Jack’s Winning Words 11/19/08
“Say NO to negative thinking.” (Seen on a Sweatshirt) Everywhere I went yesterday, people were talking about the economy. Since I’m in Detroit, it wasn’t happy talk, except when I talked with a doctor. He said, “I might be a Pollyanna, but I think that things are going to turn around sooner than we think.” Pollyanna was a little girl who liked to play The Glad Game. She always tried to look on the bright side of every situation. Why not put today’s quote next to your computer? ;-)

FROM PR J.S. IN MI: What has happened to our economy and to our country is a great example of ORIGINAL SIN in action. We are paying the price for the selfish activity in which we have participated. There is a need to atone and then to find a new way. Hopefully the election of Obama points in the direction of a new and better way. MORE: It was WW I and the Great Depression which prompted Reinhold Niebuhr to pen his works that emphasized Original Sin....the return to the naive liberalism of the end of the 19th century has blurred that insight and we need to return to it.

FROM M.L. IN IL: we grew up playing the glad game. i'll never forget the first time i saw pollyanna. we all wanted to be and/or fell in love with hailey mills.

FROM G.S. IN MI: SAY NO TO NEGATIVE THINKING! One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital! This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck. He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it! Have a blessed, garbage-free day! The seeds you plant today, determine the harvest you reap tomorrow.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Reading the comments from your blog were interesting...it's so easy to blame someone else for the mess we (the USA) are in right now....but I am not an negative person...I believe we will remain the number one country people are DYING to come too. Not a small thing. I also like the story about the taxi driver...that is how I choose to live my life. God is good. MORE: Even when I'm not "feeling" positive, if I say the words often enough....I overcome the negativity...but sometimes it's very hard. :-)

FROM MOLINER C.F.: Negativism is for losers. Put that in your computer and smoke it! REPLY: Do you remember this song?
Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette
Written by Merle Travis and Tex Williams
Now I'm a feller with a heart of goldAnd the ways of a gentleman I've been toldThe kind of guy that wouldn't even harm a flea
But if me and a certain character metThe guy that invented the cigaretteI'd murder that son-of-a-gun in the first degree
It ain't cuz I don't smoke myselfAnd I don't reckon that it'll harm your healthSmoked all my life and I ain't dead yet
But nicotine slaves are all the sameAt a pettin' party or a poker gameEverything gotta stop while they have a cigarette
Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarettePuff, puff, puff and if you smoke yourself to deathTell St. Peter at the Golden GateThat you hate to make him waitBut you just gotta have another cigarette
Now in a game of chance the other nightOld Dame Fortune was a-doin' me rightThe kings and the queens just kept on comin' round
And I got a full and I bet 'em highBut my bluff didn't work on a certain guyHe just kept on raisin' and layin' that money down
Now he'd raise me and I'd raise himI sweated blood, gotta sink or swimHe finally called and didn't even raise the bet
So I said "aces full Pops how 'bout you?"He said "I'll tell you in a minute or twoBut right now, I gotta have me a cigarette"
Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarettePuff, puff, puff and if you smoke yourself to deathTell St. Peter at the Golden GateThat you hates to make him waitBut you just gotta have another cigarette
(Ah, smoke it! Hah! Yes! Yes! Yes!)
The other night I had a dateWith the cutest little girl in the United StatesA high-bred, uptown, fancy little dame
She loved me and it seemed to meThat things were 'bout like they oughta beSo hand in hand we strolled down lover's lane
She was oh so far from a cake of iceAnd our smoochin' party was goin' niceSo help me cats I believe I'd be there yet
But I give her a kiss and a little squeezeAnd she said, "ah, Marty, excuse me pleaseI just gotta have me another, cigarette"
And she said, smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarettePuff, puff, puff and if you smoke yourself to deathTell St. Peter at the Golden GateThat you hate to make him waitBut you just gotta have another cigarette

FROM PR F.M. IN WI: I just spoke to our broker - I need to send this to him! And try to apply it in our life too!

FROM D.S. IN MI: I choose to believe that this is all happening to make us slow down and remember what is truly important in our lives and also to think about what we need and can afford. Will the greedy people get that same message out of it? We can only wonder. Have a warm day.

FROM G.G. IN INDY: May be my favorite movie....never get tired of watching it. We still sing "America" with a Hailey Mills' accent and laugh everytime .....and I'm still playing and teaching the glad game! Pollyanna was/is a great little teacher!