For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail? Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Declaration of Independence is more than just a piece of paper. It is a symbol of our country’s independence and commitment to certain ideas. A reminder of the goals we should always be working for, and about the people who have fought so hard to make these ideas possible: independence!

….specially to women in the United States.

THE BURDEN OF WOMANHOOD:
Here are 10 of the worst countries in the world to be a woman today:

• Afghanistan: The average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less than an Afghan male. After three decades of war and religion-based repression, an overwhelming number of women are illiterate. More than half of all brides are under 16, and one woman dies in childbirth every half hour. Domestic violence is so common that 87 per cent of women admit to experiencing it. But more than one million widows are on the streets, often forced into prostitution. Afghanistan is the only country in which the female suicide rate is higher than that of males.

• Democratic Republic of Congo: Rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them unprecedented.

• Iraq: has imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women and girls. Families fear risking kidnapping and rape by sending girls to school.

• Nepal: Early marriage and childbirth exhaust the country’s malnourished women, and one in 24 will die in pregnancy or childbirth. Daughters who aren’t married off may be sold to traffickers before they reach their teens. A low-level civil war between government and Maoist rebels has forced rural women into guerrilla groups.

• Sudan: Abduction, rape or forced displacement have destroyed more than 1 million women’s lives since 2003. The janjaweed militias have used systematic rape as a demographic weapon, but access to justice is almost impossible for the female victims of violence.

• Guatemala, where an impoverished female underclass faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages.

• In Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries, few women escape the torture of genital mutilation, many are forced into early marriages, and one in 10 dies in pregnancy or childbirth.

• In Pakistan, women are gang-raped as punishment for men’s crimes. But honour killing is more widespread, and a renewed wave of religious extremism is targeting female politicians, human rights workers and lawyers.

• In Saudi Arabia, women are treated as lifelong dependents, under the guardianship of a male relative. Deprived of the right to drive a car or mix with men publicly, they are confined to strictly segregated lives on pain of severe punishment.

• In Mogadishu, a vicious civil war has put women, who were the traditional mainstay of the family, under attack. In a society that has broken down, women are exposed daily to rape, dangerously poor health care for pregnancy, and attack by armed gangs.

• In India… story By John W. Anderson and Molly Moore

When Rani returned home from the hospital cradling her newborn daughter, the men in the family slipped out of her mud hut while she and her mother-in- law mashed poisonous oleander seeds into a dollop of oil and forced it down the infant’s throat.

As soon as darkness fell, Rani crept into a nearby field and buried her baby girl in a shallow, unmarked grave next to a small stream.

“I never felt any sorrow,” Rani, a farm laborer with a weather-beaten face, said through an interpreter. “There was a lot of bitterness in my heart toward the baby because the gods should have given me a son.”

Each year hundreds and perhaps thousands of newborn girls in India are murdered by their mothers simply because they are female. Some women believe that sacrificing a daughter guarantees a son in the next pregnancy. In other cases, the family cannot afford the dowry that would eventually be demanded for a girl’s marriage.

And for many mothers, sentencing a daughter to death is better than condemning her to life as a woman in the Third World, with cradle-to-grave discrimination, poverty, sickness and drudgery.

“In a culture that idolizes sons and dreads the birth of a daughter, to be born female comes perilously close to being born less than human,” the Indian government conceded in a recent report by its Department of Women and Child Development.

Daisy Says: Happy Fourth of July!

Tenacious, I thought this would be a great word to ponder on. What is Tenacity?

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines it as: persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.

“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” – Franklin Roosevelt

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent can’t take the place of tenacity;Truly the world has many unsuccessful people with talent. Education will not will not take the place of tenacity; as of this post, there are more educated people out on the streets without jobs than ever before — the U.S. government states that the unemployment is at 9.1% (I suppose they have not stepped out of their comfy offices and taken a walk through the major cities of America… if they took some real numbers to include those that do not report into the system and the women that opted to become care providers, I’d say that the unemployment rate would be closer to 12%).

ah! alas, this is about Persistence and determination which combined are omnipotent.

You can accomplish what you want perhaps not in one swift act of achievement — but you can do it gradually, day by day if you want to do it, if you work to do it, possibly over a long period of time.

