Coal is a Gift from God

By Pat Meehan, "A Friend of Coal"

Coal is a bad word, according to the EPA. The EPA suggests that coal pollutes the Earth's atmosphere with carbon dioxide and sulfur and is ruining the planet. Many environmental activists say they wish all coal mines would be closed. Our president, Barrack Obama, has declared a "War on Coal" in West Virginia and many other States and yet, he has no alternatives to offer that would replace coal. I would challenge every employee of the EPA, and every person in the USA who opposes coal as our primary energy source, this question:

1.) Do you use energy, e. g. heat, lights, air conditioning, cooking appliances, refrigeration of food, electric receptacles that you are plugged into each and every day of your life, and do you pay a utility bill to a utilities company that provides you these pleasures of life though their operation of a coal fired power plant? The answer would be "Yes," by 98% of you because there is no viable alternative energy source that has been dilivered and proven and reliable. The EPA and its activists have yet to produce an alternative energy solution that would effectively serve our nation and the world.

Solindra, a $500 million dollar deboggled government funded project, along with many other recent government funded alternative energy projects, without proper research and business plans, have failed miserably and the cost of these failures has fallen into the laps of tax payers, which, by the way, are you and me. This is government at its worst and half of our voting citizens of the USA voted for a president who has delivered failed after failed policies and leadership and he has the audacity to ask for your vote again.

If you oppose coal, but use any of the pleasures named above, that come from coal, then you are a person who complains about his/her own pleasures and freedoms.

May God bless the natural resources of the United States of America and empower its citizens and its government to make the maximum use of them for energy independence at home and around the world. God willing, this goal will be achieved.

The Unknown – Get to Know it a Little Better

By Pat Meehan

“Managing change is the art of breaking down unknowns into predictable and hopeful visions of the future.”

____________

Fear of the Unknown … That phrase doesn’t really make much sense does it? Fear is not measurable or tangible. It is a feeling people have, but they can’t really pinpoint what it is attached to. Fear is usually based on ignorance or lack of knowledge … the unknown. A person will say “I’m afraid.” When asked what that person is afraid of, the answer usually is “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure.” Fear is a skeptical feeling like in a horror movie. You just think something bad is going to happen, and you sit on the edge of your seat and wait for the unknown.

Change brings unknowns with it. Managing change is the art of breaking down unknowns into predictable and hopeful visions of the future. How far can you go? You can go as far as you can see.
When you become blind with fear, you can’t go anywhere. You can go as far as you dream. Through self-accountability, we take on self-awareness, and move forward through self-improvement. We become self-knowing individuals, continuously growing, and learning more through exploration. We maintain a drive to learn more, know more, become more self-aware, and more self assured. In this manner we conquer fear, allowing us to see forever, dream the greatest dreams, and become triumphant in times of great challenge.

Reactive people have barriers that stop them, and they become victims of their barriers. Proactive people have challenges, and through accountability, self-awareness, and self-improvement, these challenges are transformed into opportunities.

How far can you go in your career? You can go as far as your challenges are challenged. This message is for those who want endless growth, balanced with general happiness in career, family, and sense of accomplishment. There are no barriers that block your career, unless you allow them into your life.

5 Basic Steps Crucial to Your Job Search

By Pat Meehan

Basic steps are more important than detailed steps because if a candidate falls down on the basic steps of a job search he/she will not get to the detailed steps that lead to a job offer.

BASIC STEPS CRUCIAL TO YOUR JOB SEARCH:

1. Answer the phone, as a habit, and be friendly. So many candidates screen calls and prefer texting. Missing one call could be the last call you'll ever get from a recruiter or HR Representative.

2. Listen to your own voicemail. Is it warm and friendly or uncaring sounding? Replace your voicemail and include stating your name, sounding friendly, and saying thank you for the call.

3. Return phone calls the same day and even the same hour whenever possible. This shows courtesy for other people's time and shows interest and politeness on your part.

