This society is becoming so preoccupied with litigation that we are losing our perspective on the importance of personal responsibility. Financial and material gain is usually the motivation for suppression of conscience. This kind of choice is short-sighted, and frequently leads to long-term regrets.

When one person assumes responsibility for another person's actions, they also assume a level of control over that person, and an element of freedom is lost. Government agencies and corporations will sometimes obligate people, or maintain a level of control over their lives by, "taking care of some of their burdens". It leads to a false sense of security that is so easy and deceptive, people become lazy and nonchalant about maintaining talents and skills that are essential to successful and healthy living.

The desire to make lots of money and have lots of toys and "creature comforts" has driven some of us to pour all of our energy and resources into one lucrative endeavor. Unfortunately, other aspects of our lives, usually the ones related to maintenance and upkeep, or kindness and compassion, suffer from neglect. A healthy outlook on life contains a balance of ambition and compassion, where one is not allowed to overpower the other.

I was sitting in a hot tub with some friends the other day, when a Praying Mantis scared the stuffings out of me by landing on my shoulder. Something ancient and unexplainable kept me from panic, and I watched it watching me. When it started advancing toward my neck, I gently put my hand in it's path, and when it climbed onto my hand, I set it on the deck beside the tub. I watched it for a time, and it flew off for some unknown portion of the garden.

A few days later, I was sitting out on the deck when a Praying Mantis flew into a spider web and appeared to be trapped. I ran to get a fly swatter to free the creature from the web, and when I returned, I watched spellbound, while the Mantis ate the spider that had come out to see what tasty morsel had strayed into it's web. As the Mantis struggled to free itself from the web, I knew it would manage on it's own, nonetheless, I used the fly swatter to gently remove it from the web. I placed it in the garden, and felt fortunate for having witnessed this simple, yet significant act in the cycle of life and death.

I have attended many of my daughter's high school volleyball and basketball games, and I am amazed at the behavior of some of the parents. Poor sportsmanship and intimidation that are so prevalent in professional sports need to be kept in the proper perspective in this arena. With parts of our society falling into such aggressive behaviors as "Road Rage", and gang activities, we don't want our high school sports programs to support violence. If we are to influence our youth in a positive way, we need to set an example of what healthy competition is all about, and help them to develop an attitude of mutual respect among players. The "Win at all cost" mentality can lead to unreasonable anger and hatred, and even acts of vandalism at the rival school.

Here are some suggestions on how to support and encourage our young athletes;

A subtle aspect of driving courtesy revolves around exercising the right of way. When a driver deviates from the normal order, or "flow" of traffic, even if the purpose is to extend a courtesy to another driver, it puts other drivers at risk because it is unpredictable. Piloting over a ton of glass and steel down a road at speeds up to 65 mph is an activity that requires 100% concentration and awareness. BE SAFE . . . BE ALERT . . . BE PREDICTABLE!

Pedestrian courtesy and awareness are equally important. A marked crosswalk gives a pedestrian the right of way; it does not give them the right to be rude and inconsiderate to drivers that are waiting to proceed. The pedestrian that looks solely at the "walk/don't walk" signs, and pays no attention or courtesy to the vehicular traffic, takes his life in his hands every time he steps off the curb. Transportation safety is achieved when all the participants exercise courtesy and awareness, all of the time!

It is difficult to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they are genuine and sincere, when we are subjected to so many cons and scams every day. Consequently, true friendships that survive skepticism and restraint, and develop into trusting relationships, are to be cherished and held in the highest regard.

We survived being born to mothers who smoked tobacco and drank alcohol while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint, and there were no childproof lids on medicine and cleanser bottles. We rode in cars with no seat belt and no air bags.

We ate cupcakes and bread and butter, and drank soda pop with lots of sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We rode our bikes with no helmets, drank from the garden hose, and shared one soft drink between four friends. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, or X-boxes . . . no video games at all. We didn't have 99 channels on cable with surround sound, no cell phones or personal computers, and no internet chat rooms. We had friends, and we went outside and found them! We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls, fell out of trees, got cuts and scrapes, broke bones and chipped teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. Little League had tryouts, and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of . . . they actually sided with the law!

We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. Our generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors, ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas, and most of it happened before the government started regulating our lives for our own good. We made mistakes and we learned from them!