Once Again, It's Not Cheating if You Don't Get Caught

You've got to love professional athletes. They'll cheat in plain view and then tell the world they didn't do it. That is, they'll have their attorney tell the world, or agent tell the world, or somebody else tell the world. There are exceptions of course, but all of these individuals named in the Mitchell Report were given the chance to talk to Mr. Mitchell and give their side of it, and the didn't. So now one of them is screaming that it's all a lie, he didn't do steroids. Well too bad. You had your chance. As for the rest of the clubhouse, come on, these guys aren't that secretive. It's one thing to say you never saw it happen in the clubhouse and quite another to know it was going on and didn't say anything about it. Anyone can turn their backs and claim they never saw it but it takes a man to stand up and confront it. It's a problem, much larger than the 80sh individuals named in the report. College and high school kids are doing HGH and steroids now. Who gave them the idea? If they're thinking that they won't be able to compete at higher levels if they don't start this stuff at their age, that's pretty sad. It's one thing for an adult to make choices on their lives, but it's now affecting those who are too young to make those choices, but feel they need to in order to compete with everyone else. Unfortunately, now I feel the need to read Jose Canseco's book on the matter. I heard one talk host say that it's not right that we as fans get so caught up in these athletes. Our main focus should be home, family, jobs. In a way, he's right, but that doesn't happen. We adopt these athletes into our hearts. We want them to do well so as a team, the team that represents us, does well. We all feel the need to have those people honestly represent us. When we find out they cheat, well, for most of us, we feel like we've been let down. Funny though, how others are so easy to overlook the cheating if those people are helping our team win. It's a mixed up, mungled up world we live in.

Another thing I'm not looking forward to are the elections. Every one of the candidates is a liar and a cheat. There's a great site - factcheck.org. They're totally impartial and will break down what the politicians are saying and separate the fact from fiction. It's one of the only ways to get the truth through this whole thing. There's much more to say on this, but that'll come later.

Expectations

Why is it that expectations we place on others affects us so much. Are we not our own people? Are we not supposed to make our own decisions based on what's best for us? Why should we expect others to act in accordance to our expectations? Common courtesies aside, you can tell more about a person from what they do than what they say.

We all know someone, or many people, who are so into their lives that they don't care about others. They go where they want, when they want and do what they want, when they want without caring how it affects others. Is there something wrong with that? To the others I guess. To that person, it's who they are.

Is that good enough though, to excuse them because "that's who they are"? I don't think so. I mentioned common courtesies earlier. These include calling people on their birthdays or other days that are special to them. Remembering special days. Being thoughtful and anticipating what someone would like and doing random acts of kindness. One smile or kind word can turn someone's day around, and it doesn't take much time out of your day to do it.

Had a situation this week where it was my wife's birthday. It's customary in our family to call the person who's birthday it is and sing/wish them a happy birthday. Most of us are good about doing it, but there are a few who are caught up in their worlds and either don't have time or take the time to call. As much as I can say that that's to be expected, and that's who they are, it hurts, because after 16 years of marriage, my wife is as much an extended family member as the rest of us. However, what hurt the most is when our oldest daughter didn't call. My wife said to let it go, she had a good birthday, it's okay, she's learned not to expect much from some people so she won't be disappointed. Well, I wasn't fine with it. I called our daughter and told her I wasn't real happy that she didn't call her mother on her birthday. She needs to realize that what she does affects other people. My sister tells me not to give up on those that are close to us, but careless in their actions. Okay I won't give up on them, but I'm not going to give them a green light to continue to get away with their unthoughtfulness. I'll let them know that they forgot to do something or call someone and I'll remind them several times. When the time comes where I know they just don't care, then I'll start to drift to giving up on them.

What do you expect?

It's Amazing

People are amazing. Life is amazing. Things are amazing. Define amazing. Anything and everything that makes you shake you head in wonder, do a double take, take a step back to ponder. Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins - Amazing. Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, France - Amazing. Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs - Amazing. Every day, something somewhere will make you ponder. Is $275,000,000 too much to pay a baseball player? Obviously not. Amazing. Is growing abnormally over the course of a couple of years, yet denying it all the way to jail aver the top? Apparently not for some. Amazing. Is going undefeated the same year the only historical undefeated team goes win less out of the question? Guess not. Amazing. How about a team who supposedly has some of the best players in the game, playing .500 football. Out of line? Not at all. Amazing.

