Fathers

Father’s Day will be here in a few days. I got to thinking about fathers and what they represent in a family. According to the dictionary, a father is the male parent. He has many roles to fulfill: provider, protector, instructor, trainer, commander, corrector, nourisher. The list could go on and on, but you can get the general idea what their role in life should be.

I remember growing up thinking my dad could do no wrong and could basically walk on water if he wanted. When I was little I would sit on his lap and we would talk and play and I would tell him I would marry him when I grew up. I realized as I got older that that was not possible or even legal, but I also came to the conclusion I wanted to marry someone "like my father." I believe I did that. I married a wonderful man who is a super father to our four boys. He has set a good example for all of them to follow. He has not only been a good father, but a great husband, which is hopefully the model they will follow when they marry.

I was fortunate to get to be a stay-at-home mom while our kids have grown up. Hubby did not want me working and sticking our kids in daycare. Even though our youngest just graduated from high school, he does not want me to have to work outside the home. So thank goodness for the Internet and my online business! He has been an excellent provider as a husband and father. He has worked at the same job for nearly 26 years doing shift work. We added on to and remodeled our house ourselves to give each of the boys their own room to enjoy while they still lived at home. He has taught the boys a lot about construction and then encouraged them to go to the technical college where he went in order to gain more knowledge in that trade – which they have done. He is interested and involved in what the boys are doing and was a faithful supporter of them for 3 ½ years in their training to obtain their first-degree black belts in Tae Kwon Do. He has also been their Christian mentor and example since they were very little. I remember several of the boys having to write a paper for school about their hero. And guess who it was they wrote about? Their dad.

Fathers keep the family linked together and make the world go round. I feel sorry for those who have grown up without a father in the picture. Little boys need them to have a buddy or a hero to look up to. Whey they get to be teenagers, the dads have usually lost that status, but it made great memories for dad while their little boys were growing up. Little girls need their daddies in order to know what to look for in a husband years down the road. They have a way of wrapping their dad around their little fingers and before dads know it, they are telling the preacher they are giving their little girl to the man of her dreams. My husband and never had any little girls, but I know giving a daughter away at the wedding would have been really hard on him. He is not an overly emotional guy, but something like that would choke him up and cause very moist eyes.

I have two plaques hanging side by side in our bedroom. One says "A mother is a person who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take." The other one says "Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy." Both sayings are so true. Do not forget to wish your dad a Happy Father’s Day, but most of all, tell your father (and mother) that you love them. If it was not for them you would not be here! Plus, we never know from one day to the next how long they or we will be around to tell them "I love you," and once someone is gone it is too late.

Author: Linda Dougherty
Specializes in working with people to show them how to market effectively to earn money online.

http://www.internettowealth.com/

Donating Blood

Are you afraid of needles? Admittedly, there are different sizes of these, and some just look HUGE! Maybe it is the size or maybe the temporary pain that makes people afraid of them. There are things a person can do to get through this fear in order to donate blood. So, how do you become a hero if you are afraid of needles? I do not know if I can really answer that in a way to calm the fears of someone terrified of needles. Maybe it is just an issue of mind over matter. I tell myself I am doing it to help people, as one donation can save as many as three lives. It is not something I need to do on a very regular routing. You can give six times in a year, as you are only eligible to give every 56 days. So what is an hour of my time if someone needs my help? I am not going to be losing the blood for long, as the body quickly replaces it. It only takes an hour to give – less than 10 minutes for the actual donation. I have enough to share, as the average adult body contains 10-12 pints and you are only giving up one.

There are several blood types: A, B. AB, and O. There is also the negative or positive aspect. Type O blood donors are a critical member of the life-saving team. It is the most common blood type, so it is also the most in demand. If you are O-positive, more than 1/3 of the population can be transfused if they have O-positive, A-positive, or B-positive. If you are O-negative, you have the universal blood type. In emergencies, this means your blood can be transfused to anyone, regardless of their blood type. As a Type-O donor, you can save more lives in more ways than any other blood types, so you are what is refereed to as a her"O" (hero) donor. Actually, anyone who donates blood is a hero to anyone who needs it.

The American Red Cross is a wonderful organization that comes to people’s rescue in the time of need. This can be in the time of disaster, casualties, diseases, or sickness. Thankfully, because people donate blood to the American Red Cross on a volunteer basis, there is a blood bank from which patients can get what they need in either quantity or blood type. Because of certain diseases, a person may require a full transfusion – it is there for that. Blood loss from an accident or surgery may require several pints – it is there for that.

There is a 97% chance you know someone who will need a blood transfusion. Every 2 seconds is how often someone in America needs blood. So next time you see the ad for the American Red Cross wanting your help to save lives, please consider doing it. Just take a deep breath when you arrive, tell yourself it is for a good cause, tell the assistant it is your first time and that you are nervous (they will help calm those fears) and just look the other way when they are ready to insert the needle. You will be surprised how much difference that can make. It is like having a honeybee or wasp land on you. If you don’t know they are there, you do not know when (or if) they are going to sting. But if you start freaking out, even when they just start swarming around you, you tend to tense up and get scared, and it makes things so much worse.

Donating blood is a good example of teamwork. I look at it with this analogy comparing it to my online business that I can work from home:
Patient + donor + Red Cross = blood for those in need
Mentor + help + Internet = success for building an online business

Either way you look at it, teamwork is what makes either of these scenarios work.

Author: Linda Dougherty
Specializes in working with people to show them how to market effectively to earn money online.
www.InternetToWealth.com