Why do people do things they know are wrong or bad for them?

I recently have been wondering about what makes people do things that they should and probably do know is a mistake. Everyday, someone chooses to smoke tobacco products even though they have been taught from an early age how unhealthy it is. People decide to drive drunk, have unprotected sex with someone they have no intention of ever marrying. This list of choices people make can go on for miles. I have never even been tempted to drink alcohol, do drugs, or use any tobacco products in my whole life. Even if I did not have a problem with these things from a moral or religious standpoint, I don't think I would have ever chosen to do any of those things. I have a sensitive nose and do not like the smell of tobacco products or alcohol.
I am by no means perfect and have made really bad choices in my life. I goofed off my first time to go to college back in the 80's and lost my financial aid and was put on academic suspension. HUGE MISTAKE. I have let friends talk me into doing some things that I have regretted...minor vandalism...(I was in Jr High) and looking at Playboys...that started when I was 12 yrs old. I had a friend who's dad was a subscriber and had stacks of them in the house. We would go over there after school when his parents were not home and look at them. This was something I struggled to overcome for years. I played with matches with a friend and we were very lucky we did not burn the house down with us in it...(I was 7 yrs old).
We have choices to make every single day and we all make bad choices from time to time. Not all bad choices are bad because they are immoral or a sin either. They can just be unhealthy, or they can get us into a bad situation that negatively impacts us and those around us. I think that the main reason people make these bad choices is mainly because they look no further than today at this moment. If we can learn to look ahead and see some small glimpse of where this decision will ultimately lead us, we might become better at avoiding costly decisions. What do you all think?

Thirteen things that I don't like

Thirteen Things about Joe Norman I had to put out my list early because I am going to be out of town all day Thursday. Happy Thursday Thirteen Everyone! 1…. self-centered people 2 . grid-loc...are people not aware that it can be avoided with little effort? 3 . Tailgaters...the ones driving, not the ones in spoting arena parking lots. 4 . I have no patience for people who have no patience. (Weird huh) 5 . Smacking and or popping gum (especially the popping) 6 . Rap and Hip-Hop Music (it just tenses me up from the small of my back all the way to the back of my neck.) 7 . hipocrites (this is probably on everyone's list...except the hipocrites) 8 . liers 9 . the smell of Nail Polish and the remover too. 10 . Arrogance 11 . tobacco products...the smells especially 12 . The smell of alcohol...especially when it is on the breathe and coming out of the pores of someone. 13 . a messy and nasty, dirty house. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Superman Where are You?

I recently opened a new checking account and I was trying to save money by ordering checks online. I also thought it might be easy to find checks I wanted. My nimber one preference would be to order checks with Superman on them I am a HUGE fan of Superman and a HUGE fan of the TV show, SMALLVILLE on the WB channel.
Would you believe that there is not one company that has a Superman series by himself? I founf two different collections of DC Super Heroes. They included Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, as well as Superman. I am not interested in the other heroes. I just want Superman checks. I can't understand why that is not available. I'd be happy if all the checks were the same and just had the Superman S with no full pic of Superman.
**SIGH** I suppose I am forced to order checks I will only sort of like now. Well I need to go for now. Up....Up....and AWAY!!!!!!

Thirteen things that make me a unique MAN

Thirteen Things about Joe Norman 1…. I am not real interested in cars and know almosst nothing about the proper care and maintenance required. 2 . I am not at all a "handy man" around the house.(I try, but if it is a major thing I hire someone) 3 . I love musicals and classical music and all the arts. (Not usually a manly thing) 4 . I enjoy a good movie even if it is a "chick flick"...and I'll at least get watery eyes if it is sad or touching. 5 . I hate to get my hands dirty with things that don't come off easily(greese, oil, etc) 6 . I like to cook, but am still trying to expand the variety of what I can cook. 7 . I am not a sports finatic at all. I try not to miss a Dallas Cowboy football game, but I am not real into knowing all there is to know about any sport and stats. I will not die if I miss a game either. 8 . I do not like to have long hair. I also want to be well groomed if I amgoing to be out in public. 9 . I ALWAYS change out the toiletpaper roll and put the new one on the dispenser correctly. 10 . I ALWAYS wash my hands after I go to the bathroom....ALWAYS. 11 . I never leave the seat up on the toilet. 12 . I am not at all into hunting...period. (I am not comfortable with firearms although I am completely against gun control.) 13 . I love the outdoors, but I will not go "camping" without a cabin or RV and access to a clean bathroom and shower facilities. (I do not like to rough it) Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Divalasvegas 2.BonafideBunkum 3.ginger 4. chickadee

