Stephen Guy Hardin's HARDIN REPUBLIC

Life Is Like a Compost Heap 

By Carol Lord
September 9, 2011 

            Our lives can be a challenge.  There are all the various duties we have to perform as employers, employees, co-workers, teachers, students, volunteers, parents, grandparents, children, siblings, coaches, friends, and neighbors on any given day and the stresses and time constraints that go with it. Then the troubles come in. We call it bad luck, sorrows, LIFE. Or… the trash part of our lives.

            Yes, life is like a compost heap. In our containers of our lives, we throw in the grass clippings, the leaves, assorted mulch/life waste, the old egg shells, the coffee grounds and other garbage to decompose. It all goes in there and our compost heap called life smells. It smells pretty bad.   Alarm didn’t go off because the power was out? In the life bin. Water was cold because the power was off? In the life bin. Getting the storm troopers off with their book bags, lunches, combed hair just barely in time for the bus? In the life bin. How about the ride to work? Bad traffic, wrecks, slow downs. You are already harassed beyond belief from what happened before your work-day started and now you are finally there. The computer crashed? A customer emergency? Coffee spills on the desk and a lunch disaster in your lap? In the life bin. A broken arm, a trip to the hospital, where did the time go for homework, dinner, practices?  In the life bin. And that’s just an every day occurrence. What happens when real disaster strikes? A loss of a job, a serious health care, broken relationships, flood, fire or death?  In the life bin.

            By now, our compost bin is full, overflowing with the garbage of life. Now we can choose to look at it in disgust and complain about the smell, or we can look to the miracle that is happening in that bin. Instead of it being a never ending pit of garbage, all the elements are blending together. And what are they making? Fertile soil. Fertile soil for us to use to plant beautiful gardens in the world. So just like the leaves, the clippings, the eggs and the coffee grounds make rich dirt to plant literal gardens; we can take the compost from our own personal lives and use it to grow something good. Help someone in a similar situation that we were in. Let them know it will be all right. Mentor the young, support the weak, strengthen the weary and faint hearted. By using this fertile soil, you bring your past to your present to HELP rather than sit in self-pity. It is your special and unique fertile soil that will allow others to sprout and grow.   

Do our Political leaders live in reality?

               I have to admit I was slow to warm to Facebook.  I didn’t want people I didn’t like hunting me down and I didn’t care to read a slew of pubescent commentary on the world.  However, what I’ve found since I finally joined in is that my friends list covers the spectrum from the very far left Democrats to the equally far right Republicans and all points in between.  The common thread amongst us is bettering the human condition of all whether it’s through private or public sectors. And they enjoy debating those points as well.

            That’s why I found it so interesting to see two separate posts within days of each other that showed the disparity between our political leaders and the rest of us in the United States.  The first post was about the 3^rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at the tomb of the Unknowns during Hurricane Irene.  The pictures of the sentinel standing in the driving rain were images that simply took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes.  We all were moved by it and the thoughts that were brought to mind about the dedication to each of us as citizens of this country by the men and women of our military.

            The second post was as equally shocking and also took my breath away.  It was a post of a news blog written by Chris Moody, called “Are members of Congress paid enough?”  In it, he detailed how Steve Southerland, a congressman from Panama City, Florida, complained that $174,000 wasn’t enough, citing the hours he had to work and the possibility of being shot.  That was followed by comments by others, Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, Linda Sanchez of California, and Renee Ellmers of North Carolina about how they struggled to live on their paychecks.

            First, let’s talk about paychecks.  When many of us are unemployed or underemployed, the sound of their whining is detestable. Add in the fact that they are public servants and no one forced them to run for office, it makes you want to pull your hair out and scream.  Let’s check in with our other public servants – how about policemen, firemen or our average military personnel.  Do they make $174,000? NO, but congressional members are living paycheck to paycheck? Please. LEARN TO BUDGET. – Oh wait! They don’t know how.

               Second, how about the “we get shot at”?  Unfortunately, members of Congress do have to worry about the occasional kook with a gun.  No one deserves to be killed, shot at or bombed for their political views.  We are free to express our views without retribution.  But who allows us to have this freedom? The United States Armed Forces, the men and women who are shot at twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.  Back to point number one, they don’t make $174, 000 a year.  Divide their pay by the hours worked and their worry about being shot at.  Congress should hang their heads in shame.

            I invite you to take a look at both articles.  If you are on Facebook, take a moment to “like” 3^rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and feel the pride in what it means to truly be an American.

An Open Letter to President Barack Obama and All Members of the Legislative Body

By Carol Lord

August 4, 2011

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

Our Founding Fathers had one thing in mind when they wrote the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, that government would be of the people, for the people and by the people. 

You seem to have forgotten that.

Instead of sitting back in your smug sanctification, thumbs in lapels, you should be rolling up those shirt sleeves and working even harder.  American government is not about how your "team" - Republican, Democrat, Tea Party - can get one over on the others. It is about working together, strengthening ties and building a better country. Stop pointing fingers and focusing on what's wrong. Figure out how to make it better.

It is not about being an elite class of legislators and career politicians; it is about serving your country.  Representatives in our government have lost the vision of the privilege and honor it is to be elected, and instead follow the path of greed, power and condescending attitudes.  Do not tell me what I want or need. I am quite capable of knowing myself.

In order to keep from moving toward Pax United States, perhaps we need to back up and start again.

Want to cut the budget?

Here are some ideas: cut all your salaries to 10% of what you are making now. Not the staff, but the elected officials.  This is not a career; you are representing the people you live with, worship with and presumably work for. 

Health care coverage for you and your family ends at the end of your tenure in public office. Nothing more.

Most Americans do not get full coverage after they leave a position, neither should you.

Congress and Senate limited to three terms each.  The president only gets two terms, why should you be around longer than the leader of our country?

Change taxes to a straight percentage. It’s fair for everyone.

Instead of months long paid vacations and recesses, start working alongside your constituents to see how they are struggling. Forget the rhetoric - get to know us.

Stop the bickering. Even preschoolers know how to share and work together. How is the world to follow our lead if we consistently show how badly we can behave?

It’s time to show the world the greatness that was the United States can be again.