Daily Thoughts & Issues

IN THIS ISSUE:

DECEMBER 25

Days left until the next millennium 01.01.3001

Photo of the Week
Didier Givois/Adventure Photo & Film
Achieve Your Dreams

December 25 - Christmas - Christian celebration of Blessed Maria giving birth to Child Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Mystic's Wheel of the Year * Christmas is a Christian holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. Gifts are given because of the three Wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Although Jesus' birth date is not known, the Western church selected Dec 25 for the feast, possibly to counteract the non-Christian festivals of that approximate date. Many customs from non-Christian festivals (Roman Saturnalia, Mithraic sun's birthday, Teutonic Yule, Druidic and other winter solstice rites, have been adopted as part of the Christmas celebration (lights, mistletoe, holly and ivy, holiday tree, wassailing and gift-giving, for example.) In the 4th Century there actually lived a Bishop named St. Nicholas who passed out gifts to children and poor people in secret. Later, a poem was written about a man in a red suit with a bag full of toys and a sleigh pulled by reindeer. To this day, Santa Claus has become a main attraction during the Christmas season. * Yule - to 1/5. Old Teutonic festival dedicated to Freyr-Freyja, God-Goddess of life, death, fertility and abundance; celebrated with evergreens, fires and feasting. The Mystic's Wheel of the Year * In his Christmas message to the American people, Franklin D. Roosevelt warned, "The war is now reaching the stage when we shall have to look forward to large casualty lists - dead, wounded and missing (1943). War entails just that. There is no easy road to victory. And the end is not yet in sight." * Christmas was celebrated in Cuba after Fidel Castro's 1998 government announcement that it was again a regular holiday in the Cuban calendar. In 1997 the government had granted a Christmas holiday in deference to Pope John Paul II who was visiting the island the next month. Christmas had been abolished as a holiday in Cuba in 1969. * It's About Time week through December 31, innovative project week dedicated to time-to-give, time-to-live and time-to-treasure. Encourages creativity applied to problems and honors pioneers and partnerships in research and service for "A Better Way. A Better World." * A'phabet Day, also know as "No-L" Day, this celebration is for people who do not want to send Christmas cards but who want to greet their friends, so they send out cards listing the letters of the alphabet in order, but with a gap where L would be. * The USSR no longer exists, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigns and the red flag is lowered over the Kremlin (1991). * Birthdays: Carlos Castaneda, Rod Serling, Humphrey Bogart, Cab Calloway, Nicolae Ceausescu, Cal Farley, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Jimmy Buffett, Lawrence Richard "Larry" Csonka, Rickey Henley Henderson, Norm McDonald.

DAILY THOUGHTS

Things to Be Happy About: Bedroom doors opening at 6am this morning. Vintage duck decoys. Having enough film and batteries. Good assembly instructions. Snow to play in.  14,000 Things to Be Happy About

Take five minutes today and send a silent blessing to all the people of the world. Simplify Your Life

If you want a kitten, start out asking for a horse. Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me

Being an individual means allowing our innate soulfulness to find its way into our lives. When you glimpse a person's soul, you see that person in ways they might not even know themselves. Soul Mates

What trumpet player petitioned California's secretary of state in 1963 to be registered as an independent candidate for the office of president of the United Stats? Dizzy Gillespie African American History

We wrapped blinking Christmas lights all around our naked bodies and did it in the dark. - Tom, 34 Best of 1001 Sex Secrets Every Man & Woman Should Know (How shocking? ed)

Children do not remember days; they remember moments. Dr. Buff's 365 Day Parenting Calendar

Some of the losses of Second Adulthood are inconsolable losses. To accept them without bitterness usually requires making a greater effort to discern the universal intelligence or spiritual force that is operating behind the changes and losses we now notice daily. New Passages

On This Day in...1065 - Westminster Abbey consecrated. 1492 Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria, wrecked. 1642 - Birthday of Sir Isaac Newton; 1776 - Washington crossed the Delaware; 1780 - Nashville, Tennessee was founded; 1821 - Clara Barton was born, 1849 - the San Francisco fire. The Old Farmer's Almanac

