Christopher Bussard's Blog, page 17

One Step at a Time

I started out having a difficult day this morning. It seemed like I was experiencing one failure after another. One event I hoped would happen fell through. Another I hoped I would be able to schedule won’t be able to happen for a while. And a days-long struggle to repair a lawnmower that was brokenContinue reading "One Step at a Time"

Goodbye For Now

Over the weekend we went to Nebraska to pay our final respects to my father-in-law. We walked to a bridge spanning the width of the Platte river that held significance to him. Perhaps he just felt peace with the river. Perhaps it was something deeper. We passed over multiple fingers of the river, and althoughContinue reading "Goodbye For Now"

The Old Made New

My father-in-law recently passed away. When we were clearing out his apartment I came across a small bin of his tools. It appears that they had all seen better days, and most of them were covered in rust. I have always enjoyed having tools that I’ve been handed down, so I figured that some dayContinue reading "The Old Made New"

Never Forget

This time every year you see posts entitled “Never Forget.” The problem is that we really have forgotten. Though we can say we will never forget the events of 9/11/2001, or the people who sacrificed their lives, we must honestly say that we have forgotten the lessons that we thought we learned from that day.Continue reading "Never Forget"

Suicide Prevention Month

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Life seems to continue to get more difficult. If you are struggling, please reach out. And please pass this along. Many people continue to struggle in secret out of fear of the stigma associated with mental illness. We must fight against this stigma. You never know if there isContinue reading "Suicide Prevention Month"

Back to School

Now that summer break is over, I hope the kids will be able to look back on their summer with fond memories and appreciation.

Thank You

I have had an increase in people following this blog lately, and I wanted to stop and say THANK YOU to all of my followers. It means a lot to me!

Time for the Kids

I was looking through some of my previous posts and one of them brought me to the Mental Health America website. I began looking through some of their data on youth in America, and I was saddened but not surprised. According to their website, the overall mental health of youth (and people in general) is getting worse, including an increase from 9.2% to 9.7% of youth who suffer from “severe major depression.” Whether or not this is accurate, or is more to do with a heightened awareness, is irrelevant. But from what I’ve seen it doesn’t appear to be the latter.

Years ago I began a blog with the call to action to give time back to our children; to allow them to be kids, and to focus more of our time and attention on them. Life is difficult as a child and it’s getting worse for younger generations. Their innocence is stolen, and we stand around watching and complaining. We pretend that we don’t know what to do about it, or that we want to give them their freedom, using that as an excuse to be too preoccupied with our own lives to be bothered with theirs.

The question is, what is our priority? Are we more concerned with appearing so busy that other people will look at us and think how important we must be? Or trying to add more to our lives in order to fill every free space with unimportant rubbish? Can we not be bothered to put our phones down, close our computers, or turn off the television and spend some time caring for the children that we were so excited to see come into this world? Is our vanity that important that we must neglect our children?

I’m not a psychologist, doctor, licensed professional, etc., but it’s apparent to me that our children are starving for our attention. They need our interaction. They need our love. We (myself included) must get over our own pride and evaluate what is really important to us. And let’s find the time to dedicate to our children before it’s too late.

The Power of One

I had a dream the other day that I was in a hallway outside an auditorium, waiting to speak about my book. As I was about to go on stage, an announcement was made that I would be the only speaker that day. When the announcement was finished, some people got up to leave. More people joined them, and suddenly the entire auditorium of people was vacating.

Defeated, I fell to the ground in the hallway. I lost hope. Everything I had done was for nothing. But then a young woman came back and asked if I was still going to speak. I regained a sense of purpose and went out on stage. I then spoke about my book to an audience of one. The only person who was left was the young woman who wanted to hear what I had to say.

After I woke up I was saddened by my dream. I thought about it as the morning progressed, and I realized that my dream was not about me as the speaker, but about the young woman as the listener. She alone had the ability to give me back my hope. I was rejected by a room full of people, but one person was able to negate that.

It was the one woman in my dream who made me realize that it only takes one person to give hope to people who have been brought down by the rest of the world; by the rest of life. I should strive to be that person.

What inspires you to live life better tomorrow than you d...

What inspires you to live life better tomorrow than you did today?