Observations of a Common Man (The LIght)

O B S E R VA T I O N S O F A C O M M O N M A N

Observations of a Common Man

"The Light" b y Pat D e av i l l e —i—

P A T D E AV I L L E

Observations of a Common Man “The Light” b y Pat D e av i l l e

ISBN # 978-1-68593-046-2 Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Additional copies of this book are available from the Author.

Pat Deaville, P.O. Box 6294, Lake Charles, LA 70606 pdeaville3@gmail.com

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Preface “Observations of a Common Man” was not the product of any academic urging. It was an attempt to come to grips with the conflict between “how I thought the world should be” and “what I actually observed.” The basic thoughts and outline came to me over a period of just a few days. The text was written very quickly and passionately. The observations were from the first 37 years of my life.

I never intended this writing to be a venture into the serious world of sociology, psychology, or theology. It is only an exploration of mankind, based on my human observations.

Thus, you will find no attempt to reconcile my observations with any other source. My terminology may, or may not, match the terminology used by more studied academicians. The reader is free to question my approach, credentials, and background.

But then again, I claim to be no more than a common man.

Likewise, I understand that there are many who will not agree with my observations. Please bear in mind, that I did not write this for them. I wrote it for myself. However, I do believe that there are those who will find themselves in agreement with me on some, if not all, of my observations.

There was no conscious attempt to create any controversy. I recognize there are those who for philosophical, religious, or scientific reasons will find some of what I say to be distasteful.

It was not my intent. Be that as it may, I do hope those who disagree will find great joy in debating, denouncing, or condemning the work.

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In all fairness, I also find parts of what I observe to be distasteful.

My belief system does not always align with my observations.

Yet as much as possible, I have tried to be objective by keeping my belief system separate from my observations.

As to what I believe and how I have chosen to live my life… well, that is a different book…to be written at a different time.

However, I am providing a supplemental section at the end of this edition that includes a few samples of my writings in the years following the completion of “Observations of a Common Man” (1988). These excerpts provide a window into my expanded thoughts from the later portion of my life.

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Special Thanks To my son Patrick Austin Deaville for his suggestions and edits.

He made this book better.

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Table of Contents Chapter One: Observations of Man I

Observing in the Light

II

Happiness and Pleasure

III

The Will and Instincts

IV

Selfishness

V

Balance

VI Perfection and Everlasting Life VII Precepts in Life VIII

Guide to a Positive Life

Chapter Two: Observations of the Environment I

The Environment

II

Four Environmental Settings

III Strength IV

Power

V Fantasy VI Spirituality Chapter Three: Observations on Life I

Life

II

Origin of Life

III

Origin of Time

IV

Satisfaction

V

Restraint and Repression — vi —

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VI VII

Role-Playing Enhancement of Happiness

Chapter Four: Observations on Pleasure I Sensuality II

Security and Sexuality

III

Intensified Pleasure

IV

Ultimate Pleasure

Chapter Five: The Four Environments I

The Natural Environment

II

Living in the Natural Environment

III

The Social Environment

IV

Living in the Social Environment

V

The Imaginary Environment

VI

Living in the Imaginary Environment

VII

The Supernatural Environment

VIII

Living in the Supernatural Environment

Chapter Six: Interaction with the Environment I

Interaction with the Environment

II

Changing Relationships with your Environment

III

Your Relationship with Mankind

IV

Evaluating Mankind

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Chapter Seven: Activities I Activities II

Direct and Indirect Activities

III

Natural Activities

IV

Social Activities

V

Imagination Activities

VI

Supernatural Activities

Chapter Eight: Behavior I

Behavior Formula

II

Behavior and Happiness

III

Changing Behavior

IV

Behavior as defined by Activity Patterns

Supplemental Writings (Written many years later in life.)

I

Common Man/Soul/Believe/Life

II

Perfection and Imperfection

III

Success and Excellence

IV

Making the Impossible Possible

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—1— Observations of Man I

Observing in the Light

The “light” does not ask you to change your life.

The “light” acknowledges your life is yours.

The “light” does not ask you to do anything.

The “light” can enable you to see what you are doing.

The “light” does not give your existence meaning.

The “light” can reveal the meaning in what you do.

The “light” does not bless you with happiness.

The “light” can illuminate the happiness that is already there.

The “light” is not a god, religion, philosophy, or way of life.

The “light” is only a beacon that shines on what is.

You may choose to use the “light,” or not.

After all, it is your life to live.

II

Happiness and Pleasure

Everything you do is done to please yourself, either directly or indirectly.

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“Pleasure” comes from recognizing, addressing, and satisfying your instinctive needs.

“Happiness” comes from balancing pleasure between your primal and tribal instincts.

III

The Will and Instincts

Your “will” controls your actions.

Your life is but a series of actions.

Therefore, you control your life by use of your “will.”

The mind and body engage in a vast number and complex series of actions, as dictated by the “will.”

The mind and body are motivated exclusively by natural “instincts.”

Therefore, the more in harmony the “will” works with the “instincts,” the greater the chance one has, to be happy.

IV

Selfishness

Pleasing yourself is not selfish.

Your instincts urge both self-preservation and species preservation.

You please yourself by doing for yourself and by doing for others.

True happiness lies in the balance.

V Balance Balance is a state, which can be achieved through conscious and subconscious means.

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The more conscious you are of what you are doing, the greater the likelihood you will achieve balance.

Yet, it is the balance that is of prime importance, not the procedure by which it is achieved.

VI

Perfection and Everlasting Life

There are no absolutes in your existence.

“Good and evil” do exist. A sense of “right and wrong” also exists.

But the perceptions of good, evil, right, and wrong vary, depending on how these relate to the satisfaction of primal and tribal needs.

Though your instincts are pure, you are not perfect.

Though instincts that motivate the elements of the environment are pure, the environment is not perfect.

You will die. That is known.

But you may continue to exist beyond death. That is unknown.

If seeking perfection, or everlasting life, is your ultimate concept of fulfillment, you will live a life filled with frustration.

If you seek a life in which you do, all you can do, to achieve a balanced satisfaction of instinctive needs, you will live a life filled with happiness.

VII Precepts in Life You have control over that which you do.

You do not control anything else.

You can influence many things in your environment.

You can be influenced by many things in your environment.

