Merry Christmas

Christmas is about showing love to one another.  It is about the giving of oneself selflessly out of that love.  On this day Jesus Christ was born, and thus given to us by God.  So I am here wishing you all a happy and a healthy Christmas.  

Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Steven Gracey

Christmas Eve

Welcome to Christmas eve.  I doubt many will be able to read my blog today as they are probably doing last minute wrapping of gifts for those they love.  We all have our traditions and our ways of celebrating.  I for one get together with my parents and some other family and unwrap some gifts before Christmas morning (that and a nice home cooked meal).  Basically it is all about the fun and love of being with one another.  It is good to embrace traditions on this day and tomorrow's Christ's' Mass (Christmas) for it gives us memories to build upon year by year as we all grow old together.  It is a holiday to be celebrated and shared between all mankind whether you are a Christian or not, for love knows no boundaries and I believe that is what God intended (sorry if I am a bit preachy here).  This is just how I view the holiday based on how I was raised, my faith, and my own love of my fellow man.  It all comes down to the individual showing love for one another, and sacrificing of themselves honestly for one another to show that love.  So may God bless you all on this holy night of nights.

Decorating the Tree

This time of year is about the fun of family, so in addition to opening the gifts on Christmas surrounded by family and friends, there is other activities that can be done together for the family to enjoy.  In this case it is decorating the tree.  You can make a theme, or go crazy and shove all the ornaments and trinkets you can on it.  However, doing it together as a family can bring people closer together.  Each ornament brings a memory and when you all take turns placing the ornament it gives people the opportunity to remember the past and the love in them.  Each year you can add a new ornament to the tree to represent the year and the life you all lived together in that year.  Basically the tree can be and should be in my opinion a coming together moment.

Final Thought:  The tree represents something.  It can represent the path from earth to heaven with the star on the top.  Christmas trees may represent the memories and love shared and passed on from year to year.  A Christmas tree represents an aspect of Christmas that all families can share.  So feel free to get a tree (fake or real) and use it to come together.

Do unto others as they Do unto you.

Today's quote is do unto others as they do unto you.  This means treat people the way you want to be treated.  It is a character lesson that is told in the Bible, and even other faiths and philosophies around the world.  Basically just be a good person despite how people treat you.  Don't sink to the level of people who would do you wrong.  Yes, I know you want to smack the jerk that nearly got you into an accident on the highway, or the guy yelling at you about their insurance not covering their medication even if you have zero control over the situation (something I experience at least 2 to 10 times a week).  But I do not let that bring me down.  I try to rise above it and let it slip away.  It is not like you cannot get made, let alone annoyed at something like that, but in the end it is trivial.  For the longest time I would bottle up these emotions and it had a negative effect till I learned to let it go (though there are still things I hold onto for there perceived importance despite myself) and I am still learning to let go more and more each day.  I treat others with as much respect and kindness as I am capable of even though I can come off a bit weird at times (too honest, or too unfiltered).  However that honesty is needed as how can I overcome my flaws by not being honest with myself.  If I cannot be honest with myself, then how can I be with others?  Not treating myself as I want to be treated is the same as treating someone else in a way you do not want to be treated.  As such you become a phony.  A fake personality.  Obviously this is a bad thing.  Hence why I write this quote of the day.

Final Thought:  Treat yourself honestly and you can treat others in an honest way too.  Be critical of the self while you self reflect to find out who you are on the inside.  Once that's done and you can act generally toward others.  Honesty really is best (of course curb it when dealing with people who lack character and thus self restraint).  Once we all understand this character lesson, we may just progress as a society by not saying dumb things we would not want to hear if we were in the recipient's position, how we would not want to act especially if we were on the receiving end.  It is a deep lesson that takes time to understand.  Just give it time and question everything so that you may find the inner truth that makes you who you really are to improve yourself as a human being.

Hillary and rumors.

Let us start off the week with roomer and darkness, and then finish with the love of Christmas.  In this case, the darkness is the potential truth to the rumors surrounding Hillary Clinton.  Let us start.

