Always End On A Positive Note...

Go back to the beginning and look for hope.

MLBerg's ITN blog

Appropriate Articulations

Apparently anyone who comes with their own agenda has something to say.

What does it take to make an interesting series of observations:

How Is It Done?

Unanswered Questions for Alice Zeorlin

Leadership, Values, Strength

Head In The Sand

Pushing a Body of Knowledge

How do you read me now?

Social Commentary

Marie Regan, Director of "Cowboy Song" advised "D...

No Time Like The Present vs. No Time

How to Behave

Does it take a caregiver to create online online resources (MLBerg's ITN blog, Caregiver’s Manual for Men, Park Aid, and Meatless Turkey Talk) or does offering them freely make a person a muench?

...Censorship...Start your own version of truth today!

A most revealing post appeared today (August 4, 2011) on http://mlbergs5.kablog.com/?page_name=_Graffiti under the title "...Censorship...Start your own version of truth today!"

Open the link, find the post, read it, and draw a conclusion for yourself.

In essence, two mutually exclusive ends never compete beyond the limits of protocol.

Social Commentary

Sometimes it is easier to slow down and prevent unavoidable consequences than it is to recover after flying through a maze of life with reckless abandon. Yet we are conditioned to believe collateral damage and acceptable loss are just parts of life.

Those who gain control often attempt to rewrite history after recognizing their own ill-gotten gains can not be sustained and were not justifiable. Fortuitous leaps earn fairness for the poor, freedom for the marginalized, and victory for the oppressed. The intricate truth is this: all generations associate ignominy with a lack of kindness.

The future is an impressionable responsibility entrusted to our care. Judgment is not impartial; life is not unbiased; easier is not better. Those who make it their standard to disregard compassion may find no comfort during times of need in their den of thieves.

Something To Write About

The weighty difference between having something that needs be written and something to write about is a matter of conscience.

None Can Explain

• None are so lost as those who will not be found.
• None are so alone as they who refuse to be seen.
• None are so forgotten as the ones who won’t remember.
• None can undo the past.
• None give easily that which they have not received.
  

Head In The Sand

If you ever plugged your ears while screaming "I can't hear you" then you know one form of denial is to pretend something is wrong with the message, not with the media (method of delivery). The same could be said for closing your eyes and trying to stay in the dark while ignoring a visible danger. Newscasts and marketing have biases for moving specific agendas to the forefront.

It is discomforting that disregard of a non-imminent threat can be more efficient than working to solve the problem. Why are we so willing to trust someone who says "What you don't know won't hurt you."

Hidden Pearls of Wisdom

• We become what we practice.
  
• The harvest is painless; the hard part was to plant seeds.
• The trouble with the journey is to not pick up excess baggage.
• Truth bears simple concepts. It is lies which add complexities.
• To abandon what is not right is easy for some and most difficult for others.
• You can't find them if you're not looking, if they're not there, and if you aren't opening the changes.
  

Marie Regan, Director of "Cowboy Song" advised

"Don't worry about it - we're doing fine and will get there. We feel your support - now just apply it to your own work and everything will radiate out . We did another email to caregivers today just because a lot of HTML emails bounced back. No worries at all."

You can help her reach their goal with your donation: http://www.mariereganfilm.com/

Leadership, Values, Strength

What people want:

• leadership
• values
• strength

What we don't need:

• whininess
• pettiness
• ordinary

What captivates our interest:

• avante-garde
• new
• improved

What brings us down:

• boring
• hopeless
• common

What raises our spirits:

• expectations
• trust
• persistence

What rings the bell:

• gratitude
• appreciation
• life
  

Empathy Says It All

http://caregivermanual.blog.com/2011/05/10/empathy/

Pushing a Body of Knowledge

briefly...

Competence--Certification--

Experience--R&D--

Hypothesis--Proposal--

Theorem--Validation--


"Unless caregivers are supported then it is too late to achieve satisfaction."

IT IS OVER WHEN I SAY SO!

How much strength does it take to say these 7 words? Amazingly it takes more composure to adhere to the vein of "Not my will but thine be done."

The first approach embraces the "cut your losses" attitude of "it must suck to be you." The latter might convey "it sucks to be us right now but we'll get through this."

Think of death. We all die someday...maybe just not today. When a person equates dying with "it's over" they deny their loved ones the opportunity to say "Thank you for sharing your life with me."

What does it take?

How do you read me now?

The way things are going today are not the way they went yesterday and won't be the way they go tomorrow. Are you ready for a shock?
Academicians, Historians, Survivors: Power shifts.
Have we learned nothing?

The answer for "How to Behave?"

We don't all want the same thing. This is communicated very clearly but we fall into denial and disbelief!

Do not be afraid. Treat everyone as the most welcomed guest, in the most appreciative manner, and with the most benefit of the doubt as is possible.

You may be hurt but you will not be disappointed.

The Last Word on Process

• Who can remember everything? Only if someday you cease to receive new inputs will you be able to recall 100% of the past. This assumes the memory is a finite storage unit and that some of the memory must be used to process searches for information.
• Does anyone have the luxury of shutting down and letting go of their present and future concerns in order to focus more clearly on past processes?
• When does it make more sense to affect a change? At the beginning or at the end of a process?

Life is a series of processes. Sometimes we make mistakes. Some mistakes get repeated because life is a process.

How Is It Done?

One doesn't just dream this stuff up. Lived experiences become the proving ground for theory. We can all surmise the difference in product having a chef, a poultry farmer, and an impoverished consumer would make on the eggs served for breakfast.

