New Beginnings Happen All the Time!

So, here's my story......

Brownie Hawkeye

My mother warned me when I was in the seventh grade that photography was an expensive hobby. One of my older siblings got into it in high school and it looked like fun! That was around 1964. She was right. Since that time, I've had numerous cameras... including those shown here, some "Instamatitics", some instant print (Polaroid & Kodak), automatic "point & shoot", digital SLRs, owned two different One Hour Photo centers, and managed some for large regional and multinational stores. I even had claim to World Fame! 

Argus C3 - yard sale treasure

Over the course of more than a half century of personal involvement in the world of photography, I have traveled the world from within the walls of my photo labs, photographed births, deaths and nearly everything in between. I took a break from actively working in the imaging world and must confess that I was truly devastated when taking a roll of film into a local branch of a company for whom I had set up two different and busy labs, only to be to told they no longer offered on-site film processing! I had a rather expensive Nikon 35mm SLR film camera with some lenses that became museum pieces! I had now lived through the birth and death of an entire industry!

Eventually I acquired a nice Canon Rebel EOS DSLR camera with a couple of lenses. Mostly today I have found that my iPhone accomplishes as much as my DSLR camera and is always with me! It seems that my skills in seeing  with the eye of a photographer...composition techniques, exposure and lighting, action, etc. still come into play.

Mamiya Secor TLR 

On previous occasions, I have enjoyed teaching Basic Consumer Photography courses through local community education programs at Park & Recreation departments in Nevada and at a small college in Utah. So, herein I am stepping into a new adventure....to learn details and techniques of various Smartphone cameras...not just the iPhone, and redesign the course I used to teach for 2017 and beyond. Come what may, it will be an exciting adventure, and perhaps a profitable one!

I will never coach my children to avoid pursuing their dreams based on price! If the desire is burning within them, they will find the way! So, watch for the launch of my new project, beginning with a new blog...SMARTPHONE PHOTO INSTITUTE

Minolta SRT 101 -my  first NEW camera

iPhone 5s here's to the future of Imaging!

With Whom Are You Competing?

 We are often advised that we need to know our competition, if we are to succeed in almost anything. This may be true in some aspects of our lives.... business and athletics come to mind. But, even in these categories, the best success comes via personal improvement. As Dr. Wayne Dyer phrases this concept, "My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be!"

I used to run One Hour Photo centers for a major American retail company We had seven of our stores in Las Vegas. While I did know my "outside" competitors' operations, I was also aware of the abilities of the other six operators within our company. But, even more critical to the success of my operation was a commitment to personal growth within my specialty! It was not only important to be better than the "competition", but to be better today than I was yesterday. My customer base knew of my commitment and it showed in overall profits. 

I came across an interesting 

theory, known as GRATITUDE 

ADJUSTMENT which states.....

Gratitude is a great way to fertilize the brain, setting the stage for what we really want...and need!

Gratitude helps to create room for new stuff to take root, as it is an essential part of “building new neurological connections” and readies us for our dreams to be realized. (Gratitude also helps us be in the moment!).  “Learn to take pleasure in seeing other people get what they want. Even when you compete, be happy for those who win. Your feelings about a specific result don’t have to be a measure of how you feel about yourself. That person who won is also the person helping you become better. “ ~ (#ItsAllBSBook Ch. 11) 

You have an arch-rival…. I know you do!  Challenge: ~ Contact this person and congratulate this person on his/her most recent success.

.....Yes, this may require you to get over yourself! 

Four Levels of Happiness

I was recently reviewing various definitions of HAPPINESS when I encountered the following information 

Happiness Level 1:
The first and most basic level of happiness comes from things outside ourselves and involve one or more of the five senses. The pleasure they give is immediate and direct such as eating an ice cream cone, buying a brand new car, going on vacation. Their pleasure is short lived and intermittent. They must be replaced by yet another ice cream cone, or new car, or vacation. Until such replacements take place our happiness is on hold.

