“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.” - Groucho Marx
Yes, January is National Hobby Month. Just for the fun of it though, let’s take a look at the ‘Brownielocks Calendar.’
The month of January is ‘International Creativity Month’, ‘Quality of Life Month’, ‘Way Finding Month’, ‘Self-Defense Month’, ‘Mentoring Month’, ‘Volunteer Blood Donor Month’, and ‘Self Love Month’. These all could be considered a kind of hobby. Let’s just say hobby, routine, ritual, something that we could make a part of our life. They are all positive and would definitely improve our quality of life.
It is also ‘National Stalking Awareness Month’. Stalking is a serious offense. It is a series of actions that will make you in fear for your safety. A stalker may follow you, harass you, call you on the telephone, watch your house, send you mail you don't want, or act in some other way that makes you fearful.
All states now have laws against stalking. Any unwanted contact between a stalker and their victim which directly or indirectly poses a threat or makes the victim fearful can be referred to as stalking, whether or not it meets a state's exact legal definition.
Stalking is a serious, potentially life-threatening crime. In most cases it permanently changes the lives of the people who are victimized. Most times stalking also affects the victim’s friends, families, and co-workers. Law enforcement has only in the recent years began to understand how to deal with this crime.
As many as 1.8 million Americans are stalked each year; and that means 1 in 19 women or men will become targets of stalking behavior at least once during their lifetimes. If you feel that you are a victim of stalking you need to contact your local authorities immediately. Keep track of all phone calls, sightings of the alleged stalker at your workplace, outside of your home, or anywhere else.
We will leave you with a couple of happy notes on the ‘Brownielocks Calendar’. January 21-25 is ‘No Name Calling Week’. Darn it! That will be a tough week!
January 24th is ‘National Compliment Day’, and January 25th is ‘Fun at Work Day’. Yippee! We should always try to compliment and have fun at work. If you are fortunate enough to work with bubblewrap, well, January 28th is 'National Bubblewrap Appreciation Day'. What a fun week that will be. Complimenting, fun, and bubblewrap...hooray!
Okay, January 27th is ‘Thomas Crapper Day’. You know what the crapper is, don’t you? Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet; however, he did increase the popularity of the porcelain throne. Mr. Crapper invented the ballcock, and his company had the world’s first bath, sink, and toilet showroom which was on Kings Road, in the United Kingdom.
If you would like to check out the list of daily, weekly, and monthly observations, go to http://www.brownielocks.com/january.htm.
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi157.htm
http://www.stalkingawarenessmonth.org/about
http://www.nonamecallingweek.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/about/index.html
http://www.nonamecallingweek.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/about/index.html