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You cannot influence everything.

You can use your internal force to achieve happiness.

You cannot use your internal force to create happiness in anyone else.

You can use environmental forces to help you.

You cannot stop environmental forces from hurting you.

You do what you can do.

You acknowledge that which you cannot.

VIII Guide to a Positive Life Start each day with a plan.

Adjust as needed.

Expect challenges.

Solve and resolve issues, as best you can.

See the good in yourself and the world around you.

Praise and reward in an appropriate and timely manner.

Do not ignore mistakes.

Make corrections in an appropriate and timely manner.

Recognize evil.

Battle evil fiercely, without committing evil.

Reflect on today, as you plan for tomorrow.

At day’s end, seek peace within yourself and the world around you.

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—2— Observations of the Environment I

The Environment

You are not living in a vacuum. You exist in an environment.

Your “will” is totally yours. Your “instincts” are totally pure.

You operate in an environment that contains external forces.

Natural forces are real. These include pain, death, and the sense of grief when a loved one encounters pain or death.

Some man-made forces are artificial. These include guilt and deception.

Your environment can inhibit or enhance your actions.

The environment can use its force to influence your “will.”

Your environment can give guidance, confusion, obstacles, bridges, structure, chaos, advantages, handicaps, opportunities, and limitations.

The environment operates in its own natural way, meeting its own needs.

It aides you, when doing so serves its purpose.

It opposes you, when doing so serves its purpose.

Your “will” is your internal force.

Regardless of the environment, your “will” can lead you towards satisfaction of your instinctive needs.

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You can use the environment to serve your own purpose.

You can oppose the environment, when it serves your own purpose.

The environment has limited power to influence you.

You have limited power to influence the environment.

II

Four Environmental Settings

You have four environmental settings in which you exist.

You seek to find happiness in all four settings.

Your “natural” environment is one of nature and coexistence with nature.

There are both opportunities and limitations.

Your “social” environment is one of structure, relationships, and roleplaying. There are both opportunities and restrictions.

Your “imaginary” environment is one of dreams, creativity, fantasy, and limitless opportunity.

Your “supernatural” environment is one of existence beyond the natural.

It is often unexplainable and uncontrollable. Faith and belief are portals.

The full range of opportunities, limitations, and restrictions are unknown.

III Strength Strength, in the natural environment, is the composite of one’s personal attributes and available environmental resources.

Strength assists in satisfying the need to survive and protect, and therefore affirms life.

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IV Power Power, in the social environment, is also a composite of personal attributes and available environmental resources.

But society, using artificial systems, assigns value to resources that are different from those held in the natural world.

Society also modifies the value of personal attributes.

Power affirms the social life, while promoting a sense of strength and survival in the natural world.

Social concepts of success such as winning, wealth, and excellence are derivations of the natural instinct to survive and protect.

Failure, loss, poverty, and rejection are derivations of the natural fear of danger, pain, and death.

V Fantasy Fantasy, in the imaginary environment, stretches one beyond personal attributes and available environmental resources.

Fantasy can artificially enhance, redesign, and/or recreate environmental forces and structure.

Fantasy can artificially enhance, redesign, and/or recreate personal attributes and statures.

Fantasy can assist in the establishment of dreams, goals, and original visions.

Fantasy can modify the vision of all things in limitless ways.

Fantasy can enrich life.

Fantasy is not life.

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VI Spirituality Spirituality, in the supernatural environment, can be powerful.

Spirituality can influence one’s vision of all environments.

Spirituality can elevate or diminish the value of all things in all ways.

Spirituality is rooted not only in life, but also in existence.

Spirituality is anchored in faith and belief.

Spirituality is experienced in different ways by various individuals, tribes, and groups.

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—3— Observations on Life I Life The key to your instinctive needs, both primal and tribal, is life.

The enemy of your instinctive needs, both primal and tribal, is death.

Regardless of the environmental setting, the most satisfying and pleasurable activities are those that affirm life and deny death.

Life-threatening forces or situations, have great influence on the will as it chooses activities.

Therefore, pain and danger (or even the illusion of pain and danger) are extremely influential forces in the decision-making process of the will.

Likewise, life-affirming forces or situations, have an equally powerful influence on the decision-making process of the will.

It follows that the two forms of pleasure, security and sexuality, are very powerful forces in the decision-making process of the will.

II

Origin of Life

Life is of the natural environment. That is known.

Existence is unknown in origin.

Life is real and essential to the satisfaction of instinctive needs.

Unless influenced otherwise, the will seeks activities that prolong life.

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Unless influenced otherwise, the will seeks to avoid activities that shorten life.

III

Origin of Time

Time is to the social environment, what life is to the natural environment.

Time is man-made and woven into the social value system.

Time can be used to enhance, or inhibit, the satisfaction of needs.

Time is not life.

IV Satisfaction Regardless of the environmental setting, you satisfy instinctive urges in the same way.

Though activities may have a different appearance, based on the environmental setting in which you operate, the process is always the same: the urge (the hunger), the addressing of the urge through activity (the hunt or planting), the completion of the activity (the kill or harvest), and the satisfaction of the urge (the feast).

You find greatest satisfaction through activities that directly engage the urge in the setting in which it exists.

But you can also find satisfaction through activities that address the urge by means of association.

You enhance satisfaction, when you simultaneously experience satisfaction, in multiple environmental settings.

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V

Restraint and Repression

You have available to you a great number and wide variety of activities with which to address urges.

Those activities are only limited by the availability of personal resources and environmental resources.

The total number of activities can be increased by the development or expansion of resources.

Activities are useful, when they address instinctive needs.

Activities are useless, when they fail to address instinctive needs.

Activities are harmful, when they “repress” instinctive needs.

It is possible to “restrain” an urge, while satisfying another urge, without suffering repression. This is self-discipline of the will.

But restraint can become repression, when you deny the existence of the urge, or deny satisfaction of the urge over an extended period.

Repression is often the root cause of discomfort, discontent, depression, and unhappiness.

VI Role-Playing You can assume a “role,” or “set of roles,” to formalize and regiment your activities.

Role-playing can simplify the selection of activities, and assist in the balance of instinctive satisfaction.

Role-playing can become an artificial force that harms, by primarily addressing external need satisfaction, instead of internal need satisfaction.

