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What Do You See When Looking At A Confederate (Battle) Flag

confederate flagA Nashville news station asked viewers their opinions on the removal of the Confederate flag from state buildings in South Carolina etc. Walmart also announced the removal of all products with the Confederate emblem from their stores. I stated my opinion, not realizing the amount of support I would have. It was the day of constant Facebook notifications.

My opinion:

I see history with that flag. Leave it. Hate is from within. It has nothing to do with flags, or anything/anyone else. Unless people lived in that era, they should see it as history. We were taught it in school. That’s history. If you hate it otherwise and seeing it stirs bad feelings, that was taught at home. And that hatred is from within.

Do you think of mistreated Christians when you see a Christian flag? Or mistreated gays if you see a gay flag? Do you think of the white Irish slaves when you see their flag? I don’t. To me they are flags. A person who sees negative was taught to see it that way.

Example:

If you took a group of first graders to look at mass amounts of flags they would see flags. They wouldn’t point out a specific one and say “THAT one has to go. It is evil!”

Fast forward years of being taught mixed with ones own feelings, life experiences etc. And take that same group in their 50’s. They would have stories for most both good and bad, and possibly resentment and hatred for some at the very sight of them. Why? They learned to.

The responses from the news post encouraged me to dig deeper and ask around. So I took it a step further in effort to prove my point. I took a poll. Here are the results.

Question: What do you think of when you see this flag?

Age 4   It has staz like the staz on my “shut” (stars, shirt)

Age 6   It has the same colors like the America flag

Age 8   I see you have a flag in your hand (uncontrollably giggling)

Age 10  I think of BIG monster trucks. 

Age 14  I think of the civil war and how the south lost

Age 16  I think of racism

So there you have it. Racism and hatred is a taught/learned behavior.

It is not the flags killing people. It is not a statue that represents history and things our society has overcome that is killing people. It is not the guns killing people. It’s people killing people.

People who were taught to never see the good in something, yes, those people are the ones killing people. You know, those people who were never taught how to love. We should remove those people, not the items in this world they blame for their heartless actions. Those items represent history, and are a reminder of how far we have come. And people like the Charleston shooter, are a reminder of how far we have yet to go.

Bridges Crossed – Bridges Burned

Some bridges are there for the view and others are meant to be crossed. No bridges should ever be burned. Burning them prevents us from crossing them again someday, and we never know when that time will come.

Instead of burning them, build beside the old bridge and create a new way. The other bridge can be the blueprint for building the new bridge. Not to mention, by leaving the old bridge in place it is easier to see how far you have come.

Build them, instead of burning them. It not only looks better, but feels better too.

© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

When We Don’t Know

© February 2010 Angela Bininger

W h e n      w  e     d o nt
know       which     road
to     travel,    He  gives
u s      a      sign.    When
w e    dont   know   how
to  get down  the   road
He    leads     t h e   way.
When   we   encounter  bumps   in    the  road,  He gets  us
over     them.   When  we    dont    know  how   far   we  can
make   it,   He   proves   to   us   we  can.    When   we  didnt
think   we  would   survive   the   trip,   He   shows  us   how
strong  we are.  When  we   dont  know all  of  the  answers
He     reveals    them.     When     we    feel     we     have   just
l  o s  t         i  t          a l l
H  e       g  i  v  e s      u s
S   o  m  e   t   h    i   n  g
T  h a t       i s     m u c h
b      e     t      t      e     r  .
W  h e n     we      d o n t
le a r n      our      lesson
th e      f i r s t       t i m e,
He      m a k e s      s u r e
that   we  r e p e a t    i t.
W h e n       w e      d o n t
listen    t o    H i m,    He
lo v e s     u s       anway!
When      we      are       on
the   cusp    of    fulfilling
our    dreams,   He    had
it   planned    all    along.
When   we   don’t    know
how,  why,  when,  or   if
…….……………..…………..
He does  & always will!

© Angela Bininger and The Empowerers, 2009-2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerers with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

How To Market And Sell Your Item Online

So many businesses leave money on the table every single month by not taking advantage of the internet. Often customers visit a boring website, with very little information on the product they want to purchase. The number one rule to selling a product, is becoming the product. You must know everything about it. With the internet, there is an art to marketing your item.

The customer can not smell, or touch the product. Therefor it is crucial that you provide them with a very informative description. Take clothing as an example. With clothing the customer should feel as though they are already wearing that sweater before they even order it. By doing this, they will likely revisit and make a purchase if for some reason they couldn’t buy it on the initial visit. They need to be able to visualize wearing it, and by providing a nice description of the item they will do exactly that. Offer free exchanges and a return policy. It is important not to charge customers a penalty for these returns. They are buying from a desk, and taking a risk. Many are already leary, so it is important to make it a good experience for them.

It is also important to tell them why they need the item you are selling. Where can it be used and how? How big is this item? Exact measurements are best. What will owning this item do for them? Will it improve their life in any way? Will it simplify things? Are their multiple ways to use this item? People really need visuals, and pictures do not always work. Unless of course, you provide several pictures of the item. Items with more pictures vs. one stock photo, will always sell better.

Again, in any sales job it is about believing in what you sell. I once sold an empty box on ebay for $250.00 in a mystery auction. Granted, I put things in the box before I shipped it, but the customer had no idea what was actually in the box. However, people kept bidding. Why? Because the way I described the box, and possible things I would be placing in it. It got them excited, and they wanted it.

So get them excited, and pump them up. Provide quality service once they have purchased and you will likely gain repeat business, as well as word of mouth advertisement. Good Luck!

© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.