When did we in America stop taking responsibility for our own actions?

Hillary Clinton once said that it takes a village to raise a child.  I am here to say that the raising of one's children is the parent's responsibility.  Too many parents are hoping that the village will raise their children.  When parents take back that responsibility, we will see a much better world and more well-rounded citizens. 

Some adults blame their childhood for the mistakes they make in life.  I say that what I am today is a direct result of everything that has happened in my life,  but that does not mean that the blame for the mistakes I make as an adult should be placed on someone or something that happened earlier in my life.  Human beings have a free will,  and can take charge of the life that was given them.

There comes a time in life when we have to say,  "What I do with my life is my choice."  No matter what one goes through as a child,  one has a choice in life to either live with anger and blame,  or one can take hold of the reins and mold the future.  When one is filled with hate from all that has happened to him/her,  the life that is being ruined is one's own.

It seems everytime I read a newspaper or watch the news someone is suing someone.  Why is that?

If a person picks up a cigarette and smokes it,  then makes the choice to continue smoking for thirty years,  whose fault is it that that person is sick?   There are many products on the market today that are not healthy but we use them anyway. What a person does with his/her life is a personal choice.  The result of that choice then is his responsibility.

We are only human and humans make mistakes.  It isn't always easy, but let's accept the responsibility for our own destiny and stop blaming someone else when we stumble.

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I am a recycler, and am proud of it!

Until a couple of years ago,  the only place available in my area for recycling was in the back parking lot of Wal*Mart.  It was a huge green thing containing separate bins for aluminum,   news-print and plastic.  In my water bill,  I found news that we can now recycle aluminum,   news-print and plastic where we recycle our oil from our cars.   This is good news!   We need a place to recycle glass,  but for now it is not available to us.

Now,  at all of our schools and our school administration building,  we have nice colorful bins,  where we can take our newspapers, magazines,  phone books and catalogs to be recycled.  This is very convenient,  and helps our schools.

I realize there are citizens who do not recycle nor do they want to.  This is a free country,  and everyone has the freedom to make that choice.  But please don't use the recycle bins to dump your trash.

So many times when I took my newspapers and plastics to the Wal*Mart bin,  I found old furniture sitting around the bin.  There have been mattresses, computers, chairs, desks, etc. This not only looks bad,  but it cost Wal*Mart to have these things hauled off.  Wal*Mart no longer has the recycle bins.

In our city they have a huge truck they call "The Terminator".  Once a year we as residents may empty our houses,  if we choose,  and place the contents on the curb.   The Terminator will come, pick it up and take it away.  This one trip is free.  If we do this more than once a year then The Terminator will come again for a fee.  Having this at our disposal,  why does someone take their trash to a recycle bin and dump it?

I have wondered what kind of person it is that doesn't care enough about our city,  state or even our country to not try to make this world a better place.  If every one in the world chooses to not care about our surroundings or think of other people,  then it won't be long before we have no world at all.  If you choose not to recycle,  please don't be the cause for the rest of us losing such a privilege!