It's the Little Things that Matter Most!

Remember the movie "City Slickers?"

When Curly, the old cowboy, said "Do you know what the secret of life is?"

Then he held up one finger. "One thing, just one thing."

"You have to find out what that one thing is."

I think that is partly true. However, I think the secret of life, a happy, fun, successful life, is made up of a gillian different little things, not the big--not the major ones. The little, small occurrences in our lives, over time add up to the secret of life.

It is a pleasant smile to someone you pass on the street. It is a small thank you note to a friend or co-worker, it is five minutes of a beautiful sunset, it is holding open a door for a stranger, a beautiful melody of a bird, or adding a little something extra to a company or school project.

A great life, an NBA star, a successful company, a Tiger Woods, all did not happen over night, nor were instant successes. They were built upon an unquenchable thirst for detail, tiny little details. Work out the details, put together all the little pieces of a big puzzle, and you have the secret of whatever your goal is.

So don't anguish over the big gigantic stuff. Concentrate on the little stuff.

For when you add up all the little things, you'll find the big successes.

Families...it's about Time

Take a moment to consider what is most important to the enduring future of our Global Society--It is the proper development and growth of families. The core values of humanity, those that lead nations down honest and forthright paths, are taught in homes where love and kindness are spoken.

As the family goes, so goes a nation. In all nations of the world, we have witnessed the steady decline of the family. Sadly enough, our global community is following similar declines. Broken homes lead to broken relationships and broken ideals. In the United States, children in single-parent families are two to three times likely, as children in two-parent families, to have emotional and behavioral problems.

More than seventy percent of all juveniles in state reform institutions in the United States come from fatherless homes. Half of American children will spend at least some of their childhood growing up without a father in the home, and that in a radical departure from virtually all of human history, responsible fatherhood is declining disastrously in our society.

So, it's about time, spending quality time with our families. Even though most of my children are married and raising their own families, I love the time we spend together when everyone comes over to the house.



If you haven't done so today, hug your family, spend time with them. When everything else in the world seems to be crumbling down, it will be your family that will give you the strength and support to keep carrying on.

Thanks to my family...they are the best!

What is in a Family?

After returning home from my recent motorcycle trip through the southern United States, where, during the trip, I visited the graves of my 4th great grandparents, I developed a deep connection with my kindred dead. Since, I have found myself researching, reading and pondering the experiences of my ancestors with greater appreciation for the sacrifices and trials they went through. Through the Internet and the LDS Family Search, I have been able to add an additional 40 names of ancestors to my ancestral lines.

It has been interesting to learn and read about the journeys many of my ancestors made across the Atlantic ocean in ships from England, to settle in America. I have learned about the struggles through the Civil War, and the rebuilding they made of their lives after the War. I have followed them as they loaded everything they could into a covered wagons and journeyed across the rugged America to settle in Utah.

I am proud for the great heritage I have received from my forefathers. This has helped me to understand and appreciate the importance of family, and the importance of keeping my family strong and living good moral principles.

So what is in a family? All the things past, present and future that families do to create meaningful memories and traditions. When the world around you becomes a scarer place to live, you can always turn to your family for stability, warmth and love.

I know, because that is my family.

5,500 Miles in 2 1/2 Weeks--But Home at Last

Well, I pulled into my driveway at home Friday night with my whole family waiting to cheer my arrival.

All in all, it was a good trip, but long, tiring, and boring at times. I met a lot of good people from different parts of the country. Each area was a little different. Basically everyone I met were good hometown folk.

The homeless (street) people seem to be attracted to me. It was like I was their Vietnam Vet buddy from long ago. They all came up and talked to me. I think it was the motorcycle that attracted them.




But in the end, it was good to be in the arms of family. It felt so good to be home. I love my family very much. I guess, in a way, this trip helped me to realize that even more.

I don't have plans for anymore cross-country trips...at least, not this year.

I'm not here...

If you are waiting here for my next blog post, I'm not here during March. I'm on a motorcycle trip across the United States. You can follow my trip here: http://southernstatestrip.blogspot.com/

Young Whppersnapper

As a youth I can remember my grandfather Davis calling me a "young whippersnapper." I never really knew the full meaning of that comparative title until just recently.

Lively young men of the seventeenth-century England developed a great passion for fast driving. With two teams of horses hitched to heavy coaches, they dashed about in style that made the old-timers shake their heads and wonder what the world was coming to.

This newfangled sport required great skill in the use of the whip. No man was considered adept until he could flick a forward animal from below the lead bar without alarming the wheel horses.

In this age of conspiracies, plots, and attempted rebellions, every swaggering bully prided himself on his prowess as a "whipsnapper." Naturally, adolescent youth and small boys tried to imitate their elders. Gangs of rowdies--boys who today would be called juvenile delinquents--made a great commotion by continually snapping and popping their long whips. This practice was so general that by 1700 any upstart youth or presumptuous person was likely to be sneeringly described as a "whippersnapper." (I've Got Goose Pimples, by Marvin Vanoni)

Well, with my Grandfather Davis long gone, I now know what he meant. I must have been doing something really rowdy to receive a title like that.

Why aren't there seatbeats in buses?

Have you ever wondered why buses don't have seat belts? By law they are not required because they are over 10,000 pounds. Also, through numerous experiments and research, they found that passengers simply will not use them.

Experiments with seat belts in school buses have been disastrous. Not only do children refuse to wear them, but they use the seat belt buckle as a lethal weapon.

There are a couple of other reasons:

Twice as many students die each year getting on or off school buses than riding them; seat belts are unlikely to prevent deaths caused by head-on collisions (the cause of most on-the-road bus fatalities); and

Money allocated for seat belts is better spent on training bus drivers and providing better maintenance of the vehicles.

Just thought you'd be interested in a little bit of useless information.

(Source: Imponderables, by David Feldman)