Happiness...

Happiness…

“The way to health, harmony, and happiness is primarily mental.”  ~ Grenville Kleiser

            Grenville Kleiser was a prolific writer and instructor at Yale’s Divinity School who focused on inspirational works as well as guides to public speaking.  Among his copious amounts of written material is another nugget of wisdom that fits well with the quote above, “Thoughts rule mankind”.  The mindset of a person is a powerful and mysterious thing.  A person may feel at peace and content in the world or tortured and paralyzed by the very same world.  May is Mental Health Month and whether you agree with Mr. Kleiser or not, mental health has an enormous impact in how we deal with daily challenges and our outlook on life.  Happiness, in essence, is derived from how healthy our mental health is.  Let that sink in for a moment.  Every person reading this has experienced extreme joys and sorrows in their life, we have all, every last one of us, experienced uncertainty in how we feel emotionally and how to deal with that uncertainty.  It is all normal.

            When people talk about mental health, there is a negative stigma that is associated with it.  Those who scoff at the field of mental health usually have visions of mad and wild-eyed killers shooting up yet another school in America.  Sadly, while this is true, people who have committed acts of atrocity usually have an abundance of mental health issues which contribute to their behavior, society as a whole wants to turn a blind eye to the root cause.  The health of a person’s mental wellbeing is a barometer to that person’s ability to function and thrive in our society.  We hear about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety in our society today more than we ever have before.  We think of military vets or first responders who suffer from long time exposure to high risk jobs…but it could also be about a little boy who has witnessed something traumatic such as his mother being abused by his father or vise versa.  Mental health issues can be born out of chemical imbalances in the body or from outside trauma and stressors that over time wear away our resilience and our ability to bounce back to a healthy, mental equilibrium. 

            We have all suffered at some point or another from mental anguish.  All of us have responded differently to those outside stimuli that has reshaped of feelings and how we react to those feelings.  There are those who feel that individuals who are in tune with their emotions are too weak to deal with the rigors and realities of real life.  They are wrong.  We all face the rigors of life differently and within the capacity we each have to can with that event.  Some people are more resilient than others just as some people can run faster than others or have higher neural flexibility than others.  Some individuals can hide their emotional pain better than others but it doesn’t mean that they still don’t feel that pain or that the emotional pain they are feeling isn’t real. 

Mental health issues are very real and very important.  We, as a society can no longer afford to ignore the need to discuss mental health wellbeing and how that correlates to a healthy and productive life.  If you have questions about your mental health, seek out a professional or start with your family physician to get going in the right direction.  Mental Health of America has a toolkit that can help you get going in the right direction… www.mentalhealthamerica.net

As we edge closer to the Memorial Day Holiday, keep in mind that mental health wellbeing is a key component of happiness…and as with anything worthwhile, wholeness and wellbeing of mental health takes honesty and hard work.  We spend so much time in making our world look nice on the outside, we also need to make the same effort to look and feel good on the inside too.  Please, take care of yourself, and each other…remember, we’re all in this together!

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com 

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First Footsteps at Jamestown

First Footsteps

            May 13, 1607, three English ships named the Susan Constant, Discovery, and the Godspeed landed 100 settlers along the banks of the James river in Virginia in order to establish the first permanent settlement in what would later become the United States.  That settlement was called Jamestown and the life of this tiny village on the banks of the James river was precarious at best.  This is the same settlement that produced the legendary explorer, Captain John Smith and the famed Algonquian native, Pocahontas.  It is from this fledgling village which struggled with starvation, disease, and a hostile indigenous people (the Algonquians), that America was born.  Yes, Jamestown wasn’t the first settlement to make a go of it in the new world and, they certainly were not the last but, they were the first English settlement to sustain a permanent population and ultimately survive. 

