The following moral/ethical dilemma supposedly was included on an actual job application: You are driving down the road at night during a torrential downpour, when you pass by a bus stop. Three people are waiting for the bus: 1) An elderly lady who looks as if she needs medical attention. 2) A longtime friend who…

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The United States has seen its share of weather-related catastrophes in 2011. At the beginning of year, several cities were pounded by blizzards, and snowfall amounts approached record totals in Chicago, Boston, and New York. In April and May, a super outbreak of tornadoes wreaked devastation across the South-Central United States, most notably in the…

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Leading peers can be tricky since you’re simultaneously cooperating with and competing against them. For example, athletes on the same team contend for a limited number of positions in the starting lineup, yet compete together on game day. Musicians within an orchestra vie for the first chair, but then harmonize their talents to delight audiences…

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“This is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft and…we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last couple of decades. We need to get back on track.”~ President Barack Obama Has America gotten soft? Lost its edge? Wandered off track? In many ways, society has indeed gotten…

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President Harry S. Truman readily took responsibility for his decisions, and he was famous for saying, “The buck stops here.” Though his approval ratings were only 20-30% for much of his presidency, Truman didn’t waver. “I know the public is against me,” he’d say, “but they’ll come around.” Truman entered the election year of 1948…

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Ernest Kent Coulter walked away from a promising career as a newspaperman to serve as clerk in the New York Children’s Court. He was disturbed by the procession of juveniles streaming through the state’s penal system. Time and again, he witnessed the same pattern: a youth got into trouble, was branded as a “bad” kid,…

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“What [a person] knows at fifty that he did not know at twenty is not the knowledge of formulas or forms of words, but of people, places, actions—a knowledge gained by touch, sight, sound, victories, failures, sleeplessness, devotion, love—the human experiences and emotions of this earth and of oneself and of other men.” ~ Adlai…

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The phrase “spending time” isn’t a metaphor. Each of us is allotted 24 hours per day, which we have no choice but to expend. We can neither stockpile time, nor buy back hours already spent. In his book, What To Do Between Birth and Death, author Charles Spezzano offers the following observation about time: You…

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Which significant event or season would you describe as “the time of your life”? Perhaps your wedding day and honeymoon, an adventurous vacation, or the birth of a child. These memorable moments stick in our minds and remembering them brings back feelings of joy. Yet while our lives may be marked by notable occasions, they’re…

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School is back in session. Over the past few weeks, millions of children have grabbed their backpacks and lunchboxes, boarded the bus, arrived at school, and walked into a classroom full of new faces. During the first day of school, a student’s mind buzzes with questions: • Who will be my friends? • Does my…

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