Lessons After the Bell—Expanded Edition: A Man Who Views the World the Same at 50 as He Did at 20 Has Wasted 30 Years of His Life * - Softcover

Martlew, Barney

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1504397800 ISBN 13: 9781504397803

Verlag: BalboaPress, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Everyone has events in their lives that can translate into stories. Those stories, in turn, may contain lessons that can be shared for the benefit of others. That is the premise upon which Lessons after the Bell—Expanded Edition was written. The stories chosen for inclusion all convey a thoughtful message or principle that is worthy of consideration for living an exemplary life. What better way to live a life filled with peace, contentment, and joy and to be able to share those qualities with others? Perhaps these stories of life’s lessons will move you further down that path or get you started all together. What a great goal! “I wish I had learned some things earlier in life” is a statement we all can make. The “things” will vary, but the principle is the same: lessons learned earlier would have made our lives easier or better or different. Those changes, in turn, would perhaps remove some of the difficulties and challenges we face; perhaps they would put us in a better position to help others. Both are desirable outcomes. The stories told herein are meant to help others in those ways. The subtitle of the book A Man Who Views the World . . . is a quote from boxing legend Muhammad Ali, a man who had many words of wisdom to share. Learning lessons from other people’s experiences gives us a broader and more comprehensive view of the world in which we live—another fine goal. So this is my hope: that you will find this book pleasant to read and that the stories will convey lessons that will help you as you go through life. I wish for you much joy and peace.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Stories told serve two purposes: foremost, a gifted storyteller is an entertainer who calms our minds and leave us with a sense of peaceful satisfaction. Secondly, they convey lessons of life that may help others grow, mature, and gain new insights and understandings. Those were my motivating thoughts as I wrote this book. The stories contained herein are easy to read, yet thoughtful and entertaining. I hope you enjoy them. Barney Martlew, January 31, 2018

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Lessons After the Bell – Expanded Edition

A Man Who Views the World the Same at 50 as He Did at 20 Has Wasted 30 Years of His Life - Muhammed Ali

By Barney Martlew

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2018 Barney Martlew
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9780-3

Contents

Acknowledgements, xiii, 
So, Just What Was I Thinking?, xv, 
1. Lessons After What Bell?, 1, 
2. Thank You Ms. Johnson, Wherever You Are, 7, 
3. Corrie ten Boom, 11, 
4. Priorities, and a Guy Named Bonhoeffer, 15, 
5. Evidence Documented in History, 21, 
6. Vancouver in September, 29, 
7. Everyone is My Superior, 36, 
8. The Path Trough Life I - Meteoric Ascents and Misfortunes, 43, 
9. The Path Through Life II - Trepidations and Foggy Notions, 47, 
10. able Manners, 53, 
11. The Daily Challenges of Grace - Granting and Receiving, 59, 
12. A Bite Out of the Apple, 68, 
13. A Cold Reception to Manmade Global Warming, 74, 
14. Choices This Side of the Grave, 91, 
15. Follow the Money Trail - Keeping an Eye on [begin strikethrough]Personal Finances[end strikethrough] Life, 97, 
16. Axioms and Other Thoughts, 110, 
17. Short Shorts - Defining Characteristics and General Observations, 116, 
18. Pitiful Prose, Meaningful Message, 136, 
19. 30 Second Ponder, 151, 
20. Bub, 159, 
21. The Songbird Cafe, 162, 
22. Peripheral Vision and Loss Thereof, 166, 
23. Things You Really Need to Know, And I Said So, 178, 
24. Respectfully, We Have Our Rights, Responsibly, 183, 
25. A Buck is a Buck, or So They Say, 191, 
26. Facing the Facts and Comin' to Jesus, 194, 
27. A Meaningful Life, 201, 

CHAPTER 1

Lessons After What Bell?

The various ways through which we learn are quite interesting when you stop and think about it. Sometimes the lessons are straightforward; sometimes they are learned through repeated exposure to a specific type of event. Some lessons are set to a specific block of time; permit me to use as reference the ring of a bell to denote the start, and another to denote the end. Other lessons fade in and out, with no well-defined start or stop. We learn through both methods.

