Psychiatric Vetting of Candidates Should Be Required

 Psychiatric Vetting of Candidates Should Be Required

Representative Paul Gosar created a violent video about murdering his political opponents - and posted it. He has been censured for it, and there is actually opposition to the action, saying that censuring will be used to remove power from anyone in Congress taking an unpopular stand on issues.

There's a huge difference between publishing a violent video and defending an unpopular political stand. And in this case, it's doubtful that censuring him is enough, particularly after the violent insurrection of January 6th.

Violent tendencies like this cannot be ignored. Red flags indicating future unlawful and violent intentions from members of the GOP have to be taken seriously, because there are obviously radicalized members of our society who take it to heart and are willing to commit violent acts against anyone opposing the party of Trump.

Psychiatric evaluations should be part of the vetting process for candidates seeking public office - any public office, from the presidency right on down to town councils. Many Americans would be alive today if only Trump had been evaluated before being allowed to run for office. Same with Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene - I mean, come on - Jewish space lasers?

Our society is complicated and difficult to govern. It's not safe to have these unscrupulous, and in some cases, seriously deranged individuals in power. This isn't even a political issue - it's an issue of mental health. It's an issue of an obscene abuse of power by individuals who are well beyond lacking compassion, but who lack conscience as well.

If we vet candidates better before they have a chance to gain power, Americans will be safer, our democracy will be safer, and our public servants will be free to concentrate on their jobs without threats from truly disturbed opponents fixated on their own power.

Let's Be Careful About Accusing Americans

 

Let's be careful when talking about "America". Like: America doesn't care. Because that's not true. The HALF of America that is MAGA cult doesn't care, and still doesn't. They were told not to wear masks. They were told to go ahead and go to church, have parties, go on spring break, and ignore the warnings by the CDC, WHO, Dr. Fauci, and other medical experts. And after superhuman efforts to come up with a vaccine, they were told to avoid it in favor of quackery. The other half of America that hasn't been brainwashed and radicalized by a deranged fake president cares intensely. We also cared about civil rights, the environment, modern lynching of black people, and the battering of our country's constitution. And we showed it by protesting all of the deranged behavior coming from our government - both by taking to the streets and by voting the fake, seditious president and his crime family out of the White House. So, let's be careful about including sane Americans in headlines about mass murder.

 

www.salon.com/2021/11/18/and-his-regime-committed--or-at-least-condoned--mass-murder-america-just-doesnt-care/

Trump and his regime committed — or at least condoned — mass murder. America just doesn't care

 

Disability Challenge: Trapped in a Lift Chair During Power Outages

One of the scariest times for me, before I figured this thing out, was during storms, dreading power outages. It's bad enough being without lights, refrigeration, my computer/wifi, and microwave, but I literally live in my lift chair. It's the only chair I have, and I sleep in it as well.

In the past, if a storm came up, I would immediately put my lift chair in the upright position. Due to previous damage to my knee, back, shoulders, and ankle, standing without the lift was painful and dangerous and could have left me more handicapped than I already was. Hauling myself over the arm of the reclined chair was equally painful and dangerous (not to mention nearly impossible) for me. And scooting to the edge of the seat and trying to move sideways around the raised stool renders the chair unstable, and the danger of tipping and injury likely.

More than once there have been storms in the middle of the night and I've woken up to a power outage. That's a terribly frightening prospect when you are at the mercy of a lift chair mechanism. Feeling trapped is no joke. 

But I have come up with an effective and relatively inexpensive solution:

A portable power station! 

I thought of this completely by (happy!) accident. My husband and I purchased one of these little charger stations for our vehicle (notice the jumper cables on the sides). When we got it home and were charging it up for the car, I began trying out all the little extras: USB ports to charge phones, computers, etc. But there's also a DC port.

 

 

Portable Charger Station on Amazon

 

In order to use the DC port in your home, you must also have an adapter:

 

DC Adapter 

The cheapest charger station I found is the one I show above at $59.99 (in September of 2021), and the inverter pictured is $18.99 (in September of 2021). That may sound a little steep, but here's the deal. For eighty bucks you can get rid of all the stress and worry every time there's a chance of a power outage that may leave you trapped in a lift chair (or without your phone, laptop, or whatever). I only use mine for my chair, and once it's upright, I leave it that way, using a stool to prop my legs up when necessary, until the end of the power outage. But simply that initial ability to leave my chair is empowering beyond belief – both emotionally and literally, and I am immeasurably grateful for these devices.

