| OCR Text |
Show October 28, 1998 - Page Lehi Free Press New Utah! - Wednesday, 2 Opinion The Habits of Highly Effective Mousetrap 7 the Preserving It's next two-part- time to vote again week, and things in Utah County look about the same as they always have in recent memory underfinanced candidates representing parties other than the Republican one are fighting an uphill battle against Republican incumbents andor their duly approved successors. Even a cursory look at the voter information guide distributed last week shows that individuals are running for various offices representing the Democratic, Independent American, Natural Law and Libertarian parties, and a few are even running as independents. If history is any indication, not one of these candidates stands a chance of winning an election here, but the most troublesome issue is that they are having difficulty even getting anyone to consider them. Our Constitution was written with a carefully-crafteset of checks and balances which the Founding Fathers believed would best protect the citizens from abuses of any kind. Intimately acquainted with dictatorial and nonrepresentative governments as they were, it would never have occurred to them that a system would be a healthy or desirable thing. Too much control in the hands of one person or one party not only threatens freedom of speech and action, but also helps those in power escape scrutiny and accountability for what they are doing. We're not suggesting that the dominant party or its candidates are evil, nor do we contend that all non- - system Republican candidates deserve to be elected, but to select or dismiss any candidate based solely on the label that follows his or her name is at the very least misguided, and at the very worst political Despite the claims of some, history has proved that not any one candidate or party has all the answers. To the contrary, the best results for all citizens are most often achieved when an exchange of ideas and compromises must be made in order to mane government work. A disturbing byproduct of the current political climate is to lump all local Democrats with the disgraced individual attempting to cling to the presidency. You might as weli condemn all Republicans for the excesses of Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon. This election, like all others, is about the shape of our future. A debate where only one voice is heard becomes nothing more than dictation. We would encourage every voter to carefully and conscientiously consider every candidate for every office they cast a ballot on, and then choose who they believe will be the very best person for the job. Even if the outcome is the same, the process has merit of itself in that it assures that every elected official was truly selected by the voters, not by a handful of backg cronies. room, To do anything less makes a mockery of the democracy that so many Americans have fought and died to protect, and also betrays the desire for that drove the pioneers to this valley in the first place. d one-part- y y power-brokerin- Halloween Websites Halloween was originally a Celtic New Year harvest celebration wherein food was left out for those who had recently died. People who dressed up in masks and costumes were treated as well. From there it evolved into an annual ritual for the dead, and the leap to monsters, vampires and othef scary" ' creatures was only natural Little Ghosts and Witches and their grown up parents can find a lot of Halloween fun on the Web. Here are a few sites worth haunting. Start with Netscape's What's Ghoul, where sites are rated on a scale of There's an emphasis on offbeat, grown up websites, but plenty of fun for all ages. This site changes daily, so check in often. Halloween98.com is another good jumping off point, where you'll find links to horror films, Halloween family fun and games and even a sweepstakes you can enter. ' Spooky's Halloween Crypt boasts dripping blood and glowing cat eyes, and categories covering everything from bats to pumpkins. About Halloween is another good place to find specifics like clip art, recipes and screen savers, and even index of all things offers an frightning. Crafts for Kids gives quick and easy instructions for creating Hal- A-- Z loween decorations like bottle cap skeletons, tissue ghosts and spooky 'spiders And when Halloween is to other holiover,' there are links' " - day crafts listed. Finally parents may want to check into the Los Angeles Fire Department Halloween Safety Tips before their little spooks hit the streets. Happy Haunting. Links: What's Ghoul: Halloween98.com: http:www.Halloween98.com Spooky's Halloween Crypt: ?Edji Wxn Press NewUtah! (ISSN No. 8750-466(U.S.P.S. No. 309-50- Crafts for Kids: mbody.htm SafteyTips: A member of NATtONAl NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ing. 6. Set standards for what online entertainment is acceptable, communicate these to your children and stick to them. 7. Limit the amount of hours your children can spend online. And, in fact, limit your own hours. 8. Periodically review file names your children have stored on the computer. 9. Never let your children give out personal information over the computer, especially their full names, addresses, phone and financial data, such as credit card numbers. 