aware of our filter which may not be brewing a life that we want.  It may be allowing distortions and false information into our brain.  We need to evaluate what sources are reliable, what is true and what is false.  We can decide what we want to absorb and what we want to discard. 

     An outdated filter can cause misinformation and prejudices to cloud our life.  It can cause us to absorb false information while keeping out the truth.  Check your filter frequently to get a true brew.