4. If you are married and have kids, teach your spouse and your family how to take messages for you. Make sure a note pad and a pen are always available. They should take the name, number, and the message of the caller.

5. Use your lunch hour to return calls if you are at work. Don't wait until you get home. The person that called you went home too.

Friendliness with a little common sense goes a very long way. If you become very skilled at these five steps, your likability factor will always rank towards the top of your competition. Technical skills are important but people hire people they like.

Happy job hunting !

The Career Continuum

By Pat Meehan

When you say “Where do I go from here,” and get there, you will find yourself repeating that process again and again. You will continue to be more accountable, more self-aware, and more self-improved. Your career becomes a continuum, moving forward towards life’s unlimited opportunities. Life becomes a continuous adventure where burn out does not exist, and enthusiasm shines brightly.

One road almost always leads to another and when it doesn’t, we build new roads. That is what accountability is all about … building new roads of career adventure, and miles of opportunity for an endless career continuum. Life is so much fun when you are heading in a direction. Whether you are in the last chapter of a book, or the later chapters of your life, there is always another road to lead you in your direction.

Accountability is now your way of life. It is something you can teach to others, and something to pass down from generation to generation. By achieving a career of a lifetime, your experiences are carried on through the many others that have been continuously networked with you. Through all of your accomplishments, and through the lives you have influenced, you are leaving your legacy for many others to continue down that road of accountability, self-awareness and self-improvement that you have paved. You will always be remembered by the life you lived, the people you touched, the value you added to the world, and the brightness that shined from your light.

You have carved your name into stone along with the values of networking and communication. You are leaving for your grandchildren the lesson that your whole career is a conversation, no matter how sophisticated their technology gets. You are leaving your mark in life, through your lesson to others, that being as good as, or better than anyone on the team, or in the office, is a value to hold high with a sense of accountability, and a sense of honor.

Your career is a continuum that that you have passed on to many others to help them reach their dreams and goals. Your circle of influence, which was once very small, is now almost infinite, and is still growing with the expansion of your boundaries. In your life of networking, the goodness you have received from others didn’t stop when you received it, but you passed it on to other people, as your gift to them.

A career of a lifetime is not a place or a thing, an amount of money, a fancy car, or a diamond ring. A career of a lifetime is a state of mind, a circle of influence, and an ocean of friends. A career of a lifetime is a full and prosperous life filled with purpose and adventure, and an endless chain of network partners that was built, one person at a time, with more emphasis on giving, than on taking. You have built credibility through the many “deposits” that you have made in your “emotional bank accounts.” You have built this credibility through your trustworthy behavior. You have found your career of a lifetime, and you have discovered that it is here to stay, and to grow continually though the people you have touched, and through the people who will touch them.

All of this is yours because “You became accountable for your success!”

The Grieving Cycle

By Pat Meehan

Grieving is a natural process that helps us to work through the impact felt by a loss. We grieve at the death of a spouse, child, friend, relative, or a pet. Grieving comes with a loss, a death, a divorce, a bankruptcy, an illness, and the loss of a job.

In 1963 the nation mourned the loss of a young president, John F. Kennedy. An entire country and most of the world experienced the grieving cycle as a result of this tragic event.

When we lose a job due to a downsizing it is a painful experience. The grieving cycle allows us to work through the pain and into new positive visions of the future. These new visions are called hope. Although the grieving cycle is a built in defense mechanism to help us through hard times, it is very important to fully understand how it works. Without this understanding we can get trapped in the grieving process. Relax now, as we move through the four stages of grieving.

Stage One: Denial

Denial is a built in pain reliever or tranquilizer that comes to us very quickly following a trauma. It is a form of temporary amnesia that allows us to be numb or temporarily pain free from the trauma or shock we have experienced. After a loss a person will go into the denial stage. Let’s use the example of a lost job and look at the frame of mind of a person in denial. Here are some symptoms of denial.