10. Never let your children respond to obnoxious, lewd and threatening never let them set up a meeting with anyone they've met on a bulletin board. Linda Ann Liscom Turner Lehi face-to-fa- Jroup 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 The 7 Habits of Highly s I can appreciate the efforts of the original author expanding his vision into other areas, particularly if the original work is successful, not only for him or her, but for the readers of the books. Hence, one can see Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Highly Effective Families, etc., even a book on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers, written by some younger Covey. And I suppose I can even chuckle at the obvious parodies of good books, such as The 7 Habits of Highly Defective People. But The 7 Habits of Highly Health-Conscio- Post feel-goo- and fuzzy. Due to the response, the authors have .created A Second Helping of Chicken Soup, A Third Helping of Chicken Soup, A Fourth Course of Chicken Soup and A Fifth Portion of Chicken Soup. It also seems natural for these uplifting editors to broaden their scope to include stories specifically aimed at the Mother's Soul, the Woman's Soul, the Teenage Soul and the Surviving Soul. But they have also added Chicken Soups for the Country Soul, the Pet Menopausal Women????? If the authors of that piece of literature can get away with it, sure- - & We took Jeffrey and Laura to the airport this weekend with more than a touch of trepidation. We were seeing the newlyweds off to a California honeymoon, doing all we could to help them, without helping them too much, if you know what I mean. After all, marriage is a big step, a huge step ... the biggest step possible. And we didn't want to make a misstep. But newlyweds are so ... new, aren't they? They are so young, so fresh, so willing to take on the world without any idea . pf what , the. world really ; holds for them. w. And it's tough to send these young adults headlong into real adulthood and resist the urge to lend a helping hand. Neither one is really seasoned at traveling, although Jeffrey has come with us to Florida and California before. But you know how kids travel, kids. They let you especially teen-ag- e lead them where they need to go and at the same time act like they don't know you. You never know if they are paying attention or just going with the of this young woman into the hands of someone who had never noticed that you have to pay attention at the airport or you can get into real trouble? . At the same time, Jeff resisted all our efforts to give some friendly travel advice. You would have thought we were nagging him or something. So in the end, we made the hard decision. We decided to treat them like the adults they had decided to become. It was tough. Rather than parking in the short term lot and walking them through the airport to say goodbye, we parked in front of the terminal, handed them their bags and watched them walk away. In one sense, it was a practical decision. We figured if they couldn't successfully negotiate the fairly structured confines of the Salt Lake International Airport, we didn't want them :: . Managing Editor Editor 5 muter's Soul: Stories to diffuse road rage. Especially popular in the audiotape version for commuters. Chicken Soup for the Skier's Soul: Stories to read in the lodge. Chicken Soup for the Developer's Soul: Heartwarming stories of building empires. Chicken Soup for the Dysfunctional Soul: Stories to help you tolerate life. (Warning: "Normal" people should not read this volume because the stories do not have happy endings according to traditional values.) Chicken Soup for the Activist's Soul: ' Stories for the courage to continue fighting, even when others call you a kook Chicken Soup for the Politician's Soul: Stories that tell constituents what they want to hear. Chicken Soup for the Multi-Leve- l Marketer's Soul: Stories from Double Diamonds with incredible downlines. Chicken Soup for the Polygamist's Soul: Stories filled with love, love and more love. Combine the two popular titles and the world will beat a path to your door for your highly effective mousetrap Chicken Soup for the Highly Effective Soul: Stories to read in the mental hospital rwhen you've cracked from being too perfect and too happy. walking around alone in Los Angeles. In another sense, it was very difficult. They are so young, so untried, so and every parental inexperienced instinct makes you want to jump out and help them every step of the way. You don't want them to fail, especially not in this most difficult undertaking they have accepted. It was the right thing to do; we knew that. This trip would be a bonding of soul and spirit that would be strengthened when this young couple was forced to make their own decisions together, and deal with the without together, consequences someone else along to soften the blows of life. So we watched as the new husband the picked up his bride's suitcase and let her larger of the two by far carry his small carry-o- n bag as they walked into the airport, .all alone except for each other. And then we drove away, hoping for the best. It was one more letting go, a final one of sorts, in a week of such experiences. We watched the boy become a man, and the girl become a woman, and we for prayed they would be all right the next week, for the next year, for the rest of their lives. At this point, that's about all a parent can do. Attitude is everything. What's yours? root of resentment. virtually everything you do in life. This is especially true if you're going to build winning relationships in the home or on the job. People simply enjoy being around those who are cheerful or optimistic and generally excited about life itself. Few of us enjoy being around "prophets of doom." With that in mind, let me share some definitions that businessman Jim Norman shared with me some years ago. If you can take a lighter look at life the way Jim does, you too will brighten up the faces of the people you come in contact with. Self-pit- y in disguise. Boredom The process by Changegrowth which my inside begins to match my outside. An overwhelming Compulsion desire to destroy myself in the name of pleasure. Denial The ability to suppress the truth long enough to get what I want. Envy Emotion produced by a belief that another's good fortune somehow detracts from my own superiority. The need to run from the Fear things I screwed up yesterday that I know will ruin my life tomorrow which I refuse to deal with today. A thing I have no prob- Honesty Mare Haddock Russ Daly Subscription price S24K per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah POSTMASTER: lend addreu Chang to 59 West Main, American Fork, Utah 84003 lem with until I get honest about it. Being honestly and sinHumility cerely willing to learn a few simple things from other people, having no desire to strangle them in the process. When listening to you is Love more fun than thinking about me. A modern psyLow chological term that used to be called "shame." The way I feel when I Persecuted get what I deserve. Positive-thinkin- g A seminars forum that encourages me to create an even longer list of things I'm too lazy to self-estee- m do. Powerless out faith in God. 5 p.m. Monday, 2 p.m. Missionaries Monday. 