This is an old quote (note the year!) I snatched from www.screamfree.com . But it reminds me of so much of the digital training of baby boomers comes up from the Millenial generation!!

“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince, 1943)

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/09/27/9-ways-that-humor-can-heal/?utm_content=bufferf6a7b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer

“There are two kinds of light – the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.” ~James Thurber

“There is no vocabulary
for this, the no-language of grief. I can reveal
what my brain thinks,
but where are the words for this vague pain I feel?” ~ Irene Earis, The Baffling Dead

Most of us will never know what it is like to live under a dictatorship, fanatical religious regime or an oppressive crazy government. However, there are folks who live in a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage, 1.5 children, dog and a cat home that feels like a dictatorship. They suffer emotional abuse everyday. Instead of being gunned down they feel the controlling, abusive, delusional behavior just like the Supreme Leader.

Here are some points to consider that you might be involved with a Thug, much like the mob:

• It is their way or the highway. There is no adult, reasonable conversation. You better cave in or else there will be a price to pay.
• Do you end up having your secret place you have to hide in when things really go south? The basement? Your car? Curled up in a fetal poison in the laundry room?
• The Thug denies reality, facts and events. They squash any attempt you try to take care of yourself. They isolate you from friends and family and tell you how bad those people are. They threaten you not to tell anyone what is going on in your home; it’s between the two of you. No friends or family allowed. No third parties and definitely no counseling.
• The fact that you request to be treated with basic kindness, fairness and some respect falls on deaf ears, La, La, La, La, La. If you do express any kind of hurt feelings it will get turned around on you.
• This point is just crazy. They insist on their view of reality even if you have video, audio and eye witnesses to their behavior. They will stick to their delusion of reality.
• All Thugs are cowards! If and when you stand up to the Thug, they will enlist an army around them and play the victim role to the hilt. They will end up trying to destroy you. They will use money, children and anything else that will work to create a smear campaign.
• This one is just down right abuse. They will turn your children against you portraying themselves as the good, sacrificing and wronged parent. The parent who is the one that “really” loves the children.
• You cannot make any sense of the Thug’s behavior, their warped sense of reality and the things they say. However, if you get to the real facts of what they are saying and doing they fall apart on you and attack. They are right and you are wrong, so get over it.

If there is a Thug in your life, do what you can to get help.  The Thug will not change until some catastrophe happens and even then it is no guarantee they will get help or change.  The Thug has been wounded somewhere in their life.  You unfortunately have been the recipient of that woundedness.

Dick Forbes can be reached at 770.386.0608 or Email: dsforbes@bellsouth.net

http://www.forbescounseling.com

“There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year’s course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness and the word ‘happy’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” ~ Carl Jung

Staff | Manup.org.

A Prayer for the S.A.T.

            (or any major life test!)

The proctor thinks I bow my head

To start work on this test.

Most other students in the room,

Would think the same, I guess;

With pencil cradled in my hand,

And answer sheet lying there,

Before I open my test booklet,

I open my heart in prayer.

At first, I thank You for Your grace,

That has brought me to this day;

For teachers who instructed me,

For parents who led the way…

I thank You for the mind I’ve got,

(And pray it keeps on task!)

I thank You for the privilege,

This simple prayer to ask:

May He who guided David’s stones,

Be strong in me today,

May He who gives earth’s kings their thrones,

Shed light upon my way.

May He who offers “peace on earth”

Bring quiet to my heart,

And may He who looks for those who’re His,

Find humble trusting on my part.

And as I work and do my best,

To reflect what I have learned,

And seek higher Math & Verbal scores,

There’s another high mark I’d earn:

To know Your will and do Your way,

Whether this test, or the next.

And may Your Spirit be my guide,

And Your Word be my life’s text.

And though “Scholastic Aptitude Test”

Is shortened to: S. A. T.

I think I’ll let those letters mean:

“Student Attuned to Thee”

And if I don’t remember things,

And can’t seem to find my way

I’ll know for sure, at those times, too,

I can simply bow my head, and pray.

For other tests will come to me,

(Though this one seems so huge!)

And later challenges are bigger still,

With battles I must not lose.

So, may Your training and Your grace,

Be strong in me this day;

And may Your wisdom flow through me,

As I turn this   next    page…..

             For younger brothers and sisters taking the SAT

Requested by Dr. Sandra S. Hart

© Tom B. Bandy    770-548-3020

4/20/04     tbandy523@comcast.net