Happiness Level 2:
The second level of happiness involves the ego. (Ego is Latin for I) This kind of happiness comes whenever I am in control, the focus of attention, the object of admiration, whenever I see myself as superior to others. Hence, whenever I win, gain power, am admired, or gain popularity I feel happy and pleased with myself. My ego has been affirmed. That which I think is the most important thing in the world (me) has received approval.

Happiness Level 3:
The second level of happiness is not totally satisfying. There is something missing. Humans also desire love, truth, goodness/justice, beauty, and being. These desires are often expressed in acts of charity—seeking cures, being concerned with one’s neighbor, making sacrifices, forgiving personal injuries. We want to make the world a better place and so we offer our lives, time, energy, and talent for the welfare of others. Our happiness, we learn, cannot be separated from the happiness of others. The common good is an integral part of our personal happiness.

Happiness Level 4:
Even the third level of happiness does not exhaust the scope of human desire. Humans are pulled by their desire for the sublime, something beyond their imagination, beyond their complete understanding. To be sure, they desire love, goodness, truth, beauty, and being as they experience them in the world; but they also desire these in their perfected and unlimited form. Those of faith recognize this as their desire for God. For those having no faith, they can treat this as an awareness of a seemingly unconditional horizon surrounding human curiosity, creativity, spirit, and achievement.  

IN SUMMARY....

If we attempt to find answers to difficult life questions (like: "What am I living for?" / "Am I happy?" / "What's life all about?") in the first two levels of happiness, we will encounter disappointment leading to unhappiness.

Every person wishes to think of himself as “good.” The question is not whether one wants to be good, but how we interpret the "good.” When presented with the Four Levels of Happiness, most people naturally desire Happiness levels 3 and 4. Levels 3 and 4 also pave the way to virtue-based ethics, beginning with a sound definition of PERSONHOOD.

author Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D and the Center for Life Principles

From the Ashes of Disaster

 Can We Repurpose Our Lives?

A few years ago an historic building in Provo, Utah, the Provo Tabernacle,  was totally gutted by an unfortunate accidental fire.  After serious examination of the remaining structure, and because  of its historic importance to the residents of the area, the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints decided to repurpose the the location to serve a much higher function, that of a Holy Temple. Without the disaster, the beautifully restored facility shown below would not have come to be!

 So it is with each of us in our own lives. The Lord knows  what he needs us to accomplish with our talents and abilities, or with talents and abilities we haven't even recognized yet! Each of us has had experience in those "crash and burn" moments when we have failed at something important.

Here is the critical juncture! Do we rise from the ashes, having learned lessons that only failure can teach us? Or do we wallow in the pain of our failure? There is no way in our mortal comprehension to understand the extent of the Eternal blessing that will ultimately come from that tragic fire.  I recall a classic movie with a Truly Scrumptious message on the topic of rising from from the ashes of disaster, as Professor Potts and his eccentric father overcome all odds to become something greater from the lessons learned from failure!

Champions Never Quit!

C'mon, now! Get up and do it again...one more time! How many times, when you were learning to ride a bike, did you take a spill? Any Hawaii 5-0 fans (the current version)? You may recall the episode where Kono was circumnavigating her island on a solo voyage. She "flashed back" to her childhood, learning to surf, and recalled falling off her board a lot. Her mother reminded her that the important part was getting back on! Learning ANYTHING in life includes failure. 

That's what makes Champions.

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A friend of mine wrote a book about his experiences in GETTING UP ONE MORE TIME. This is a link to a YouTube video about why Tim wrote his book "Champions Never Quit! God is Close By Your Side"

Someday Isle

Many years ago, I became acquainted with the following poem:

There is an Island Fantasy called "Someday Isle" I'll never see;

Recession stops, inflation ceases,

My mortgage is paid and my pay increases;

Someday Isle where my problems end, 

Every piece of mail is from a friend;

The children are sweet and already grown,

Where all the other countries can go it alone;

We all retire at forty-one,

Playing backgammon in the island sun.