Role-playing can become so misguided as to ignore personal instincts, thus leading to great repression.

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Role-playing is only of value when it serves the purpose of satisfying personal instincts.

VII Enhancement of Happiness You can enhance happiness by use of the most simple and direct activities available.

You can enhance happiness when you focus on one activity at a time.

You can enhance happiness by giving each activity a logical ending point.

You can enhance happiness when you allow yourself to enjoy the satisfaction brought on by one activity, before engaging in a new activity.

You can enhance happiness when you give your mind and body adequate rest, relaxation, and recuperation time.

You can enhance happiness by seeking a setting in which conflicting external forces are minimized.

You can enhance happiness when you overcome great adversity.

You can enhance happiness by simultaneously achieving it in multiple environmental settings.

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—4— Observations on Pleasure I Sensuality Happiness is greatly enhanced by the measure of pleasure, derived from the balanced satisfaction of primal and tribal needs.

The intensity of your pleasure is measured by your mental, physical, and instinctive senses.

Therefore, sensuality is the key to full enjoyment of a pleasurable activity.

II

Security and Sexuality

Security and sexuality are two forms of pleasure, derived from your need satisfaction.

Security and sexuality are at the crossroads of your primal and tribal instinctive urges.

Security is primal when it supports your need to survive.

Sexuality is primal when it supports your need to address personal urges.

Security is tribal when it supports your need to protect other members of your tribe.

Sexuality is tribal when it supports your need to perpetuate the existence of your tribe, through either propagation or the strengthening of bonds.

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III

Intensified Pleasure

Pleasure is intensified when it occurs at the crossroads of multiple senses.

Pleasure is intensified when it occurs at the crossroads of multiple environmental settings.

Pleasure is intensified when it simultaneously addresses both primal and tribal instincts.

Pleasure is intensified when it is dual in form, simultaneously touching both your desire for security and sexuality.

Pleasure is intensified when it results from direct satisfaction of one’s needs, in the environmental setting in which the urge exists.

Pleasure is intensified when it results from satisfaction of needs which have been denied, restrained, or repressed.

Pleasure is intensified when it follows and completes the natural pattern of: (1) Hunger or Desire (2) Hunt/Plant or Seduce (3) Kill/Harvest or Engage (4) Feast or Satisfaction Pleasure is intensified when it proceeds from activities of association, to activities of direct engagement.

IV

Ultimate Pleasure

Pleasure approaches its peak, when it occurs at the crossroads of all those processes and situations that intensify pleasure.

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—5— The Four Environments I

The Natural Environment

Your relationship with the natural environment is the most fundamental of your relationships.

Your instinct to survive and protect is most truthfully, quickly, and deeply aroused when your life, or a life in your tribe, is endangered by the natural environment.

Danger, pain, and death touch you in a pure and direct way that is not found in any other environmental setting.

Therefore, your primal and tribal instincts are most clearly seen when interacting with the natural environment.

II

Living in the Natural Environment

You live in the natural environment.

You will die in the natural environment.

Duration of life in the natural environment depends on one’s attributes, commitments, and interactions with the environment.

Quality of life in the natural environment depends on one’s attributes, commitments, and interactions with the environment.

While existence may be eternal, life is not.

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III

The Social Environment

Your relationship with the social environment is the most complex of your relationships.

Society is a man-made environment, that simulates the natural environment.

Society creates roles and codes of conduct, that imitate patterns of activities in the natural environment.

Social urges are most influential when they are linked to primal and tribal urges in the natural environment.

The level of participation in the social environment is a choice.

You alone decide to what extent you wish to participate.

IV

Living in the Social Environment

The social environment is a simulation of the natural environment.

There are a multitude of social elements and activities that are fashioned to correspond with elements and activities in the natural environment.

You may choose to live by society’s roles and codes.

You may modify some, or all of them.

You may reject some, or all of them.

It is easy for you to confuse the urges of the social environment with the urges of the natural environment.

The resulting confusion can cloud the decision-making process of the will, as it mistakenly accepts guidance of a social urge, masked to appear as a natural urge.

Happiness is more likely as you clearly recognize “why” you do the things you do.

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The satisfaction of your instinctive urges, both primal and tribal, is more likely when you can distinguish that which is social from that which is natural.

Therefore, the pleasure derived from satisfying needs is stronger when you understand whether the urge you are addressing is purely social, if it is natural, or if it rises from both the social and natural environments.

Pleasure is pure when it comes from satisfying the needs of the social environment in social ways, and the needs of the natural environment in natural ways.

Society also creates tools and structures that can enhance the satisfaction of your social needs.

You may choose that which will serve your purpose, from that which is available to you.

V

The Imaginary Environment

Your relationship with the imaginary environment is the most independent of your relationships.

The imaginary environment is limitless in opportunity to enhance the satisfaction of needs.

The only inhibitions the imaginary environment places on you, are the inhibitions you allow it to.

VI

Living in the Imaginary Environment

You control how often you use activities in this environment, to enhance the satisfaction of your needs.

The imaginary environment is an artificial environment, in that it poses no direct threat to survival in the natural environment.

It can imitate the natural, social, and supernatural environments.

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But it is most useful to you, when it stretches beyond the limits of “what is known,” and explores the realm of “what could be.”

VII The Supernatural Environment Your relationship with the supernatural environment is the most mysterious of your relationships.

It enhances and inhibits you in ways that defy logic, prediction, and control.

You are dealing with the unknown, unexplained, and unnatural.

Therefore, activities used in this environment do not provide guaranteed or predictable outcomes.

VIII Living in the Supernatural Environment The outcomes of supernatural activities may be visible, or invisible, to the conscious mind.

Mysteries are common, and understanding is limited.

Levels of faith and belief vary greatly across the human experience.

The natural environment perceives the supernatural in the forms of superstition, spirits, and magic.

The social environment perceives the supernatural in the forms of God, deities, spirituality, destiny, and unexplained depths of science.

Your imaginary environment perceives the supernatural as a realm of bright possibilities and dark mysteries.

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—6— Interaction with the Environment I

Interaction with the Environment

Your relationship with the environment is defined by the interaction of activities, that are motivated by your instinctive needs, and influenced by the environment’s needs.

