Christmas Party

"There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmastime. Mature, responsible grown men wear neckties made of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw egg yolks and cottage cheese in them." -P.J. O'Rourke

Wow, the bright and colorful lights strung from house to house, down numerous city streets and across all of earth. The world becomes a cheerful and wonderful site with all of the decorations this time of year.

We spend more money then we have, we smile more often then other times and we get a generally good feeling. We may tire of the many parties but we attend each of them and celebrate with family and friends.

The food just seems tastier and more enjoyable. The eggnog flows as do the spirits. We tend to overindulge and blame it on the season. We gain weight from the food and we drive after too much alcohol. The roads become a danger to others with the increased number of drunk drivers on the road. People lose their lives before they can see the new year. The joy and happiness gets replaced by sorrow and pain from the loss of a loved one.

There will likely be close to 37,000 traffic deaths this holiday season in the United States alone. Of which 37% of them or 13,690 will be alcohol related. The numbers have been decreasing with awareness, but so many remain avoidable. Even with this steady decline in fatalities, the number of drivers with drunk driving arrests is on the rise.

It is estimated that there are as many as two million drunk drivers with three or more convictions and more than 400,000 with five or more drunk driving convictions still behind the wheel.

Here are steps drivers can take to help avoid becoming a statistic:

1. If they drink, they shouldn’t drive no matter how little they think they’ve had.
2. Don’t let someone get behind the wheel if they’ve been drinking.
3. Avoid driving during early and late evening hours on holidays.

The Christmas parties at work and the celebrations at the home of friends will be a joyous occasion each and every time. With care, moderation and common sense there will be many more years of celebrating each of us can have.

Enjoy the holiday season, be of good cheer and spread happiness wherever you go. The time we have gives us an opportunity to make it a little better not only for ourselves, but for those around us.

Christmas Love

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action." -Mother Teresa

The scene of a perfect Christmas made even more special by a Currier & Ives painting. The view we want to have of a gentle snow outside and a warm nestling fire inside fills our mind. Crisply wrapped gifts glisten under the wonderfully decorated tree draws our eye. So many times we have searched for the idyllic setting.

The perfect Christmas setting from these pictures and advertisement is hardly attainable. The wind will likely be blowing outside and the cold will still seep inside. The level of Christmas we attain is not the gifts nor the picture perfect setting.

The level of Christmas we achieve is the love we attach to all that we do. At this time of the year we have a little more grace in our hearts. At this time of year we have a little more giving in our pocket books. At this time, we simply love more.

Christmas Gifts

"A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy." ~Edward P. Morgan

Tis the season to be jolly. A season when each of us can stop and ponder what is important in our lives. Whether it be the religious observances or simple celebrations, it affords us a time to gather with those we love.

It also gives us an opportunity to do something good for another person. There are many ways to do this and it doesn't have to be a large expensive effort. Small things can impact people in large ways.

Today, I'm promoting my books which are meant to inspire and motivate others. They give each of us hope and encouragement to do greater things in our lives. You can purchase through LULU.COM or search the Internet.

CHANGED LIVES and ATTITUDE IN WORDS are books that I wrote in order to provide a bit of inspiration. A way to show others that there is a path to a greater life, to change your circumstance and move forward.

Now there is the question I get asked, what happens to the money I make? Any money I make goes to different charities. Recipients such as Crohns & Colitis Foundation of America, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, my church The C3 Church and other various organizations that do great things for both individuals and communities.

Heck, if I were getting rich on this there would be publishing companies knocking on my door (they are not, but eventually they will) and Oprah would have me listed in her book club (she has not, but I'm waiting for their phone call).

So get online and order a book to give someone for Christmas. Maybe buy it for yourself. And then drop me an email at josephprimm@bellsouth.net and tell me what changes you have made in life. Give me your story or the story of someone you know that either lifts someone or was lifted them self.

If I get enough of these stories, I will have another book with your story available for sharing next Christmas. Tis the season to be jolly. Spread the joy with others and see it impact your own life.

Faith and Fact

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” -Richard Dawkins

Well here it goes, I'm venturing off into an area in which I will likely disgruntle a few people. The quote I'm using today is meant to spur a conversation and Richard Dawkins, a biological theorist and well publicized atheist, may just start one.

My use of the quote came to mind after spending some time with a friend whom is in the hospital. An accident at home left him with a bum shoulder that was not getting better with physical therapy. The medical specialist made a decision that based upon the continued symptoms, shoulder arthroscopic surgery would fix the issue. It seemed to me that the doctor was going based on faith in his experience only.

No MRI, no further tests, just go in and see what we can find. I call that exploratory as opposed to having a fact-based plan. It was simple faith in his ability to explore and discover which drove his surgical plan.

Once in the shoulder, more invasive steps were needed to open up the shoulder to try and repair. As the surgery proceeded, it became clear that no repair could occur and shoulder reconstruction would be required. So my friend will wait for this most current surgery to heal and have faith that a future surgery will resolve the injury.

His faith or belief will sustain him and push him towards having that reconstructive surgery. Only then will fact come into reality with either success or failure of the surgical repairs. Both faith and fact enter into the decisions made. This is where I believe the connection exists between faith and fact.

People take many different paths to resolving the story of their life. Some take a route of faith for all answers and resolution. When those answers do not come to realization, then they either flounder or question their belief.

Others will take a pure fact based approach to everything. They depend only upon the science of the question to provide an answer. When fact can not explain something, there is nothing for them to lean on for a decision.

To me, life is a mixture of both faith and fact. While depending solely upon faith could be considered a 'cop-out', depending upon fact only can result in never having the urge to try anything new. There has to be a certain level of faith in the unknown. Some may call it "exploratory surgery" or a "search for facts". Faith gives you the drive to keep moving forward while you investigate the facts.

Religion or science, we are all searching for a truth. It is our human nature to reach for understanding in everything we are. Faith drives my willingness to continue that pursuit. It satisfies for now my wonderment of the unknown, the reason for our existence, how we developed to the point we are. Fact gives me pieces to that puzzle that I'm assembling for my life.

Together, fact and faith will guide me through my natural existence. Together they will help me live a life that I want to live.