Happiness cannot be sought,

It can't be owned, it can't be bought;

Where you are right here, right now, 

Pushing the pencil or pushing the plow,

Life's most important revelation

Is that happiness is the journey,

At least as much as the destination!

It's knocking on doors and making your calls,

It's getting back up after your falls.

It's going to school and standing in line.

It's tasting defeat. And tasting the wine.

I've been trudging through life going mile after mile.

But, I'll never set foot on Someday Isle!

I've paid all my dues and pit in my time,

Then, out of nowhere....another Mount Everest to climb!

I've decided today to make it my vow 

To take Someday Isle and make it NOW! ~Dr. Denis Waitley~

What can we do to make it  happen NOW?

How often in your life have you put something off, saying, "Someday I'll get to that?" A big one for me has been, "Someday I'll improve my health habits and get into better shape!"

Procrastinating some of our stuff could result in fewer "somedays", such as the adventure on which I have embarked. By engaging the journey NOW I just might live longer. Recently my count of grand children increased by one! With four more sons not yet having any offspring, it would seem I need many more tomorrows to greet and love the coming generation!

So, my suggestion (particularly to myself) is to DO IT NOW! Stop procrastinating!

One Nation Under God

written by 14 yr old Nick.....

The founders all believed in God and wanted to be one nation under God. They built this great nation on that belief and hope. We should be proud to have been able to still, more than two hundred years later, believe in God, for the most part. But we have forgotten the other part, the “one nation under God” part of that.

The English philosopher, John Locke, who lived from 1632-1704, is considered one of the great pioneers of modern thinking, and made great contributions to the studies of government, politics, and psychology. He went to Westminster school and Oxford university, and later became a tutor at Oxford.

He wrote in his Essays concerning human understanding a method in which people can know that there is a supreme creator:

1. I exist therefore I am.
2. A something cannot come from a nothing
3. An object as complex as a human body cannot be created by chance; therefore, we were created by an intelligent being.

Locke said that an atheist is irrational and out of touch with reality. Evolutionists, who believe we came from a few dust particles floating in space, are just as irrational, if not more so.

In Anglo-Saxon, the word for the ultimate good is “God”.

Some attributes of God, according to john Locke are:

1. Reason. He has amazing reason, and he has created us with the same reason.
2. Compassion and love. He loves each of us and cares about us all.
3. A sense of right and wrong. He knows what is right and what is wrong for each of us to do.
4. A sense of humor. We know he has a sense of humor by looking at all the unique people around us.
5. A great artist. He is the best artist in existence. We know this by looking at the beautiful world around us.
6. Great wisdom and patience. He is and has all wisdom and power. He is a great example of patience. If he didn't have patience then we would have been destroyed ages ago.

We could go on and on.

Locke said that the human mind starts like a waxed tablet, smooth and ready to use for writing. We start life without any inborn ideas, but, over time, we develop ideas and knowledge.

We don't begin with a knowledge of God, but we gain our knowledge of God as we grow. We must know for ourselves that God is real.

There are countless men and women out there in the world today who try harder and harder each day to “prove” that there is no God. They use supposed “scientific methods” to prove that we came from a lizard that crawled out of a puddle somewhere.

We must see through their lies and find the truth: that God is real; he doesn't need to prove anything to us, but we need to prove ourselves to him.

This is my solemn witness: God created each and every one of us. God created the beautiful world for us. God is who we depend on and God is who we are responsible to for our mistakes. God alone can tell us what we need to do.

Let us remain One Nation under God.

N. R. Lutes

2011

Editorial Note: The author, Nicholas R. Lutes wrote this in 2011. Now at 19, he is serving the Lord as a missionary to the people of Argentina.

Why "GladCasting"?

I am frequently asked about the source for the name "GladCasting University". Who among you has never read the 1913 best-selling novel, Pollyanna by Eleanore Porter? Or seen the movie version of this great story? My offering here is based upon a game introduced in chapter five of Pollyanna...."The Game"!  The movie refers to the "Glad game", the novel calls it the "just being glad" game. I have posted herein, chapter five of Ms. Porter's Pollyanna.......

