Good Wednesday Morning! It is that time again, grab your beverage of choice and settle in for a bit of cheer and good news.
Over some of my posts I have talked about hope, optimism and resilience which are all important traits to focus on in our tumultuous times but we also need to remain strong, not just to fight for our Democracy and make the changes we so deeply want and need for our country but also in our everyday lives. It is easy to lose emotional strength when one is being bombarded with constant negativity and threats and top that off with dealing with our own personal day to day challenges it can really take a toll on our ability to maintain our emotional strength. Even around “these here parts” at DK can offer challenges with people very tightly wound in our year of the make it or break it election. Like being resilient, having hope and remaining optimistic, emotional strength can be achieved to help in these times and all times of our lives.
Now this is the GNR so I am being proactive but I am also a realist and I understand we will not always be strong but even in those slips of emotion, we really are still emotionally strong.
Emotional Strength: Meaning, Examples & How To Build It
“Emotional strength is not about turning a negative into a pleasurable experience. It is where you can feel all emotional experiences at a deeper level, allowing you to be vulnerable and responsive to your emotions. You also have the skill to change how you perceive emotion in your daily life”.
Key Characteristics of Emotionally Strong People
- They prefer peace more than aggression
- They adopt a growth mindset and are unafraid of making mistakes
- They focus on how to get around the obstacles rather than the obstacles themselves
- They are vulnerable
- They embrace change
- They practice self-care
“Your emotional capabilities will affect your ability to learn, retain, and respond to the challenges thrown at you”.
Here is a list of benefits for being emotionally strong:
- Increase your life satisfaction and overall quality of life.
- Improved performance in all areas of your life.
- Become more resilient in the face of challenges and difficulties.
- Help you to reduce stress and anxiety.
- Strengthen and deepen your relationship with others.
- Feel more confident in your ability to deal with problems.
- Bounce back from challenges and setbacks quickly
- Improve your decision-making and thinking skills.
7 Characteristics of Emotionally Strong People ... and why criers can be just as tough as anyone else.
“You can build emotional strength and resilience by working on your mindset and learning more adaptable responses to the daily distresses of life”.
So let’s add building emotional strength to our list of ways to get tough times.
(I did not have time to recheck this section, so forgive any grammatical errors, misspellings, inappropriate use of words or run-on sentences 😁)
Now for the Good News.
Scholastic Eventually Stands Up to Bigotry, No Longer Will Separate Black Books for Children
Since 1981, kids have been saving their coins to shop at their school’s Scholastic Book Fair. A chance to get their hands on the latest in the “Baby-Sitters Club” or the “Captain Underpants” series, the Scholastic fairs are also fundraisers, helping schools earn much-needed cash, classroom and library resources.
But, in 2023, Scholastic found itself in the hot seat when it decided to separate books dealing with race, gender and sexuality into their own collection called “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice.” Separating the books allowed participating schools to opt out of including the collection in their fairs.
All of the heat caused Scholastic to rethink their decision and go back to their mission to help schools share stories that represent all children. And in November 2023, Scholastic reversed course and decided to discontinue the “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice” collection and deliver all books in the fair to all schools beginning with the Spring 2024 book fairs.
A new report from the Urban Institute once again busts tired and false myths and stereotypes about public assistance. The new report presents results from a guaranteed basic income pilot program that was run by the city of Austin, Texas in partnership with non-profit organization UpTogether and ten other community-based partners. The program provided $1000 per month for a year to 135 households and ran from September 2022 to August 2023. According to Business Insider, the City of Austin funded 85 families and philanthropic donations funded the remaining 50 households. The Urban Institute provides some highlights of their findings
Read the article for the findings but beware there is, of course, a republican who does not agree.
When Arjan Berkhuysen and his fellow volunteers on the Dutch island of Terschelling looked for a spot to start a garden, they sought the least fertile location they could find. The plot they landed on is just over a dike from the Wadden Sea along the Netherlands’ northern coast. The water in the irrigation ditches is often brackish. For most growers, salinity is an affliction; salt in soil or water can diminish plant health and reduce crop yield. But for this group of gardeners, the spot was ideal.
De Zilte Smaak — “The Salty Taste” — specializes in edible plants that grow in saline conditions, like samphire, tiny spears that resemble asparagus, and tender-leafed sea aster. The salt-loving delicacies grown on this plot end up on plates in restaurants across this island, a popular summer destination. The project is one of a number of initiatives in the Netherlands exploring the possibilities of farming in salty conditions, ranging from edible plants in small-scale gardens like this, to identification of salt-tolerant varietals of conventional crops like potatoes and beets.
What started as an off-the-cuff idea at a senior home has become a successful microbrewery — and a way for residents to stay social and engaged.