I can go on and on. Nature gives us amazing things every day. Birth, death, life; all around us, every day. Amazing. Unconditional love, conditional love, love that is and shouldn't be, love that should be but isn't. Amazing. Sunrises, sunsets, snow fall, rain fall. Amazing. Albert Einstein had a great quote, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Amazing.

Friggin Sports

What is it about team sports? Win or lose, our team can totally control our emotions. From high school to professional, they make such an impact on us. Why is that? Is it that they represent us? They belong to us emotionally? They build us up and let us down? I don't know. I think it may have to do with expectations. If you live in a bad sports town, where the teams continually lose, you don't expect much, and you don't get disappointed. However, once good year can make you believe that there should be other good years and the expectations go up. When the next year isn't so good, there's disappointment. When you grow up loving sports, and you marry the local teams, you live and die by what they do. When they win, you're great. When they lose, it's the pits. The Padres have a play-in game today. It was a season of ups and downs. They don't have the best team, by far, but they've played well for the most part. It's hard to love a team like that 'cause you never know what you're going to get. You don't want to get too excited because you figure they'll let you down at some point. This weekend, they only had to win one of two games. They lost them both. Now, they have to win tonight or they don't make the playoffs. The Chargers...supposed to have some of the best talent in the league. Finished 14 and 2 last year and expectations were huge. Super Bowl huge. What do we have? 1 and 3 so far this year and they are looking horrible.

Did you hear about the Oklahoma fan who about killed a Texas fan for wearing a Texas shirt into the bar in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma fan, a 56 year old minister no less and not even an alumni, tore into this guys crotch and caused him to get about 60 stitches to close the wounds. The stories go on and on, about parents berating the coaches, parents beating up other parents, fights in the stands, etc. What is it?

I guess if you go deep, it's like protecting your country's flag, your city's honor. I will fight as long as my team is fighting. If my team fights no more, than the heck with them, and I'll let them know that they've disappointed me. I'll boo, I'll stop going to the games, I'll stop tuning in. That'll show them. But wait, they've won a game, maybe, just maybe that'll turn it around for them. Maybe I'll be able to hold up my head and support my team, support my city again. The expectations...Friggin sports.

It's only cheating if you get caught

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Belicheat of the Patriots was "caught" video taping the defensive signals of the other team. Said he didn't understand what the league meant when they said there will be no video cameras on the sideline, coaches box, etc. How much clearer could the league have made it? No means no, as in none, not ever. Yet, he did it and he finally got caught. According to most interviewees, it's been going on for years and that it's part of the game. Barry Bonds "supposedly" has been taking steriods and HGH for a while, ever since Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa had their incredible homerun seasons. Barry is now the *homerun king of baseball. He will hold that title for a while because he hasn't been caught. Most baseball players, although recognizing him as being a jerk, accept what he's done. Track and field, swimming, basketball, you name it, it's all done for competitive advantage, and for the most part is accepted as part of the game.

Well, competitive advantage is the driving force in our world as well. Parents enrolling their 3 year olds in school and learning centers so that they can get into the best colleges later in life. Parents lying about the childrens' ages so that they can stay back a year and be better than the other kids in their class or sport. Must have more; must be better. That's a lot of pressure on the kids and a lot of stress on the parents. From parents fighting with coaches, kids beating other kids with bats, parents yelling at their kids and others, it makes me wonder where this world is going. Then, there's the other side. The side that says kids can't play tag because there will be some kids who aren't as fast as the others who will always be "it". They'll have their feelings and egos hurt and will have to deal with that later in life. There are those who say everyone must be a winner. Well, believe it or not, that isn't the case in life. There are those with better skills who will exceed in different ways. Just because someone isn't as fast as someone else in tag, doesn't mean they don't excel in other ways. We should encourage children to excel in what they're good at and not force them into things they aren't. That's not to say to never have them try new things but if it's obvious that they don't have the aptitude for certain things, chances are they never will. People have enough stress without having to try to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Growing up, we learned to deal with our own issues. If an adult other than our parents caught us doing something we shouldn't be doing, generally they told our parents and let our parents deal with us. Parents behaved at sporting events. There was no name calling, no cursing. Professional athletes, for the most part, behaved liked honorable people, people you could look up to and call a hero. I don't want to say it was a simpler life, but it was a different life. We played sports and had fun. Yes, there was competition, but you competed on natural ability. Some people were better than others. It hurt when we didn't win, but we moved on. We didn't think about cheating so that we could win that next game. Life is about victory and defeat. Every day we have battles with certain things and we win or lose and we move on. If we win by cheating, where's the value in that? You don't need to worry about getting caught if you don't cheat. There's a lot of value in that.