If you find any better alternatives for the same amount of money, please don’t hesitate to contact me or blast it all over your social pages. I'm always on the lookout for better ways to navigate disability obstacles. 

NOTICE:

Any medical information within this book is my own and applies to only myself. It is not intended as advice for anyone else. Before making any changes to your own health regimen, you should absolutely talk it over with your healthcare professional first, just to be safe.

Broken Old Broad, Blazing Owl Press, and/or Terri DelCampo is not responsible for the results acquired from the products or services mentioned in this book, or affiliated with the companies/manufacturers of said products/services.   

Broken Old Broad Week in the Rearview 9/5/2021

 

Hi Everybody,

It's been a couple of weeks – actually a month, I'm ashamed to say – since I blogged.  So perhaps this writing should be titled 'This Month in the Rearview'.  For a couple of weeks in August life happened and I was so busy I shelved my writing. Being a Broken Old Broad, chores and activities take me twice the time to complete. I had my load doubled for that couple of weeks, and knew something had to give. So, though I jotted down notes, I set them aside until I had time to think and tackle them properly.

It's funny, when I set the projects aside, I found myself coming up with more ideas and focus – probably because I de-cluttered my mind along with my schedule. 

Last night I watched a listicle on YouTube about little things you can do to change your life. One of them was ask yourself 'is what I'm doing right now worth my time?' and I realized that I've been feeling scattered and overwhelmed for the last few years, and that perhaps some reevaluation is in order. 

Thinking about such an evaluation brings to mind Curly's advice in City Slickers: One thing.  You have to find one thing that means the most to you, and focus on it. 

My one thing has always been writing – since I was eleven.  However, I've gotten sidetracked in the last few years and accomplished very little.  There's been way too much input – a constant barrage from the internet of stuff that has outraged me to the point where I want to write about it. Consequently I've written almost nothing. Plus it's been frustrating because even when I have written, almost no one has listened.  (Though I'm grateful to the few who have – you know who you are.) Ironically, another little thing on the list from last night is to drastically limit your time on the internet, which I fully intend to do. 

This circles back to 'is what you're doing right now worth your time'. 

I tend to be analytical and a reasonable thinker. I think my opinions are valid, hopefully helpful, but not necessarily any more than those of others. Sometimes, though, I feel like I'm lending my voice to a cacophony where it is absorbed and vanishes. 

Beau of the Fifth Column posed a question to ask myself when writing: Am I the right messenger?

That brought on some critical thinking and introspection – and a way to filter a lot of the material that I have strong opinions about, which helped me sort topics and decide whether or not an article or commentary is appropriate.

For instance, I was outraged as a human being, over police callousness and violence toward black people during the BLM protests last year. Am I, a 63-year-old white woman the right messenger for black people's issues? No.  However, I can educate myself as much as possible, and report on the injustices I've seen, and stand as a witness to them. I can support equal rights and speak out against all forms of oppression.

As a woman, a senior citizen, and a disabled person, I've felt oppression as well – I know how hard it was to move forward in my life in spite of it. I cannot imagine what moving forward through those obstacles in a black skin in a racist society would have been like. Does that mean my hardships aren't valid? Of course not. It just means I'm not the right messenger to write about BLM because that experience is not mine, nor is it part of my ancestry.

Another consideration I can apply when deciding if a topic is worth my time is my reader. Who am I trying to reach? Am I just venting? Is that worth my time? I think so. Thomas Paine did a crapload of venting and ended up shunned by the country he'd helped form, even though he stood tall, never let go of his principles, and held his colleagues (George Washington among them) accountable when they abandoned theirs.

Am I Thomas Paine? Hardly. But I hold him, and the example he set, in high esteem.  I can try and stay true to my principles as he did and wield my pen accordingly, in hopes of giving my readers pause for thought.  Or perhaps help someone who's going through difficulties, similar to mine, know that they aren't alone. Or perhaps validate someone's opinion who feels unheard. Or simply add my voice to the side of reason and common decency and equality. 

Is that worth my time?

Hell yeah. 

Have a great week, everyone.