When the needs of you and the environment enhance one another, there is cooperative interaction.

When the needs of you and the environment are neutral to one another, there is peaceful interaction.

When the needs of you and the environment are inhibitive to one another, there is conflicting interaction.

II

Changing Relationships with your Environment

Your relationship with the environment changes, as the instinctive needs of you and the environment change.

Interaction between you and the environment may fluctuate through stages of cooperation, neutrality, and conflict.

The interaction will vary in intensity, based on the depth to which the instinctive needs are enhanced or inhibited.

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III

Your Relationship with Mankind

Your relationship with “Mankind” is unique.

“Mankind” is found in the natural and social environment.

“Mankind” can usually be found in the imaginary environment.

The presence of “Mankind” in the supernatural environment, while unknown, remains a possibility.

Interaction between your activity and “Mankind’s” activity can result in cooperation, neutrality, or conflict.

You encounter a great complexity of interactions, when you consider the total number of people who populate your environment.

IV

Evaluating Mankind

Each person in your environment has the potential to enhance and inhibit the satisfaction of your primal and tribal needs.

You evaluate people in the light of knowing they are motivated by their primal and tribal needs.

You use instinctive guidance and mental processes in this evaluation.

The actions of the person, the motivation of the person, the strength of the person’s will, the environmental setting, and the potential of deception, are considerations you weigh in your evaluation of each person.

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—7— Activities I Activities You and all men use common activities in pursuit of need satisfaction.

The quantity of activities available to you is dependent on the availability of resources, and the development of those resources.

You and all men have varying qualities and personal resources.

Natural gifts of ability, talent, intelligence, and other attributes can be used to satisfy needs.

You, and all men, can develop personal resources into skills and capabilities, that expand the range of activities available to you.

You, and all men, have environmental resources such as people, knowledge, materials, creations, creatures, and external forces.

You, and all men, can develop environmental resources into allies, collections, and structures, that can make additional activities available.

The acquiring of resources and the development of resources enhance the satisfaction of needs.

II

Direct and Indirect Activities

You and all men use common patterns of activities to satisfy instinctive needs.

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These patterns often address needs directly.

But the pattern of activity, also known as behavior, may address needs in an indirect manner, by linking with the two variables of the behavior formula: (1) Environmental forces (2) Activities available

III

Natural Activities

Your natural instinctive urges are the best guides in selecting activities that satisfy natural needs.

The social environment can cause confusion in selecting natural activities.

The social environment closely mirrors the natural environment.

The social environment can entwine its urges with natural urges.

The vast number of activities, external influences, and environmental situations can compound the confusion.

Addressing your natural needs with a satisfying activity, is the knife that cuts through the confusion.

When an activity does not satisfy, you may have been socially influenced into choosing an activity that is related to, yet disconnected from, the natural urge.

IV

Social Activities

Society creates tools and structures that can enhance the satisfaction of your instinctive needs.

You may choose that which will serve your purpose, from that which is available to you.

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Society has also created an artificial value system, that simulates the cooperative side of nature: money replaces strength, wealth replaces security, education replaces experience, luxury replaces comfort, housing replaces shelter, and grocery stores replace hunting grounds.

Finally, society has created an artificial system of danger, that simulates the inhibitive side of nature. Anxiety mirrors danger. Guilt mirrors pain.

Rejection mirrors death.

You choose the extent to which artificial value systems and danger systems influence your will.

The greatest danger you face from the social environment is confusion, born in dishonesty and chaos.

The enhancements and dangers of the natural environment, can become intertwined with the simulations created by society, distorting one’s perception of what is natural and what is social.

You need only recognize that the social environment is a useful but flawed clone of the natural environment.

V

Imagination Activities

The imaginary environment provides limitless opportunities and activities.

These activities can impact one’s imaginary existence in a positive or negative way.

Positive imagery will likely create a positive imaginary existence.

Negative imagery will likely create a negative imaginary existence.

Activities in the imaginary environment may directly, or indirectly, impact one’s existence in other environments.

Activities in the imaginary environment can stimulate creativity, motivation, vision, originality, and expectation in all other environments.

Activities in the imaginary environment may reveal hidden or subdued personal attributes, that can emerge in other environments.

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VI

Supernatural Activities

The supernatural environment is not of the natural, social, or imaginary environment.

Activities in the supernatural environment may supersede all other activities.

Supernatural beliefs, as evidenced in a wide range of faith, worship, religion, and/or dogma, can dominate one’s natural, social, and imaginary environment.

Depending on one’s level of faith and belief, participation in these activities will vary in frequency, consistency, and intensity.

Activities from the natural, social, and imaginary environment may link themselves to the supernatural environment.

These links may be deeply rooted in faith or belief.

These links may also be deceptive and manipulative.

By its very nature, the supernatural environment is difficult to comprehend.

Yet, man’s activities in the supernatural environment are generally visible, ritualistic, and understandable.

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—8— Behavior I

Behavior Formula

Your patterns of activity define your behavior.

Your behavior is the final product of the formula: (1) Instinctive needs motivate the mind and body.

(2) External forces, within the environment, influence the will through contact with the mind and body.

(3) The will chooses from activities available.

(4) The result is behavior.

II

Behavior and Happiness

There is no need to interpret behavior to determine your motivation. Your motivation is constant, coming directly from your “instincts.”

There is no need to question that the “will” chooses and triggers activity.

Your “will” has final control.

You are happy, when the “instinctive motivation” and the “will” work in balanced harmony.

You are not happy, when there is an imbalance or disharmony between the “will” and the “instinctive motivation.”

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III

Changing Behavior

Given what you know, there are only two variables in the behavior formula that can influence your will and repress your instinctive motivation: (1) The environmental forces operating around you.

(2) The activities available to you.

If you are happy, you seek to maintain that happiness by supporting the present state of environmental forces, and continuing the same activities… status quo.

If you are not happy, you seek happiness by modifying the environment, and/or changing your activities…. evolution or revolution.

When you attempt to maintain or change variables within the environment, you and all men do so with behavior intended to manipulate the environment.

IV

Behavior as defined by Activity Patterns

You and all men use certain patterns of behavior to increase the balance and harmony between the will and instincts.

These patterns are characterized by activities that attempt to address needs, directly or indirectly, through manipulation of the environment.