            The Virginian Company of London was a venture company incorporated in 1606 with the goal of exploiting the natural resources of the new world in North America.  On May 13th of 1607, the first elements landed in Virginia and created the settlement called Jamestown.  The settlers were beset by hostilities from the native peoples almost from the start and within that first year, Captain Smith was captured with two other members of the colony while foraging for food.  Smith’s two companions were killed but Captain Smith was spared at the request of Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas.  Pocahontas became a friend of the settlement and later married a man named John Rolfe in 1614 that gave the settlement a brief period of rest from hostilities from the Algonquian people.  Starvation and illness still racked the settlement and it was almost abandoned in 1610 but a timely arrival of supplies and more settles saved the little outpost.  To give you an idea of the rate of death in the tiny colony, between 1607 and 1624…of the seventy-five hundred people who came to live in the colony, only twelve hundred still lived.  You had less than a one in six chance of survival yet settlers still came to the settlement for a chance at a new start.

            As more and more people learned how to live in this new wilderness, the local economy started to develop as crops like tobacco started to become an export back to England.  Other English settlements tried and failed before Jamestown made it.  The Roanoke Colony tried twice, first in 1586 and was abandoned, the second colony founded in 1587 just vanished and is called the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  Build upon on the outer banks, it is believed that the colonist moved from their settlement to integrate with the local native tribe and thus left nothing but a cryptic clue.  There are theories and ideas as to what happened with them but, nothing concrete has come forth in all the years that have followed.  There were several others over the years that tried and failed but in 1620, in what is now called Massachusetts, the Pilgrims landed near Plymouth Rock and established their settlement which became the second to make a permanent go of things.  In 1630, the English has 4,646 settlers in the new world and nearly half of that number lived in the Jamestown colony.   In ten years, the number of English settlers in the new world would be almost 27,000 people and by 1650, that number would nearly double again.  By the year 1700, there would be over a quarter of a million people in the English colonies spread out in cities and towns that dotted the 13 colonies. 

            May 13th doesn’t get a lot of fanfare from the people of this country, it typically goes unnoticed.  But it was a start of a wave of emigration to this continent from the old world to the new that literally has changed the landscape of history.  There are many complex social and economic ramifications associated with the arrival of permanent settlers from Europe to the new world…this can not be overlooked.  But the 100 brave and hardy souls who took it upon themselves to carve out a new life in an untamed wilderness, we celebrate your courage today!  Take it upon yourself to be courageous and get out of your comfort zone…take care of yourself, and each other…remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com 

Clara Barton

Clara Barton

As we continue to celebrate Nurses Week, I thought I would send it off with a piece about Clara Barton, one of the most famous nurses in American history.  Pease enjoy…

The following is a biographical piece from the Women’s National History Museum website.  (www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/clara-barton) edited by Debra Michals, PhD, 2015. 

“An educator and humanitarian, Clarissa “Clara” Harlowe Barton helped distribute needed supplies to the Union Army during the Civil War and later founded the disaster relief organization, the American Red Cross.

Born on December 25, 1821 in Oxford, Massachusetts, Barton was the youngest of Stephen and Sarah Barton’s five children. Her father was a prosperous farmer. As a teenager, Barton helped care for her seriously ill brother David—her first experience as a nurse.

Barton’s family directed their painfully shy daughter to become a teacher upon the recommendation of renowned phrenologist L.N. Fowler, who examined her as a girl. She began teaching at age 18, founded a school for workers’ children at her brother’s mill when she was 24, and after moving to Bordentown, New Jersey, established the first free school there in 1852. She resigned when she discovered that the school had hired a man at twice her salary, saying she would never work for less than a man.

In 1854 she was hired as a recording clerk at the US Patent Office in Washington, DC, the first woman appointed to such a post. She was paid $1,400 annually, the same as her male colleagues. However, the following year, Secretary of the Interior Robert McClelland, who opposed women working in government, reduced her to copyist with a lower salary. In 1857, the Buchanan Administration eliminated her position entirely, but in 1860, she returned as copyist after the election of President Abraham Lincoln.

When the Civil War began in 1861, Barton quit her job and made it her mission to bring supplies to Union soldiers in need—among them, men of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry. This started a life-long career of aiding people in times of conflict and disaster. In 1862, she received official permission to transport supplies to battlefields and was at every major battle in Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, where she also tended to the wounded and became known as the “angel of the battlefield.” She was officially named head nurse for one of General Benjamin Butler’s units in 1864, even though she had no formal medical training. She joined Frances Gage in helping to prepare slaves for their lives in freedom. After the war, Barton helped locate missing soldiers, mark thousands of graves, and testified in Congress about her wartime experiences.

