I saw where Amare Stoudemire has come to an agreement with the New York Knicks that would pay him nearly $100 million over a five-year period. I don’t fault him for trying to secure the best contract terms he can in order to provide for his family. The problem I have is that someone would pay one individual $20 million a year to throw a ball through a hoop. That’s happening at the same time that cities, towns and counties across the nation are laying off teachers, law enforcement officers and other municipal workers because of the budget crunch.

Where are our priorities? Why is a sports figure worth more than a teacher or a bunch of teachers? It seems we have our priorities mixed up.

Twenty million dollars would go a long way in paying teachers’ salaries in a school division or deputies’ salaries in a county sheriff’s office. In fact, I’m sure School Superintendent Paul Stapleton and Sheriff Stanley Noblin would jump for joy at even an extra $1 million dollars.

So why are sports people paid so much, when classroom teachers who educate our young people and law enforcement officers who maintain our safety are paid such a pittance? That’s a head-scratcher!

Ways To Cope

Some time ago my wife gave me a list of a few interesting ways of dealing with the burdens of life. I got a chuckle out of them, but I also found quite a number of them to be very applicable to everyday life. Enjoy these words of wisdom.
•    Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue.
•    Always keep your words soft and sweet just in case you have to eat them.
•    Always read things that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
•    Drive carefully…it’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
•    If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
•    If you loan someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
•    It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
•    Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time. Otherwise, you won’t have a leg to stand on.
•    Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Remember, those who are watching and making fun of your dancing…aren’t.
•    Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep in!
•    It’s the second mouse that gets the cheese.
•    When everything’s coming your way, chances are you’re in the wrong lane!
•    Birthdays are good for you…the more you have, the longer you live.
•    You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
•    Some mistakes are just too good to only make once.
•    We could learn a lot from crayons…some are sharp, some are dull, some are pretty, some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
•    It’s true that every cloud has a silver lining, but every silver lining probably has instructions to dry-clean only.
•    Anytime you think you’ve had a string of bad luck, remember the little boy who lost his chewing gum in the chicken coop and thought he found it five times.
•    A house full of crying kids is far better than being alone.
•    If life throws you a lemon, make lemonade. If life throws you a prune, wait for the lemon.
•    A smile and a friendly handshake will take you farther than a frown and a full tank of gas.
•    Remember, you’re not overweight, you’re undertall.
•    Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and boring!
•    The most dangerous thing to the existence of man is a woman with an unlimited credit card.
As I said before, this was just in fun, but quite a few come closer to the truth than we’d like to admit.