Musings Archives - Life Views 101

March 4, 2026March 4, 2026

Take A Moment, Turn Off The Television!

Tonight I am going to turn in a more serious direction by starting with a question. What the hell is going on in the world? I recommend we take a moment to gather our thoughts and feelings in order to move away from the chaos that is erupting everywhere. I mean, what is wrong with people.

It seems as though all the craziness is bursting through the seams of their very being. People are being influenced by the hatred and bigotry of a group of mad humans who are looking to harm anyone who gets in their way or disagrees with them. It seems as though the world is infused with madness. Really!

I went several days without watching any television or news programs. I felt great. I had forgotten how toxic television can really be, and how it influences our mood and well being.

Everywhere on the TV the news creators are keeping the public mad with fear, hatred, and bigotry. I think to myself this can’t be real, but it is. At least that is what they are trying to make us believe with the stories they are sharing.

Even when I watch my favorite news station ” One America News Network” I am left with a bad taste in my mouth. All the revelations about corruption, greed, racism, and sex has worn me out. I do not believe that there are that many horrible, detestable people in the world. Are there really?

I am going to play devil’s advocate and say that no one can ” make ” us be a bad person. It is our choice. That’s right! It is our choice to turn away from those in need. It is our choice to spit in the face of someone we have been programmed to hate, and it is our choice to be the kind of person who is no longer human.

I think we need to take a moment, take a breath, and look at the world around us. We need to step away from our fears and hatred. Who are we really? What do we have to be thankful for in this world. What are some of the GOOD things going on right now! And, how can WE change the programming of our mind to forgive and move onward?

It is possible to change what direction our lives are going. It is possible to become a better person. All it takes is the desire to change, and the responsibility to make it happen.

I was watching a video on Yahoo one day, it has been awhile, but it made me smile. It showed that there are indeed good people in the world. This video showed some men saving a mother dog and her pup. I could not find the video, but I want to tell you the story.

A mother dog and one pup was stuck along the rim of a drainage pool down this deep embankment, and they could not traverse back up the very steep side to safety. Each time they tried they slid back toward the water.

In the distance were several guards who heard the frantic whimpers of the animals and came to look. The men were speaking Russian or Ukrainian, some language that I could not understand although the message was clear.

I will say that there were two scenarios that could have occurred. One, they could have laughed at the peril of these animals and walked away, leaving them to finally fall into the water and drown. Or two, they could have been good humans and helped.

These big hulking men gathered a rope from their truck, and while two of them were holding the line, the other slid down this steep embankment to the mother dog and pup. Both of the animals were jumping on this fellow with their tails wagging. It was a sight that brought tears to my eyes. The man grabbed the pup first, and the two men at the top pulled him back up to safety.

In the video we could see the mother dog scrambling around close to the waters edge, tail wagging, watching the rescue of her baby.

Once safely at the top the second men took the puppy while the first skidded his way back down to the mother dog who leaped into his arms the moment he was close enough to reach and up they went to join the trio at the top.

At the end of the video the little group crossed along the top of the embankment to safety. I could not understand one word that was being said while the men organized this rescue, but the message was very clear. They were good Samaritans who could not leave a helpless creature in need.

This video reminded me that while there is so much hatred and anger being projected across our television screen, there are still wonderful people who take time out of their day to helps others in need, or do a good deed for some lowly creature.

I worked newborn nursery many years ago. It was a beautiful place to work. A place where life often begins. Babies come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. No one ever hesitated to soothe a child in need. No one could resist the opportunity to snuggle a baby close who was having a hard time settling into this great big new world. No baby shied away from a set of hands reaching to care for it because the hands were black or white.

What I ask of you, and myself, is to take a moment to look at the good things that are going on in the world. Look at all the wonderful videos on YOUTUBE of great things occurring around you. Look at all the marvelous people reaching out to others across this great world wide web who want to help and educate. It is a revelation to see. It is heart warming. It will change your mood entirely.

If I know one truth it is that we are influenced by the people who surround us. If we surround ourselves with war mongrels we will be one as well. If we surround ourselves with self loathing and hateful people, we come to loath ourselves, and others too. And if we surround ourselves with those who want to harm others, then we will reach out to do harm as well. It is a truth. It is a reality right now.