In 1869, Barton traveled through Europe to regain her health. While in Switzerland, she learned about the International Red Cross, established in Geneva in 1864. Returning to the US, Barton built support for the creation of an American society of the Red Cross by writing pamphlets, lecturing, and meeting with President Rutherford B. Hayes. On May 21, 1881, the American Association of the Red Cross was formed; Barton was elected president in June. In 1882, the US joined the International Red Cross.

Barton remained with the Red Cross until 1904, attending national and international meetings, aiding with disasters, helping the homeless and poor, and writing about her life and the Red Cross. She was also an ardent supporter of women’s suffrage. In 1904, she established the National First Aid Association of America, an organization that emphasized emergency preparedness and developed first aid kits. Her Glen Echo, Maryland home became a National Historic Site in 1975, the first dedicated to the achievements of a woman.”

From the Women’s National History Museum Edited by Debra Michals, PhD, 2015

            As always, celebrate the hard work of nurses like Clara Barton because without nurses like her and the hundreds of thousand who have followed, the care we receive would be nothing like it is today.  Enjoy your weekend and have a Happy Mother’s Day…take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together!

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com 

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Florence Nightingale

The Lady with a Purpose

“The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.”

~Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing

            It would be easy to fill this blog and many others with the inspiration quotes and saying of this remarkable woman who stood against the stigmas and the establishments of the male dominated medical world of the 1850’s.  Born to a well to do family on May 12, 1820, her parents expected her to grow up with the classical education of the time and then marry a suiter of good upbringing and means then have her own family.  When she first approached her parents at age 16 with the notion of becoming a nurse, her parents were horrified and forbade her from becoming a nurse.  The nursing profession was looked upon as a lowly profession and was considered greatly beneath her stature and station by her parents.  At age 17, Florence refused to marry a suiter who was presented to her even though she found him intellectually and romantically stimulating, so strong was her desire to help those in need.  In 1844 Florence entered nursing school and upon returning to London she found employment in a Middlesex hospital for ailing governesses.  After just one year of working in the hospital she was recognized for her hard work, compassion and care of the patients that she was promoted to head nurse.  While at this post, Florence focused her attention on the cleanliness and sanitary conditions of the hospital and greatly reduced the number of lost lives in the process.

            The events that launched Ms. Nightingale into the history books was her courage and methods that she documented during her time as a nurse for the British army during the Crimean War.  Leading a team of 34 other nurses, Florence entered into the army base hospital in Constantinople to find wretched conditions were more wounded were dying of illness than from their wounds.  Conditions of raw sewage in the halls, rodents and pestilence, contaminated water, and a shortage of sterile bandages was the battle that faced the nurses when they arrived and this was the first thing Florence tackled when she settled in.  Enlisting the service of the least infirmed, she set about to scrub the hospital clean top to bottom improving the cleanliness of the hospital throughout.  Florence worked tirelessly night and day, as she walked the halls at night carrying a lamp to check on the condition of the patients, she earned the moniker of The Lady with the Lamp.  In additional to improving the sanitary conditions a great deal for the patients of the hospital, Ms. Nightingale developed a number of guidelines and services that contributed to improving the quality of care for the wounded during their hospital stay.  By her efforts and new methodologies employed in the care of the wounded, she was able to reduce the deaths of the soldiers from illness by two thirds.  While serving for the army, Florence wrote an 830-page report analyzing her experience and proposing reforms for other military hospitals which prompted sweeping changes by the British War Office’s administrative department, including the establishment of a Royal Commission for the Health of the Army in 1857.

            Returning home after a year and a half, she was welcomed as a national hero and was awarded an engraved brooch by the Queen (known as the Nightingale Jewel) and a gift of £250,000 from the British government.  Florence took the money and helped establish a hospital that had the Nightingale Training School for Nurses within.  Florence Nightingale passes away on August 13, 1910 and will always be best known for her tireless efforts of preventing disease and ensuring safe and compassionate treatment for the poor and the suffering.  The mother of modern nursing laid the groundwork for elevating the profession of nursing to a highly esteemed position it has today.  We all need to give thanks to Florence and the those who followed whose main goal was the improved care of those in need of medical service.  As we continue to celebrate nurses this week, take time today to thank a nurse for their hard work and compassion.  I hope everyone has a great weekend and please, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.  (This is a modified reprint of an article I wrote in 2016 but the sentiment still holds true today as it did then).

