Jack’s Winning Words 1/14/14
“You can’t hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life.”  (Joel Osteen)  Dr. Phil has a list of 15 “parenting” suggestions.  A major one…Get to know the friends your child hangs out with.  They can be a big influence for good or bad, and the parent should be aware.  In fact, even adults can be influenced by the people they hang out with.  What is it that you look for in your child’s friends…or your’s?    ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I think that's where I went astray.   My Dad warned me about having kids from Moline as friends but I've had a lots of them.   Dr. Phil is probably right on this one.====JACK:  I think that the Tri-Cities, Quad-Cities, Quint-Cities should have merged into one metropolitan community, but the voters turned it down.  Animosity is hard to get rid of...and so is the fear of BIG government.

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  Sometimes one cannot avoid being around "negative" people. In these circumstances, one's true "positivity" is at issue. It's easy to become negative oneself about the negativity of another. Regarding friends: I have many friends who seem to serve different parts of my life in accordance with their own temperaments. So, I suppose I have friends for different situations and moods of my own. In the end though, their values, character, integrity, and the like are what are most important for myself, them, and our relationships.====JACK:  Martin Luther said this with regard to having evil thoughts, but it relates also to coming in contact with negative people...."You can't stop the birds from flying around your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair."..

.FROM TARMART REV:  It's my Lutheran friends who keep me in spiritual shape . . . with Christ's help of course!!====JACK:  When God created....he didn't create religious denominations.  He is the Father of all.

 FROM TRIHARDER:  Perfect! There are people who I consider "toxic" -- always negative.  I've tried to limit my contact with them even though they may have been long-term friends.  Thanks for crystallizing it. ====JACK:  There's a verse in the Christian's New Testament where it says, "So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  I suppose it could apply to toxic people, too.====TH:  I shared your message with a friend of mine. He and I are counseling someone he brought into my life -- a woman (a psychologist, of all things).  She looks at everything as a negative. I've been dragged into this thing and suddenly she confides in me for all of her (many, many) problems, most of which she creates on her own by being unable to hold her prolific tongue.  His return message to me was that we are such a great help in her life. !!! ???  As Nancy Kerrigan famously said, "Why, me?"====JACK:  As a takeoff on Rabbi Hillel, "If not me, who?  If not now, when?"  Whether someone is an attorney or a pastor, I believe that we can fulfill our reason for being by being available to help the helpless...guarding against becoming part of the problem, instead of becoming part of the solution (if, indeed, there is one).====TH:  I'm there for friends. This one is kind of being imposed on me. But, I can't help but help.  I know you would and you are a positive influence in my life.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  It's very true.  A negative person can really be a downer in your life.  It's easy for a person to pull you into the pit if you let them. Our parents were very thorough when it came to our friends...especially the one's of the opposite sex.====JACK:  I remember our kids saying (when they were in high school), "Don't worry.  We know who to avoid."  Sometimes our kids are more discriminating than we give them credit for.  There are times when we teach, without knowing that we are teaching.====JUDY:  Actions do speak louder than words.  Gary's favorite saying is something like this:  "Preach the Gospel always and if necessary, use words".  That's not quite the way he says it, but you understand.

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Definitely a positive attitude.  Apropos to the subject I received the email I just forwarded to you.====JACK:  Oddly enough, your e-mail contains another Winning Word that I will be using tomorrow.

 FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  Very true. Dad stopped me from running with a neighbor kid who later ended up in prison.====JACK:  Not long ago my grandson saw a mug-shot in the newspaper of someone arrested for armed robbery.  He said to his mom, "I know him.  We were in the same class in school."

 FROM KF IN MICHIGAN:  This has been a constant conversation in our house since preschool. Our tagline was "people judge you by the company you keep"..........in college the message has moved to "lose the people who bring you down" (after trying to help them move toward positive thinking.....)