Ter

Broken Old Broad Blogs Week in the Rearview - Sunday, August 8, 2021

Hiya Everybody,

I just wanted to let you know that I plan to post this blog on Sunday evenings (possibly Monday morning if I'm running late or family stuff comes up on Sunday…you know how it is.) and share it on my Twitter and Facebook pages. (Links at the bottom of the blog.) So if you follow me on social media, you can find the handy links to my blogs there.

As far as personal updates go, this week was quiet. I've been in editing mode, trying to get BOB Writes online as well as editing an upcoming project for Blaze next week. Busy, busy, busy. But it's joyful busy. 

I made a very loose interpretation of blueberry cobbler last week when Blaze came in from his daily walk with a bagful of blueberries he picked on a vacant lot near our neighborhood.  It was pretty good, but we decided we prefer folding the blueberries into vanilla pudding. All kinds of sweet berry goodness. 

Exciting, right? We haven't gotten back into the swing of things quite yet since the pandemic seems to be dicking us over again with more surges in cases. We are both vaccinated but are still wearing masks when we go out – because vaccinated people can still carry the virus and infect others. I would be incredibly upset if I ended up carrying Covid and giving it to someone else. Although at this point, everybody who's eligible should be vaccinated. I don't understand why people are taking such foolish chances with their health, other than the whole pandemic was politicized and most of the GOP misled whole swaths of the population down a dangerous, life-threatening path. But still. At this point I have zero sympathy for adults (who are eligible for the vaccine) who get sick because they refuse to get vaccinated or even wear a mask. And adults who don't get their children (who are eligible) vaccinated just confound me. Who takes chances with their children's health? Ugh. 

Okay, rant over.

I guess that's about it. It was a busy week but kinda dull for you guys to read.

 

The Laundry Experiment

I've been trying to whittle down my usage of appliances recently, a little experiment. I bought a little washboard and have been handwashing Blaze's and my clothes, sheets, towels, etc. The only thing I haven't tried yet is blankets. I do the washing in the kitchen sink (which in fact, in our studio apartment is a bar sink, though set in a counter) in our little galley kitchen, and wonder if I'd be able to manage a blanket.

Part of this experiment is simply to see if I can do without the machinery – so far so good. The other is that I'm disabled and dragging load after load of laundry upstairs to my landlord's kitchen where the machines are located is actually more work than washing out a few pieces of clothing each day after I do the morning dishes. The washboard is made of bamboo and is only about 8 inches wide. I also discovered Zote soap in bar form. I was concerned about whether it would bother my allergies, but it has a light citrussy scent that just smells clean. It lasts forever – I've been doing laundry by hand for about six or seven weeks now and have barely dented the bar.

I let clothes soak in hot water with OxyClean (undies overnight, shirts and pants for about half an hour), in a bucket. When the clothes are done soaking, I dump the bucket in the sink and rinse. I bought a cheap but wholly effective collapsible drying rack which I positioned in front of a small fan so that the clothes dry quicker. Takes 'em about 8 to 12 hours, depending on the thickness of the cloth.

I have managed to get stains out of some pieces of clothing that I thought were ruined. All in all it's been a good experience that I plan to continue permanently. 

As an added bonus, my arm muscles are toning up nicely.  😊  

Okay, on to the rest of the blog!

Writing project update – Terri

It's been a busy writing and editing week. I edited two upcoming projects for Blaze, and finished editing Broken Old Broad Writes and published it Saturday. Over a month ago I remember saying to Blaze, "Oh, I should have this edited and published in a week.  Yeah…right. I forgot the half dozen or so articles that needed finishing, and that the whole lot of them needed to be reformatted.

It turned into a 245+ page monster that kept growing.  Plus I did 4 complete edits to make sure I didn't miss any glitches, typos, or other screwups. I mean – it's a writing book.  I don't want to be laughed out of my profession.  On the bright side, I am a week earlier than the hard deadline a set for myself last week, so all is good. And having the bonus time means that I'll be able to start editing Broken Old Broad Scared Healthy a week early, and get that collection of articles and essays up early as well. Then I can focus on my novel, Diamond Lil and Gaslit Granny, which I hope to have completed by spring…emphasis on hope. If not, July 4^th would be a good release date…it's sort of an independence kind of a book. At least for me. 