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com 

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Thank a Nurse

Thank a Nurse

The foundation in the care and treatment of those in need of medical care is the compassion and tenderness of those women and men we call nurses.  Without this bridge of caring people, medicine as we know it today would not exist.

            Happy National Nurses Day!  Today, we celebrate those who have dedicated their lives to the care of others in a time when the practice of their trade lacks the accolades that it deserves.  Nurses work long hours in understaffed environments (hospitals, health clinics, long term care facilities, etc.) knowing that they will have to face patients and/or families who are angry, frightened, full of despair, or in shock due to circumstances that are well beyond their control.  Nurses have to detach themselves from their own needs in order to serve the needs of their patients’ day in and day out in order to give the best of themselves in a physically and emotionally draining job.  It’s no wonder that there is a huge shortage of nursing here in the United States now and in the foreseeable future.  According the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, despite the huge growth of the number of nurses expected over the next several years, those numbers are still well short of the numbers actually needed to fill the expected need of the United States for the next 10 years (and beyond).

            Nurses provide an immense array of responsibilities surrounding their job, and it seems that number of responsibilities continues to increase as the acute shortage of doctors continue to plague our nation as well.  (There is a shortage across the board in the United States of all people trained in the medical field…doctors and nurses alike).  To gain a better understanding of how nursing as evolved into the critical field it is today, one must understand the history of nursing in order to set aside preconceived notions and stereotypes.  Nursing as a profession (as compared to administering to family needs) burst onto the scene in the 1850’s with Florence Nightingale (who was from a well to do family in England) advocated for the practice of nursing as a respected trade for educated women.  Nightingale is credited with bringing certain practice to hospitals that improved the survival rates of sick and injured.  Her fame and notoriety took off as she set off to the British military hospitals at a time when the British Army was engaged in the Crimean War (with other allies) against Russia.  Within weeks of Florence reaching the army, the death toll of injured and sick soldiers dropped dramatically, and the public perception of nursing was changed forever.  Nightingale’s methods were adopted worldwide and here in America, pioneers in nursing like Clara Barton, (founder of the American Red Cross) took up her example and advanced the need for professionalism and development in the field of nursing.

            The perception of nursing has changed a great deal over the years but there are those who still cling to the stagnant stereotypes that nurses are all women who wear overly tight uniforms for the sole entertainment of the male doctors they work with.  This archaic view of nursing from the 1950’s is being washed away with the hard work and portrayal of nurses going above and beyond to care for their patients in a manner that is in keeping with the highest standards envisioned by Nightingale and those who have followed.  Nurses are the foundation of modern healthcare as they are typically the first and last to see a patient in most situations.  It is the nurse who comes in at 3:00 in the morning to check on patients in the hospital, who provides an extra blanket if the patient or family member is cold, gathers important data on patients, and is often the backbone of any plan of care.  Nurses are an indispensable part of the care we receive in any environment, be it the hospital or the home.

            As you are out and about today, if you see a tired looking person in scrubs at the store after a twelve shift or someone in scrubs getting a coffee to go for an all-night shift at the hospital…say, “thank you”.  All this week we will be celebrating nurses and the work they do to help us all maintain our health, our families health, and even that of our community.  Take care of yourselves and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com 

Radon Awareness

Radon Awareness

“It amazed me and stunned me that Radon is not discussed as much as it should be.  In fact, Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, and it’s preventable.”

