Small Things Count

Think you know a lot about protecting the environment?  Take this short quiz.  You might learn something new.

http://holyfamilysanjose.org/documents/2014/9/Quiz–How_Eco-Savvy_Are_You.pdf

What’s happening Nov. 25? Small Business Saturday. I’m celebrating it by being one of the authors (my picture front and center on flyer) at the Authors’ Day at BookSmart bookstore in Morgan Hill CA. I’ll have two of my books with me. If you can come, it’s 10AM – 2 PM at 421 Vineyard Town Center Morgan Hill CA 95037. There will be mimosas and chocolate! Would love to see you. If not, go shopping at another small business that day. Small businesses, often family owned and run, are the heart of any community.

I really personally responded to today’s Thursday Thought quote. As a person growing up with a physical disability, I was often told what I CAN’T DO. I resented it–and then did it.

For a few more weeks, if it’s Wednesday, you get a glimpse of a chapter of my book, The Women in Me: How They Helped Me Survive and Thrive (https: (//smthingscount.com/women-in-me/). Today’s peek is into Ch. 12, That Powerful 5-Letter Word.”

Like most people going through tough times – even agnostics – Nancy had an on-again/off-again relationship with God. Growing up in a faith that was nurtured by her Influencers, she had a strong base. However, life has a way of beating people down, weakening even the strongest faith. She was no different. This chapter chronicles a faith journey readers will recognize.

Neither. The answer should be PRO-PEOPLE. Hatred and power that lead to war are unacceptable, and the resulting loss of human lives is unconscionable .

4.5 million cigarette butts (the world’s most common litter) are tossed everywhere: into gutters, waterways, roadsides, farmlands, city streets….  They’re ugly AND harm the land, water, fish, birds, and animals that eat them (cigarettes contain 4,000 chemicals).  The tobacco is biodegradable, but plastic filters NEVER break down.   If you smoke or are with someone who does, make sure that butt goes into a waste receptacle.

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. For a description of the book go to My Free Books).

Currently, our veterans are very much on our minds, as we learn about the large percentage of homeless people being vets (number is declining, but too slowly), as well as news of substandard treatment by the VA medical system.  We want to honor the men and women who have fought our battles, to care for them as they have cared for us.

There’s a man, presumably a vet, sitting outside a store, with a cane, an ammo box, and a sign asking for donations to benefit veterans.  Our conscience pricks us.  Should we give?

Not unless we’re familiar with the organization.  This is a huge scam in our country right now–a shameful one.

Check out that group (or any charitable organization) before giving.  Be sure your money will actually benefit veterans.  There are various on-line sites that can tell you if a particular group is legally registered and does the work they claim to do.  One I like, because it’s always up-to-date, is http://www.guidestar.org.

Do whatever you can to help our vets.  But beware of scam artists.

What am I going to do?! My friend is going through so much right now, in a lot of emotional pain. I want to do or say something…but what if it’s the wrong thing? Today’s Thursday Thought gives a simple yet powerful answer.

During a routine trip to the office supply store, she comes across a small group getting art instruction. Curious, she makes her way to the back of the store to investigate. From high school, she knew she had some talent in drawing, but she was too busy jumping life’s hurdles to pursue it. She joined the class. Soon she learned that even an outhouse can be pretty. This was the beginning of a lifetime love affair with art, one that helped develop her as a person. She recognized in herself her Influencers’ interest in color, their imagination, their closeness, to varying degrees, to nature, and their have-at-it attitude. https://smthingscount.com/women-in-me/

Twice a year people complain about Daylight Saving Time. It could be worse. 3500 years ago, Egyptians, who created the idea of time based on lunar cycles and the number of stars observable at night, had a different system: 24 hours, but 12 of them day and 10 night. I don’t know how they made nighttime dates since sundials didn’t work well after dark. I wonder, today, would the DST hour go on the day’s span or the night’s?