All I ask is that you test this truth by changing the people who influence you if your life is in chaos and you want it to change. We are what we bring into our lives. We are the people who surround us. No one can make us be who we do not want to be. It is our choice.

You can also test this truth by watching videos of people saving animals, helping children, working to save the environment, giving to the elderly, or helping their neighbors. After such exposure we often come away feeling a whole lot better. It influences us to want to help as well, just like the hatred influences us to hate.

I am saddened by the things I see going on in the world. So much pain, and while I can’t change anyone else, I can change myself. I can pick and choose what I will watch, who I will associate with, and whether I will give of myself or not. Those are the only things I can control. Those are the only things you can control.

We do have a great country. It has so much potential. It is the people of this country who can make it great or destroy it. What kind of person do you want to be? We can not change the past. I am not responsible for what my ancestors did or did not do. I can feel sad that they may have made bad choices or done bad things, but I can say that I have not been one to do bad things as well. Can you?

I have been to other countries where the people were not as fortunate as we. Where their governments did not look after their citizens as well as ours. It helped me appreciate all that I have in this world. When I am being greedy wanting ” more stuff” I am often brought back to the reality that I have all that I need. Many do not.

Take a moment. Take two. Look at your world and make it a better place. Each of us contributes to the chaos around us. Are we helping or hindering? Turn off the television set. Go out and help someone. Share an adventure with a family member or two. Give of yourself. Do a good deed without being asked or expecting a reward. Forgive a wrong that has been done to you, ask for forgiveness of some harm you may have caused. And, love yourself. You have the potential to be a great person. You and I have a choice. Let’s make today a better day. We can do this together. We have the power to do great things. And as I always say, have a great day today. You and I deserve it.

Let’s stand together ( this guy was on my fence).

October 28, 2025October 28, 2025

STOP THE CHAOS NOW

( I want to repeat this one) Silence from my end is not a good thing being a poor blogger, but my excuse, if you even care, is that I have been in a total state of shock as I have watched and listened to the stories of violence and destruction that have exploded all over this country.

How do I even have a conversation with you when there are so many earth-shattering events occurring? The feelings that are surging through each one of us, every single day is so toxic. I’ve sat back for months watching, listening, crying, shaking my head so disturbed by what has been happening that I am left speechless. Frozen. I move through the day like a robot functioning on auto pilot.

I ask myself is there anything of value that I might have to share? Who gives a shit what some no name individual thinks or feels? Who am I to talk about any of this it is so horrible.?

I want to know how do we overcome these wounds? How do we heal from these profound injuries to our hearts? How do we stop the chaos?

I know that anything I might say to you has probably blown through your mind at one time or another just as it has mine. Somehow, some way we must come together.

There is so much hatred spewing out into the world I can’t even imagine how we can contain it. We humans are so vile to each other in so many ways that I fear for my life. For your lives. For my children lives. The fear is unimageable.

Stories pour out of every news outlet available. Some offer vivid pictures if you can’t imagine it yourself. I have no doubt everyone is talking about all the destruction that is and has been occurring. There can’t be anyone who isn’t shocked, ashamed, and disgusted by what one human can inflict on another.

I move through my day-to-day business in a state of shock. I interact with my family and friends. I go to work, pay my bills, but there is this impending feeling of doom inside my chest that is so new to me that I can’t even grasp how to express it or to eliminate it. This fear is embedded deep in my heart.

Saying we must come together is not enough. The words are meaningless. The horror that has happened in the last of couple years has shaken all of us to our very core. Sometimes I stand and just stare at the television feeling like a trapped animal. I don’t know how to make things better. I don’t have any answers on how to change it except for platitudes like “We need to love each other. We need to help each other. We need to come together. “ Bullshit, we need to stop the violence on all spectrums, against ALL PEOPLE.

I know that there are great individuals out there doing wonderful things. There are organizations and groups of people that are plugging along trying to make it a better place, but I think we all feel so helpless, and for me it’s not a feeling that I’ve often felt, so I am frozen and frightened and don’t know where to turn. Our leaders don’t have an answer, and the tide keeps moving in. How is it going to end? How can we make it end?

How do we as individuals, and as a group take control of this violence? How do we step into the storm of hatred and bigotry to bring an end to this? People are dying, children are being murdered, strangers are assaulting strangers for no other reason than they feel hate at what they see .