CHAPTER V. THE GAME

‘For the land’s sake, Miss Pollyanna, what a scare you did give me,’ panted Nancy, hurrying up to the big rock, down which Pollyanna had just regretfully slid.
‘Scare? Oh, I’m so sorry; but you mustn’t, really, ever get scared about me, Nancy. Father and the Ladies’ Aid used to do it, too, till they found I always came back all right.’ ‘But I didn’t even know you’d went,’ cried Nancy, tucking the little girl’s hand under her arm and hurrying her down the hill. ‘I didn’t see you go, and nobody didn’t. I guess you flew right up through the roof; I do, I do.’ Pollyanna skipped gleefully. 
‘I did, ‘most—only I flew down instead of up. I came  down the tree.’
Nancy stopped short. ‘You did—what?’ ‘Came down the tree, outside my window.’
‘My stars and stockings!’ gasped Nancy, hurrying on again. ‘I’d like ter know what yer aunt would say ter that!’ ‘Would you? Well, I’ll tell her, then, so you can find out,’ promised the little girl, cheerfully. ‘Mercy!’ gasped Nancy. ‘No—no!’ ‘Why, you don’t mean she’d CARE!’ cried Pollyanna, plainly disturbed.

‘No—er—yes—well, never mind. I—I ain’t so very particular about knowin’ what she’d say, truly,’ stammered Nancy, determined to keep one scolding from Pollyanna, if nothing more. ‘But, say, we better hurry. I’ve got ter get them dishes done, ye know.’ ‘I’ll help,’ promised Pollyanna, promptly. ‘Oh, Miss Pollyanna!’ demurred Nancy.
For a moment there was silence. The sky was darkening fast. Pollyanna took a firmer hold of her friend’s arm. ‘I reckon I’m glad, after all, that you DID get scared—a little, ‘cause then you came after me,’ she shivered. ‘Poor little lamb! And you must be hungry, too. I—I’m afraid you’ll have ter have bread and milk in the kitchen with me. Yer aunt didn’t like it—because you didn’t come down ter supper, ye know.’ ‘But I couldn’t. I was up here.’ ‘Yes; but—she didn’t know that, you see!’ observed Nancy, dryly, stifling a chuckle. ‘I’m sorry about the bread and milk; I am, I am.’ ‘Oh, I’m not. I’m glad.’ ‘Glad! Why?’ ‘Why, I like bread and milk, and I’d like to eat with you. I don’t see any trouble about being glad about that.’ ‘You don’t seem ter see any trouble bein’ glad about everythin’,’ retorted Nancy, choking a little over her remembrance of Pollyanna’s brave attempts to like the bare little attic room.
Pollyanna laughed softly. ‘Well, that’s the game, you know, anyway.’ ‘The—GAME?’
‘Yes; the ‘just being glad’ game.’ ‘Whatever in the world are you talkin’ about?’

Why, it’s a game. Father told it to me, and it’s lovely,’ rejoined Pollyanna. ‘We’ve played it always, ever since I was a little, little girl. I told the Ladies’ Aid, and they played it—