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Apology to Readers

Hello to all. I want to apologize for my lack of posting. I have had a stressful week and Valentine's was not a good day for me. It brought back bad memories and pain from my marriage falling apart. The divorce was only final two years ago and after 11 yrs of marriage, it will just take me a while to heal completely. I also was either in school or at work from 8am to 7pm yesterday. Then I was up until 1am working on my speech outline. I will have my TT list up early tomorrow because I have no classes for the next two day. All the music teachers went to San Antonio to attend the Texas Music Educators Association. Yippee!!!

Thirteen Favorite Songs from Musicals

Thirteen Things about Joe Norman

1…. Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Wizard of Oz
2 . I'm a lonesome hound dog -Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
3 . On the Street Where You Live - My Fair Lady
4 . Where Is Love? - Oliver
5 . Singin' In The Rain - from Singin' In The Rain ~ duh
6 . Doe a Deer - Sound Of Music
7 . O What A Beautiful Mornin' - Oklahoma
8 . Younger Than Spingtime - South Pacific
9 . As Long As He Needs Me - Oliver
10 . Sound Of Music - from Sound Of Music ~ duh
11 . Tupins A Bag - Mary Poppins
12 . Memory - CATS
13 . Bless Your Beautiful Hide - Seven Bride's For Seven Brothers




Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Bona fide bunkum

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

American Idol

I have been hooked on watching this show for the past two years. I missed the first two seasons, but really enjoy this show. I do not always agree with who they choose to be the winner. I thought Clay was much better than that other guy that won (What was his name?). Now last year, I did agree with the choice they made. Carrie Underwood was more versatile vocally than Bo Bice. I really like Bo and he still got a recording contract, but Carrie was the better choice.
I watch these people audition and am amazed at how many have no talent what so ever and are still convinced that they are geat singers. How does anyone become that dillusional? I heard a guy attempt the song "You Lift Me Up" by Josh Groban and he was not good. There were much worse, but he was not good.
I also get irritated by seeing people like Josh Groban being so successful in the Music industry when I know I can sing much better that him. Those soft ballads are perfect for my voice. Of coarse, my voice is much higher than Josh's. Josh is a baritone and I am a 1st Tenor. I do not have a voice for most pop music partly because of my Operatic training, but there are many songs I can sing quite well. One problem I have right now is that I am not nearly as handsome as Josh Groban and I am also 41 yrs old.
For grins, I have been considering trying out for American Idol. I just want to see how far I could get. I know I can get past the first audition. Yet, my heart really belongs to Opera and American Musicals. We'll see if I gather the courage to try out for American Idol next year. I might wait until I graduate...if at all.

Synapses

I am taking a class that I really enjoy. It is called Music With Children. We are learning how to introduce Music to young children. Right now we are working with First Graders. I really like this age group. They are quite fun and many of these kids are very bright.
Anyway, my instructor was explaining to us how the brain develops in children. He said that we have these neural highway connections called synapses and we start out with very few even before we are born. Gradually, we develop more and more. By the age of Three, we have the maximum number of synapses that we can possibly get. By four yrs of age, we begin to lose the ones we don't use. He said that this is why it is vitally important for kids to be exposed to music and learn to sing and make some kind of music by the age of Three. The synapses we don't use will be lost forever. It is just like any organ in the body or appendage...use it or lose it. If you keep an eye covered long enough, eventually, that eye will no longer work. If you never use one arm at all, it will atrophy and become useless. So the brain needs as many mental stimuli as it can get at a very young age.
I was fascinated by all this. I am sure that I have over simplified this topic, but I hope you get the main idea in spite of my poor ability to explain what I learned in school. So to all you parents who have newborn babies, start singing little songs to them right away and playing instruments or recordings of music for them....please!