The color of one’s skin is something to hate. The nationality of another is something to loathe. People’s sexuality is despised. Rich hate poor, and poor hate rich. Your religion is a reason to hate despite what your holy book preaches, and someone just doesn’t like the way you look.

I’m not a religious person. I don’t go to church. I have not had great experiences with preachers who run churches, and although I was raised a Catholic, I gave that up because the nuns and priest looked down their noses at the poor in our parish with no money to give. We were a very poor family. Not a good experience for us.

In the past I was not one to believe in the end of the world theories told by religious leaders to keep us all in tow. Discussions by those leaders that the world was going to come to an end in fire and brimstone. These preachers and such liked to fire up the fear and hysteria in its congregants. It was part of the reward of being a “leader” the power to evoke sinners to be less sinful. But after witnessing all this violence. The hatred. The bombings and wars. Murders, rape, and genocide, I think those prophets who have said the world is going to end are correct.

We humans are going to be the catalyst that ends our world. This world that has been given to us is going to be destroyed by us because we are so foolish and stupid that we let our extremism, our extreme racism, are extreme sexism, our extreme religiousism get in our way of appreciating all that has been given to us. I mean you add any ISM to any bigoted idea that you have and that’s what we’ve become, a people of intolerance and hatred who disrespect their world, and each other with total disregard for human life, total disregard for the animal kingdom, total disregard for the oceans of the world, and the planet that God gave for our safe keeping.

Despite my personal feelings I will share with you that I do believe in a higher power. I do believe in a God, and I think it is time for all of us to come together and offer up a prayer to our God for the strength, knowledge, and courage to evoke a change in our world right now.

I ask that together we stop everything that we are doing and say a prayer in whatever language we speak, asking whatever higher power we pray to, to help us heal this world. Those of a scientific mind probably are aware that there have been many studies that verify that prayer can and does make a difference. Put aside your doubt and be open to that fact that as a massive world of people we can come together in prayer, and perhaps jump start our humanity back on track.

I will pick a time and together we will say a prayer to bring these horrible events to an end and bring us all back into balance because right now, we are tilting out of orbit as humans.

Let us get together tomorrow at sunrise, or any sunrise that works for you as (there are 7,868,872,451 people on this planet right now as listed on google so there will be a multitude standing by your side whatever time you say your prayer.) Get up, face the rising sun, and offer a prayer to God that sanity will be restored to our people. Image the multitudes standing beside you as you say your prayer for our world and each other as well. And as I always say, have a great day today, you and I deserve it.

April 6, 2025April 5, 2025

What We Do Matters!

Happy Sunday, this is Kris wishing you a great day today. Hope everything has been going well.

I want to go in a different direction. I want to get away from some of the sad stories that I have been talking about, like incest and rape. Those can bring us down for sure.

I want to talk about the effect our actions have on everything around us. Sometimes we think in our day-to-day interactions with each other that most things do not matter, when in reality they really do.

Each little thing that we do has an influence on everything and everyone around us.

There is a wonderful story that I want to tell you so just sit back and listen. I am not going to write it down. It is a starfish tale.

So we need to remember that our actions even though they may seem simple, and people might ask “ what difference does it make.” Everything we do makes a difference.

Every interaction we have with each other affects that life force in some way. We get to decide if it is good or not by how we interact.

Are we being kind, or are we being a jerk? Have we said something nice to someone or have we been mean? Each thing matters. Each interaction matters. And remember our words matter just as well.

I am going to tell you another story. It is about my experience with a store clerk so again you can sit back and relax while I tell my tale.

And that was the end of my going to that store. I felt I did not need to frequent a place where the cashier was going to treat me poorly. Did my not going back hurt the store. Probably not, it was a large chain, but perhaps my retelling of the story will enlightened others to not tolerate someone being unkind to them.

We must be mindful in our interactions with others. We need to be aware of how we treat another person as it does matter. Your actions can influence that person in a good or bad way. We have that power.

Keep that in mind when you are interacting with your friends and family. Remember that each little interaction that you have has an impact on that relationship. It affects their day. Effects how they may feel for the rest of the day.

If you can think of that and be mindful of being kind and gentle with someone you may have a great day yourself. I believe what goes around comes around. We get back what we give out.

So, for today I want you to have a great day. Enjoy whatever is going on inside or out and remember that you do have the power to influence others.

