TAKE THAT, YOU ROTTEN TV....12/2/23

I‘ve never lost my temper to where I felt like I had to break something, but if I do someday, there’s now a place I can go to deal with it.

Rage Rooms are sprouting up all over the country. They’re filled with old TV’s, pottery, glassware, flimsy furniture, computers, and more - anything that’s easily destroyed using baseball bats, crowbars, and sledgehammers - all of which are issued to paying customers having meltdowns.

Leave it to capitalism and entrepreneurship - if there’s a demand, someone will likely be there to fill the gap. Interest in Rage Rooms has grown 81% in the last year alone.

Americans are stressed out. 25% of adults rate their stress level between 8 and 10.

And it’s killing 'em.

120,000 people die each year from stress that can cause heart disease, lung ailments, cancer, liver cirrhosis, accidents, and suicide - and it carries with it an annual cost of $190 billion.

So maybe those who lose it regularly ought to consider turning that extra bedroom into a rage room where they can go have at it when their favorite team looses the next football game.

NOT ALLOWED TO THINK....12/1/23

I spent my four years of high school at a Lutheran boarding academy in South Dakota where Christian principles were the dominant theme, both inside and outside the classroom.

Among my favorite classes was “Current Events” where we discussed issues of the day.

Each student was given a subscription to Time magazine and our weekly assignments regularly included reporting on important events, and then discussing them without interference.

Mr. Meachum taught us to be free thinkers and encouraged debate across a wide spectrum.

Now Kristi Noem, the current Governor of South Dakota and a potential Vice Presidential pick by Donald Trump in the 2024 election, is leading a charge to amend the state curriculum to include phrases like, “debating current political positions or partaking in political activism at the bequest of a school or teacher does not belong in a K-12 social studies class.”

With new guidelines that have been issued for classrooms throughout the country, teaching a student how to write to their elected representative to express their views is not allowed.

It appears that my so-called “Christian” education in the 60’s would be considered liberal by today's standards.

OUR MOMENT IS NOW....11/30/23

As I get older, I find myself thinking more and more about death, particularly since I know several people who are approaching that milestone while negotiating the terrain that goes with the journey.

It’s not an easy thing to think about, but it doesn’t hurt to examine our own relationship with the inevitable once in a while, just because….

It could be such that I’m here one minute and gone the next, and in some ways that sudden departure might be preferable.

But eventually if I’m told my days are numbered, I can only hope that I approach the exit gracefully and not make it harder for those around me.

As far as contemplating what’s on the other side....well, no one really knows, and as Iris Dement writes in her beautiful song, I choose to “Let the Mystery Be”.

The important thing I think is to get up every morning and try to make the best of what is….

….one day at a time.