"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
---Aristotle Onassis
Couched between the stories of political disasters every day, I have been reading stories that have made me realize that we will be just fine. While on one hand there are groups of people trying to deport immigrants, on the other hand we read about people opening there homes to strangers in order to keep families together. We read about college presidents declaring campuses as sanctuaries for their students, and mayors declaring entire cities as sanctuaries.
While many of President Obama's environmental advances have been decimated with this new administration, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and other tech billionaires have banded together to work towards saving our environment. We can see that for every one enormously wealthy person who is only interested in padding his/her bank account, there are three more who spend their money to make our world a better place.
For every place of worship that is torn down, I read about the hundred people who stand ready with hammers to rebuild a stronger structure. For every despicable group that spews hatred of some minority, there grows ten more groups that open their hearts to everybody. They do it through peaceful marches and boycotts and full-hearted acceptance. Last year North Carolina passed a law preventing transgender people from using the bathroom of the gender that they identify with, and groups throughout the country stood tall against this law. North Carolina lost a great deal financially when businesses refused to move there and sports teams refused to play there. A deal has just been made to repeal this law that attempts to regulate bathroom choice.
Though funds are being slashed by the government as far as medical advances are concerned, wealthy individuals are contributing large sums to keep the research going. Donations for groups such as Planned Parenthood have reached astronomical totals as they continue to be supported by people from all walks of life. Between the Presidential election and February 1, 2017, 400,000 people made donations to Planned Parenthood, and in the span of one weekend the ACLU received donations totaling 24 million dollars.
I know that these are troubling times, but our news is filled with ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help their fellow man. If we follow Mr. Onassis' advice and focus on the light rather than the darkness, than we will have the strength to get through the most troubling of times.
Of course to get through these times, we must have a few good books to read. This week I really enjoyed reading The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond. This part love story and part thriller with a small part horror thrown in, kept my interest throughout its thought- provoking pages. When does a group become a cult? What must we give up in order to maintain that perfect marriage that often seems so elusive. This book that is due out in June definitely deserves a place in your summer reading library.
I also spent time reading an interesting book on retirement and found it chock full of helpful financial hints. Retired Broke: How to Fix Your Retirement by Randy and Jane Kirk is definitely worthwhile for anyone who wants to learn how to save and spend their money during retirement. Their advice on saving while traveling, finding a home and even medical procedures can help you enjoy the golden years of your life.
As always complete reviews of these books follow this blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
---Aristotle Onassis
Couched between the stories of political disasters every day, I have been reading stories that have made me realize that we will be just fine. While on one hand there are groups of people trying to deport immigrants, on the other hand we read about people opening there homes to strangers in order to keep families together. We read about college presidents declaring campuses as sanctuaries for their students, and mayors declaring entire cities as sanctuaries.
While many of President Obama's environmental advances have been decimated with this new administration, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and other tech billionaires have banded together to work towards saving our environment. We can see that for every one enormously wealthy person who is only interested in padding his/her bank account, there are three more who spend their money to make our world a better place.
For every place of worship that is torn down, I read about the hundred people who stand ready with hammers to rebuild a stronger structure. For every despicable group that spews hatred of some minority, there grows ten more groups that open their hearts to everybody. They do it through peaceful marches and boycotts and full-hearted acceptance. Last year North Carolina passed a law preventing transgender people from using the bathroom of the gender that they identify with, and groups throughout the country stood tall against this law. North Carolina lost a great deal financially when businesses refused to move there and sports teams refused to play there. A deal has just been made to repeal this law that attempts to regulate bathroom choice.
Though funds are being slashed by the government as far as medical advances are concerned, wealthy individuals are contributing large sums to keep the research going. Donations for groups such as Planned Parenthood have reached astronomical totals as they continue to be supported by people from all walks of life. Between the Presidential election and February 1, 2017, 400,000 people made donations to Planned Parenthood, and in the span of one weekend the ACLU received donations totaling 24 million dollars.
I know that these are troubling times, but our news is filled with ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help their fellow man. If we follow Mr. Onassis' advice and focus on the light rather than the darkness, than we will have the strength to get through the most troubling of times.
Of course to get through these times, we must have a few good books to read. This week I really enjoyed reading The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond. This part love story and part thriller with a small part horror thrown in, kept my interest throughout its thought- provoking pages. When does a group become a cult? What must we give up in order to maintain that perfect marriage that often seems so elusive. This book that is due out in June definitely deserves a place in your summer reading library.
I also spent time reading an interesting book on retirement and found it chock full of helpful financial hints. Retired Broke: How to Fix Your Retirement by Randy and Jane Kirk is definitely worthwhile for anyone who wants to learn how to save and spend their money during retirement. Their advice on saving while traveling, finding a home and even medical procedures can help you enjoy the golden years of your life.
As always complete reviews of these books follow this blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
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