Offer a smile or a kind word. Be a positive influence. Do not be a negative person. Look at your blessings, be glad of what you have today.

Each day is another opportunity to get things right. We are the directors of our lives. We are the guides on this journey called life.

So, as I always say have a great day today, you and I deserve it. And smile at someone just for today.

April 5, 2024April 5, 2025

The Ripple Effect.

Have you ever thrown a rock into a pool of water and watched the ripples run along the surface? The wave goes on and on for some time. It’s mesmerizing. Even after we are no longer able to see these ripples they are still traveling through the water, sometimes all the way to the other shoreline.

The same is true when we throw something through the air, the molecules in the air move and the ripple continues on, possibly to infinity. I believe our words have the same effect. They travel through so many.

This ripple effect is a powerful occurrence, and in the context of this blog it means that any action or inaction that we take has an effect on the things going on in our lives, and the lives of those around us.

When I was studying mediation I was taught that everything we do has a ripple effect on all the things around us. They can be positive or they can be negative. We must decide how we want the ripples to influence others.

Just contemplating our actions or in-actions before we move forward can influence our behavior to do better, be better and to help others or to be mean, hateful and hurtful.

Right how in this time we are having so many hateful words thrown out into the world from one person to the next. Hateful acts of violence in the name of what? Bodily harm done to so many that is influenced by the haters cheering this behavior on in others.

Have you ever had someone say or do something terrible to you? Think about that ripple effect that might have occurred. You probably felt hurt. You might have treated someone else badly, and then went home to your family and treated them badly. All because someone did something to you.

Can you see the ripple effect in your life when you think of your actions in any given moment? Did your actions make someone cry, feel hurt, or did they leave a smile on their face, perhaps a little hope in their heart? We each have that kind of power to hurt or help. How we choose to use it falls on us. Take a look at the world and see all the horrible ripples running through right now. We must change the course of the hate racing through this great country. We must be an example of what we expect of others.

I forgive all those who are caught up in the chaos. There is much that has happened on both sides of that story. Our feelings, and the feelings of others are so contagious. I ask that each of us stops for a moment and ask ourselves what we are projecting out into the world around us.

Sadly our children are seeing this chaos and reacting in a bad way as well. We must show them that forgiveness is a good thing, caring for another human being shows our humanity, and helping others is not a bad virtue, but a high goal to reach toward.

I say open the window in your heart and let the fresh air in. Let the past be past. Reach for a brighter day. Help the children let go of their fear, a fear that I am sure is consuming their little hearts as they see the adults in their lives going crazy. Assure them that all will be well. Tell them it was just a moment of insanity for this great world we live in.

Together we have the power.

Each of us can make it a better day for those around us by being kind. By being respectful. By demonstrating the kind of treatment that we hope to receive from those around us. We have the power to make this country a better place. We have the power to be a better human being. It just takes one person, just like that one drop of water to begin creating an ocean. And as I always say have a great day today. You and I deserve it.

January 26, 2024January 27, 2024

Expectations

I screamed at my bird this evening. He was out on his perch playing like he does most evenings, and I lost it. Coco is an African grey parrot who likes to imitate the beeping of my alarm clock, my cell phone, and even the microwave. He has a whole array of noises he likes to share whenever I’m trying to sleep or take a nap and he thinks I should be up. Well, there I lay sprawled on the couch trying to get some shut eye and that bird was filling the silence with his whole vocabulary. Did I mention that he also talks, but not as much as he likes to make sounds. I will reveal his less polite sounds like burping and farting, noises that sound just like my granddaughters, the little pigs.

I’m not sure if you know that I usually work nights which is probably the worst shift to work for any human being wanting to get a good night’s sleep. I’m one of those people that can only nap for about 3 hours. My body won’t let me sleep any longer even with a little medicinal help. I wake up and then take a two-hour nap before I leave for work. Giving me a grand total of five hours of sleep a day that is usually split up. Do I need to admit that sometimes I am a GROUCH. Understandable, right.

I also have a very ailing old dog and I’m goanna admit that sometimes my patience runs thin with her needs as well. And I don’t know what was wrong with me today but for sure I yelled at the bird, yelled at the dog, got up angry for being disturbed then yelled “Oh my God can I have some peace and quiet” and then I realized what I was doing.