Let us redefine serendipity not as a gift itself but as a learned capacity to recognize and utilize the gifts of grace which are given to us from beyond the realm of our conscious will. With this capacity, we will find that our journey of spiritual growth is guided by the invisible hand and unimaginable wisdom of God with infinitely greater accuracy than that of which our unaided conscious will is capable. So guided, the journey becomes even faster. The Road Less Traveled

This holiday was scornfully called "Heathen's Feasting Day" by seventeenth-century Puritans. Forgotten English

Reconsider your definitions. We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind. - Martin Luther King, Jr. Achieve Your Dreams

You cannot trust others until you trust yourself. If Life is a Game, These are the Rules

A character rich in integrity, maturity and the Abundance Mentality has a genuineness that goes far beyond technique, or lack of it, in human interaction.   Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Can you name the flamboyant British-born writer/entertainer who has appeared in Calvin Klein perfume ads and has been the subject of a documentary and of a song written by musician Sting? (Answer below.) Gay & Lesbian Calendar

"Life is not having and getting but being and becoming." - Anonymous. Allow the true spirit of Christmas to bring peace on earth, beginning within you and spreading to those around you. Stress Busters

For the Kids:  Pull gifts from a basket!  Each year we put a basket on the table and fill it with small gifts. Each gift is attached to a string with someone's name on it. After dinner, on "three," we each pull the string with our name on it! To Do Today

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. - John Wooden Win the Day!

La Navidad (nahbeeDAHD) Christmas. Feliz Navidad!  Merry Christmas!  Living Language

Answer:  Quentin Crisp, born on Christmas day, 1908.

TODAY'S ISSUE: SURVIVAL

"The rain may fall on us," my mother said, "but we do not melt." - Edith Johnson Mucke

After a spring rainstorm, some children once found a dead baby starling that had been swept out of its nest. Solemnly they buried the scrawny little body, singing all the sad songs they knew and making a grave marker out of an old roof shingle. They picked flowers for Tweety's grave and wept over it. Their parents smiled at these ceremonies, but they didn't make fun of them; they understood that this was a practice run of grief and mourning for the many losses their children would know and, they hoped, survive.

Even in privileged lives there are losses and reverses, and the most valuable lesson children learn in their families is that they can survive grief and loss. Life goes on, even after devastating sorrow like the death of a parent or spouse, but full giving and mourning are essential to survival. The river of life carries pain as well as satisfactions, and we can't dam up our tears any more than we can bank our joy. We flow with the river, weeping as we need to and ceasing to weep when our paid subsides.

We don't forget. Those children will remember Tweety always, with fondness and a distance ache for all creatures that die young. But loss need not vanquish them; they will grieve for a time, and they will survive. Family Feelings

Hey Man: Did you make a difference yesterday? Let us know at Contact Us.. Our deepest grief is always for ourselves. If I am free of fear, I can survive the pain of loss. Family Feelings Want to make a difference but you don't know where to start?

BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Dumbest Generation: How the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future (0r, don't trust anyone under 30) by Mark Bauerlein. Do the digital diversions of the young cut kids off from history, civics, literature, fine art? Does mounting screen time dumb them down? The author thinks "Yes." And this book was designed to open debate for sober skepticism. It was to counter the sanguine portraits of informed and agile teens at the keyboard with dismaying survey results and illustrations of youth insulation and ignorance, kids shunning books and vaunting their digital nativity. We won't know the full intellectual impact of text messaging, Web 2.0, Facebook and the rest for many years and it will show up in distant measures such as the money firms spend on writing coaches for employees, the number of students in remedial classes, popular demand that politicians elevate their rhetoric, and whether the vocabulary level of newspapers inches downward or upward. This book is definitely a wake-up call. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2009, ISBN 978-1-58542-712-3

 

SPECIAL URLs

 

