Personal Thanksgiving Note From Michael Josephson
Dear friend,
I hope it’s not presumptuous of me to call you a friend, but if you have been a regular reader of my commentaries, you know some of my deepest thoughts and I hope there has been some connection.
First, I want to wish you and all those you love a very happy and rewarding Thanksgiving holiday. I hope you will spend it among loved ones and open your heart to appreciate your good fortune. As I’ve written before, family gatherings can be a source of both great joy and stress. I hope yours is dominated by joy.
If it isn't a happy time for you, I hope you will take solace in past moments of happiness and the certain knowledge that if you just hang in there, things will get better.
As I am approaching my 65th birthday (December 10th) and the flood of feelings and fears that comes with acknowledgment of advancing age, I am more convinced than ever that the quality of our lives is determined more by our attitudes than our circumstances and by learning how to identify and appreciate the positive aspects of our lives (and overcome the tendencies toward cynicism, resentment, and disappointment).
That insight doesn’t make it easy; it just points the way.
Second, I want to express my thanks, my sincere gratitude to you, for making it seem worthwhile to express my thoughts on a daily basis.
I confess it is becoming harder for me to block out the time to write my regular messages, but the positive reinforcement I get from kind letters and comments of people I meet during my travels continues to inspire and encourage me. Your appreciation gives my life additional meaning.
Third, I want to personally ask you to financially support the work of the nonprofit Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics. Any help you can give will be put to good use.
We have had an enormously productive year in terms of impact. We’ve extended our reach to about 7 million children and their families through CHARACTER COUNTS!. We're teaching and training thousands of coaches and athletes through special projects with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and the Los Angeles School District. And we're helping establish sustainable ethical cultures in a multitude of city and county governments, policing agencies, the Department of Defense, and major corporations.
Still, we struggle to break even and are frustrated because we can't do all the things we could do if we had more resources.
Sadly, we're even considering the necessity of asking a subscription fee for the commentaries. The voluntary donations we receive from subscribers doesn't even come close to covering the costs of this service I so much want to keep free.
As you may know, I accept no compensation from the Institute. I'm a full-time volunteer. This emboldens me to ask you to express gratitude for my commentaries and to give generously with a tax-deductible donation.
To donate, call 800-711-2670 or click here.
Sincerely yours,
Michael Josephson
Comments
I am a huge fan of yours. I grew up in a small town in Montana and in Oregon. I moved here 11 years ago and like so many make a living in the superficial world of Hollywood as an assistant director. We are kind of known as the tyrants on set. Always telling people where to go and yelling all the time. Actually that is not about my nature at all. In fact, I’m keenly aware of that reputation and try daily to not be seen in that light. On the way into work one morning I was listing to the news on the local station and your commentary came on. I was so impressed, surprised, and inspired that in LA, this kingdom of the self-deserving, that there was someone out there that had it right! Had their priorities strait and was even getting the word out... I found I looked forward to hearing these blurbs on the radio whenever I could. I would find myself in Traffic and surrounded by people being rude and all about themselves as they drove into work along side me and I found your words to be like an island of sanity in the salty and turbulent ocean of the 405. I would tell others at work about your words and the meanings behind your stories. They hit home to a kid from that small town in the Bitterroot mountains of western Montana. I longed to share them with others in the hopes that they would get the same lessons as I had. I even went as far as to research your company a bit. And saw the names of the people that were on your boards and was pleased that you had made such influences. From time to time I would go on your website just to listen or even show friends how to listen to your words of wisdom. And that brings me to today. I was updating my website in preparation for the upcoming Christmas holiday and wanted to add a Links page to it directing everyone to my personal favorite places on the web. Yours was right at the top of my list. I hadn’t been there in a little while but after making the page, I added your link that I had bookmarked. I clicked on the link and found that your audio downloads of your commentaries were no longer anywhere to be found. Don’t get me wrong... the words are still valid. I’m a big fan of the written word. But in this case, these words were YOUR words.. and your speaking them truly brought validity and a kind of personal touch to your message. Please bring that part of the webpage back. I know this is a company that needs to make money. We all have to make a living somehow. But at least to me, and to my friends that know you, you have transcended the mere business for profit model. You have in a much-needed town, become a vital public resource. Please see that there are those of us voiceless that truly listen to, learn from and try to further your message. Please let it ring out loud once again.
All the best to you.
- Brent Stanton
- www.brentstanton.com
Posted by: Brent Stanton | November 24, 2007 11:54 AM
I'm with Brent Stanton I miss the audio portion of your website. Please bring it back.
Posted by: Sheila Saenz | November 27, 2007 9:27 PM
Mr. Stanton and Ms. Saenz,
Thanks very much for the feedback and for your interest in this website.
Currently, you can access mp3's in the weekly newsletter. If you're not already a subscriber, you can sign up here:
http://www.charactercounts.org/newsletters.htm
You might also consider signing up for the Commentary podcast here:
http://www.charactercounts.org/knxpodcast.htm
We're in the process of moving charactercounts.org to a new webhost, which should improve our site's stability and performance. Once this is complete we'll explore the possibility of making mp3 files available in other ways via this blog.
Thanks again for posting your feedback.
Steve Nish
Josephson Institute Webmaster
Posted by: Josephson Institute Webmaster | November 28, 2007 11:40 PM
Happy 65th Birthday.
The Best is Yet To BE!
Posted by: David Powers | November 30, 2007 10:29 AM
My name is William Li, and I have listened to your commentary on KNX 1070 every morning for two years now. I currently attend Cerritos High School, and I have recently been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper. With this position, I wish to improve our newspaper by sharing with our students the same principles of integrity and character I hear every morning. Your commentary is truly inspiring and I would like to ask for your permission to put in one of your commentaries in each of our monthly issues. I feel that this will be beneficial for both our students and your foundation. With more awareness of your foundation, students like me will venture to explore your website and the excellent resources you provide. Please give me a reply as soon as possible if we can use commentaries from your online database free of charge to make our student body a better one.
Thank you,
William Li
Posted by: William Li | December 26, 2007 10:44 AM
Dear William,
First. Congratulations on your appointment as editor of your school newspaper. That is an awesome opportunity and responsibility. I am pleased to give you permission to use any of my commentaries in any way that you think fellow students will find valuable. If possible, we'd like to ask you to give our website and encourage students to subscribe to our newsletter (it's free).
Second. We are convinced there are tens of thousands of young people like you who find a thoughtful examination of issues of ethics and character interesting and useful. We are sorely in need of ideas to reach kids with thought-provoking quotes or commentaries that cause them to think more deeply about the meaning of their lives and the importance of ethical principles.
Do you have any thoughts on how we can influence kids thru MySpace or Facebook?
Third. You may want to consider posing a very pertinent question each issue about the tough choices your fellow students face regularly (e.g., friendships, school, personal life choices re: drugs, alcohol and sex) and publishing the responses of a half a dozen kids with some thoughtful commentary of faculty or editorial staff.
Fourth. You may want to look into our CHARACTER COUNTS! program (see our website at www.charactercounts.org) and see if you're interested in urging your school administration to adopt the program.
Fifth. I wish you a very happy and fulfilling holiday season and a new year full of challenges and achievements.
Best,
Michael Josephson
Posted by: Michael Josephson | December 26, 2007 10:51 AM