The Opportunity Was There...

The other night we had some family pictures taken. It'd been a long time, about 7 years, since the last time and the opportunity came up, so we took advantage of it. We got to the gym while the family before us was finished so the kids and I played a little basketball and dodge ball and volleyball. Yes, we were all dressed up, and yes, it was really hot, but the opportunity was there, so we took advantage of it. The pictures were for the church directory, but since they were taken by a photo studio, we had Misty join us for some complete family pictures. We took some of the family, and then some of kids, and then one of Nanci and me. When the kids were posing for their pictures, I was overcome with how blessed we are. We have three, really gorgeous, very photogenic kids. Did I mention that they are really terrific kids as well, most of the time?

How often do we get caught up in our own activities, our own lifes, our own minds and forget about taking the time to look around us and really appreciate what we have? Well, the opportunity was there, so I did. I'm blessed with a wife who really loves me. I'm blessed with kids who started life with very little but pain and ugliness and now have love and beauty. I'm blessed with an extended family who are all pretty terrific people. I'm blessed with a job that is very secure. I'm blessed with people who truly care about me and my well being, and not those who just say that they are (and I can tell the difference). I'm blessed with a mind that is always learning. I'm blessed with a body that can get out of bed every morning, 365 days a year, with barely a sniffle now and again and a few times a week lets me run several miles to start my day. I'm blessed with a great home, that's pretty much just the way we want it now. I'm blessed with a bank account that increases monthly. I am truly blessed. And why did I sit and think about all of this?

The opportunity was there, so I did it. Needs to be done every now and again, and it sure feels good when it is. Take the opportunity and do it yourself.

What Is My Destiny?

Do we make our own destiny? I think we do, up to a point, with the choices we make, the decisions we make, every moment of every day. We could choose to walk in front of a truck, thus ending our life. We could choose to eat healthy and exercise and perhaps live much longer lives. I say perhaps, because we can't choose when we die, unless we take our own lives. I believe that only God knows that and there's not much we can do about it. However, what happens between now and then, it's all up to us. We move forward with our lives and create our existence. In one of the books I've been reading, it says that everything that is here was first just a thought. Thought brings action which brings reality. Therefore, our thinking brings about our reality. Can we think ourselves great? Of course. Can we do the actions that will make us great? Of course. Can we decide that we don't want to let lifes hurts keep us down? Of course. There are enough examples of individuals who have gone above and beyond what the world said they should have done, just as there are plenty of examples of individuals who never fulfilled their potentials. Some say that if you want to be successful, do what successful people do. it's been proven time and time again. So do I think we make our own destiny? Yes.

Free Will

Did you know that the Lutheran Church says we don't have free will? It's a theological thing. Not sure what it all means but I think I'll have to take it up with someone and have them really explain it to me. In looking into a little bit, it seems that since God, being all knowing, knows what we are going to do before we do it, so the choice isn't really ours and there is no free will, 'cause that means that God has no control over us.

To my way of thinking, when we were given choices, we were given free will to choose. Sure, some of those choices, well all of those choices, come with consequences, either good or bad, but it's our choice, our free will, and our consequences. If you keep God first and foremost, then you'd most likely choose on the side of good, but so often we choose based on what's going on with us at that time; who we're with, what mood we're in, etc. Eve chose to eat the apple and Adam chose to go along with her. Cain chose to kill Able, and so on. I feel that God gave us choices to empower us. God wants us to better ourselves, to prove ourselves. We do that with the choices that we make.