(1) Value System Behavior characterized by the assignment of real or artificial value to things, to facilitate or enhance need satisfaction.

(2) Role-Playing Behavior characterized by establishing activities and/or rules of conduct that facilitate meeting needs, through use of a value system.

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(3) Structure Behavior characterized by regimentation of need satisfaction and selfdiscipline of the will, through habits, routines, codes of conduct, and indoctrination.

(4) Non-conformity Behavior characterized by activities that define rebellion. For a moment or extended period, one will reject value systems, defy roles, abandon codes, and/or use chaos to destroy structure.

(5) Communication Behavior characterized by expressing one’s feelings, thoughts, dreams, and desires, to enhance satisfaction, or influence the environment.

(6) Reason Behavior characterized by using logic, to gather, categorize, assimilate, and conceptualize information.

(7) Deception Behavior characterized by presenting an untruth as a truth, through rationalization or dishonesty.

(8) Violence Behavior characterized by activities that damage, injure, destroy, kill, or cause pain.

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(9) Fear Behavior characterized by activities stimulated by real or artificial threats to one’s survival.

(10) Guilt Behavior characterized by an artificial device that simulates pain. (Guilt is often used by man, as a tool of manipulation.)

(11) Guilt Transference Behavior characterized by attempts to lessen the personal effects of guilt, by sharing with, or giving to others, the guilt felt.

(12) Denial Behavior characterized by intentionally depriving yourself or others, to enhance or inhibit need satisfaction.

(13) Stimulation Behavior characterized by intentionally engaging in an activity that arouses an urge, or enhances satisfaction.

(14) Creativity Behavior characterized by using imagination, instinctive guidance, and both natural and acquired resources, to be creative.

(15) Change of Environmental Setting Behavior characterized by relocation within a setting, or movement to a different environmental setting.

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(16) Conflict Behavior characterized by pitting one’s will against another’s, to strengthen the will or meet need satisfaction.

(17) Competition Behavior characterized by use of simulated conflicts, supposedly operating within defined boundaries of rules and codes, to strengthen the will, or meet need satisfaction.

(18) Humor Behavior characterized by expressions or actions that acknowledge the true nature of things, as opposed to artificial or superimposed guidelines.

(19) Escapism Behavior characterized by use of resources to rise above or reach beyond real conditions, placing one’s self in a different and less conflicted setting.

(20) Abdication of Guidance Behavior characterized by an attempt of the will to disconnect from the guidance of the instincts, surrendering to the guidance of external environmental forces, through conditions of “faith,” “fear,” and/or “hopelessness.”

(21) Intensity Behavior characterized by activity patterns ranging from passionate to stoic, aggressive to passive, dominate to subordinate, and compulsive to apathetic.

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A Common Man Sometimes at night, I ponder. Resting in recliner.

What have I done, throughout my life? Could I have done better?

I am just a common man. No hero. Not famous.

Did some good things. Made some mistakes. My life? Would not change much.

I mowed the grass. Washed the car. Did dishes and the laundry.

I’d dust and sweep. Put out the trash. Pulled weeds and trimmed the trees.

Been steady. Loyal. Useful. Had a solid career.

Soldier, teacher, husband, father. Improved myself, each year.

Did much for kids, elderly. Took care of family.

Paid the bills. Dispensed medicine. And gave to charities.

No place, in history books. My name, will not be there.

But I am found, in many hearts. My life, with others shared.

Prayed on knees. Always voted. Would take my wife on dates.

I listened, advised, and worried. At Christmas, decorate.

In my small world, did good things. Quiet legacy. Leader.

Modest income. Saved for decades. Was a good provider.

Read good books. Kept a journal. Traveled. Walked, to start each day.

Ate out, movies, to celebrate. Family lunch, on Sunday.

When I’m gone, world goes on. And that, will be just fine.

What I have done, will fade from sight. Covered, by passing time.

I did my part, in my life. Made things I touched, better.

With my children and my students, impact, might last longer.

Common man, is who I am. In that, I do take pride.

As I look back upon my life. I’m smiling deep inside.

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Soul We all, are on a journey. Through life. Perhaps, beyond.

We do live, knowing, in the end. To death’s call, all respond.

Our bodies, are but vessels. Sailing, across waters.

The length of the crossing, unknown. Distance, will not matter.

The three things, that do matter. First, how we live our lives.

Next, is accepting life will end. Then, how our souls survive.

Know, our physical bodies. Revert to ashes, cold.

But deal with, a big mystery. Destination, of souls.

What becomes, of our essence? The soul, within us all.

Existence beyond, mortal world. Other side, of the wall.

There are those, who refute this. “The soul, is just a myth.”

“We are simple organisms. Life ends, with death. That’s it.”

I can’t claim, I know for sure. And won’t assert, I do.

But still I sense, deep within me. The afterlife, is true.

World religions, preach to us. Many, different outcomes.

Philosophers, and scientists. Their theories, wildly run.

In the end, each one of us. Will make up, our own mind.

What we believe, about all this. Conclusion, each will find.

We may be right. Might be wrong. But still, each one decides.

The course they choose. The faith they have. Which pathway, is their guide.

I struggle, with these concepts. Yet somehow, I believe.

Human life ends. Our souls move on. To higher plane, received.

If I am right, we’ll exist. Beyond, this world of strife.

If I am wrong, I’ll still be proud. Of how, I’ve lived my life.

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Believe This world of ours, is much more, than what, we “hear” and “see.”

These physical senses, guide us. In some ways, they are key.

Touch and smell, and taste as well. Aid us, in many ways.

They help us, understand our world. Gain knowledge, every day.

Data, logic, and reason. I live with OCD. Plans, designs, blueprints, and flowcharts. Often, dominate me.

But not all things, can be known. In this, concrete manner.

Some hidden things, are very real. Not, just solid matter.

Senses, also can confuse. Point, in wrong directions.

Illusions, are a part of life. Real? Or just reflection?

Do not see, the sun at night. Nor moon, during the day.

Yet they are there, in spite of that. Not always, what eyes say.

We can’t, see love. Or touch it. Yet feel, with all our might.

And a sixth sense: “intuition.” Can be, a shining light.

Other senses, embedded? Deep, within genetics?

Could there be, a higher power? Not revealed, by metrics.