~ Liz Hoffmann

            Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2019 and with the new year we will have a host of posts that will help you become more aware of the world around you.  January is Radon awareness month.  This silent killer lingers in our homes, our places of work, and even our schools.  If left unmitigated, the long term consequences can come with a very high health cost.  Exposure to radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and it affects all who are exposed.  What is Radon you ask?  The definition from the EPA is as such,

“Radon is a gaseous radioactive element having the symbol Rn, the atomic number 86, an atomic weight of 222, a melting point of -71ºC, a boiling point of -62ºC, and (depending on the source, there are between 20 and 25 isotopes of radon - 20 cited in the chemical summary, 25 listed in the table of isotopes); it is an extremely toxic, colorless gas; it can be condensed to a transparent liquid and to an opaque, glowing solid; it is derived from the radioactive decay of radium and is used in cancer treatment, as a tracer in leak detection, and in radiography. (From the word radium, the substance from which it is derived.)”

Radon is a gas that you can’t see, smell or taste.  The chances are that you have been exposed or are currently being exposed to this gas, but in such small doses, you would never know.  Radon, however, could be present at a dangerous level in your home or place of work.  Radon, as it reads above, is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America and claims the lives of about 21,000 Americans each year.  Radon is present in the soil all over our region of the country and it seeps up from the soil to basements and buildings through foundations.  The best way to know if the Radon gas levels are present in dangerous levels in your home are to have your home or office tested regularly.  If your home or workplace does have a higher than normal Radon level, a mitigation system can be put in place to reduce your exposure.

Radon test kits can sometimes be available for free from your state or local health department, but if not, you can usually find them from your local hardware store or order them on-line.  Typically, there is a test vial that is left open and exposed to the air for a certain period of time then you cap it off and mail it out to a lab to gain your results.  The cost of the test kit alone is fairly inexpensive, and the lab costs are an additional cost (but still minimal) and results are back in usually two to six weeks.  I know for some it may be an inconvenient thing to do but for the safety of your loved ones and yourself, the cost in terms of money and time is well worth it.  If your test comes back with higher than safe levels of exposure, then a mitigation system can be installed to take care of the problem.  This is where significant dollars come into play…systems can cost from several hundred dollars to several thousand.  You will need to do the research and find a reputable company to do the work or if you’re able, do the work yourself.  In the end, whatever you spend on testing and mitigation, it is still less expensive than fighting lung cancer, so keep an open mind to the bigger picture.

There is a ton of information available for those who are willing to look, on-line (like the EPA website), local libraries, local health departments, etc.  be aware and take precautions to be safe.  Remember, take care of yourself and each other, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com 

A Thankful Heart

A Thankful Heart

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough” ~Oprah Winfrey

            At the dinner table last night, my lovely wife was sharing a story from her work day with our children.  She is a mental health therapist who works with school age children in one of our area elementary school buildings.  She was telling us that she was doing an exercise on gratitude with her kids this week as the Thanksgiving holiday is just days away and she was surprised to find out that most of the children she was working with had no understanding of the word gratitude, no understanding at all.  This despairing revelation sparked off a discussion of why there was a lack of understanding of gratitude at the school with our own children.   As with any discussion about a social breakdown, there can be a quagmire of variables that affect the reason of the outcome.  There could be numerous reasons why the kids my wife helps failed to understand this basic idea of gratitude (and I’m not going to try and delve into that discussion today either) but the fact remains, these children lack understanding because ultimately, they have never been taught about gratitude.

            We all learn differently…some people can pick up a book and learn where others need to hear it from someone else before it makes sense.  I’m more a tactile learner as I tend to do best if I can get my hands on a project and learn from doing it.  In our society today, fewer and fewer people practice the art of gratitude as we have become a people of entitlement.  I know that is a very hash statement to make but the reality is, if you sit and watch the world around you…even examine your own behavior, you might be shocked to realize how much entitlement you feel as well.  In short, entitlement is the feeling that a person deserves or is entitled to something they think they deserve…but may not have earned.  A simple example is a new employee feeling that they deserve a higher starting pay because they have innovative ideas but have never worked a day in their life versus someone who has put in their time starting on the ground level and learned a job from the ground up.  There are hundreds of examples of entitlement, my point being that if you have developed an attitude of entitlement, “I deserve it because…” then you’re less likely to show gratitude and more likely to have feelings of unhappiness or discontentment.  It is important to understand gratitude as there are benefits linked to having an attitude of gratitude that have long lasting impact on the happiness and quality of our daily life.