MENSTUFF COLUMNS BY AUTHOR

  • The Advice Diva - The Advice Diva - relationship and sexuality issues discussed - www.menstuff.org/columns/advicediva/archive.html
  • Peter Alsop - Song of the Month - www.menstuff.org/columns/alsop/archive.html
  • Reid Baer - A Man Overboard - Interview of the Month - www.menstuff.org/columns/overboard/archive.html
  • Reid Baer - Poetry - poetry read on YouTube - www.menstuff.org/columns/baer/archive.html
  • Molly Barrow - Shrink About This - www.menstuff.org/columns/barrow/archive.html
  • Peter Baylies - At Home Dads - on at-home-dad issues that impact fathers who stay at home to raise their kids - www.menstuff.org/columns/baylies/archive.html
  • Tom Blake - Middle-Age Relationships - from an expert on dating after 50. www.menstuff.org/columns/blake/archive.html
  • Mark Brandenburg - Great Fathers - on fathering issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/greatfathers/archive.html
  • Ted Braude - BoysWork - a columnist in the The Detroit Free Press "Body and Mind" section www.menstuff.org/columns/braude/archive.html
  • Armin Brott - A Father's Guide - hosts "Positive Parenting" on radio www.menstuff.org/columns/brott/archive.html
  • Dan Bulf - Get Real - weekly pod cast on men's issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/bulf/archive.html
  • Ken Byers - Transition - on men's life transitions - www.menstuff.org/columns/byers/archive.html
  • Sandra L. Caron - Sex Talk - college students get answers to their questions - www.menstuff.org/columns/sextalk/archive.html
  • Neil Chethik - Relationships - www.menstuff.org/columns/chethik/archive.html
  • Otto & Susie Collins - Susie and Otto - relationship issues discussed - www.menstuff.org/columns/susie&otto/archive.html
  • David Copeland - How to Succeed with Women - www.menstuff.org/columns/howtosucceed/archive.html
  • Forrest Craver - Spirituality & Social Change - www.menstuff.org/columns/craver/archive.html
  • Layne & Paul Cutright - Powerful Partnerships - relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/cutright/archive.html
  • Ron DesMarais - Cavemen in the Kitchen - great recipes for men - www.menstuff.org/columns/desmarais/archive.html
  • Jed Diamond - Irritable Male Syndrome - www.menstuff.org/columns/diamond/archive.html
  • Doc Love - Women Don't Lie, Man Don't Listen - answers to relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/doclov/archive.html
  • Barry Durdant-Hollamby - Creating Change - creating change in your life - www.menstuff.org/columns/durdant/archive.html
  • Irv Engel - The Real Deal - www.menstuff.org/columns/engel/archive.html
  • Nancy Fagan - Expert Dating Advice - with Nancy Fagan - www.menstuf.org/columns/fagan/archive.html
  • Warren Farrell - Men's Issues: Facts and Perspectives www.menstuff.org/columns/farrell/archive.html
  • Leonard Felder - Wake Up or Break Up - www.menstuff.org/columns/felder/archive.html
  • Marty Friedman - Strong Men, Strong Marriage - www.menstuff.org/columns/friedman/archive.html
  • Kim Garretson - Mansgland - using humor to encourage prostate exams - www.menstuff.org/columns/mansgland/archive.html
  • Lion Goodman - How to get Women to Love You - www.menstuff.org/columns/goodman/archive.html
  • Liz Halliday - In a Man's World - www.menstuff.org/columns/halliday/archive.html
  • Rick Hanson - Just One Thing - www.menstuff.org/columns/hanson/archive.html
  • Tim Hartnett - Daddyman Speaks - being a father www.menstuff.org/columns/daddyman/archive.html
  • John Hershey - Blood, Phlegm & Bile: Parenting with Humor - He writes a syndicated biweekly humor column about parenting and family life. www.menstuff.org/columns/hershey/archive.html
  • Gary Hoeber - Psychotherapy as Soul Work, www.menstuff.org/columns/hoeber/archive.html
  • Patrick Houser - Fathers Make a World of Difference, www.menstuff.org/columns/houser/archive.html
  • Paul Joannides - The Guide to Getting It On - on sex - www.menstuff.org/columns/getiton/archive.html
  • Jack Kahn - NOMAS Boston - www.menstuff.org/columns/kahn/archive.html
  • Patrick Kennedy - Seniors - www.menstuff.org/columns/kennedy/archive.html
  • Joe Kort - Gaydar - to increase understanding between gay and het men - www.menstuff.org/columns/kort/archive.html