We humans, are curious. Explanations, devised.

Trying to make, world logical. On science, we rely.

While science, may be useful. Doesn’t, always explain.

There are mysteries, eternal. Many unknowns, remain.

It would be wrong, to tell you. The way, that you should think.

But in my heart…what I believe. To “something else,” we’re linked.

There’s much more, than what we know. And there, will always be.

Some things, beyond understanding. And that’s, all right, with me.

Believe, beyond your senses. On faith, accept some things.

Believe. Is what I ask of you. Let what’s inside you, sing.

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Life In many ways, we do conform. Controlled, by ticking clock.

Address, responsibilities. Towards goals, we will walk.

While there’s some good, in all that. We must not, get confused.

For “time,” is but a man-made tool. Just something, that we use.

Bear in mind, “time” is not “life.” To think so, we’d be fools.

Life is a gift. Special jewel. It’s not, a set of rules.

Our lives, are what we make them. They’re not, just chunks of time.

Calendars, and endless deadlines? That’s not, how we’re defined.

What often, does elude us, as we strive, in careers.

Life’s not, just what we accomplish. Or how, we face our fears.

A full, rich life, only comes. To those, who make it so.

Life’s not trophies, or bank accounts. Life’s where, our feelings flow.

We must make time, for our dreams. Find things, that make us smile.

Embrace love, peace, and solitude. Listen, to inner child.

Now and then, treat yourself. Something, you want to do.

Have some fun. Be bold. Take a chance. Go out. Try something new.

And learn, how to be quiet. Turn off, that pesky phone.

Seek a view, that is breathtaking. Don’t be afraid, to roam.

Share your life, with those you love. Away from duties, tasks.

Be yourself. Be happy. And rest. That’s not, too much to ask.

The duties, expectations? Long list, of daily chores?

Do strive, to be industrious. But your life? Don’t ignore!

You must take care, of yourself. It’s really, up to you.

Seek balance, purpose, and meaning. In everything, you do.

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Perfection and Imperfection Introduction We all know what it’s like to hit a wrong note, to say something wrong, to miss a question on a test...

So much for perfection.

We all have a life-long struggle with our imperfections. It is rare, after all, to find a person who is completely comfortable in their own skin. Often, we can become impatient with the mistakes we make and those made by others that affect us. These mistakes can be difficult to admit and accept in our lives.

But there will always be imperfections. So, learning how to cope with these mistakes is a valuable life skill. One that helps us along the path to something equally important: the pursuit of perfection and overcoming our shortfalls.

For your consideration, I have compiled a few guidelines which I attempt to follow in my own life. It is my hope that they will help you in your own pursuit of self-improvement.

Guidelines 1. Aim for perfection.

A. Fulfill your potential by never settling for “good enough.” ● Set high standards of personal performance. ● Constantly raise those standards as your skills improve.

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B. Develop a plan that embraces the concept of perfection. ● Discover worthwhile, short-term, and achievable goals. ● Embrace idealistic, long-range, and lofty goals.

2. Pursue perfection.

A. While perfection itself is unattainable, its pursuit is an important part of self-improvement. ● Don’t dwell on goals that can’t be achieved. ● Focus on obtainable goals you’ve yet to accomplish.

B. Once you achieve a goal, try to perfect it by taking it to the “next level.” ● Grow your standards and goals as you develop your skills. ● Do not limit yourself to goals that can be easily achieved.

3. Make peace with imperfection.

A. Imperfection is not a condemnation of who you are or what you do. ● Imperfection is not a curse. ● Imperfection does not define your worth.

B. Imperfection is a natural and normal condition in life. ● It isn’t something you can get rid of. ● It will not prevent you from achieving great things.

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4. Do not become comfortable with imperfection.

A. Perfection’s impossible nature is not an excuse. ● Do not blame your failings on the impossibility of perfection. ● Do not accept the imperfections of others as an excuse for their failings.

B. Failure is not the desired outcome. ● Accepting that you and others are imperfect does not mean you should accept failure. ● Despite your imperfections, the only desirable outcome should be success.

5. Imperfections become more noticeable when we raise our standards.

A. At first, expect to make more mistakes as you raise your standards. ● New mistakes naturally occur as you try to improve the quality of your work. ● Treat these mistakes as steppingstones to help you learn and improve.

B. Don’t be discouraged by making more mistakes. ● Remaining on familiar ground will not eliminate the mistakes or imperfections you would not have otherwise noticed. ● Exploring new ground will expand your comfort zone while refreshing your mind, body, and spirit.

6. Don’t allow perfection to become an enemy.

A. Falling short of perfection does not mean you have failed. ● Success and perfection are two very different things.

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● The pursuit of perfection is a path of selfimprovement that increases the heights of your success.

B. View perfection as a motivator rather than an outcome. ● Use the pursuit of perfection as fuel to keep you moving forward. ● Treat successful outcomes as milestones on your journey.

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Success and Excellence Introduction The human hunger for success and excellence are powerful forces that can be harnessed to push ourselves forward.

Success is a motivator, linked to our most basic of instincts: Survival.

Meanwhile, excellence is a tribal instinct that drives our selective process.

We desire and imitate what we admire, hoping to mold ourselves into something greater.

While similar, success and excellence are two different things.

We often view “Success” as a victory, achievement, or reward. While “Excellence” is usually seen as a noble commitment to self-improvement.

Both of these concepts have value and a place in a full, rich life. Each complements the other and deserves study.

Understanding both success and excellence allows us to establish clear goals in our lives as well as how to achieve them.

Success The innate desire to achieve victory is a useful tool. But it’s also one that needs to be applied wisely.

A victory, after all, rarely satisfies us for long. And we have a natural desire for each success to be followed by another.

When this desire is properly applied, our hunger for success can be an incredibly positive motivation for improvement. But we must be aware that it can also be just as destructive. Without limits, it can result in burnout, unrealistic goals, disillusionment, and even unethical actions.

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What needs to be understood is that our hunger for success is primal, natural, healthy, and usually desirable.

Many generations ago our ancestors survived, not through a perfect system of hunting and gathering but through a successful one. For them, most of the time, it was practical for them to simply complete a hunt successfully.

Without a successful hunt, there would be no food. And without food, there would be no next generation, let alone a chance to experiment with better hunting methods.

