Hugging is the Answer

Quoted from Zig Ziglar

Watch your thought, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
- Motto, Metropolitan Milwaukee YMCA

Perhaps I feel this way because my wife is affectionately known as "The Happy Hugger." If it's moving she'll stop it and hug it, and if it's not moving, she'll dust it off and sell it! However, there's another reason I believe hugging is the answer. According to Greg Risberg of the Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, the physiological benefits of hugging include a reduction of blood pressure and increased oxygen in the blood. He says that we all have a "skin hunger," and we are missing out on a vital part of our health if we're not getting in on some serious hugging. He maintains that four hugs a day are the minimum required to meet that skin hunger. From my perspective, I need lots more than four. Stanley Simon of the University of Massachusetts says that "hugging does more demonstrate affection. It actually seems to keep people healthy. The skin is the body's largest sensory organ. If it's under stimulated, many people actually develop an aching sensation. These are the people who will find it harder to get well and to stay well."

For the benefit of you husbands, let me tell you something about your wives. They love hugs but resent it when you ignore them all day and then give them your undivided attention when the lights go out at night. They want a hug when a hug is all you have on your mind. They don't necessarily want them to be long, and in most cases, they do not want them to be suggestive or sensual. The hug really says, "I love you, I enjoy being around you, your're important to me, I  look forward to spending more time with you." There's an old saying that actions speak louder that words, and to take a few seconds a number of times during the day to get and give those nonsuggestive hugs really speaks volumes. Give it a try.

~ When you act like a skunk, someone will eventually get wind of it. ~

Unquote.

Dear husband and wife, when is the last time that both of you hug one another?
When is the last time you say "I love you" to one another?
If you did not hug or say that to your spouse, most probably, you also did not do that to your children.
It only takes you a second to say "I love you" and another two to give a good hug.
Start doing it if you have not done so.
Do it for a day, you will see small changes.
Do it for a long time, you will see miracle.

Hope in the Future

Quoted from Zig Ziglar

Things turn out the best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.

Dr John Maxwell says that if there's hope in the future there is power in the present. The reason is simple: Hope in the future has a dramatic impact on your thinking today. Your thinking today determines your performance today, and your performance today has a direct bearing on your future. Dr Tony Campolo of Eastern College in Pennsylvania says that your past is important because it brought you to where you are, but as important as your past is, it is not nearly as important as the way you see your future. He is saying, "I understand the problems of your past. I know that  you were abused as a child, raised by alcoholic parents, suffered through bankruptcy, depression, and/or alcoholism. You've gone through one or more divorces. All of these things are traumatic events that affect the way you think and the way you act." In no way is Dr Campolo denying any of the impact of your past, because many of those events are extremely significant. However, he is saying that despite all these things, the way you see your future is even more important.

John Johnson, publisher and owner of Ebony magazine and one of the four hundred wealthiest men in in America, says that "men and women are limited not by the place of their birth, not by the color of their skin, but by the size of their hope."

Make friends with your past so you can focus on today, which will make your tomorrows even better. If you are familiar with my material, you  realize that my nature is that of an optimist -- I just can't see any point in being pessimistic. I'm not talking about denial of reality; what I am talking about is facing reality, but facing it in an optimistic way.

It may be true that most people can't handle prosperity, but it is also true that most people don't have to.
Unquote.

Dear parents, if today you realise that you have made a mistake in your parenting style, it is not too late to change. The problem is, you may not want to change. Don't give yourself excuses. Acknowledge your mistake and move on.