The other day I was at the grocery store. A man with 3 kids came up to me and pointing at the floor asked it that was my $100 bill. I thanked him and told him it wasn't but that I would turn it in to the store manager, which I did. We both made a choice. He did the right thing in front of his children, teaching them right. When I turned the money in, the manager took my name and number and said if no one claimed it, it would be mine. That wasn't right either, since I wasn't the first one to find it. I got the first man's number and told him that if the manager called, I'd have him call him and give him the money. An easy choice since it was never my money to begin with. Turns out someone did claim the money so it went back to the original owner. My choices were easy. I didn't find the money and I didn't lose the money. It would have been wrong for me keep the money. Free will? Yes, I freely and willfully turned the money in. Did God know that I was going to do that? Sure, but it was still my choice.

We're here to learn lessons. We're here to live consequences. Not every choice is the right one, or the smart one, but if we learn from it, then it was the worthwhile one. I can't see a God who dictates every thing we do. We don't do that as parents. Now, I'm not saying we are as all powerful and all knowing and all loving as God, but we know enough to let our children make mistakes and learn from them, even when we know in advance what they're going to do...because we mostly, in free will, did the same things ourselves.

Are you a Cause or an Effect person?

Read this quote the other day -


You alone have the responsibility to shape your life. Once you understand this, nothing and no one can deny you success. There's no one to stop you but yourself.


Then, I was listening to Christopher Howard and he said there were cause people and effect people. Effect people seem to always have an excuse for not getting, not having, etc. and it usually involves someone or something outside of themselves. Cause people make things happen, 'cause the know that if it's going to be, it's up to them.

It got me thinking about my life. I am where I am today because of the decisions I make years ago. Did I have a plan. Not really. Am I where I want to be. Mostly. Why don't I have everything I want? My fault. You know, "those that fail to plan, plan to fail" and all that...Is it too late? Absolutely not. In 5 years, God willing, I will be 5 years older. Will I be doing the same things I'm doing now? It's up to me. The path I put myself on right now will determine where I am 5 years from now. If I'm not where I want to be, whose fault will it be? Mine. Yeah, I could say that it was my family that held me back, or we had to get the kids' school paid for, etc., but those are just excuses. If I set my mind to it, and dedicated bits of every day to doing something that will move me closer, I'll be there in 5 years - right where I want to be. Oprah Winfrey said, "Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility."

It's all there for you. So, are you a 'cause or an effect person?

What's your legacy?

Bill Walsh died today. For those of you who don't know who he is, he coached the San Fransisco 49rs to several Super Bowls and then went and coached at Stanford. He was labeled a genius by many in the pro football world as his way of coaching forever changed the game of football. But that's not all he was known for. He also gave black coaches a way into the NFL when no one else was giving them a chance and several of them became head coaches themselves. Many people have said that his encouragement, his insights and his abilities helped them to become more than they thought they could be.

That's the kind of legacy I'd like to leave. I'd like the people at my memorial to be able to say that they are better because of something I did or said to them. I'd like them to say that their life's are better, their families are better, their jobs are better because they were able to look at what I've done or said and bring that into their life and made it better.

I guess it's like the movie "Pay It Forward". If someone takes something that I've done, internalizes it and pays it forward, and it continues from there, then this world will be a better place. There's a commercial on tv right now, and I can't remember who it's for, but in every scene, people are helping other people and other people are noticing and then the next scene that person is helping someone and someone notices and the next scene that person is helping someone and so on. What a great way to be. We get so caught up in our micro-worlds that we miss what's going on around us. I took my mother-in-law to the doctor's today and while I was waiting, a sales rep came in. She had a comment for everyone and I caught myself thinking what a schmoozer she was and how fake her compliments sounded etc. Then I noticed what it was doing to the nurses and the doctors and I saw how it really lifted their moments. They began talking about what they were wearing, and their hair styles or whatever the sales rep had commented on and for that short period, they were feeling really good about themselves. In turn, they were a little more courteous to the patients and I'm sure that carried over as well. How hard was that to do? Not hard at all. Yeah, to an outsider it sounded disingenuous, but to the recipient, it was a positive boost at just the right time.

How encouraging is that? It doesn't take much. Even a smile can lift someones mood. That's the legacy we start to leave, right now.

Is it Monday yet?

I tell you, sometimes it seems I work harder on the weekend then I do during the week. Trying to cram into two days what would normally take 4 or 5, mixed in with soccer games and church and such...and I still didn't get the lawn mowed. But, we made one young lady very happy this weekend.