In the maze of neon-lit corridors beneath a senior home on the southwestern outskirts of Vienna, the warm scent of malt leads to a small room that’s become the headquarters of an unlikely microbrewing success story. A colorful mural on the wall depicts five residents of the home enjoying a pint, and beneath, three of them are pitching in on today’s brewing efforts.
The lager was the first beer the Brauwerkstatt in Haus Atzgersdorf started brewing in the summer of 2020, when the Covid lockdowns made life in the senior home especially lonely. The home’s previous director came up with this unusual plan to bring the residents together and give them a meaningful way to spend their time. Helmut, Gustav and Rupert have been part of the project from the start and have become fast friends. They’re all firmly in their 80s, with Rupert the oldest at 88, but the laughter and easy banter make the atmosphere in the room feel unusually festive for a Thursday morning.
As part of my role at the agency I work at we are doing a lot of work around social isolation and loneliness of older adults. Maybe I should suggest a brewery. 😆
Clackamas County in Oregon, which contains the city of Portland, has reduced the rate of homelessness by 65% from 2019 to 2023, a number that officials say reflects a more comprehensive strategy.
“We work hard to reduce and prevent homelessness early on before it even happens, with rental assistance, and we make sure that we have the resources and the assets up and running to give people housing when they need it,” Ben West, Clackamas County commissioner, told KATU News.
The permanent supportive housing is another component of the approach detailed in the report, and offers the combination of a permanent personal space with the social services necessary to help those who have experienced homelessness to stabilize things.
A big cost and concern for many seniors in the U.S. is the price of prescription drugs and other healthcare expenses—and this year, thanks to The Inflation Reduction Act, their costs may go down dramatically, especially for patients fighting cancer or heart disease.
Thousands of Americans on Medicare have been paying more than $14,000 a year for blood cancer drugs, more than $10,000 a year for ovarian cancer drugs, and more than $9,000 a year for breast cancer drugs, for instance.
That all changed beginning in 2023, after the Biden administration capped out-of-pocket prescriptions at $3,500—no matter what drugs were needed. And this year, in 2024, the cap for all Medicare out-of-pocket prescriptions went down to a maximum of $2,000.
“The American people won, and Big Pharma lost,” said President Biden in September 2022, after the legislation passed. “It’s going to be a godsend to many families.”
The United Auto Workers announced Tuesday that a majority of the approximately 6,000 workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama have indicated they support joining the union.
That's the largest Mercedes-Benz plant in the U.S., and getting more than half of its employees to sign union cards is a major win for the UAW.
"We're here today to make a major announcement. A majority of our co-workers at Mercedes here in Alabama have signed our union cards and are ready to win our union and a better life with the UAW," Mercedes worker Jeremy Kimbrell said in a statement. "We haven't taken this step lightly. For years, we've fallen further behind while Mercedes has made billions."
How One Of Obama's Most Notable Acts For Trayvon Martin Lives On Ten Years Later
Roughly a decade ago, former President Barack Obama delivered a speech that for many would come to define his presidency. “When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids,” said Obama, in the wake of the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, adding, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”
But Obama didn’t stop at one speech.
Ten years ago today, Obama launched My Brother’s Keeper, a task force in Martin’s honor to address the “opportunity gap” for young Black men. Now, the initiative lives on as a part of the Obama Foundation working to support programs targeting young men of color across the United States.
“One thing I’ve come to appreciate over the last decade is that improving the lives of boys and young men of color is bigger than any one person or group of people,” said the former President. “It requires everybody – parents, neighbors, teachers, administrators, local governments, and everyone in between, all working together to make a difference.
I was watching the series Expats on Prime (I know), and at the end of one of the episodes this song came on that I had not heard in many years. This wave of memories flooded over me, my bedroom as a young girl, my parents, siblings, my horse. Funny how music can do that to you. Just thought I would share the song.
Also good news for me and anyone who enjoyed Barbie. Hey, I thought it was just a good little movie.
Ryan Gosling tipped to sing I’m Just Ken at the Oscars
Now I won’t be watchin g the Oscars cause I do not do cable but I hope to catch it streaming somewhere!
Since this our year of the most important election here are some organizations to follow or support to ensure our victory:
Post Cards to Voters
https://postcardstovoters.org/
Indivisible
https://www.indivisible.org/
Move On
https://front.moveon.org/
Swing Left
https://swingleft.org/
Fair Fight
https://fairfight.com/
Vote Vets
https://votevets.org/
Now the following is just to ensure you get a smile on your face today:
A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” Kurt Vonnegut
Well you know the drill, you can discuss the “other” good news in the comments.
Peace ✌️☮️