Unity Through Restoration

I long for all true Christians to unite. I believe though that the only way for us to be united like Christ designed the church to be, is for us to put away all manner of man-made doctrines and creeds and use the Bible as our only guide in how to organize the church and how to worship God acceptably. As we know from Ephesians 4:4-6, there is only one Body, one Spirit, one Hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Denominationalism is not what God had in mind and is wrong. Unity in diversity is not the unity that is described in the New Testament either.
It is easy to denounce division as wrong, but it is not easy to propose a means of achieving unity. This road to religious unity is only possible by returning to the patterns of New Testament Christianity.The essentials of Christianity are clearly revealed in the NT and everyone should accept them. The bottom line is that the NT is the divine constitution of the Church and a return to the faith and practice of the NT would end the differences among denominations and restore the essential oneness of Christ's church.
I firmly believe that this is possible, but I also know that not many of us will find the way that leads to eternal life. Jesus said in Matt.7:13-14; "Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." There is only ONE way to life eternal, not many ways. It is narrow and difficult and FEW will find it. What about you? Will you find it? Have you? Are you positive? I pray for those lost in the confusion of modern day religion and want desperately to help anyone to learn the Lord's Way. Please feel free to study with me. I am more than willing to do so with anyone.

Super Bowl comments

I congratulate the Steelers for the win. They really deserved it. I have not liked the Steelers my entire life...being that I have been a Dallas Cowboy fan since I was about four yrs old. I hated the Steelers in the 70's. I still think the times the Cowboys and the Steelers played in the Super Bowl back in the 1970's were the most intense and exciting Super Bowls ever played.
This was a good match up going against the Seahawks. I do think that the Seahawks would win more than the Steelers if they met and played three games in a series. But today, the Steelers made less mistakes. There were some bad calls by the officials, but the Steelers would have won if all the calls were taken out. The Seahawks missed two field goals and had a TD taken away that they deserved to have. The Seahawks would have won with those scores. I think they need a new kicker at least. I'd say maybe next year, but I am hoping it will be the Cowboys' turn to go to the Super Bowl next year.

How and why I did not complete my college education 20 yrs ago

This was suggested to me by one of my readers. She thought it might be helpful to any readers who might be raising kids. So this is my story. I graduated from High School in 1984 at the age of 19. I wanted to take one year off and then go to college, so I got a job in the mall. I was working for Sears in their snack shop. It was not enough hours, so I got a full-time job at Kinney Shoes. I was working 12 hrs a day averaging 56 hrs a week.

I was not careful with my money at all. I worked there and then for J.C.Penney. When it came to Fall of 1985, I decided I wanted to go to Lubbock Christian College in Lubbock, Texas. I was not sure what I wanted to major in because I had given up on classical piano when I was a Junior in Highschool. I just signed up for general studies. I went to LCC all that year and returned in Fall 86'. I had goofed off way too much and was put on academic probation when I returned that Fall. What I did not know, was that I was supposed to have talked to the Financial Aid Committee as well before school started. Because I did not do that, I was put on Financial Aid Suspension. The bad thing was that they did not decide to do this, nor did they inform me of it, until after the last day to withdraw and get any amount of refund. I was stuck with owing the college almost 4,000 dollars directly. I appealed to them to reconsider, explaining that I did not get a letter from them telling me to meet with them before classes started. they said they wanted to make an example out of me.

I was devastated. I returned to my parents ashamed and unsure what to do. My dad wanted me to live there and attend a community college for two years. I signed up for classes and went part-time to college and worked full-time. I did okay in school, but decided I needed to just try to build a career. I quit the community college in 1987 and just worked retail full-time.

I went from one job I hated to the next until 1989. That year was when my dad temporarily lost his mind and left my mom and lived with a woman for three years. I was sharing an apartment with my twin brother and we were barely getting by. When my dad left my mom, she moved in with us and we all pooled our money together to survive. By 1992, my mom was able to live on her own and so I decided to join the Navy. I wanted to be a physical therapist and the Navy recruiter convinced me that I could easily become one if I joined the Navy and worked as a Hospital Corpsman. When I got in, I found that a majority of Corpsmen wanted to do that and the competition made my chances slim to none.

I was stationed in Long Beach, CA. I soon got married to a woman I had known for 6 yrs as a friend. I was married on April 3rd, 1993. She already had a daughter from her first marriage and when we got married, her daughter was almost four years old. Shortly after my marriage, my dad returned to my mom, went to counseling, repented and they reconciled. My mom had never divorced him because she never had the money to do it. He was a better husband to her than ever when he came back. They are still married and in fact, my dad was able to return to preaching and is still preaching at 76 yrs old.