            Our ability to feel gratitude and express that gratitude has a profoundly positive effect on us, not just our mental health but to our physical health too.  In a 2014 article written by Amy Morin, she extols seven different virtues of having an attitude of gratitude.  The first of these is that by expressing gratitude to the people around you, you are more likely to open the door to new relationships (friends) both personally and professionally.  Being thankful and having a heart of gratitude improves physical health as grateful people feel less aches and pains and are more likely to take care of their body.  Being grateful is good for your psychological health as people who express feelings of gratitude are less likely to feel the toxic emotions of envy, resentment and regret.  Having an attitude of gratitude also reduces feelings of aggression and enhances feelings of empathy making you a much better person all round to hang out with.  Grateful people also sleep better, have better self-esteem and have a higher level of mental toughness all because they feel thankful for what they have and who they are.  Kindness radiates from people who practice the life skill of gratitude because they seem to be in this happy place where they are just thankful for what they have instead of stressing out about what they don’t have.  I’m not saying that people who live a life of gratitude don’t have moments where they want something more, but I am saying that they won’t implode if they can’t get what they want right away.  They will just happily work towards their goal with a thankful heart until they get it or they will learn to accept life without it…with a thankful heart.

            As we approach Thanksgiving this year, look at all the things you might have in your life to be thankful for instead of all the things in life you might think you need to “make” you life “better”.  Thankfulness takes practice, but I promise you, the more you practice it, the happier you will become, and all the other “stuff” of life will come into perspective.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com 

Two Minnutes and 272 Words

The Gettysburg Address

“"I should be glad, if I could flatter myself, that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." ~Edward Everett, celebrated orator who spoke before President Lincoln at Gettysburg in a letter of congratulations to the President.

            One hundred fifty-five years ago, President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most important and powerful speeches in the history of the United States.  His speech was only 272 words long and lasted less than three minutes, but it’s import message should never be forgotten.  President Lincoln was invited to speak at the dedication of the Military Cemetery at Gettysburg almost as an afterthought just two weeks before the dedication.  The main speaker was famed orator, Edward Everett of Boston who was considered the nation’s most eloquent speaker of the day.  Everett’s crafted speech lasted over two hours and he left many in the audience with tears in their eyes as he carefully recreated the famous battle that marked the turning tide in the Civil War.  Yet, despite the President’s personal view that his speech was a poor and unimportant follow-up to Everett, his brief foray onto the stage and his humble words left an impact and transcended the day in such a manner that we still celebrate his speech to this very day.  Below is the version that is inscribed on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., something we should all be familiar with and understand.

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

            As a nation, we are pitted against one another in a different kind of fight.  This is not a fight about state’s rights and governmental autonomy or the institution of slavery, this is a fight of political ideologies predicated on a mind set of me versus you in such a polarized manner that compromise seems like an impossible dream.  We must, as a nation, find a way forward…to communicate effectively and find common ground.  We must, as a nation, search our souls and become more conscious of our behavior and actions as they impact future generations of caretakers as we pass our mantel to those that follow our footsteps.  We must, as a nation, develop a sense of ourselves that we can pass down to our children with pride.  The birth of our nation was conceived in the idea of liberty…the blood that was shed during civil war and every civil movement since then was to assure that all people are equal, and all should have an equal voice.  I believe that this is an integral part of the American dream…we should all be able to stand together united as equals. 

            Just some food for thought today and we head into the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I urge you to take time to reflect on the liberties you have and at what cost those liberties have attached to them.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together. 

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Knowledge is Power

Knowledge IS Power

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.”  ~James Madison

            One of my friends sheepishly shared with me that she had no idea who she was going to vote for tomorrow or even what the issues were on the ballot this November.  I was stunned.  I am by no means a political pundit, but I know where to look when it comes time to start the research process of candidates and issues during election time.  In this day of connectivity through the internet, social media, smart phones and other methods of searching out information, I was just surprised to hear someone say, “I have no idea…”  The League of Women Voters is one of many organizations that provides information to those who have no idea…and they try their level best to get the information of each candidate and issue out to the voting public.  The following is from their website and gives a brief bio on who they are:

“VOTE411.org  ( www.vote411.org )