How can we expect anything to be other than what it is? Why would I expect my talkative bird to be quiet when I’m sleeping during the day, and it’s his wake time. It’s cruel to try to get my dog to not bother me when I’m lying around trying to nap. She needs love, affection, food, and potty breaks. I felt like such a meanie.

Imagine how people must feel in the human world when others around them expects them to be something other than what they are. The song about rose colored glasses is really true because until we take those glasses off, we don’t see clearly. We may not realize who or what that person is before us in our relationship until we remove the glasses. Our expectations of who they should be often outshines who they actually are, and eventually if that is the case, we become disappointed, grumpy, and annoyed, which is crazy, a bird is a bird right!

If you are having relationship problems, I want you to stop and look at that person. I want you to see who you” think” that person should be. Are you seeing the real person or the one you imagine they should be? Ask yourself is this a clear picture of this person or am I just putting my desires of what I need onto their shoulders. I believe this is what happens in many relationships. We expect the other person that we share our life with to be different than who they are. We see those rose-colored glasses come on and love gets in the way as our heart fills with joy, blinding us like a ray of sunshine. But, when the clouds come overhead, and we get a good look and we realize we might have imagined these elements of who they are we start picking, and picking, and picking.

I was married to my second husband for thirty something years. We are still friends. He is the same person he always was. And I can tell you that when we first got together, I had some heavily tinted glasses on. Along the way as I grew up and grew older, I realized that just because I had expectations of who this person was supposed to be, did not make it so. That was a very enlightening “ aha” moment because we were going through some serious storms in our relationship.

It takes time to really get to know someone, be it friends or sweethearts. The main reason is we usually put our best foot forward trying to impress and win over that special person we want in our life. Eventually though the glasses come off and we see what we see, and that may not be a good thing for anyone.

But here’s where I come to my ex-husband’s defense and say that he was being 100% of who he was with all his little flaws, all his little kindnesses, all his bias ideas, and I was not going to change any of that by throwing a tantrum or pulling out the silence card or withdrawing from him because he was who he was and he didn’t understand why I didn’t understand him. He was just being himself. A bird is a bird!

Eventually I came to understand that we cannot expect other people to change to please us. If there is a change in a relationship it must come through a change in ourselves. We have to change our expectations and make them real. We must open our eyes and be fair to that other person.

Our marriage didn’t work out as the differences were too difficult, but I did learn to accept him for who he was, and we are still friends. I have my flaws, he has his flaws, and we care about each other. I came to realize how unjust I was being by expecting anything else.

Now I’m not saying that things can’t change in a relationship, but it has to be something you both agree on. Things can’t change if one partner is saying “ it has to be my way” or saying “if only you would do it this way, if only you were that way, if only you were more thoughtful, if only you were neater or kinder or cleaner or happier” or whatever it is that we are trying to lay on their shoulders that we think would make us a happier person, and that’s wrong.

All we can do is learn to change ourselves to find peace within. To accept others for who they are and accept ourselves or if we don’t like what we see improve what we find wrong within in ourselves, not criticize the other person.

They say when you look at other people in your life you are seeing reflections of yourself. I tell myself that often if I’m struggling or being too judgmental. I say that is me looking back at me and that is what I need to take care of, perhaps what I need to change in myself.

If you believe in the ripple effect, I wrote a piece about that, you might get lucky and that other person may change a little bit too, but it won’t be because they see that we think there is something wrong, if may be because we have become a better person to be around therefore they are able to relax into who they are and enjoy our company, hopefully we can enjoy their company too.

Yelling at my bird didn’t solve a single thing. If birds could think, and I don’t know if they do, he probably thought I was crazy. I think his little birdie brain was saying “Doesn’t she know I always do this when I’m out and about. What’s wrong with her, why’s she’s so grumpy today.” Okay that was too much dialogue for a bird, but I will admit that I felt ashamed of my reaction to both of my lovely pets. I was upset with my bird for being a bird, and my dog for being dog. Please don’t be angry at those in your life be it people or pets for being who are. Be angry with yourself because you have the wrong expectations leading you astray, and it’s causing conflict in that relationship. The fix is for us to change our outlook, our reactions to life so that we can be a happier people. And may that happiness reflect outward, and hopefully others will find joy being with us. So, as I always say, have a great day today, you and I deserve it!