  • David Kundtz - David Kundtz - presents seminars, workshops, retreats, and conference presentations in the areas of men's emotional health, stress management, and spirituality. www.menstuff.org/columns/kundtz/archive.html
  • Bruce Linton - Dr. Dad - on fathering - www.menstuff.org/columns/drdad/archive.html
  • Ron Louis - How to Succeed with Women - www.menstuff.org/columns/howtosucceed/archive.html
  • Wendy McElroy - Wendy McElroy on Feminism, www.menstuff.org/columns/mcelroy/archive.html
  • Robert N. Minor - Minor Details - on GBT sexuality - www.menstuff.org/columns/minordetails/archive.html
  • Robert L. Moore - Man & Mythology - www.menstuff.org/columns/moore/archive.html
  • Dennis W. Neder - Being a Man - general questions about men's lives - www.menstuff.org/columns/neder/archive.html
  • Marty Nemko - Worklife - general questions about men and work - www.menstuff.org/columns/nemko/archive.html
  • Eli Newberger - Eli Newberger - general information on men's lives - www.menstuff.org/columns/newberger/archive.html
  • Linda Nielsen - Embracing the Father - working with the father/daughter relationship. www.menstuff.org/columns/nielsen/archive.html
  • Kathy Noll - Bullies and Youth Violence - working with schools, teachers and parents to end school violence - www.menstuff.org/columns/noll/archive.html
  • Mark Phillips - Stay-at-Home-Dads - helping men maintain that which makes us men, instead of becoming hairy Mom-substitutes - www.menstuff.org/columns/phillips/archive.html
  • Carey Roberts - Socialism & Feminism - is a social commentator on political correctness. www.menstuff.org/columns/roberts/archive.html
  • Perry Rose - Dating, Relationship, Sex
  • Glenn Sacks - His Side - on fathering - www.menstuff.org/columns/sacks/archive.html
  • Trudy Schuett - Domestic Violence - serving the under-represented www.menstuff.org/columns/schuett/archive.html
  • Carl J. Schutt - Circumcision - social commentator on circumcision - www.menstuff.org/columns/schutt/archive.html
  • Hugo Schwyzer - A Pro-feminist's Response - www.menstuff.org/columns/schwyzer/archive.html
  • Michael Shaffran - Men's Issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/shaffran/archive.html
  • Judith Sherven - Judith & Jim - discussion and answers regarding relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/judith&jim/archive.html
  • Judith Sherven - The New Intimacy - www.menstuff.org/columns/newintimacy/archive.html
  • George Simons - Bellicose Veins - is a US specialist in intercultural and gender communication who hangs out in Mandelieu - la Napoule, France, as well as in Santa Cruz, CA. www.menstuff.org/columns/simons/archive.html
  • Andy Smith - Hard Hat Brotherhood - www.menstuff.org/columns/hardhat/archive.html
  • David B. Smith - Fighting Father Dave - www.menstuff.org/columns/smith/archive.html
  • Jim Sniechowski - Judith & Jim - discussion and answers regarding relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/judith&jim/archive.html
  • Jim Sniechowski - The New Intimacy - www.menstuff.org/columns/newintimacy/archive.html
  • Reena Sommer - Custody - is an internationally recognized relationship and divorce consultant. www.menstuff.org/columns/sommer/archive.html
  • R. Don Steele - Don Steele - relationship questions answered -
    www.menstuff.org/columns/steele/archive.html
  • David Steinberg - Comes Naturally - on sexuality - www.menstuff.org/columns/steinberg/archive.html
  • Mary Lou St Lucas - A Mother's Love - www.menstuf.org/columns/stlucas/archive.html
  • Surprise - Surprise Author - From a new columnist every month - www.menstuff.org/columns/surprise/archive.html
  • Steven Svoboda - Fatherhood, Activism and the Law www.menstuff.org/columns/svoboda/archive.html
  • Michael Taylor - A New Conversation with Men - www.menstuff.org/columns/taylor/archive.html
  • Bruce Van Horn - Yoga for Men - issues around the health benefits of yoga for men - www.menstuff.org/yoga/archive.html
  • Michael Webb - Secrets of Blissful Relationships - on relationship - www.menstuff.org/columns/bliss/archive.html
  • Stuart Wilde - Spirituality - www.menstuff.org/columns/wilde/archive.html
  • Dr.Williams - Sex Health - on sexual health - Dr. Williams, www.menstuff.org/columns/sexhealth/archive.html
  • KC Wilson - On Gender Politics is a social commentator and author. www.menstuff.org/columns/wilson/archive.html

