The Harvest
The Laws of Success are the Laws of the Universe. For example: “As you sow, so shall you reap” represents the Law of Cause and Effect. People punish themselves every time they oppose this rule when applied to health, success and happiness.
To illustrate; let’s assume that your neighbor envies or even hates you. These are strong emotions. Every time he dwells on such thoughts he causes certain chemical reactions to occur within his body that undermine his health. Envy and hate are negative, self-destructive emotions and it has been scientifically proven that they have unhealthy effects on our bodies.
The harvest of hate can be our own ill health. So, when your neighbor holds any kind of ill feelings towards you, have sympathy, for he knows not what he is doing…to himself. Try to understand and sympathize with him. Your reward will be peace of mind and better health. It will be more difficult for our neighbor to hate us when we do not hate him in return.
It has been said, “A man who hates suffers more than the man hated.” It was Lincoln who said, “The best way of destroying an enemy is to make him your friend.”
Anton Stahl
Is Character in America… zilch?
Character Education- a Missing Link in our
Educational Systems
F. Anton Stahl
Have you noticed the down hill turn our culture has taken over the past several decades? Why is this? There has been a gradual decline in the character of many people as you may have noticed in government, big business, Wall Street and throughout many areas of our society. Developing good character obviously hasn’t been a priority. What has this missing link in our education systems gotten us? What is our culture producing? Let’s take a look.
Who would you name as people of character in sports, industry, media, government, entertainment? Did you have any difficulty coming up with names that were linked to high standards of integrity? As you did this, how many names crossed your mind that stood out because they represented people who lacked integrity or other positive character traits?
Before we explore the results of this missing link in our educational systems, let’s see how the dictionary defines “character” of a personal nature. “Character: reputation; moral excellence; one’s way of thinking; one’s individual qualities; personality.” I have found on occasion, that someone has misunderstood me because their use of a word wasn’t quite the same as mine. Now there will be no misunderstanding of what is to follow when it comes to the word “character.”
One’s character can consist of positive and negative qualities. It’s a matter of which dominates that is important. I’m reminded of an old song; “Accentuate the Positive and Eliminate the Negative.” Below is a short list of some admirable character traits that can be taught in our schools either as a separate course or perhaps even better, at the end of or throughout each classroom period. Repetitive training is necessary. Like dancing, you don’t take a few lessons and call yourself a dancer.
Honesty * Self-respect and respect for others * a sense of Self-worth and Self-confidence * Consideration for others * Tolerance and acceptance of others regardless of physical condition, color of skin, religious or sexual orientation *Acts of kindness and Avoidance of its opposite such as acts of violence * Irresponsibility * Replace coarse language, hate and attack speech. with civil language. Show concern for others and, remember: people are not objects for derision.
The reader may say that the job of character education is the job of parents and religion. My response to this would be to ask, “Are you satisfied with the character of all those you find in industry, government, sports, entertainment, media, and in the general public, including parents, all having come through the system. Those people you may have selected that could use some character training came up through this system: the family, the Public Education System, heads of industry, government, etc. We are all products of a system that hasn’t been working when it comes to Positive Character Building.
I’ve been following the breakdown in character since 1980 when I read a newspaper article on how cheating was an increasing problem in our high schools. Has this changed?
What is the solution to this serious deficit in education and, perhaps in some churches as well? It will require a new look at priorities in our educational systems, a serious desire, and a tremendous effort at training as many people as possible from the ground up, before our culture will realize an upgrading of character qualities. People in all areas of our culture must have a strong and serious desire for change for the betterment, enrichment and upgrading of our society as a whole.
As the character qualities of the people take an upswing we will see a diminishing desire for drugs; more people helping people and making a difference; more honesty and integrity at all levels of society; actual violence decrease along with violence in all areas of entertainment; people will have more respect for themselves as well as for others; more people will be accepting responsibility; prejudice of all kinds will begin to disappear and this list is but a short list. This will not be easy and will take a long time and is only possible if there is a strong desire to make such a change. We must remember that Nature is in constant change. If we don’t change and grow constructively, decay sets in which has already begun.
There are those who may not support some of what has been stated here. Such people just haven’t explored sufficiently the value of values and the causes of character deterioration. This will be required in order for them to see the necessity for character education, for character does count.
F. Anton Stahl:
Author: Uncommon Wisdom1, Lifetime Strategies for Successful Living; Previous Achievements include: Founder and Director of Amdo Institute for Human Development, Research, Education and Training in Wayne, N. J. (1960 to 1988) Human Relations Counselor; Head Instructor of 8 Martial Arts schools, Weight Lifting Champion; Shopping Mall Owner
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