So new stuff of mine up on Amazon – woot! 

Broken Old Broad Writes

https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Broad-Writes-Terri-DelCampo-ebook/dp/B09C43QK3W/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=broken+old+broad+writes+terri+delcampo&qid=1628463965&sr=8-2

Writing project update – Blaze

We re-released Blaze's novel '68 Buick recently, so if you didn't catch it the first time around, here it is: 

https://www.amazon.com/68-Buick-Blaze-McRob-ebook/dp/B01KPAYEK6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=68+buick+blaze+mcrob&qid=1628464101&s=books&sr=1-1

Quote of the week: 

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self." – Ernest Hemingway

QOTW Honorable Mention:

I'm reading The Great Shark Hunt – Gonzo Papers Volume 1 by Hunter S. Thompson which is a collection of articles that includes his coverage of Watergate. As everything was going down and Nixon was getting ready to resign in disgrace, Thompson described it as "watching Nixon sink deeper and deeper in the quicksand of his own excrement." 

A big, satisfied smile crossed my face as I read that, because I drew a lot of parallels between Nixon and Scump. (Scump is far, far worse than Nixon ever was…but that's another blog.) With Scump's band of thugs being investigated and charged and going to court, and knowing that the Justice Department is only scraping the surface so far, I thought this quote was apt. And, like I said, an extremely satisfying comparison.

Book(s) I read this week: 

They Say – Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race by James West Davidson

She spoke the truth with a "pungent pen", to quote the papers of her day.  While she was a teacher, activist, and journalist, Ida (Iola – penname) Wells' main mission in life was to draw attention to and in turn see lynching (which ran rampant in the late 1800s especially) eradicated. Horrific tortures, followed by hangings and burnings were public events – postcards were even made of these despicable horror shows. 

Ida B. Wells was a determined, brilliant, gutsy woman who risked her life to publish the truth and fight with her pen for justice and equality for her race. 

I highly recommend you read this educational and thought-provoking book and perhaps several that the author lists in his bibliography.

I was dismayed to read this book and realize just how racist my country still is more than a century later. Most of it is spurred by sheer ignorance with a shovel full of meanness that often incites violence. Education is the key to calming that violence and learning to step into the future as one people, celebrating all the cultures of our country, both indigenous and immigrant. We might have started off on the wrong foot, but that doesn't mean we can't make things right.

Movie(s) I watched this week:

The Dressmaker – So many plot twists and surprises! Excellent film that I really liked. It made me laugh, it made me cry – a lot on both counts. The characters were textured and gritty. The entire cast gave stellar performances, especially Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Sarah Snook and Liam Hemsworth. If you're looking for small-town drama and mysterious circumstances, this is your film. 

Product I recommend this week:

I just got the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser cleaner. To preface this, Blaze and I have a tiny apartment that's only one-third carpeted. There is a high traffic spot in the middle of that carpeting that was positively disgusting. (We live in a large bonus room off the garage on a wooded lot, so vacuuming is a daily thing.) Plus the carpeting is taupe. ☹ Between limited storage space and not really needing a large machine to do this relatively small job I went on Amazon. I started looking for the Bissell that's like an upright vacuum size, and then saw this little hand-held model. Sold. It worked great, even taking up stains that were in the carpet for the past couple of years (I know, gross…but I never said I was a flawless housekeeper). I used the fluid that came with the cleaner, but I went online to see if there was any commentary about variations. One woman said you can use any cleaner you want in it, including vinegar and water. She recommended using very hot water with the cleaning fluid of choice).  I think when I do the next area (I'm disabled and any task that requires bending over I do in small increments, so I don't further cripple myself) I'm going to dissolve Oxyclean into hot water, add a tiny bit of Dawn dish soap. Also, I've read that if you put shaving cream on a rug and scrub it into a stain a bit and let it sit for an hour then clean it up, it cleans well without saturating the carpet. But the BPSE is like a little wet vac, and really pulled up the moisture on the first patch I did.

All in all, I give this appliance a big thumbs up. 

