BLACK FRIDAY

 

 

Okay, I know many of you think me crazy but I still look forward to our Black Friday tradition. I have been getting up around 4am to hit the stores since I was a teenager. Once Samantha was old enough to enjoy it with me we made it our mommy-daughter tradition and have been doing it for nearly 30 years and I hope I can still do it when her girls are old enough to join in.

Over the past few years retailers have slowly chipped away at the one day phenomenon known as Black Friday and now they have week long Black Friday deals or even month long. I understand the rationale, I just prefer the old Black Friday

My sneakers are ready--Come on Black Friday LOL

PARTICIPATION TROPHIES

 If you lost, you shook hands.

If you failed, you tried again.
If you came up short, you heard,
“Life’s tough… but so are you. Try harder next time.”
It didn’t break us.
It didn’t crush our spirit.

If anything, it built something inside us — grit, respect, accountability, and the understanding that effort matters.
And maybe that’s why so many of us appreciate hard work, discipline, and earning things the right way.

GROWING UP IN THE 60S--LIFE LESSONS

Psychology says people who grew up in the 1960s learned 8 life lessons that are rarely taught today

1. Boredom became the birthplace for creativity--
My parents’ response to complaints of boredom was consistent: “Go find something to do.”
Many at the time felt like this was a form of neglect. Now psychologists recognize it as something valuable. Research from the Child Mind Institute shows that boredom helps children develop planning strategies, problem-solving skills, and flexibility. When kids must figure out how to entertain themselves, they exercise cognitive muscles that constant stimulation never builds.

2. Failures were allowed to sting
Kids weren't handed participation trophies back then parents acknowledged losses and disappointments, but they didn’t treat it like a crisis.
The message was clear: this is how life works sometimes.
“Life isn’t fair” wasn’t a cruel dismissal. It was preparation.

Experiencing failure without excessive cushioning taught my generation that setbacks aren’t permanent catastrophes. Research confirms that when children are given opportunities to struggle and sometimes fail, they develop critical coping and resilience skills. Children who never encounter manageable failure often lack the confidence that comes from knowing they can recover.

3. Waiting was a normal part of life aka patience is a virtue
Nearly everything in our day required patience. Want that new bike? Save your allowance. Excited about the next episode of your favorite show? Wait until next week. Need to look something up? Get yourself to the library

But the famous marshmallow experiments conducted by Walter Mischel in the 1960s and 1970s at Stanford demonstrated that the ability to delay gratification predicts better outcomes in academic performance, health, and life satisfaction decades later.

We couldn’t stream anything. We couldn’t order anything with next-day delivery. We couldn’t get answers to questions without effort. This wired our brains differently, building what psychologists call stronger executive function, the ability to control impulses and work toward long-term goals.

4. Unsupervised play was normal
From the time I could walk, my world expanded in concentric circles. First the backyard. Then the front yard. Then across the street and finally the block. Eventually the entire neighborhood became our territory, governed by kid-made rules and kid-enforced justice.

There were no adults rushing in to mediate conflicts or supervise our adventures. We climbed trees that could have killed us. We built forts with questionable structural integrity. We navigated social dynamics without parental interference. We worked out our differences and were able to navigate issues among ourselves

Research published in Scientific American confirms that this kind of free play is critical for developing social skills, stress management, and problem-solving abilities. Without constant adult supervision, children develop risk tolerance, independence, and the confidence that comes from figuring things out themselves.

5. Adults were not always available
When I came home from school, I let myself in, I made my own snack, I started my homework without being asked, did whatever chores I needed to do, I figured things out.

6. We witnessed and experienced real life
Experiencing grief and loss was a normal part of life. Pets just didn't disappear, loved ones didn't go off to some exotic place. We witnessed and experienced loss and grief. Allowing children to be a part of the process helps them to cope later in life

7. We learned by doing not by being told
Parents didn’t lecture about the value of hard work. They showed by example, leaving before dawn and returning after dark, never complaining. Kids watched as their legal immigrant grandparents built a life from nothing, their actions speaking louder than any advice they might have offered.

Values were transmitted through observation rather than instruction. We watched adults navigate difficulties, make decisions, treat others with respect or disrespect, and we absorbed those lessons unconsciously.

Psychologists call this modeling, and it remains one of the most powerful forms of learning. The lessons that shaped our character weren’t taught in formal settings. They were caught through countless small moments of watching adults live their lives.

8. Community was our safety net
Every adult in the neighborhood had implicit permission to correct any child’s behavior. The lady next door would scold us for cutting through her garden. The man across the street would tell our parents if he caught us doing something dangerous.

We grew up understanding that we were part of something larger than our individual families. There were shared expectations, shared responsibilities, shared investment in how the next generation turned out.

That sense of interconnection has largely evaporated. But those of us who experienced it understand something about human flourishing that isolation can never provide. We’re social creatures who thrive when embedded in webs of mutual obligation and support.

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The Lost Art of Communication

 

Many people in today's society have lost the ability to communicate and sadly, many young people will never learn the basic principles, joy and importance of communication. Instead of being connected to others people have created a bond with the online world which robs them of the most important aspects of interpersonal communication; tone of voice and body language.  Less than 10% of effective communication comes from words while about 90% comes from tone of voice and body language.

Letters no longer written or received, notes to a friend no longer a fun thing to do, phone calls to friends and family seldom done leaving many people forgotten and completely alone in a world numb to the feelings, needs and intention of others.

The process of putting your thoughts and feelings into words then taking the time to write them down or make a phone call is far more personal and thoughtful and creates a stronger bond than clicking a like button, texting or emailing and are much more appreciated by the receiver. 

It seems if you are not posting about your life online many people think you have no life. Many people think having hundreds of so-called friends increases their self worth. Most importantly many people feel it is important to post every aspect of their life rather than share the events of their life with a phone call or face to face interactions with their loved ones.

Social media does have a place in our society. Connecting with vast numbers of strangers for business purposes is certainly a positive outcome. The ability to share photos and events with those far away certainly is a positive aspect but this does not negate the importance of actually talking to or visiting with those we claim to be near and dear.  

NURSES CODE OF ETHICS

 

 REMEMBER WHEN IN NURSING

WT LOSS TIPS

WT LOSS TIPS
#1-Keep a diet diary. Write everything down that you put in your mouth, yep that means mints/gum, drinks, everything. Note Net Carbs with ea meal. #2-Wt in Once a Month #3-Keep total daily carbs <20g #4-Walk, Swim or Bike then Do It Again