One Small Cigarette Butt

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” -Jim Rohn

You have seen it most anywhere that you go. Cigarette butts laying near the intersections of our roads, along the curbs of sidewalks and tossed down the alleys of our cities. It is a habit of so many people to toss these out the window. It makes one wonder if those particular cars came without ash trays. Again, if they did, we have all seen someone pulling up and dumping their ash tray on the ground.

It may be that these people believe cigarette filters are biodegradable. In fact, cigarette butts are not biodegradable in the sense that most people think of the word. The acetate filters can take many years to decompose.

According to the CigaretteLitter.Org folks, "What happens after that butt gets casually flicked onto the street, nature trail, or beach? Typically wind and rain carry the cigarette into the water supply, where the toxic chemicals the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many aquatic lifeforms. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with several trillion butts littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up!"

The Ocean Conservancy compiled results of a shoreline cleanup day conducted by volunteers in 68 countries. It covered a combined 34,000 miles of shoreline and collected 7 million pounds of litter, 80 percent of which had been washed from land into the water. Of the 7.7 million items of debris collected worldwide in 2006, cigarettes and cigarette butts accounted for roughly 1.9 million, the sixth consecutive year they have topped the list.

Within cities, the cost to clean up these small and seemingly insignificant eye sores is astounding. In San Francisco, annual clean up costs run close to $11 million; a cost that is shared by taxpayers. It is $11 million that could go to parks, school funding or other needed public services. But there are many that only consider themselves.

In surveys, many smokers blame their littering behavior on a lack of well-placed bins for cigarette butts. Yet, would these same people toss a cigarette out at the curb of their home. There is no handy trash bin available along their driveway at home, so is it littered with cigarette butts. Somehow I doubt that is the case.

Ashtrays have been available in cars for quite a few years. The excuse of no nearby trash bin doesn't work for the car driver. Although the mindset not to dirty their own property, the one that keeps them from dirtying the ash tray in their car is the same one that thinks nothing of tossing a cigarette butt elsewhere.

The point here is not to pick just on smokers as there is plenty to go around. The point is to take responsibility for life around you. That we each need to look beyond our own self and see how everything we do impacts others. Taking others into consideration in making decisions improves life for all. It improves your life even greater then being self-centered. It isn't all about you. It is about all of us.

There will be disagreement from others and those that look outward will continue to do so. The idea is to stop for a moment and think about your actions. Taking responsibility in this small area will mean responsibility in bigger areas of your life. Be a bigger, more responsible person and see it change your life for the better.

Happy Birthday Dad

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." -Unknown

Today is my father's 79th birthday, nearly eighty years of viewed life. There has been so much seen by his eyes. I send along happy wishes for so much more to see. His has been a life that like so many of us in which happy and sad events have defined his path.

I have always liked the picture above showing my mother and he in their last year of high school. Sweethearts with so much life's adventure ahead of them. To know their story, to know what has happened to them through the years is a great lesson for me.

Now it is very likely my father will not see this post. He isn't much for things like computers or the Internet. It can be frustrating for me knowing how much is available to him. And then I realize the frustration is more about me then it is him. He is happy with magazines, newspapers, radio and television. He likely gets more information on a daily basis then I do.

After my mother passed away from Pancreatic Cancer, I worried that he would be lost. He was to a certain degree and probably still struggles with it today. When you are married to someone for nearly 60 years, losing the other can be like losing your internal compass. What was is no longer other then the memory of everything you did on a daily basis with each other.

But I am proud of him and how he is adjusting. There are things I would have him do differently I suppose, but then again I realize those thoughts are more about me then it is him.

One needs to lift their eyes and look outward to see that each of us are unique. It should be our effort to embrace the difference and to nurture it. There will be disagreement but there will also be room for compromise. All we have to do is to look beyond ourselves and see life out ahead of us.

So a big "Happy Birthday" shout out to you Dad and hoping that you get to see so many more. And just maybe you'll take a chance one day on a computer. Okay, we'll start with that cell phone thing first.

Love you.

Mission: FIRE

“Each morning the day lies like a fresh shirt on our bed; this incomparably fine, incomparably tightly woven tissue of pure prediction fits us perfectly. The happiness of the next twenty-four hours depends on our ability, on waking, to pick it up.” -Walter Benjamin

October is the eighth month in the old Roman calendar, from the Latin "octo" meaning "eight". How could it possibly be the eighth month you say? This month retained its name when January and February were added to the calendar. You see, the calendar was originally created by the Romans and the year began in March. This meant that instead of October being the 10th month of the year it was originally the 8th month of the year.

What could this possibly have to do with anything?

It has to do with it being the first day of the month. The start of a new month, the start of a new day, the start of new possibility. We get a new chance every day, every week, month and year to accomplish new and greater things.

What becomes of our accomplishment depends upon the fire we set within our soul. It is that burning desire to chase our dreams and goals. With our new day or month, it is never too late to begin a change that brings new found light into your life.

Once you make that decision to light your spirit, you will be unable to contain it. The light will cause you to lift your eyes and see outwardly. The light will begin to shine brightly on others and fill the darkness.

Yes it might be the 'eighth' month of the year, but it does not matter if the 'eighth' or the 'tenth'; any month, any day of the year is the right time to catch that fire.

Call it MISSION:FIRE, the start of a greater day for the world.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Jim! You know, I never tire of this picture.


It is someone's birthday today. Do something nice, maybe sing a birthday song or wish them the best. Just spread a little cheer to those that deserve the attention.