For them, it was a very simple concept. You might be smart, fast, skilled, and good-hearted. But you better be successful, or you won’t be around for long.

These days, we might call ourselves civilized. But we’re about as far from our prehistoric ancestors as we can throw a computer.

Today, how we measure our success might be a little different. Instead of a successful hunt, we might call it the “bottom-line,” the “final score,” a “high rating,” or even just our “bank account.”

These are merely civilized variations of the same story we’ve been telling for countless generations: It’s nice to be good at something...but it’s better to be successful.

This is not meant to be a moral judgment, however. It’s a primal instinct that’s encoded inside us. Our survival has always been dependent on success.

Now, as civilized people who have the luxury of analyzing this, we can judge if this is the proper attitude to take for any given situation. But it does not change what got us to where we are.

The Blurred Reality of Success Brace yourself because reality is often more complicated than it seems at first glance.

“What you do” and “how you do it” are always important factors. But there are times when these questions won’t determine your success.

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Our actions and the way we go about doing things don’t always ensure that we will be successful. In a perfect world, this might be the case. But again, reality and success-based systems are often complicated and unfair.

Usually, there are several wild-card factors in any given situation that can influence outcomes.

Is this to say that the entire concept of success is out of whack?

No, of course not.

Regardless of who is determining if we are successful, we still work to have positive outcomes. And the odds of these outcomes being determined to be a success are greatly improved when we work hard, develop our craft, and pursue worthwhile goals.

They’re even better when we keep a proper balance between day-to-day consistency and common-sense flexibility.

You do the right things the right way and continue that pattern over a long period of time. That’s how you get the odds to turn in your favor.

In this, you can begin to understand what role excellence plays in success.

But you must remember, there are no guarantees.

One of the hardest lessons to learn is that it is possible to do everything correctly and still fail. Thus, we see that excellence and success are not always linked.

The Pursuit of Excellence Life is a journey, and the pursuit of excellence is a road. It’s not the only road, mind you. And not everyone chooses to take it or even travel it at their own pace. Most who do, embark with their own destination in mind.

But it is that pursuit of excellence, whatever form it may take, which often leads us to success. And it can even lead us beyond that success and into a place we didn’t even have in mind when we began our journey. It is possible, even desirable, to realize you have improved yourself along the way and even gain a new perspective.

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Frustratingly, this improvement and new perspective are not mutually exclusive with success. It is entirely possible, while traveling this road, that you acquire these things well before you find success along the way.

In truth, the path to simple success is often a much shorter one. You must determine if the road to excellence is worthwhile. Because in our imperfect world, there is no guarantee when or if you’ll come across success if you choose the harder path.

What is Excellence?

Unfortunately, there is no simple definition for excellence that does the concept credit. I contend that excellence is something better experienced than defined.

Excellence has a life of its own. It’s seen, shared, and felt.

Just like building towards success, the pursuit of excellence involves doing the right thing in the right way for a long period of time.

But while the path to simple success is more fluid and variable, usually focused on merely accomplishing a task, excellence is developed from a pattern or routine that over time becomes a way of life.

Excellence requires commitment.

Those that pursue excellence are committed to it as a noble ideal. It is a process, a code, a belief, and even a system of values. Excellence demands that you learn, grow, explore, evolve, follow, lead, respect, persevere, and take risks.

Unlike success, excellence is never an accident. It cannot be gifted. And it is never the result of a turn of good fortune.

Excellence is work. It’s the long road that makes you experience sacrifice and pain along the way.

But is that path worth it?

If you truly surrender to your choice and accept the difficulties and challenges that come with that pursuit of excellence...then yes.

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When you devote yourself to it, when you allow it to become a part of your lifestyle, excellence can be a self-sustaining force. Something that can, over time, give you increased strength, faith, and confidence.

Avoiding Excellence It is amazing how many people avoid excellence. Some are experts at avoiding the path while others will drift off it, depending on their mood and the circumstances around them.

Others simply ride on the excellence of others. Many would call these opportunists, never actually committing to their own excellence yet sharing in its triumph through mere association.

The Troublesome Truth It is an unfortunate fact that many who faithfully pursue excellence find only limited success.

Life is often strange and unfair in this way.

For these travelers along the path of excellence, the moon and stars rarely align for them. And while they march along the road to self-improvement success remains ever elusive.

But remember, by choosing to pursue excellence your overall goal is not success itself. As such, you won’t always succeed when you planned to or even when it’s most convenient.

If your goal is excellence, you must remain patient and diligent, confident that you will eventually find success along the way.

Conclusion Do not be fooled by the easy path of simple success.

It’s good to recognize its value and enjoy it when it comes your way.

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you must also accept that every success will fade in time.

Take pride in your pursuit of excellence. Allow the journey to become a part of who you are and shape who you will become.

The path of self-improvement is a long one. But it’s a path that when you surrender yourself to it, can drive you forward in life even when success itself comes and goes.

Remember, it’s not the destination. It’s the journey that matters.

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Making the Impossible Possible Life Life can be overwhelming...but only if you let it overwhelm you.

There will always be external pressure and expectations in your life. But the more you focus on these things the more difficult your life will seem.

So, when things start to seem impossible, stop obsessing over things you can’t control and look within.

Take charge of yourself and your own expectations.

Regardless of what the world asks you to do, remember that you are the one who makes the ultimate decision about what you will do, when you do it, and how it will be done.

The World You are always going to encounter people who will try to impose a wide variety of demands, standards, deadlines, and regulations on you. This in and of itself, does not necessarily make your life hard. But it can make your life more difficult if you don’t keep these things in the proper perspective.

This is not an advocation for living in a bubble or disregarding the advice of others. Nor should you try to avoid external standards or disregard others’ opinions.

But you do need to keep in mind that allowing others to control you is wrong.

Getting advice, counseling, and guidance is often immensely beneficial and can assist you in making decisions. But these things should never be a substitute for critically thinking and controlling your own life.

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What I’m speaking of isn’t chaos, anarchy, or rebellion. It’s a call for reason and the internal control of your actions.

By focusing on yourself, rather than external forces, you can take the first step in making a seemingly impossible task very possible.

You That first step is adjusting your priorities and examining what you’re expecting out of yourself.