Anyway, my wife got pregnant with my son the third week into out marriage. He was born in late January 1994. I was given a medical discharge in July 1994 due to chronic back and neck pain. We moved to central Texas and I got one job after another that I hated, just trying to support my family. I worked and supported my family while my wife went to a Technical College and got her Associate's in Computer Networking. When she got out and started working, I wanted to go to college and get my degree in Music Ed. I finally was able to go to a community college in Waco, Tx in Fall 2000. I went for two straight years and was in Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society and was on the Dean's List.

I got a vocal scholarship to attend Baylor University and started in the Fall of 2002. I was informed by mail that my G.I. Bill had run out and because of that, I was forced to withdraw from Baylor in November. The Dean allowed me to withdraw without penalty. I then had to work again. I eventually got a job driving a Schwan's Food truck. I was back to working 12-13 hrs a day 5-6 days a week.

Soon after I started this job, my wife began what she calls an "emotional Affair" with a married man she worked(still works) with. This was the beginning of the end of my marriage. Eleven years-gone. I tried for six months to save my marriage and finally gave up and moved out in August 2004. I was living in an apartment. I lost my Schwan's job mainly because I was too much of an emotional basket-case to do my work. Then I went through several more jobs I hated.

I found out that I qualified for a thing called the Hazelwood Act. This was for Texas Veterans whose G.I. Bill had run out. It would pay my tuition if I went to a state university. I decided that I wanted to attend SFASU because I was familiar with their strong Music Department.

I have just given you a basic overview of how I spent the past twenty years. Although I left out many details, I covered the most important highlights. Please feel free to ask me any questions that might have crossed your mind while reading this long story.

happy to be alive

I just wanted to share that I am so very happy to be alive. I am finally in college at a University that I really enjoy and I am loving all that I am learning here. I sometimes can't believe I am really here. I am struggling quite a bit financially, but that is not affecting my determination to stay and endure whatever I need to in order to complete my education.
I am happy that I have such a great relationship with my son and I am happy that I have family and friends who support me emotionally. This is not easy at all and I see nothing to indicate that it will get any easier, but the payoff when I get my degree and teacher certification will be well worth whatever I have to struggle with.
If any kind hearted strangers would like to donate money to help me complete my education, I would be very thankful.(lol) I am hoping that I can get into the A'Cappella Choir next Fall. They are touring Europe this Summer and I would do almost anything to do that. Unfortunately, I am not in that choir, so I don't have that opportunity. Everyone that goes has to come up with 2,500 dollars just to go. Plus they need money to eat on while they are there and if they want to buy anything. If they do that next year, I doubt I'd be able to raise that kind of money.
No matter what the financial struggle, I know I will finish my education and I'll be happy with my new career. I pray that it is god's will that I reach these goals and am more able to provide for my son.

"Christian" pop music

First let me say that I know there are many people who like contemporary "Christian" music and they are free to ignore what I have to say here. I do not intend to offend anyone or upset anyone. This is just how I see it and what I think of it. It is my opinion that too many of these "artists" are using God to make money. Another thing that bothers me is how they blur the line between worship and entertainment.

I am from a traditional church of Christ background and if you are not familiar with us, we do not use instruments in worship and have no choir or soloists. We have a male song leader that chooses the songs from our hymn book and leads the whole congregation in them. I am uncomfortable with any songs of praise being sung with instruments myself and that is just the way I am. I am not condemning people for liking it. Yet, I don't want other people to push it on me either.

Worship is not about entertaining ourselves and to turn church worship into a pop concert is wrong no matter what lyrics the pop band is singing. Christ is our focus in worship and doing what pleases God should be more important than pleasing ourselves. Many of the songs are not sound scripturally either and that is a HUGE problem to me. Also, if they are not unscriptural, they seem to be pretty shallow in thoughts. I know there are exceptions, but in general this is pretty accurate. So many of these "artists" are not very knowledgeable in God's Word.

One last thing to think about. If these people really wanted to reach out and help people who are NOT "Christian", they ought not be classified as Christian artists and should sing secular songs that are clean and wholesome and have messages about good morals. This is just my opinion, but I would rather people know I am a Christian by the way I live my life and the way I treat my fellow man than by the religious shirts I wear, the jewelry, or the Music I play and sing. I think I can use my musical abilities to glorify God without saying..."HEY LOOK AT ME... I AM A CHRISTIAN MUSICIAN!!!" Just a thought.