Image Source: The Chive

I hate smoking. It’s no secret. Smoking has no benefits for me, my family, my friends, or anyone I care about. Smoking contributes nothing to anyone’s way of life.

Smoking takes. It takes away and takes from anything and everything it touches. It’s nothing but bad on all levels.

I really don’t think I need to explain WHY and where my hatred originates for smoking and anything related to it. (I would love someone to argue one ‘benefit’ or one ‘positive’ piece of information when referring to this habit)

So President Obama seems to be taking at least one smart step during his travels while staying in the white house.

Word is he’s signing the infamous HR 1256: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law soon!

Here’s what’s involved in this new legislation:

• Cigarette packages will have warning labels that cover 50 percent of the front and rear. The word "warning" must be included in capital letters.
• Any remaining tobacco-related sponsorships of sports and entertainment events will be banned, as will giveaways of non-tobacco items with the purchase of a tobacco product. A federal ban will be imposed on all outdoor tobacco advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds.
• Point-of-sale advertising will be limited to adults-only facilities, and remaining vending machines will disappear except in places restricted to adults. Retailers who sell to minors will be subject to federal enforcement and penalties.
• Smokers, particularly the younger crowd, will find they can no longer buy cigarettes sweetened by candy flavors or any herb or spices such as strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon or vanilla. Cigarettes advertised as "light" or "mild," giving the impression that they aren’t as harmful to health, will no longer be found on store shelves.

The last piece of information, in my opinion, is going to have a huge impact on our youth.

It’s about time Mr. President.

It’s about time.

Carpe Diem

There is education in all that we do. Whether a good experience or bad, something is always learned. And to learn is always good.

When did failure first teach you?

I’m sorry, let me rephrase that, when did you first fail at something? How old were you?

When was the last time you failed at something? How old were you?

For me (and most others) failure educated you with its lessons at an early age. Some earlier than others, but failure visited my doorstep and sat on my lap at a very early age.

I honestly can’t pinpoint my very FIRST encounter with failure, I can however tell you that failure had quite a presence during my sporting activities.

It surfaced during those ‘pick-up’ games of tag, or hide-and-seek. It reared its ugly head during those games of backyard football, baseball, dodge ball, wiffle ball, tennis ball, soccer, etc. And it slapped me in the face many a times when friends of mine would spout off, ‘let’s race’.

Failures vast educational capabilities has reached the farthest edges of my life, edges that I never knew existed until recently.

I owe a great deal to my friend failure. At first it was all about the competitive nature of youth activity and organized sport. But somehow it seeped into other aspects of my life. Hell it’s sprinkled throughout ALL aspects of my life.

Thanks to my friend failure:

• I learned how to make and maintain friendships.
• I learned how hard work in and out of the classroom actually had a purpose, and that purpose was success.
• I learned that some of the best education comes from making a mistake and then correcting it the next time around.
• I learned that just because I want something, does not mean I will get it. Hard work always comes with a price.
• I learned that anything and everything gained or loss comes with a price.

The single most important lesson I learned from failure was this:

Failing and failure are not something that I am, only something I’ve done. My failures do not define me, its what I do after those failures that define me. My failure and failures teach me how NOT to do something, and help me get one step closer to what I’m wanting.

So I ask you again, when did my friend failure first visit you? It seems to me that failure is a pretty important educational tool. It plants the seeds of determination and sacrifice while toughening the spirit for better and harder things to come.

I only pose these questions and ask how failure can be a bad thing, because apparently there are parents and educators out there who think competition and failure may be a bad thing for our youth? That having the youth ‘fail’ could be a detriment to their development??

I ask you again, when did my friend failure first visit your doorstep?

Do you think my friend failure will be back anytime soon?

I do.