Tony Gwynn got inducted into the baseball hall of fame today. Yes, Cal Ripken did as well but since I grew up following the Padres, Tony's the one I'm interested in. Both of these players played for the same team for 20+ years and many of those years were pretty sorry years, which makes what they did even that much more remarkable. Todays athlete either goes where the money is or goes where he may have the best chance of winning. What they fail to realize is there is more to life then winning. Of course, since most talented athletes are handed whatever they want, they don't have the experience of "needing" so it makes sense to them to either take the money and/or jump to a team that has the best chance of winning now. They have no loyalties except to themselves. Tony and Cal didn't do that. They stayed through thick and thin. They acheived their success in spite of their teams sometimes. I know Tony had chances to move on, but there were more important matters to him. In our lifes, we face the same thing. In our jobs, yes there may be places where we can work where we can make more money, but if we work in a good environment, with great people, with nice benefits, where's the problem? Now, if we stay in a job where the people are horrible and the company is horrible, and the owners don't respect you, well then it's time to look elsewhere. But, if we were like most current day athletes, we'd jump from company to company and not get to know if the one we were at offered up anything special. It's the "grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" mentality that makes it rough.

Where am I going with this? I look at what Tony and Cal did, and I realize that staying and working things though isn't all that bad sometimes. We all know when it's time to do something different, go someplace new, but we need to look at all of the factors, and not just the dollar line. Yes, having the money and winning is nice, but sometimes it's just as much fun just playing the game.

Does it hurt?

Funny how when a child falls most of the time they wait to see the adults react before they decide whether it hurts or not. If the adult reacts favorably, then all is well and the child goes back to playing and all is well. If the adult freaks, then the child freaks.

Adults are like that also, but they wait to see how their partner reacts, or how their friend reacts about something, and if that person reacts favorably, then all is well and we go back to doing what we were doing. If that person freaks, then we freak.

Why is it that we depend on others for their approval to things we're doing? Obviously, there are things that will affect others and we need to keep that in mind when we decide to do something, but in order for us to move forward in life, we need to move on our own. If we wait for others to react favorably, we'll be waiting forever. We have control over our lives and we need to ultimately make the decisions to move forward. It's been said that you are either growing, or you're dying; there's no in between. Time will move forward, and in order for us to achieve anything, we must move forward with it. We are responsible for us. We must take responsibility for our actions. People don't do things to us. We allow people to do things to us. It's on us to make the changes so that it doesn't happen again. I think it was Einstein who said that insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. It doesn't work that way. If you want different results, you must do something differently. Even if it hurts.

Is it fear or is it worry?

What is fear? Is it really different from worry? According to dictionary.com, Worry is:
1. to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
Fear is: 1. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Pretty similar...To worry is imagine something that hasn't happened and to torment yourself to the point you believe it will happen. To fear is to imagine something that hasn't happened based possibly on what's happened in the past and to torment yourself to the point you believe it will happen.

Had a conversation today with my sister. She has deep thoughts about things. We were talking about whether it was safe to fly, what with the all that's going on now days. I admit, I say a prayer at take off whenever I fly, and I look at the passengers to see if anyone fits my profile of a "terrorist", but ultimately, I don't decide when I die. I firmly believe that when it's my turn to die, I will. My grandma used to tell a story about a man named Joe who, when death came knocking at his door, ran and hid. Death came in and sat down at the table to wait. Eventually, the man decided to disguise himself and go talk to death. This went well, as death fell for the disguise, and they sat there talking. Eventually death got tired of waiting, looked at the man and said, "I guess Joe's not coming so I'll take you instead."

Unfortunately, death is a part of life. If it's not our pets, it's our friends, or our relatives, and eventually even ourselves. It's been that way for centuries. I'm not afraid to die, but I'd feel bad for the people I've left behind. There is still a lot of things that I'd like to accomplish before I die, as my list of goals will attest, so I don't plan on going anytime soon, but, it's not my choice. I don't believe I've accomplished what I was placed on this earth to accomplish. I don't believe we're here just to live our lives and die, but to accomplish something special before we go. I believe that it's our duty to leave this place better than how it was before we came here, in some way, shape or form. I'm not sure what that is for me, but there are times when I feel I'm on the verge of finding out. Every now and again, I sense the door to understanding open just a little bit allowing me a peek, and then it's closed again. I mentioned in the first blog that I had found some of my old writings. As I re-read them, I find some answers. The first, and biggest answer is Love. It's no secret that love is the ultimate answer. Everyone and everything blossoms with love. Pure, unconditional, non-judgemental, agape love. You know, if love is the pervasive thought/feeling, there's no room for fear or worry.