Shift your internal demands to be your primary concern while keeping external ones secondary.

In this, you might find that your own self-expectations are much more demanding, unrealistic, or even irrational than those put in place by someone like a boss or supervisor or for what is called for in your current situation.

Many times, the frustration we feel is actually something we’ve imposed on ourselves without even realizing it.

Overload In the modern world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. There are a lot of external pressures that pile on top of the way we think and the things we do.

It’s not uncommon for us to feel like we have too many things to do or that a task is too much for us to handle. This can lead to us obsessing over certain problems and feeling overloaded and overwhelmed.

So, when you have an important job that seems too large, difficult, complex, or time-consuming, it’s important to act instead of just reacting.

Look within yourself to solve the problem. Analyze and prioritize. Then identify and address the smaller tasks that will chip away at the larger job and make it easier to finish.

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Remember, if your goal is quality work, you can juggle lots of things at once. But you can only do one thing at a time.

Time When you’re given a reasonable deadline, you should try to meet it. But don’t take the word “deadline” too literally.

Remind yourself that under normal circumstances, no one is going to die if you don’t meet it.

Don’t let someone else’s unrealistic time frame make your task seem impossible. If something takes you a little longer to do properly, it’s okay.

Guidelines There are times when our lives seem impossible. After all, there never seems to be enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done.

Duties, responsibilities, and assignments often seem to multiply and make our lives even more stressful and confusing.

So, how do we cope with it all? How do we make our “impossible” lives a bit more possible?

The following are 30 useful tips I’ve learned in my professional career that have helped to give me focus when life starts piling up: 1. Seek and embrace the “big picture.”

2. Keep your focus on the most important parts of the “big picture.”

3. An “impossible task” is usually composed of many small “possible tasks.”

4. Try to do the small possible tasks in a logical order.

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5. Understand the difference between a challenge and being overloaded.

6. Within reason, pressure and expectations can be good motivations in life.

7. Unrealistic pressures and expectations are destructive.

8. Your journey to excellence does not end with success.

9. Your journey to excellence does not end with failure.

10. Success and failure are only launching pads and lessons.

11. Committing to your journey of excellence makes life better.

12. Expect to have good and bad experiences in life.

13. Expect to encounter the unexpected.

14. You are always responsible for yourself.

15. Don’t treat people tougher than you treat yourself.

16. Don’t treat yourself tougher than you treat people.

17. Don’t be afraid to stretch, fail, learn, or listen.

18. Accept help but don’t become dependent on it.

19. Be your own taskmaster.

20. Develop positive and useful routines.

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21. Be a good friend to yourself.

22. Reward yourself, but only sparingly.

23. Be a constructive critic to yourself, not a destructive one.

24. Time is an arbitrary, man-made measurement.

25. Time is not life.

26. Establish high expectations for yourself and your colleagues.

27. Hold yourself and your colleagues accountable.

28. Cooperation, without manipulation, yields magical results.

29. Learn the system you operate in.

30. Use the system until you develop a better system.

Quotes - Life “The major difference between people is that some succeed in mastering life, while other permit life to master them.”

JAMES GORDON GILKEY

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

“Victory becomes, to some degree, a state of mind. Knowing ourselves superior to the anxieties, troubles, and worries which obsess us, we are superior to them.”

BASIL KING

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“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

“If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic to you, you have not found your place.”

ORISON SWETT MARDEN

“Far and away the best prize in life is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

“Work is not man’s punishment. It is his reward and strength and pleasure.”

GEORGE SAND

“Just make up your mind at the very outset that your work is going to stand for quality…that you are going to stamp a superior quality upon everything that goes out of your hands…that whatever you do shall bear the hall-mark of excellence.”

ORISON SWEET MARDEN

Quotes - The World “Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment and learn to exercise his will…his personal responsibility.”

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

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“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstances.”

BRUCE BARTON

“We are the environment.”

CHARLES PANATI

“I believe that you can get everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

ZIG ZIGLER

“The important thing is to concentrate upon what you can do…by yourself, upon your own initiative.”

HARRY BROWNE

Quotes - You “In the end, we do battle only with ourselves. Once we understand this and focus our energy on what we can do to control our life, we begin to gain important insights into how life works.”

H. STANLEY JUDD

“The “self-image” is the key to human personality and human behavior.

Change the self-image and you change the personality and the behavior.”

MAXWELL MALTZ

“Relentless, repetitive self-talk is what changes our self-image.”

DENIS E. WAITLEY

“Realizing that our actions, feelings, and behavior are the result of our own images and beliefs, gives us the lever that psychology has always needed for changing.”

MAXWELL MALTZ

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“Have a dialogue between the two opposing parts in your mind and you will find…that they always start out fighting each other…until they come to an appreciation of differences and oneness and integration of the two opposing forces. Then the civil war is finished, and your energies are ready for your struggle with the world.”

FREDERICK PERLS

Quotes - Overload “Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.”

C. W. CERAM

“You see, God always takes the simplest way.”

ALBERT EINSTEIN

“Nothing is particularly hard, if you divide it into small jobs.”

HENRY FORD

“Planning is bringing the future into the present, so that you can do something about it now.”

ALAN LAKEIN

“The most successful people, in the end, are those whose success is the result of steady accretion…it is the one who carefully advances step by step, with the mind becoming wider and wider, and progressively better able to grasp any theme or situation, persevering in what one knows to be practical, and concentrating thought upon it, who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.”

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

“All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step, you enhance immensely the value of your first.”

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

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“It is your work to clear away the mass of encumbering material of thought, so that you may bring into plain view the precious thing at the center of the mass.”

ROBERT COLLIER

“For all your days prepare. And meet them ever alike. When you are the anvil, bear; when you are the hammer, strike.”

EDWIN MARKHAM

“Do ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

JOHN W. GARDNER

“It is not the straining for great things that is most effective; it is the doing of the little things, the common duties, a little better and better.”

ORISON SWETT MARDEN

“I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything. But I still can do something.”

EDWARD EVERETT HALE

Quotes - Time “Adapt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.”

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

“The most essential factor is persistence…the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement, that must inevitably come.”

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

“Too often man handles life as he does the bad weather. He whiles away the time as he waits for it to stop.”

ALFRED POLGAR

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