Plus

  • Health Tips - on general health - www.menstuff.org/columns/healthtips/archive.html
  • Independent Means - resources for raising financially fit kids - www.menstuff.org/columns/independentmeans/archive.html
  • Numbers - www.menstuff.org/columns/numbers/archive.html
  • Questions - www.menstuff.org/columns/q&a/archive.html
  • Surprise - from a new columnist every month - www.menstuff.org/columns/surprise/archive.html
  • Words Can Heal - helping children grow up healthy - www.menstuff.org/columns/wordscanheal/archive.html
  • Wuzup?! - National or international events happening this month - www.menstuff.org/columns/whassup/archive.html 

AWARENESS EVENTS THIS MONTH

December is Kidstuff month. Also check Toy Safety and Happy Holidaze. Holiday Designated Driver, Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness; Hug-A-Week for Hearing Impaired; International Calendar Awareness; *National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention; National Stress-Free Family Holidays; Safe Toys and Gifts; Universal Human Rights Month.

11/1-12/13: Merlin's Snug Hugs for Kids, 11/27-12/26: Ramadan. 11/1/00-01/01/01: Tie One on the Safety; 11/4-12/4: Jewish Book Month. 11/26-12/25: Operation Blessing International's 30 Days of Holiday Hope. 12/1-7: National Aplastic Anemia Awareness; Tolerance; 12/10-16: *Human Rights Week. 12/15-21: International Language Week 12/16-24: Posadas.. 12/17-23: Tell Someone They're Doing a Good Job Week. 12/22-29: Chanukah. 12/25-31: It's About Time Week. 12/26-1/1: Kwanzaa. 12/1: Day without Art/*UN World AIDS Day; 12/2: Pan American Health; International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Advent/Festival of Lights. 12/3: UN International Day of Disabled Persons. 12/5: Bathtub Party; International Volunteer Day for Economy and Social Development Day. 12/7: *National Pearl Harbor Remembrance; UN International Civil Aviation Day. 12/9: UN Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). 12/10: * Human Rights; International Shareware; UN Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination Day. 12/12: Poinsettia Day. 12/15: *Bill of Rights; Underdog; One Day. 12/17: End Violence Against Sex Workers (International) *Pan American Aviation; Wright Brothers Day. 12/20: Louisiana Purchase; Mudd Day. 12/21: Forefathers'; Humbug; Phileas Fogg Wins a Wager; World Peace Day. 12/25: Christmas, A'phabet Day. 12/26: National Whiner's; Boxing Day. 12/28: Holy Innocents Day. 12/29: UN International Day for Biological Diversity Day. 12/31: Namahage (Japan); Make Up Your Mind Day. World Peace Meditation.

* Means a Presidential Proclamation has been made.

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Men are so competitive that we even "out-die" women in all 15 of the major causes of death in the U.S. Most of these deaths are preventable with a positive change in life-style, eating habits, and/or general health care. Let's not strive so hard to hold on to this record. See what you can change now to live a healthier life.
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