some of them.’ ‘What is it? I ain’t much on games, though.’ Pollyanna laughed again, but she sighed, too; and in the gathering twilight her face looked thin and wistful. 
‘Why, we began it on some crutches that came in a missionary barrel.’ ‘CRUTCHES!’
‘Yes. You see I’d wanted a doll, and father had written them so; but when the barrel came the lady wrote that there hadn’t any dolls come in, but the little crutches had. So she
sent ‘em along as they might come in handy for some child, sometime. And that’s when we began it.’ ‘Well, I must say I can’t see any game about that, about that,’ declared Nancy, almost irritably. ‘Oh, yes; the game was to just find something about everything to be glad about—no matter what ‘twas,’ rejoined Pollyanna, earnestly. ‘And we began right then—on the crutches.’
‘Well, goodness me! I can’t see anythin’ ter be glad about— gettin’ a pair of crutches when you wanted a doll!’
Pollyanna clapped her hands. ‘There is—there is,’ she crowed. ‘But I couldn’t see it, either,
Nancy, at first,’ she added, with quick honesty. ‘Father had to tell it to me.’ ‘Well, then, suppose YOU tell ME,’ almost snapped Nancy. ‘Goosey! Why, just be glad because you don’t—NEED—
‘EM!’ exulted Pollyanna, triumphantly. ‘You see it’s just as easy—when you know how!’
‘Well, of all the queer doin’s!’ breathed Nancy, regarding Pollyanna with almost fearful eyes.
‘Oh, but it isn’t queer—it’s lovely,’ maintained Pollyanna enthusiastically. ‘And we’ve played it ever since. And the harder ‘tis, the more fun ‘tis to get ‘em out; only—only sometimes it’s  almost too hard—like when your father goes to Heaven, and there isn’t anybody but a Ladies’ Aid left.’ ‘Yes, or when you’re put in a snippy little room ‘way at the top of the house with nothin’ in it,’ growled Nancy. Pollyanna sighed. ‘That was a hard one, at first,’ she admitted, ‘specially when I was so kind of lonesome. I just didn’t feel like playing the game, anyway, and I HAD been wanting pretty things, so! Then I happened to think how I hated to see my freckles in the looking-glass, and I saw that lovely picture out the window, too; so then I knew I’d found the things to be glad about. You see, when you’re hunting for the glad things, you sort of forget the other kind—like the doll you wanted, you know.’ ‘Humph!’ choked Nancy, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. ‘Most generally it doesn’t take so long,’ sighed Pollyanna;
‘and lots of times now I just think of them WITHOUT thinking, you know. I’ve got so used to playing it. It’s a lovely game. F-father and I used to like it so much,’ she faltered. ‘I suppose, though, it—it’ll be a little harder now, as long as I haven’t anybody to play it with. Maybe Aunt Polly will play it, though,’ she added, as an after-thought. 
‘My stars and stockings!—HER!’ breathed Nancy, behind her teeth. Then, aloud, she said doggedly: ‘See here, Miss Pollyanna, I ain’t sayin’ that I’ll play it very well, and I ain’t sayin’ that I know how, anyway; but I’ll play it with ye, after a fashion—I just will, I will!’
‘Oh, Nancy!’ exulted Pollyanna, giving her a rapturous hug. ‘That’ll be splendid! Won’t we have fun?’ ‘Er—maybe,’ conceded Nancy, in open doubt. ‘But you mustn’t count too much on me, ye know. I never was no case fur games. but I’m a-goin’ ter make a most awful old try on this one. You’re goin’ ter have some one ter play it with, anyhow,’ she finished, as they entered the kitchen together. Pollyanna ate her bread and milk with good appetite; then, at Nancy’s suggestion, she went into the sitting room, where her aunt sat reading. Miss Polly looked up coldly. ‘Have you had your supper, Pollyanna?’ ‘Yes, Aunt Polly.’ ‘I’m very sorry, Pollyanna, to have been obliged so soon to send you into the kitchen to eat bread and milk.’ ‘But I was real glad you did it, Aunt Polly. I like bread and milk, and Nancy, too. You mustn’t feel bad about that one bit.’
Aunt Polly sat suddenly a little more erect in her chair. ‘Pollyanna, it’s quite time you were in bed. You have had a hard day, and to-morrow we must plan your hours and go over your clothing to see what it is necessary to get for you. Nancy will give you a candle. Be careful how you handle it. Breakfast will be at half-past seven. See that you are down to that. Good-night.’
Quite as a matter of course, Pollyanna came straight to her aunt’s side and gave her an affectionate hug. ‘I’ve had such a beautiful time, so far,’ she sighed happily. I know I’m going to just love living with you but then, I  knew I should before I came. Good-night,’ she called cheerfully, as she ran from the room. ‘Well, upon my soul!’ ejaculated Miss Polly, half aloud.
‘What a most extraordinary child!’ Then she frowned. ‘She’s ‘glad’ I punished her, and I ‘mustn’t feel bad one bit,’ and she’s going to ‘love to live’ with me! Well, upon my soul!’
ejaculated Miss Polly again, as she took up her book. 
Fifteen minutes later, in the attic room, a lonely little girl sobbed into the tightly-clutched sheet:
‘I know, father-among-the-angels, I’m not playing the game one bit now—not one bit; but I don’t believe even you could find anything to be glad about sleeping all alone ‘way off up here in the dark—like this. If only I was near Nancy or Aunt Polly, or even a Ladies’ Aider, it would be easier!’
Down-stairs in the kitchen, Nancy, hurrying with her belated work, jabbed her dish-mop into the milk pitcher, and muttered Jerkily: ‘If playin’ a silly-fool game—about bein’ glad you’ve got crutches when you want dolls—is got ter be—my way—o’ bein’ that rock o’ refuge—why, I’m a-goin’ ter play it—I am, I am!’

