Conduct Policy

On a daily basis I visit The Passionist site for the daily bible reading interpretation. Time and time again I’ve accessed this site, but never noticed the “Conduct Policy” at the footer.

It reads, “Holy Cross Province was found to be in compliance with the highest current national standards for protecting children, earning high honors in abuse prevention policies, practices and response”.

It got me wondering, what if we each were required to have a conduct policy. What might that look like?   What if we took the time to evaluate ourselves and wrote this down.  

Would we see ourselves falling short? What might this tell us about ourselves? What are we in compliance with?  

Many of us have resumes that are required for employment opportunities, but what if we had one to help use as a guide to better ourselves and our responses.

What are your standards and where do they come from? Are you allowing yourself to fly by the seat of your pants or do you ask for guidance to help show you a better way to live.

Everything we say and do matters. I’ve repeatedly said this to friends in attempts to either get through a difficult time or just to give feedback to those trying to get past things.  Our conduct is how the world see us. God also sees and hears us as well.  

To the point, around September I was at the east coast under a shelter and I overheard a group of boys talking about surfing. They were pretty engaged and one boy in particular continued to throw the f-bomb out. I could tell they seemed like good kids as I listened and I wondered how they react if I talked to them about it. Looking around there were a few older couples and I thought, I’m sure they don’t want to hear this, so I  mustered up the courage to walk by them and said hello. I asked if they would consider not using that kind of language and told them they seem like good kids, but there were other people around and it might not be the best place for them to speak in such a manner.  

Shockingly the boy actually apologized and said “I’m sorry ma’am”. I smiled and told him to have a nice day and continued to walk down to the beach. What they didn’t know was that my sister was sitting nearby and later told me that when I walked away he looked at his friends and said “I knew that was coming”. I asked if there was any more conversation after that and she said no.

I’m glad I was able to talk to them and I hope in someway I may have prompted that boy to think again before he spoke in such a manner. Maybe his conduct may change down the road as a result or his friends.  

To be quite honest, I’m continuing to hear this more and more in public and social places.  What’s with these people are using bad language. Is this behavior becoming accepted?  
It takes one step at a time and we can all learn a lesson and help aid ourselves and others in better practices and responses.

Friendship

What does friendship look like to you?

We go through our whole life developing friendships.  They can start with your family and then branch out over time.  Some are life long, while others can come and go.  

I recall my father telling me while in my teens that if you even have one or two true friends in your life time you can consider yourself lucky.  How true this statement is while we grow older and see who truly relate to and stay in communication with.

The truth be told,  we can tell who is a true friend especially during good and bad times.  Hold onto those core friendships as they are rare and special.  They will last a life time.  

Have Courage

The color red has been known to resemble courage.  It’s bright, bold and often times stands out amongst the masses.  Have you ever noticed it’s often used in films to make a subject or object stand out?  What gives you courage these days?  In midst of living our day to day lives, challenge yourself to be bold and stand out for what you believe.  Hold tight and forge ahead.  

Positive Attitudes Matter

“Even a barren item can serve as a form of beauty.”

We have a daily responsibility to ensure that regardless of our circumstances we are always keeping a positive attitude.  One of the things that can be helpful with this is to realize that in the midst of whatever you’re going through, it’s important to give it time.  Don’t react or overreact to things, in the end it doesn’t help.  Most times you regret the actions or words that came out of the circumstances.  Most importantly share this with others and help guide them to a more stress free attitude.

Southern Fall

The beauty that fall delivers is nothing less than spectacular .  Couple this with crisp mornings and beautiful scenery throughout the state .  What a great time to go outside and explore and visit the local parks . Here’s a link to access all the parks :  https://www.raleighnc.gov/parks

Photo Op | July 4th Fireworks

I’m going to try this year to take a few shots of the fireworks.  I was grateful to find the flooring article.

http://content.photojojo.com/inspiration/websites/tip-top-tips-for-shooting-fireworks/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Celebrate Good Times

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Celebrate Good Times.”

Giving balloons during a celebration is something I started doing recently.  It lingers on afterward and is a visual reminder and conversation starter.

Celebration

My Beautiful Oak Tree

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Muse.”

This glorious oak tree stands alone in the middle of a field.  A housing development is slowly being built around it and at some point in time will be surrounded by homes.  I cherish these moments with all the seasons and hope in the future it will loved equally by others as well.

This oak tree provides shade and beauty in the twilight hours.

Photo Alterations

    
I’ve always been fascinated with photography since I can remember, but recently I find myself wanting to create other printed matter.

This image represents a macro shot of a weed, which had a filter added to give a textured look and feel.  I love the illusion it provides and the ability to look at the image from a different perspective.

Photo Booth

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Snapshot Stories.”

 At the beginning of every school year  my mother would take us to the photo booth at Woolworths Drug Store in upstate New York.  I remember her digging through her change purse and handing us each a quarter.  She never asked for the photos or told us why she did this.  I’d like to think she wanted us to be creative or was simply finding ways to amuse ourselves.  I still have my entire collection and always found one in particular to be the most humorous.  I’ll always remember and cherish those moments of my youth and my mother providing these snapshots in time.