2 p.m. Weddings Monday, . . Community Calendar Letters to the Editor . Obituaries . . human being with- . tear-rollin- self-defen- We welcome letters to the editor. .Monday. Advertising A God's method of revealProblems ing Himself to anyone who is interested. The process of Rationalization convincing myself I need everything I want. Self-pit-y The door of depression, the fuel of fear, the anvil of anger and the All letters must include the author's name , a and telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letsigned) ters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. .Tuesday, noon News Display Brett Bezzant . . Willingness When I expose myself to the truth and refrain from shuffling the facts. Sometimes, taking an honest look at yourself really will lay you out on the floor with g laughter, but I suspect that many of you saw your neighbor, sister, brother, mother, boss, etc., in the definitions listed above. That in itself is very revealing. The sad truth is that most folks have a pretty good system in place and don't want anyone to discover it, much less point it out. You need to consider your attitude as seriously as you would consider the largest monetary purchase of your life. Your attitude helps shape your minutes, your day, your week your entire life. It affects the way you feel, the way you look and even the way you respond to circumstances beyond your control. Attitudosis cannot survive a strong, steady dose of uplifting literature or a regular donation of your time to a good cause. Make eye contact with someone who doesn't expect it, and then, give him or her your best smile. When you refrain from shuffling the facts and get willing to you improve your attitude, you really will have something to smile about. g, Deadlines Classified Advertising Circulation Publisher per's Soul: Stories to cope with working in fast food. ComChicken Soup for the It was hard to watch the newlyweds go Telephone Numbers Advertising News City Health-Consciou- Post Menopausal Women. You can safely say that the right mental attitude is extremely important in http:www.lafd.orghween.htm iew(aliiews on them.) So now it seems as if everybody is in the mousetrap-buildin- g business, even though there are plenty of good working models available. Many wannabe authors, for example, seem to think they can ride on the coattails of other successful authors and use similar titles in their own works. I about fell off my chair when I read the title of this article in a bibliographic citation: When Laura told us that she had never flown before, we started to worry. Were we committing the fate http:craftsforkids.miningco.com Tie ly we could capitalize on it, too. How about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Road Construction Workers, to motivate the men and women who get paid the big bucks to stand around and try to slow people down in construction zones. Or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective, Yet Extremely Disgruntled Postal Workers, where the general public can learn the warning signs before it's too late. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Crafters sounds good on the surface, but in Utah, the people who would get the most out of the book would borrow the book from someone else and make copies, just for their own use, of course. Perhaps you have read the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, with all sorts d of stories to make us warm And Jeffrey is a fairly practiced About Halloween: Published weekly by Chicken Soup for the Burger Flip- flow-goe- r. Some rules for surfing the net My family is contemplating getting hooked up with the Internet. As with most parents, we have been concerned about the dangers of pornography that comes along with this modern flow of information. Here are 10 Rules of the Road for the Information Highway that my husband picked up at a seminar recently. First, protect yourself: 1. Place your online computer in a common area of the home. ,2. Encourage your wife and children to telecompute with you. 3. Avoid surfing late at night when you're alone and tired. 4. Don't roam the network aimlessly. Always have a definite destination in mind. Then, protect your children: 5. Monitor your children's online usage just as you would their TV view these potential titles: flow. Reader's Forum Editor: Lover's Soul and the Soul at Work. If we all start writing, the possibilities are virtually endless. Consider Those "old wives" were wrong again, and they've got everybody stirred up trying to make better mousetraps. (Actually, someone else made the quote about "building a better mousetrap, and though you live in the woods, the world will beat a path to your door" but the old wives have been wrong before so I thought I'd heap more guilt 2 p.m. a.m. .Monday, 10 a.m. .Tuesday, 11 a.m. .Monday. 10 (printed AND . HOW TO REACH US By Mail P.O. Box 7, American Fork, UT 84003 In Person 59 W. Main, American Fork By Fax 756-527- 4 By editor newutah.com IT POC |