I would encourage you to acquire a copy of Pollyana by Eleanor Porter. Ebook pdf copies are available  free online from several sources. Check it our from your local library.  Enjoy and learn ways YOU can change the world.

Always Retain in Remembrance the Greatness of God

"And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility,  calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel."

Jonah and a Whale of a Tale

(true story from a recent summer)......

Last night, just after we had concluded our typical Monday family get-together, someone was knocking at our door. As my son answered the knock, we observed a young man anxious to visit with the “parents of the house”.

He politely introduced himself as Jonah from Baltimore. He was associated with a youth sales team of “inner city” youth. Jonah had a miracle cleaner to present. My son, Michael had just baked a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. So my generous ex-wife offered him a couple of cookies.

As Jonah performed his product demo, we had an interesting discussion regarding overcoming obstacles. He was telling of some of his encounters with customers in his door-to-door sales contacts, the most spectacular being the “gentleman” who answered the door with a double barrel shotgun! The man's wife began asking him product questions with the shotgun pointed to his chest. As Jonah casually answered her questions, he began demonstrating his cleaner by shining the chromed barrels of the shotgun! She bought his product!

Now, whether Jonah was stretching the reality, or not, is of minor significance. I believe the tale has merit. As we work toward our successes in life and business, we will encounter “opportunities” (a positive reference for challenges). Our growth and success is totally dependent upon our response to these opportunities!

Views and Ideals...

by James Allen    (from the book, "As A Man Thinketh")

Dream lofty dreams and as you dream,
so shall you become.
Your vision is the promise
of what you shall one day be.
Your ideal,
is the prophecy
you will at last unveil.
The greatest achievement
was at first and for a time a dream.
The oak sleeps in the acorn,
the bird waits in the egg,
and in the highest vision of the soul,
a waking angel stirs.
For dreams,
are the seedlings of reality.
Your circumstances may be unpleasant,
but they shall not long remain so,
if you but perceive of an ideal
and strive to achieve it.
For you can not travel within
and stand still without.......................................................

The Doctor's Advice

Bee Happy by Being Anxiously Engaged in a Good Cause

I recently reviewed an article of interest about a spritual lesson to be learned from the honey bee! The article was the text of a talk by M. Russel Ballard, I have included a portion of that herein:

"My father always tried to involve me in his work with his hives, but I was very happy to let him tend to his bees. However, since those days, I have learned more about the highly organized beehive—a colony of about 60,000 bees.

Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the nectar into honey. It is their magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just one pound (0.45 kg) of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world. Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon.

Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee’s one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend on each other. Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part."

Perhaps, if each of us would spend more of our time and energies in sharing the burdens of our families and communities, and less worrying over our challenges, we would find a measure of relief from our own burdens. (Republished from 03/08/2013)