I wake up in the morning and get out of my bed (a business made my bed, mattress, and sheets) I brush my teeth (toothbrush, thank you business) I take a shower and dry myself off (thank you tub and shower installer business, and, oh yes, the water business) Every moment of my day I am interacting with a business product. I drive my car, get gas, eat lunch, work….without business, I would probably be living, well, I don’t even know where, because without the construction business I wouldn’t be in a house, and without the car business, I wouldn’t have a car. And yet there are some amongst us who put down “business”….big business, is what they often site, but the real truth is, without big business there are no little businesses, and without any kind of business, we have nothing. We might as well all go back to living in caves (if we can still find any) and hope we haven’t lost our hunting skills, and, oh yes, we better have a natural source of running water.

We foolishly take for granted what we use every day to live. And the funniest part of all is, the folks who are often against big business are the folks who can usually AFFORD to moan about big business. The truth is, “big business” hires people, pays taxes (contrary to what folks say) which means they contribute to the “entitlements” of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, because their workers and they are paying into those systems. Try having Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid without the businesses who pay into them with their employees….entitlements couldn’t exist! So I get really frustrated when some folks try to twist the truth about what’s going on with “big business.” Taxes are lower in communities where there is a “big business.” More people are employed, even in smaller businesses, because small businesses grow up around big businesses. That’s the way it works. Ever notice what happens when a “big business” leaves an area? The steel mills in Pennsylvania, for instance? Ever seen it? Empty storefronts…gone are the mom and pop restaurants that fed the big business workers….foreclosures spring up on the lawns….etc.etc. Domino effect.

Whenever people moan about “big business” I think of the ungratefulness they are actually expressing. Big Business can often employ people out of the country now…and why wouldn’t they, if they don’t feel the American people appreciate them anymore? And sometimes, to stay in business, they have to employ overseas. America has not been business friendly now for a few years….. which is what’s hurting our economy to its core. So beware of those who are against business….you might be very surprised by the size of their bank accounts, and/or that deed to the chalet they own in southern France. You might be shocked, actually.

Our country needs a pro-business attitude so it can get rolling again. Without that, we will never have enough of a tax base to support the things we hold dear. And we don’t need to “raise taxes on the rich,”…that will only send them elsewhere. We need businesses to not feel FEARFUL anymore about hiring people. Fear is causing this recession/depression. It’s all so simple….but you would never know it by what you hear in most of the press. Really simple.

Wake Up,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2011 Jennifer Avalon

What is pain, and how can it be measured? Is the person living in the desert with no food or water worse off than the person stuck in a valley with flooding and tornadoes? Both suffer…both experience pain.

 We often feel we can quantify pain….mine is worse than yours, or, mine couldn’t ever match yours. Truth be told, the pain of losing a home is probably not as bad as the pain of being molested…a pain that involves the soul. A building can be rebuilt….a damaged soul can take a lifetime to repair. And yet many of us feel that if we appear to visibly have more than others, we don’t have as much pain as someone who visibly has less. But it’s all about what’s going on inside of us.

 When we lose someone we care about, that is a pain of the soul. All the money in the world can’t bring them back, so we feel the loss. If we lose something materially, we can often replace it. And even if we can’t, we can often move on, and get the help to do so. Where do we get the help to fix a damaged soul? And how does anybody see the cracks, to help in the first place?

 We come into this world naked, and we go out naked, whether we like it or not. We bring nothing with us into this life but our bodies and souls, and, I believe, we leave with the same….but with the imprints of those we have loved, and who have loved us, with us…..in our souls. That is all the treasure we can take with us….and the more we have of that, the richer we are….no clothes, no houses, no bank accounts…just Love. The pain of life gone….

 So what really is pain? The lack of Love…demonstrated by those who hurt us, sometimes including ourselves. When a flood or tornado hits, there are often neighbors who demonstrate real Love….when a soul is damaged, there are people who can help also. The trick is to recognize that pain is pain, no matter where it comes from….and only Love can cure it.

 With Love,

 Jennifer Avalon

© 2011 Jennifer Avalon