A Question For All Of You?

I have been pondering a lot lately why there are sad, or depressed people in America, or for that matter in much of the world. I have had the opportunity to know of some people who are born with certain defects, or who are possibly born into a terrible family situation, and I can see how they could get down on life. Then I look around and see 99% of the rest of us who have it pretty darn good. So, I ask myself...and now I ask you...why are so many of these people who have it so good, sad or depressed or angry? It seems to me that the majority of the world should be able to be pretty darn happy, pretty much all the time.

I think that a big part of what happens are expectations. We think we deserve or are entitled to something that perhaps we see others have. Or we expect others to treat us in a certain way, or expect others to act a certain way. We expect a lot out of life. Too often we expect perfection. Now I'm not against having goals or hope...I just think we shouldn't get to where things become expectations. Hope and goals help you progress and grow. Expectations just leave you disappointed and depressed. So keep your hopes up...but lower, or even lose, your expectations. Accept people for who they are, try to understand their background that led them to act or to treat you the way they do, and love them. Accept life as whatever it may be and enjoy it. Accept yourself for who you are, and enjoy being you. Smile. Be happy. Enjoy Life.

From here on out, lets just be happy and enjoy whatever circumstances come our way.

As always,
Yours truly,
The Happy, Accepting, no expectatious King

Time to Shovel the Manure Out of the Stall

Imagine we have a stall in our barn where we keep our cow. We put nice clean straw on the floor to make our cow comfortable. Our cow does some biiiiiig poopies. The straw gets dirty. So we put new clean straw on top of the poopies. Now you would think the cow would try to keep her new straw clean but noooo...she does more poopies on top of the clean straw. The old poopies are still under the straw so now the straw is getting dirty from both sides...so we have to put clean straw in sooner than before. Before long you have a deep pile of straw poopie that just won't stay clean so you have to shovel all the straw and poopie out, and start back with a clean stall.

That is how government works. It isn't a clean easy job...because there are so many different people and variables...it will always be a little messy. But if we leave the same people in office, and then just add a few new ones each election, the new guys quickly become soiled by the veterans and the system that is in place. In America, with each election, we have been putting a little, tiny bit of new clean straw on top of a big pile of old poopie for just over two hundred years. Our clean straw quickly becomes part of the big pile of poopie. Now it is time to shovel out the stall...We are going to have an election where there will be no incumbants, and no one who has held public office before can run for office this round. Every person from local officials up to the president of the United States will be some one who is new to politics. We will be starting with a fresh clean stall. Mmmmm...doesn't that smell nice. No more poopies.

Now that's what I call change. The change that has been happening in American politics is just a label change. Republican, then Democrat, then back to Repulican, then back to Democrat...different labels...but the same pile of poopies. This time we won't change the label...we'll change the poopies.

Have fun with the new changes,
Your's always,
The King

Restrictions on Electronics

Alright, I don't like governmental bodies getting involved in day-to-day activities...but, since they are...let's equalize it. The government closely watches healthcare, financial groups, food and drug, and the automobile industry...but for some reason, the electronics industry is allowed to put out on the market any half-baked idea they've come up with, even if it isn't completely developed or functional. Come on people. This has got to stop. If you want to sell a product, make it work first. Be ethical. Think of the end user. Let us not be selfish. I could put a car on the market today that runs on dirt...the problem is, I don't know how to make it acutally run. So obviously, I don't try to sell it. So likewise, if you have an electronics idea...like most of the computers today, figure out how to make it work more consistently before you put it on the market.

Thanks for your support,
The King

A Stabalizing Hand, Not a Hand-out

So many of the charities, and programs today, especially those ran by governments, tend to give hand outs to people. They make the people dependent on them instead of helping the people to become strong and self-sustaining. They pick the people up and carry them over the bumps that lie in life's paths and make the people weaker. What we really need is programs, policies, and charities that just give a stabilizing hand, but allow people to continue to grow and become stronger on their own.

I would like to share with you two of these that I support whole heartedly.

1. The Central Asia Institute: https://www.ikat.org/
This is a group that build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is fighting the war against terror in a much more peaceful and, I believe, sustainable way than the governments. They are teaching the girls as well, which is something that had been neglected for some time. In just a few short years they have noticed amazing growth and advancement in some of the small mountain villages...not because a different culture was taught to the kids, but just because they were given knowledge and not left ignorant. It gives these children and their families hope in life, a reason to live and something to look forward to. And this they have done with a small amount of money. If they had the funds available for building, that governments have used to destroy, I believe the middle east and central Asia could be on their way to a whole new peaceful existence...something they haven't had in centuries.

2. The Smile Train: http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer
This is a group that teaches Doctors in countries around the world to do a cleft pallet repair surgery which enables an otherwise normal child to have a normal life, in place of a life of shame and abandonment. They then fund those doctors to be able to provide the surgery free of charge to the children in need. They are affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in an incomprehensible way.