- Refusal to even talk about the loss
- Will not admit to feelings of sorrow
- May abuse alcohol or drugs
- Will not relate other problems as being related to the loss
- Will sometimes show a happy-go-lucky attitude

Stage Two: Resistance

When a person moves through the grieving cycle naturally, reality sets in and the person becomes consciously aware that there is a problem and pushes away from it in a variety of ways. When a person moves from denial to resistance here are some of the symptoms.

- Anger
- Blaming others, self, God, or their environment
- Irritability, rigid personality, nausea, headaches, etc.
- Tenseness, anxiety, depression
- Embarrassment, shame, guilt, isolation.

Stage Three: Exploration

A person who moves through the grief cycle in a healthy way will eventually come to grips with the feelings experienced in resistance and move to exploration. In exploration a person is starting to turn the corner of the grieving cycle and will show the following signs.

- Agreeable to sit with another person to discuss the loss
- Willingness to get outside help
- Learning to take one step at a time to move in a positive direction
- Accepts the reality of the loss and shows willingness to let go of control
- Starts to wonder out of the defense mechanism mode / starts to trust others
- Willingness to follow direction to be self-starting

Stage Four: Closure

In the final stage of the grieving cycle the person has explored new ventures and opportunities and finds himself/herself seeing options and solution of which to choose a new way to continue living in a positive way. A person in closure will show the following signs.

- Readiness to move forward again
- Cheerfulness and energetic attitude
- Self reliance and self assuredness
- Decisiveness and good decision making ability
- Replacing the loss

Working through the grieving cycle it is not a lonely undertaking. It is quite the opposite. There are many resources that can help us improve our lives and our careers. These sources, just to name a few, are mentors, former co-workers or bosses, and network partners, support groups, and professionals in counseling.

What We Can Learn From Kids ... A Father's Dream

By Pat Meehan

In my life I have coached 9 different 5th & 6th grade basketball teams. This is a wonderful age to coach young boys because they are at an age in which they are still boys but have developed the competitive nature of men. In all of those 9 years that I coached, there were only 2 years in which I had my son on a team. I never wanted to be a parent coach. I always said that when I had a son, if God granted that, I would not coach the team(s) he was on. However, when my son Jimmy was in the 5th grade, the school booster club found out I was a 5th & 6th grade basketball coach with all winning seasons except for one out of 7 seasons and they asked me to coach.

It was the 1997-1998 season and they came at me hard to coach my son’s team. This was a unique situation because in the entire 5th grade class, there were 23 girls and only 6 boys. I took the job because with a 6 man team, I could not be partial to my son.

I will tell you in advance that we had a winning season. I will also tell you that we played our last game of the season with the undefeated team in the league that had beaten us by 28 points in the 1st game of the season. I promised my kids that if they could beat this team in this final game I would take them all to a college basketball game. Little did they know that I already had the tickets and had already planned to take them regardless of the outcome of the game.

Two weeks prior to the game we planned a strategy to slow the game down, conserve our energy and be aggressive on outside shooting. We also planned a very tight, packed inside, 2-3 zone defense with an occasional swarm tactic on a signal from the bench. These 6 young men delivered on their training for the game and they controlled the pace nearly perfectly. In addition they became very assertive on outside shooting with no fear of missing the shot and hit three of five 3-point attempts. Missing a shot was totally acceptable and fear was taken out of the offensive equation.

Long storey short, in each quarter the score went back and forth and the game was very close. With only 28 seconds left we hit two free throws and gained a 3 point lead. As the other team came down the floor, our defense was in place and with 12 seconds left, a player on the other team shot a 3-point attempt and made the shot and drew a foul from one of our players. Now the game was tied with 12 seconds left and the undefeated team was on the foul line for one shot. The tension mounted and the other team shot an “air ball” and we gained possession.