Recipe of the week: 

I wouldn't say recipe, so much and a throw-together thingy because Farmer Blaze came into the kitchen with his first banana peppers. I wanted to stuff them but didn't have much to do that with. And there were only three of them. I looked in the cupboard and spied a can of spicy refried beans and smiled.  I mixed refried beans and shredded cheddar cheese together, split the peppers lengthwise (saving the seeds for Farmer Blaze to plant) and stuffed 'em. Popped 'em in the oven until the cheese melted and the filling browned a bit. They were YUM!  Can't wait for more.  Thanks Farmer Blaze!

YouTube:

I watch a lot of YouTube both for research purposes as well as entertainment.  There are some I watch every night (like Beau of the Fifth Column, Dr. Ramani, TED Talks, and Stand Up comedy), some I watch as frequently as they drop videos, (like Bailey Sarian and Caitlin Doughty) and some I watch less often. I try to watch at least one lengthier interview so I can do a Jigidi.com puzzle (or two) guilt free because I'm still getting research done.  Heh, heh, heh. 

Anyway, in my opinion, some of the best videos In the Rearview this week were: 

Beau of the Fifth Column:

BEAU OF THE FIFTH COLUMN – LET'S TALK ABOUT REPUBLICANS REJECTING DEMOCRACY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx2JD5TR6VU

The most chilling Beau link of the week, saying that 67 % of the GOP think voting is a privilege rather than a right, and therefore are abandoning the fundamental principles of our country and democracy. They are setting the stage for an autocracy. 

Bailey Sarian:

Dark History Podcast – The Dark History of Lobotomy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feHnfZ7Tsyc

I love Bailey Sarian's Murder, Mystery, and Makeup on Monday nights, and the Dark History podcasts on Thursdays are equally fascinating. I recommend both. If you're just discovering Bailey Sarian's stuff, she has a lot that will keep you glued to your screen for weeks. She's gaining lots of followers, and I'm genuinely happy for her success.

A word about my social pages – particularly Facebook:

My personal page is listed below, and then I have subpages:

Oh Say Can You See – This page is for my commentary, posts, blogs and links of a political nature. Mainly because I wanted to keep my personal page light. I'm an extremely opinionated Broken Old Broad, as you have undoubtedly discovered if you've read my blogs – or social page comments – and especially during the Scump era I decided it would be healthier and happier to compartmentalize my Facebook account.

Terri DelCampo, Author – Same deal. Not that I don't share the daylights out of my books and blogs on my personal page, but I tend to keep the writing stuff corralled on my author page.  Then writer and publisher friends don't have to wade through Simon the Cat videos, my cousins' wedding pics, dozens of recipes, snarky GIFs, mushy GIFs (to Farmer Blaze, only), and other various non-literary twaddle.

Owl's Eye View Magazine – I started this page years ago when OEV was going full steam. I have published all 104 existing issues both separately and in a bundle for enthusiasts. I think there will be more activity on this page before the end of the year, as I am tossing around an idea for an new OEV project.

 

Terri DelCampo Sites and Contact Information:

Blazing Owl Press (Founding Partner/writer/editor):

http://www.blazingowlpress.blogspot.com/

Twitter Page:

https://twitter.com/terridelcampo

 

Broken Old Broad Blogs (Personal update blog):

http://terridelcampo.blogspot.com/

 

Facebook: Personal Page:

https://www.facebook.com/terri.delcampo

Facebook: Owl's Eye View Magazine Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Owls-Eye-View-Magazine-296740517101/?fref=ts

 

Facebook: Blazing Owl Press Page:

https://www.facebook.com/BlazingOwlPress?ref=hl

 

Facebook: Oh Say Can You See Page (Op-Ed/Political):

https://www.facebook.com/Oh-Say-Can-You-See-115986311782935/?ref=pages_you_manage

 

 

More Terri DelCampo Titles:

 

NOVELS

 

Reflection

Into the Mist

Holy Terrors

MEDS

Parliament

True Crime Shelf

James Reborn

 

NOVELLAS

 

Tooth for a Tooth

Screech

Carnival / Carnival Battle

Night Ops

 

NOVELETTE

 

Ides of March

 

SHORT STORY SINGLE

 

Food Truck Fair

 

BLAZING OWL SHORT HORROR STORIES

 

Shonk

Joinings

Flash In the Pan

And He Screamed

 

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

 

Assbiters from Hell (Co-Authored with Blaze McRob)

Happy Bloody Whatever (Co-Authored with Blaze McRob)

Romantic Shadows (Co-Authored with Blaze McRob)

Blazin' Toybox (Co-Authored with Blaze McRob)

Silver Hells (Co-Authored with Blaze McRob)

Blood Spatter (Co-Authored with Blaze McRob)

Chills (Holiday Horror)

 

ANTHOLOGIES

 

Morbid Metamorphosis (Published by Lycan Valley Press)

Grey Matter Monsters (Published by Lycan Valley Press)

 

LITERARY PERIODICALS

 

Owl's Eye View Magazine – Dark Fiction Individual Issues 1 - 104

Owl's Eye View Magazine – 1-104 Issue Bundle

 

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

 

The Tales of Princess Rosie & Joey Owl

The Adventures of Kid Joey

Team RoJo & Friends

 

POETRY COLLECTIONS

 

Scumpericks (Satirical Limericks)

Broken Old Broad Busts a Beat – Love Poems: 1969 – 2021

Broken Old Broad Busts a Beat – Ho – Po (Horror Poems)

Broken Old Broad Busts a Beat – Op - Po (Opinion Poetry)

 

 

NON-FICTION

 

Terri's Bookshelf – Intriguing Authors I Read in 2015

Broken Old Broad Writes

Broken Old Broad Scared Healthy

Stomach-Roiling Articles & Poems (2016-2021)

 

 

DISCLAIMERS:

MEDICAL:

Any medical information within my articles is my own, and applies to only myself. It is not intended as advice for anyone else. Before making any changes to your own health regimen, you should absolutely talk it over with your healthcare professional first, just to be safe.

FICTION:

My horror and other fictional works are just that – fiction. I made the whole thing up.

**

©Copyright

Copyright 2021 by Terri DelCampo. All rights reserved.  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property.  If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting Blazing Owl Press or the author directly.  Thank you for your support of the author's rights.

 

 

 

 

A Done Thing is Better Than a Perfect Thing (Prepare yourself, Terri's about to rant.)

"A done thing is better than a perfect thing."

I keep hearing this sentiment passed around in different circles (from nieces and nephews talking about schoolwork to colleagues talking about manuscripts, to co-workers where I used to work, to crafters), in all walks of life.

 

And I call bullshit on that. Something doesn't have to be absolutely perfect to the point of obsession, but some of the garbage that passes muster these days doesn't even come close.

A done thing is better than a perfect thing.

·        Tell that to anyone who's had their car recalled (especially anyone who's had a serious accident because they weren't notified in time).

·        Tell that to anyone who's had a heart attack because the medicine that they were prescribed hadn't been tested enough.

·        Tell that to women who had deformed babies when they took thalidomide because that drug was under-researched.

·        Tell that to people who developed cancer from cyclamates.

·        Tell people who, on a day-to-day basis, buy inferior products because of the slipshod work ethic and bottom-line mentality prevailing in manufactories today.

·        Tell that to anyone who's been sold a book full of page after page of awkward sentences and spelling errors that distracted them from a good story.

·        Tell that to the families of the Challenger space shuttle whose lives were shattered because of faulty O rings.

 

Is this our legacy for the future?

If we raise our children with this mentality, they will carry it out into the world and do everything half-assed starting with washing the dishes at home for Mom and Dad, right on up to producing inferior products (if any at all), to raising the next generation of slackers whose only activity will be to consume without replenishing or giving anything back that's worth having.

 

This attitude erodes the very fiber of our society and in turn lowers our reputation worldwide, which in turn lowers the self-esteem of our population.

 

Lowering the bar on a regular basis weakens Americans and globally demeans us.

All because one schmuck somewhere down the line decided to be lazy and coined a destructive phrase: "a done thing is better than a perfect thing".

 

It was bad enough for that one person to adopt such an attitude – but for an entire population? It's a death knoll.

 

Now. Having shrieked all that, perhaps we should try a different mantra. How about, "Well begun is half done."?  Or "Put your best foot forward."? There are dozens, if not hundreds of adages that encourage everyone to do their best and tackle the toughest jobs. My personal favorite is a quote by Tom Hanks' character, Jimmy Dugan in "A League of Their Own": "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

 

Take that last sentence into the world with you and pull it out when you're facing a difficult task: "The hard is what makes it great."  

 

[Originally published on Medium in 2020.]