I urge everyone to support these causes that help people and societies to grow and develop much more than they ever could have on there own. Not leaving them dependant on others, instead encouraging Independence.

Thanks for your support,
The King

A New Variation On An Old Sport

I had the privilege of witnessing the invention of a new, All American Sport...or at least the improvement on one. Let me start by describing the competition:
Rugby: Full contact/no pads/very cool
Football: Full contact/some pads but hard hitting/still cool
Hockey: Full contact/some pads but serious body checking/still cool
Soccer: Limited contact but still fast paced and with some body checking/still cool
Basketball: Limited contact but still fast paced and some bullying for position/still cool
Golf: Well, there's really no hope for that...it's not even really a sport, I don't think
Baseball: Lots of fans, lots of potential, but way too slow, and I hate to say it, but somewhat boring, (sorry baseball fans, no offense meant, keep reading), /rates right up there with sitting on a rocking chair on your front porch/not bad...but not cool

So the other night I notice two amazing athletes, Alex John and Tristan John. One of them picks up a bat and ball. Oh...so they're going to play a boring (sorry again baseball fans) game of baseball. NOT SO! They are going to play...Get ready for this...Drum roll please..."FULL CONTACT, TACKLE, BASEBALL!!! Sweet! What a game. Now that rivals any other sport out there.

They start by backing away from each other about twice the distance they can hit the ball...then, the guy with the bat and ball hits the ball towards the middle. Then they both run at full speed and dive on the ball, or on the opponent if he got there first, or if you're getting there at the same time you just throw yourself at the ball and hope for the best...OUCH! Then you wrestle around for a minute and the first guy to get to his feet with the ball gets to be the next to bat. It is a great sport and easily expandable to any number of players. You can even play teams or all-against-all. Try it at your next get together...it is sure to be a real crowd pleaser!

Enjoy playing the New American Pass Time,
FULL CONTACT, TACKLE, BASEBALL

Yours Truly,
The King

A Voice of Warning to the Once Great United States of America

I would like to start by quoting a few paragraphs from a high school history book printed in 1985:

Decline of Spain

"New World riches led to Spain's golden age and also to its downfall. With more gold to spend, prices quadrupled. Since the farmers and small merchants received no part of the New World's gold and silver, they could not pay such high prices.

The Spanish rulers did not help farmers. Nor did the government encourage Spaniards to produce goods for themselves. Both food and soldiers' uniforms were bought from other countries. The government kept spending more money to pay for costly wars. Spain was constantly in debt and kept raising taxes to pay interest on those debts. Its money flowed into the pockets of foreigners.

Spain soon felt the pain of inflation. Most Spaniards found that the money they earned bought less and less. Revolts occurred in different parts of Spain. Many talented people left the country. Others died in European wars.

By the end of the 1500's, Spain's power had weakened. Among the reasons for its decline were: 1) the effects of inflation, 2) the decline of Spain's population, 3) the expense in lives and money for war, 4) leaders who cared too much about their own personal interests and did not plan well for the future of Spain. The Spanish rulers had looked only at their country's present condition, not its future."

I don't think I need to point out the similarities of what the United States has gone through up to this point...and unless "we the people" change...where we are going. I have seen similar accounts of the rise and fall of other great empires. It seem that it is a common cycle as natural as any other in nature...and we too have fallen prey to it. These are facts that were taught on a high school level 24 years ago and still our politicians and public continue to march down the same road. Take note of the causes for Spain's decline...and let's make some changes so we don't continue our fall.

Pleading for your help,
The King

Don't Worry, Be Happy, and Just Flow...

I had an uncle who used to rattle off a little phrase every time he saw me getting frustrated: "Don't sweat the small stuff, everything is small stuff, if you can't run from it, if you can't fight it, FLOW....." It used to drive me crazy when he would say this because my predicaments were so terrible...or so I thought. Later in life, it has come to make a lot of sense.

A Buddhist lama put it something like this: "There is no need to worry or get up set. Whenever a problem arises, you pretty much have two possibilities...either you can fix it, or you can't. If you can fix it, then there is no need to worry or get upset, just fix it, and move on with life. If you can't fix it, then there is no need to worry or get upset, that won't fix anything, you need to just accept it, and move on with the new scenario you've been given.

The Indian mystic and sage Meher Baba (1894-1969) often used the expression "Don't worry, be happy" when cabling his followers in the West.[1] Later, in the 1960s, this well used expression by Baba was printed up on inspiration cards and posters of the era. In 1988, Bobby McFerrin noticed a similar poster in the apartment of the jazz band Tuck & Patti in San Francisco. Inspired by the expression's charm and simplicity, McFerrin wrote the now famous song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy". (thanks wikipedia)

A Christian Prophet once wrote that, "Men are (or exist), that they might have joy." Our purpose in life is to be happy. So don't worry, be happy, just flow, whatever our circumstances, there is no reason to be sad. Either fix it and move on, or just move on...either way, don't worry, be happy!

Have a happy day,
The King