Our point guard brought the ball quickly down court and passed to a forward who passed to my son, Jimmy, #52, and he took the ball inside and made the layup.

We had beaten the undefeated team of 17 players with our little 6 man team. In the story of David and Goliath, a very similar thing happened. There is no impossible feat in 5th grade basketball or in anything we do in life. We all can rise to the occasion and be the victor if we believe in ourselves with the God given talents we have. It is amazing what lessons we can learn from 6 ten year old boys. It was a day I’ll never forget.

In hard times we get beaten up pretty badly, but with a little help from God and faith in our God given abilities to pull out our best efforts, we too can prevail. It is so amazing what kids can teach us.

Was FDR a Hero an Optimist or an Opportunist?

By Pat Meehan

NOTE: This Blog has been expounded upon from its original date of July 19, 2010.

Did FDR save us from the Great Depression? Below are unemployment rates from 1929 - 1939. Please keep in mind FDR was elected in 1932 and didn't take office until March of 1933. Please read, think, formualte opinions, check facts and please post your comments once you have read and researched this blog.

Unemployment Percentages from 1929-1939:

1929 3.2%
1930 4.2%
1931 15.9%
1932 23.6%
1933 24.9%
1934 21.7%
1935 20.1%
1936 16.9%
1937 14.3%
1938 19.0%
1939 17.2%

After reading these statistics let's think about what we learned as cgildren about FDR in grade school and in high school. We learned that FDR saved us from the Great Depression. But did he? Look at the official unemployment numbers above for the first 7 year period of his presidency.

I suggest that it is more likely that FDR was just a very smart fellow. He knew he could not get quick action to reclaim a robust economy, therefore, he created social programs via Social Security, Unemployment Benefits, Food Vouchers, today known as Food Stamps, and a Minumum Wage.

FDR may have been a caring person, but maybe more ambitious than caring. He desperately wanted to improve the U. S. economy but he knew that wasn't going to happen for years to come, as the figures above show. FDR was very calculating in creating his "New Deal." This "New Deal" allowed for a minimum wage, unemployment benefits, social security benefits, and food vouchers / food stamps.

This was not all bad and it was also very promising to a president who knew many years of high unemployment were ahead and that his social programs provided security to many suffering Americans. These programs also, however, provided for FDR's burning desire to be re-elected to many terms, four to be exact.

FDR was a very smart fellow indeed. When he enacted Social Security for citizens of age 62, the life expectancy in 1932 was age 61. Acturarily, that was a very good bet and a win for the government, and congress would surely go along. In addition, the baby boom generation had not yet started. FDR knew he could not bring unemployment to a satisfactory number, however he knew that a majority of hurting Americans would re-elect him because of dependence on government programs.

Today, Social Security is still here for those of us of age 62, when life expectancy is now is 84 and we have the biggest bubble of applicants because of the baby boom generation in the history of the Social Security program. Reform is mathematically sensible and Romney & Ryan have a plan to reform Medicare and Social Security to match the very smart actuarial efforts that FDR put forth into those programs in his day.

FDR was very irresponsible to run for a fourth term, as he knew he was dying. However his ambition was still pushing him. He was so irresponsible as not to have included or briefed his Vice President, Harry Truman, on the Manhattan project (the two atomic bombs on Japan).

FDR served two purposes, one for his country and two, for himself and it is very hard to distinguish between the two as to which took priority. FDR was a good man in many ways, but more concerned about power and election and re-election than on the benefit and good of the U.S. people. It was only after Pearl Harbor, when the United States was forced into war with Japan and when Hitler declared war on the United States the very next day, did the U. S. economy start to improve due to manufacturing of planes, tanks, and war supplies in our U. S. factories.

In summary, FDR was an opportunist. His opportunism led, very quickly, to the passage of a two-term law to limit any president to a maximum of two terms. It was Harry Truman who made the very tough decisions to win World War II. FDR certainly has his place in history, many for good and many to be in question.






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