Rumor 1) The first one comes from Roger Stone's and Robert Morrow's book "the Clinton's' war on women".  In this case the authors make the claim with sources that Bill Clinton as President had sex with minors and raped women as well (I did not read the book and thus basing this off the review) and that Hillary covered it up and intimidated and threatened his victims to remain silent.  That and more. As to if it has truth or not I do not know.  I am not going to read it myself, and I feel it is speculative and possibly a propaganda piece to be rid of Hillary in the upcoming election.  You decide.

Rumer 2) our second rumor is something put forth by Dinesh D’Souza.  He fully stated in the interview I saw on the Blaze that this is his opinion, that Hillary wants power for powers sake.  She is power hungry and wants control in the same fashion that a tyrant would if she could achieve it.  From his perspective, she became a senator to gain political clout to get into the inner workings of our political systems backroom deals by using the name of her former President husband to gain access and power.  Then she became secretary of State to understand and see the trouble spots around the world and thus knows when and where she can manipulate those places to gain power, money and authority.  Basically, it is about being able to move the levers of society and thus control every aspect of people's lives if she could.  In short, she is a potential despot.  I agree with Mr. D’Souza that she is power hungry, and I can see her seeking more, but I don't know about her being insatiable.  In this case it is up for you to decide if her and  Bill's foundation, and her political positions were all to set up to seek and hold the reins of power.  Basically, is she "big sister" to 1984's big brother?

Final Thought:  These are both speculative and I felt like providing you my readers with these so that you may decide for yourselves what to believe.  Remember, to question with boldness and choose wisely whom we choose for President, for the nation will get what it deserves.

A quote by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. 

By Robert Frost

This quote has a special meaning which has been shortened to saying "I took the road less traveled".  It means (to me) that we should not go down the path others chose.  We must not go down the path that is easy.  Instead we must forge our way under our own power and authority.  In short we have command over our own destiny and thus we must make our own decisions on how to move forward in life.  

As to the part of the quote where Frost says "that has made all the difference".  It is because Frost was able to mold and shape himself in a way he wanted.  He was not held down by other people's beliefs and ideas, but instead he made his own decisions and thus need not regret what he has done or where he has been as every success and failure was his and his alone, and thus all was an experience that made Frost a better person.

So my readers, make your own decisions believe what you want to believe in.  Let no one choose your destiny.  And finally, know that all successes and failures you experience are yours alone and that they shape you and make you into a better person.  Learn from those experiences and make yourself into the person you feel you were destined to be.

See Something Say Something

Ok this is the last post of the week (minus the quote post tomorrow), but it is important as an unnumbered.  After the shootings in California by another set of homegrown terrorists, we seem to have forgotten what "see something say something" is about.  There were reports of people seeing suspicious activity at terrorist couple's shooter's home, but people did not want to say anything because they did not want to be seen as racially profiling or as being perceived as being racist.  Issue is that no matter what, if you see anyone doing anything suspicious you will be racially profiling for a person with a white tee shirt and sweats can be literally anyone.  

We have created a society of fear by perpetuating the idea that if you say anything people will call you an islamophobe, or worse.  Now being called that can lead to total social isolation and even job loss.  This is because people call people racist too easily and people are overly sensitive on all sides.  So now, when a legitimate potential threat is sighted we cannot say a single thing out of fear.   As such I counter with the fact that maybe we need to use anonymous tip lines more.  You do not say your name or anything, just say what you saw.  It makes sense right?  Sure if it is a false alarm it can potentially make the person being looked into uncomfortable (assuming they know they are being looked into to).  But the potential to save a life like in the San Bernardino Shooting, or the Fort Hood shooting, or other terror attack makes that slight uncomfortableness reasonable and necessary.  Sure, we want to mind our own business, but that does not apply when it comes to people's safety.  

Final Word:  Say something, I beg you.  Do it anonymously if you are scared, but say something as you can potentially save a life.