Caregiving is an artform, not a science.

I recommended to a Literacy Champion the need for improved reading resources:

• If we created the best resources in the world they are still worthless if nobody uses them.
• If the best resources in the world are created but not accessible they are useless.
• Unless the best resources in the world exist, there will be people who claim they were not privy to such information.

None of us can do it alone. Maybe the Literacy Crusade to which your organization appeals is the best...you've still got to convince learners that there is something worth reading. Why not start with the Caregiver's Manual for Men? Presently it is online and free. Should it not also be available in hardcopy so these could be distributed and perused at one's leisure? It is possible we could collaborate on something.

What time is it?

Time for Caregiving?

If you had to ask it could already be too late.

Patience

• It's like waiting for the hammer to drop. So much that could be looked forward to.
• It's like wearing the same expression you had last time you got screwed. Nobody wants to get hurt.
• It's like wondering why it had to turn out this way. How thankful we can be for that!

No Time Like The Present vs. No Time

How many of you out there want the best for your children?

Seriously, how many of you have considered the conditions our generation is leaving this world in so that our kids will be safe, happy, and healthy individuals?

How many of you are willing to do what it takes now to bring about a better end?

Give this some thought: if you could undo every mistake you ever made, would you? Go to the Caregiver Manual blog and in a few words tell us how to give care.

Beautiful and Great

Answering the call to Greatness is really just Unwillingness to accept less than Satisfactory.

Aspiring to Greatness is a Beautiful lesson in Humility.

Be grateful

After Cancer, Job Loss, and Prison, What Next?

A Guide to Positive Attitudes for Coping With Expectation and Disappointment

Best Advice Ever

• Don't worry.
• Show concern for everyone.
• Enjoy as much in life as is possible.
• Appreciate goodness.
• Believe miracles do happen.
  
• Build hope for others.
• Trust God to give lasting solutions.
• Be happy.
  

Global Rewiring

• What makes a nation truly great? Rights and privileges.
• Does the world advance to become universally aligned? Only by extension of rights and privileges.
• How should anyone lose from the shifting relative positions of a global platform? When rights and privileges are not preserved for all the disparity will result in restructuring.

Everyone is entitled to fairness.

Two prerequisite Attitudes for Healing to Occur:

• don't fear...
• Restore hope...
  

Disconnects

• The unemployed should not go back to jobs that they hate.
• Naive inmates are no longer exposed to incalculable risks.
• Old people's health issues finally catch up with their ages.
• Don't spoil relationships that weren't good to begin with.
• Advocates who work for no pay are better off personally than are their wards.
• You can leave your worries behind but be careful what you pick up when you go back to visit.
  

Soldier Plums

Soldier Plums

Cycles of Stress and Recovery

• Whose loss is it when life dissuades persons from doing good?
• Who loses when persons are persuaded to make evil?
• No time to miss opportunities; no opportunity for overlooking time.
• Energy expended while rectifying errors of others displaces the resource lost in the mistake of our own creations.
• The sins of a nation are buried with each generation.

Have I done enough already?

Rather than restating conclusions, these excerpts recap concerns from caregivers:

"...if folks were just more supportive of caregivers then care-receivers would get better care. I'm sure of it. I'm not a social worker (I'm an engineer) but I wanted to do something and help improve communication. My kids are grown now. I am less inclined to invest all my skills and talents in a for-profit venture. What will be my legacy?

Given that much, here are suggested ways to collaborate:

1. Go to the site (http://caregivermanual.blog.com/ ). Imagine you are needing some kind of support. Assist by illuminating the mission of the site. Add other things a person would want to read.
2. Go to the site (ibid). Take the perspective of an experienced caregiver. What best advice would you give to others (especially males) about caregiving? (How should we convey this? It might take a few iterations to explain it...understanding unfolds over time and requires association.)
3. Send people to the site (again, http://caregivermanual.blog.com/ ). Extend personal invitations. Envision a place where people can find the help they expected and take from it the hope they needed. It could be very motivational if others contributed poetry and observations of themselves in similar situations. Reflect back your caregiving relationships. Whether you wish to remain anonymous or make private or public announcements, clarifications could add meaning (you can contact me at mlberg@everestkc.net and I will try to help with any modifications). In a few bouts (or after ample opportunities for refinements to gel) future caregiving relationships will benefit from this effort.


This "makes its own gravy" endeavor doesn't micromanage the process of enabling people become better caregivers. Through appreciating diversity we ask the stimulating question, "How can we help you help others?"

Look at Partial Constellation Maps (In Progress) for proof we all spin our wheels. Pursue the possibilities. Things could get better just by our learning to share demonstrated technological capabilities. Improbable things aren't impossible, especially when persons most suited to become caregivers don't give up.

Ask, "How would the ones who help others be helped most?"

It is premature to enumerate our next steps. Celebrate activities done "In Their Names" (ITN). Create endorsements for caregiver support programs. Start the ball rolling in the right direction to gain momentum for the advancement of caregiving relationships."

Caregiving really does make sense even though it might seem complex. Don't relinquish dreams when they are not ready to die. Intolerance is a problem. We don't speak the same language. Want more proof? Take a lesson from Advocacy Work to be done...

Thank you for sharing your inspiration.

Dan

Learner's Guide

For anyone who needs a simplified approach to becoming more than a better caregiver (specialist, authority even) here are a few good steps:

How To Become An Expert