Now consider this: The best way to learn a lesson or remember information is to put words to music. Think, for example, how many songs you know the lyrics to. Music affects all of us this way. We don't intentionally set out to memorize the words of a song, yet we learn them, and associate the words to different points in the music as the melody flows through our mind. Psychologists and other professionals who are knowledgeable in human behavior probably have a term for this and can explain the process whereby it happens. I don't know what that term is though. I just know it works.

Another way to remember information is by taking key points and associating them with a story. There is something about the human brain that processes information in such a manner. When association is made with something else our depth of understanding is enhanced. Equally important, our ability to recall the lesson also improves. Just as we connect words to music, we connect important points to associated stories.

On second thought I do know terms used to describe this process: cognitive thinking, and cognitive reasoning - a thought process whereby information is strung together in a reasonable, rational manner. When recalling one detail we also recall other details where an association has been made between them. Story telling creates those associations, the links between lessons and experiences.

A common practice used in storytelling to convey a point and create a sense of association is a metaphor. By definition, metaphors create the association between words and pictures that help us remember key points. For instance, when I looked up the word metaphor in my dictionary (The New Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, copyright 1997) it referenced the title of a very old Christian hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God", as an example.

So, what does God look like? I don't know. But when I think of a fortress, I think of strong, sturdy, long lasting, impenetrable, protective, ... precisely the qualities and attributes we associate with God. I get it, metaphors work. By the way, I am a dinosaur, I like using the bound book dictionary I have rather than searching online. (Hey, another metaphor.)

As I write this sentence, a thought is on my mind, wondering if I'll get in trouble for citing copyrighted material? I don't know, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. Let's continue.

Now look at the jacket of this book. Both cover and title are meant to represent metaphors. I had three metaphors in mind when I started this project. Do you see them? Two should be clear and the third may be a bit obtuse. By some peoples' way of thinking two of the concepts may be sufficiently similar that there is no significant difference. It's your call. I don't object to either interpretation. Here's how I look at it, though:

• The building represents an old time, one room schoolhouse. In days gone by children would walk from afar to attend school, and all ages would be together in the same room. A single teacher would provide the instruction for each subject and every level of learning. Unique to the one-room setting, the older children would help the younger ones with their studies. Once the bell rang, lessons began. Not only did the younger kids learn from the teacher, but from the older kids too. In effect the young ones learned from those who had previously been in their position. Also, the older ones enhanced their knowledge and understanding by repeating and explaining lessons to the younger ones. That created a sense of community between older and younger. Lessons after the bell were both formal instruction coming from the teacher, and the informal reinforcement by peers and older kids' involvements. In similar manner lessons of life come from both formal and informal sources.

• Or the building may represent an old country church. Not many examples exist of this today but there was a time where it was common for a community to be called together by the Sunday morning ringing of a church bell.

Prior to World War I, North America, both the United States and Canada, were primarily agrarian societies. Most people lived on farms or in rural settings. City populations were not nearly the size they are today.

Life in those days was physically hard - hard, hard, hard. Much of the work performed was by manual labor. Automation, to the extent it existed, was very basic. Talk to a farmer about an eight hour work day and he'd tell you he had two of those six days a week; talk about a 40 hour work week, and he'd tell you his 40 hours started about an hour before sun up on Monday, and ended around noon on Wednesday. He'd then go on to say he still had 3 1/2 days to go before he got a day of rest. And there were still chores to do, even on that day.

Life was emotionally hard too. Farming accidents were prevalent, and that brought hardship to many. Infant mortality was off the charts, as were the number of women who died during childbirth, once the leading cause of death for the female gender. Life expectancy was significantly less than today. By the time you hit age 60 your body was simply worn out.

City life was equally challenging, with all the hardships of farm life and more. Fraternal organizations such as the Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks (BPOE, known today as the Elks...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: BalboaPress
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1504397800
• ISBN 13: 9781504397803
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 230
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland