:: Finding Control  ::

Time. Money. Relationships. Dieting. Career. Parenting. You name it and there is advice on how to regain control of situations in our lives. A simple search for the phrase “finding control” on a book retailer’s online website will reveal 1,429 books that are available for you to purchase. Flipping through the first several pages you will find books entitled:

Get Anyone to Do Anything and Never Feel Powerless Again: Psychological Secrets to Predict, Control and Influence Every Situation

Fat Is Not Your Fate: Outsmart Your Genes and Lose the Weight Forever

Time Management From the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule and Your Life

Job Search Solution: The Ultimate System for Finding a Great Job Now!

How to Keep Your Kids From Driving You Crazy: A Proven Program for Improving Your Child's Behavior and Regaining Control of Your Family

Riddled in these titles are absolute guarantees – ‘forever’, ‘now’, ‘never’ – words that entice us to buy the book in hopes of a quick and permanent fix to our particular problem. But how many of us have read a self-help book that has truly solved our problem forever? More likely than not, that book was thumbed through for several hours on a Sunday afternoon and has been collecting dust on the bookshelf ever since. After all, these books tend to look better on paper than when we try to change or adopt their concepts for everyday application.

Today, at the root of much of the dissatisfaction in America is a real and legitimate need for control. Our world is changing. We are connected by cell phones, emails, blackberries, and now text messages. We are concerned with not only who our kids are hanging out with in the neighborhood, but who is hanging out with them on the internet. Instead of holding one job for three decades, we now hold at least three jobs in one decade. Families juggle four credit cards, three cars, two careers, and a myriad of activities in only 24 hours in a day. Our lives move quickly. Our worlds are bigger. And at the end of the day when we return home, searching for some peace and quiet, what we desire the most is some control over our lives and the ability to manage the outside forces at play so that we can move ourselves and our families in the right direction.

But when we need control and search for viable options, we become vulnerable to those who peddle quick fixes. And, in the midst of a panic to regain control, we are unusually prone to actually relinquishing even more control – whether that be by joining an overpriced weight-loss program, investing in a new self-help library or falling victim to a get-rich-quick scheme.

And so it is; Americans are prone to turning to the federal government as our self-help manual. Some leaders essentially peddle a book called “Give your problems to the federal government and never be disappointed again! Ever!” And it feels good to put it in their hands, at least for the time being. But as time passes, the benefits we expect from the federal government quickly become expectations which quickly become entitlements. And once they become entitlements, there is no longer choice, and no longer control. And we are left striking a large check to the federal government for mediocre benefits we may or may not want or use.

Unfortunately, to compound the problem is an unreasoned confidence that Washington can solve all of our problems. The federal government happily stands with open arms ready to take more money for more services. And if you ask the federal government, they’ll say, “We’re doing just fine!” After all, look at the headlines: 33 Months of Job Growth, Unemployment Rate Remains Low at 4.6%, 2006 1st Quarter Preliminary GDP Up 5.3%. If things are so good, they reason, how could America possibly be unhappy? Maybe we need to tell them more about the good economic news, they surmise.

What they don’t understand is that there is a fundamental disconnect between our measurements of success. While economists and politicians can look at stock prices, interest rates, money supply, and unemployment for measurements of success or “happiness”, for most of us those measurements are widely irrelevant in our lives. They are abstractions. People cannot eat GDP, fill their gas tanks with the interest rate, clothe their families with stock prices, or pay college tuition bills with the unemployment rate.

Everyday circumstances are what shape our outlook. They are the price of gas, the safety of our kids on the way to school, the health care bill that came in the mail, the credit card balance waiting to be paid. These are the indicators the federal government needs to be concerned about.

By regaining personal control and responsibility we empower the federal government to seek excellence in the fields it ought to perform in – to protect and defend the United States of America, to secure our borders and uphold our laws, and to bring about projects that industry and community collaboration could not hope to achieve. We reaffirm that the role of the federal government is arbitrator not dictator. It is champion, not benefactor. It should engender choice and responsibility rather than encouraging privilege and entitlement. Suddenly “Give your problems to the federal government and never be disappointed again! Ever!” doesn’t seem like such a best-seller. Because when we have competition, we have options, and when we have options, we have control.
 

:: Home Safety Month ::

In light of June's Home Safety month, please consider using information created through the Home Safety Council website which provides practical tips on how to keep you and your family safe while at home and work.

Log on to learn how you can minimize the chance of a mishap by adopting practices such as these:

Fires/Burns

• Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and in or near all bedrooms, and test the batteries at least once a month so you’ll know they are working.

• Plan a home fire drill and practice it at least twice a year. Memorize the fire department’s emergency telephone number.

• Use safety covers in electrical outlets and anti-scald devices in faucets in homes with young children.

Falls

• Make sure all porches, hallways and stairwells are well lit. Use the maximum safe wattage in light fixtures. (Maximum wattage is typically posted inside light fixtures.)

• Use a non-slip mat, or install strips or decals in bathtubs and showers.

• Install grab bars in bath and shower stalls.

Poisonings

• Keep medicines and household chemicals and cleaners up high, out of the reach of children, preferably in a locked cabinet.

• Install a carbon monoxide detector near sleeping areas in the home.

• Put your poison control center number (1.800.222.1222) near every phone.

Visit the Home Safety Resource Center at www.homesafetycouncil.org to review and download free information, including brochures, safety checklists and additional tips to help safeguard your family.