Which would you prefer? Committed and Tenacious or Detached and Indifferent.

Truth be told, it is hard to achieve ANYTHING if you are not 100% committed to its accomplishment.

Yet the answer and the choice is in your hands. Indeed, you DO hold the key to achieving your goals. It’s in the Want and in the Work (pursuit, for those that find the word “work” offensive).

The pursuit will take you through the experience which in turn will become your journey. Have you put your dreams on paper? When you write your dreams down they begin to take shape, I have found myself erasing and redoing my dreams. What I have found more magical is that when I go back to my dream journal on several occasions I’ve had to expand my dream because as I had journeyed my dream expanded too!

The writing process helps turn your dreams into goals which you can schedule and track. The power of commitment is awesome. If you can dream it, you can think it… and yes… you can Will it to life!

Daisy Says: Take a deep breath and keep on holding!

Wishing Dad’s of the world… and in particular one very special dad – mine of course.

A VERY HAPPY FATHER’S DAY.

I thank my dad for all the great silent lessons he taught me through his ups and downs; no matter how many times a parent wants to teach a lesson, a parent is teaching lessons in his/her response to the mundane events of life.

The attitude about work, family and friends. The value of compassion, empathy, forgiveness and humbleness.
How they care and interact with themselves and the world around them.

As a child I observed my dad who was loving and caring. He was very empathetic for the needs of others. He believed in pursuing dreams regardless of how lofty they may be. He taught me that working hard to pursue a better quality of life for your family is a worthwhile cause.

The way he lives his life with simplicity and love of God has given me a great path to follow.

Daisy Says: Happy Father’s Day

Most people say that the first week of the first month sets the tone for the year. I say, when you intend change that is the best time to set the tone for the rest of your life.

What small improvement upon yourself can you make that will build your inner self?

That’s what I’m talking about… that small something that can change your whole out look on life. It could be a small exercise you add to your schedule, or a change in your diet, or perhaps visiting friends and family.

Big changes start with small actions… the extra degree:

Daisy Says: Good things come to you when you are prepared to do whatever it takes to get them.

1.You have TOMORROW.
Many people see tomorrow as a gift. For many the prospect of tomorrow is a grim shadow of darkness; Some lost their lives and some gave their lives. No matter how TODAY went, with every passing minute it soon becomes the PAST but tomorrow is soon the PRESENT, and that’s why we call it a gift. Appreciate this gift and make the most of it for you, your family and your community.

2.You are doing better than you THINK.
Reference is the place that creates ground for comparison, no matter what…DON’T compare yourself to others. Focus on you, you are the temple of your greatness. Focus your mind, you are doing great! With clarity of self you continue to do better. Stay the course because your path is designed just for you. Be thankful for what you have.

3.You have the ability to CHOOSE!
Within the temple of the mind resides thoughts, many take for granted the SIMPLE WONDER OF THOUGHT; you all have the ability to CHOOSE your future. The direction is up to YOU… it’s not up to the economy or negativity. Take a moment and choose to do something positive today and see how easy this can be. Positive thoughts, positive action leads to positive outcomes.

4.You have UNTAPPED Potential!
I read an article about a Chicago suburb that had a serious water shortage. It led to the city spending millions to fix. After weeks of trouble-shooting they found the REAL problem was a valve. The valve was NOT completely open! Open your VALVES by doing, by listening to success, by learning, by exploring, by nourishing positive thoughts and by increasing your personal growth. OPEN the VALVES and UNLEASH your UNTAPPED potential!

5.Life will provide the ECHO effect.
If you give life something positive -it will reward you, if you give life something negative, it will return it to you. Everyday you place INFORMATION, IDEAS, and BELIEFS into your mental factory and this in turn is placed into your MENTAL PROJECTOR. If you ever wonder why your “life” screen is playing something bad – I am almost positive it was self inflicted. Choose to INPUT good information.

In closing.
I am absolutely positive that you have been selected for something, selected to do something, selected to BE something…and the reason I know this is because many years ago – out of millions of “reproductive cells” YOU were the chosen one.

Daisy Says: The greatness within inspires outward greatness.