Launched by the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) in October of 2006, VOTE411.org is a "one-stop-shop" for election related information. It provides nonpartisan information to the public with both general and state-specific information on the following aspects of the election process:

Absentee ballot information

Ballot measure information (where applicable)

Early voting options (where applicable)

Election dates

Factual data on candidates in various federal, state and local races

General information on such topics as how to watch debates with a critical eye

ID requirements

Polling place locations

Registration deadlines

Voter qualifications

Voter registration forms

Voting machines

An important component of VOTE411.org is the polling place locator, which enables users to type in their address and retrieve the poll location for the voting precinct in which that address is located. The League has found that this is among the most sought after information in the immediate days leading up to, and on, Election Day.

The League    ( www.lwv.org )

The League of Women Voters has fought since 1920 to improve U.S. systems of government and impact public policies through education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its grassroots nature, with members operating at the national, state, and local levels working towards the goal of "making democracy work."

There are Leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, in addition to the hundreds of local Leagues nationwide.

The League of Women Voters is strictly nonpartisan; it neither supports nor opposes candidates for office at any level of government. The League makes a difference at every level of government because of the energy and passion of thousands of members around the country who work together to safeguard our democracy.”

            I’m not going to prattle on about how important it is for you to get out and vote…(and I hope you do!) but I am going to give you a tool to help you become self-empowered and knowledgeable so when you do go out and vote, you know who and what you’re voting for.

ELECTION DAY IS TOMORROW, NOVEMBER 6TH 2018!  GET OUT AND VOTE WITH KNOWLEDGE AND POWER!!!

Civic Privilege

Counting Down

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people.  They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”  ~President Thomas Jefferson

            Ladies and gentlemen, we are a week away from the midterm elections and todays post is to remind you of the importance of exercising your right and privilege to vote.  I know I touch on this topic every election, but it is so important to be an active participant in our democratic process.  I get so tired of people who complain about our government but when asked if they voted, give some excuse as to why they didn’t participate.  I’m just going to lay it out there for you my friends…if you don’t vote, I don’t want to hear you complain about the results.

            This fall, elections will have a significant impact for all of us at the local, state, and national levels.  No, this is not a year for a presidential election, this is what is known as a midterm election, there are 35 seats in the Senate up for election and all 435 seats in the House are up for election.  As things currently stand, the Republican party controls both the Senate and the House though the House of Representative leader, Paul Ryan is retiring at the end of his term, so the leadership of the House is also up for grabs.  I’m not writing to tell you how to vote…there are enough slimy commercials out there to try and sway your opinion…I’m just telling you to do your civic duty and vote.  I will advocate for one thing however, give the elections your due diligence and read up on the issues and individuals you will be voting for.  Let me say that again…educate yourself on the issues and candidates before you vote.  There are unbiased outlets that will allow you to read up on the people and the issues at stake at all levels of government…it doesn’t take long to read things over.  See who or what lines up with your personal belief system…see what seems right and just…see if the person you are voting for truly represents your interest in a just and fair manner.

            Many people are tired of politics and politicians as a whole.  It seems that the system is less bipartisan and more tribal than ever.  The ability to sit and discuss what is best for the people versus what is best for the party seems to be an antiquated idea whose time has run out.  Media platforms such as television and radio along with our obsession with social media provides outlets for a continual bombardment of information to our brain…and the news we get is not all fake but it is bias…in some cases, to an extreme.  The days of just reporting the facts of the daily news is long gone…everything comes with a spin, and it is the responsibility of the viewer…you…to use your critical thinking and follow up with fact-based information to determine the true nature of a news story.  My point is this, we, as voters, have a responsibility to be educated on the issues and candidates.  Like Thomas Jefferson said in his quote above, only by being aware, educated, and informed can we the voters ensure the liberties we wish to have.

            Vote red, vote blue, vote green or whatever color you identify with, but just get out and vote.  This election carries a huge impact on the political landscape of our country.  Don’t be passive, if you are a registered voter, get out and vote.  If you are not a registered voter, get ready to let others do your thinking for you…if that idea of letting other make choices for you galls you, then make sure you get registered for the next election…its really easy.  Whatever the outcome, we all need to work together for to take care of each other…remember, we’re all in this together. 

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com