This is Real

A weird thing happened to me today. I was going to leave the office and I turned to pick up my things, and I had a short little burst of clarity...I realized that this is real. It sounds weird, and it was weird, because it should have been obvious, but it wasn't. Life moves; it goes on, and a lot of the time, we just go with the flow, taking what comes and making the most of it. My realization was that I make my life. I don't have to go with the flow. Sure, I have to bend here and there to accomdate others, but I make my life. Yes, right now I have to work for someone, but that doesn't mean I will have to always. I can take the steps to get to the point where I can do it myself. I was talking to a friend about "The Secret". Positive thinking and all is well and good, but nothing will happen without some action taking place. I printed out my goals last night. If I'm serious about them, I will move in the direction that will allow me to complete them. Movement...Action... Doing something, one thing each day that will bring me closer to my goals. Right now they are words on a paper, thoughts in my head. What steps do I need to do to make them real? Something...anything. This is real.

Have you ever just been stuck?

Ever have those moments when there's just so much you can do, but can't decide on which one you want to do? You go around in circles and end up not doing instead of picking something and then doing. It's not really procrastination, it's just indecision. Priorities...I guess that's the key. People get stuck doing unproductive things, and the things that they should be doing to move forward in life, end up not getting done. Someone said to do at least one thing each day that will move to closer to you goals. Makes sense, but which one thing? (an aside - it's really nice having a volume control on the keyboard. If your keyboard doesn't have one, you should consider it.)

I look around my office and see all of this "stuff" that needs to get done. And then the dogs interrupt - feed them. Then there's that pie in the fridge - feed me. Know what's missing in this office? My list of goals. I have them, on my computer, but not where I can see them regularly. What am I working towards? It's on the list. What's important right now? It's on the list. Why don't I print it out? Maybe then I have to face them, and do something towards them. What's holding me back? Fear? Of what? Succeeding? What's wrong with that? Is it fear of failure, or fear of success? I've failed and succeeded at many things. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...So what is it? Leaving my comfort level. If I achieve what I have on my list, it'll change me; I know for the better, but I have to leave my comfort zone to do many of those things. Screw it, I'm printing my list.

Going Through an Old Box

While going through some old boxes, I found some of my writings and I'd like to share. I won't make you read through them all here, but I'll write some here and others, the longer ones, I'll link to. They were all written in 1990. I was writing quite a bit at the time and just letting things flow. Let me know what you think...

Now I place my heart in your hands, to hold, to stroke, to love. Please, don't break it for it is a treasure to withhold. Please don't drop it, for it is too fragile to survive the fall. If you abuse it, it will leave you eventually, feeling the hurt. It is resilient though; it is strong. It will regain its strength, though not as fully as it once was. You see, with each hurt, with each abuse, it withdraws a little bit. Instead of coming back with more love, it shows a harder front, a wall of sorts. It is this wall that the next person will see. So you see, not only are you damaging this heart, but you are damaging the life for it will not give as strongly, or as readily the next time it has a chance. In fact, it might pass up the chance for fear that the wall will grow higher and harder. It doesn't want that. What it wants is to breathe, to live, to laugh. It wants everyone to see it in all its splendor and in full bloom. It will do that if treated properly, and you would be the reason for that, and you will be rewarded because of that. Fragile things have their place in this world, along with everything else, yet they are the first to back away from a hurtful situation. It is a lesson that is not easily forgotten. It is a lesson that will come back and haunt the rest of the days, and not just the fragile object, for if it's done by you enough, you will find that those objects are staying away from you. Then it will be you that feels the hurt, but for a different reason. It will be you that is alone, and afraid to approach, and afraid to give. It will be you that will suffer, and all because you did not take care of what was given you. So, you see why it is that I ask you to treat it with love? It is for both of us.

Where there was hate, now there is love. Where once there was anger, now there is happiness. Where once there was despair, now there is ecstasy. Where once there was loneliness, now there is you.