Opinion

The first time I got paid for writing a newspaper story, I was 16 years old. I wrote sports stories for a weekly newspaper in Pine Bluff that has long since closed its doors. I was paid 25 cents per column inch — about $15 to fill up half a page.

Martin Luther King Jr. has been quoted as saying, “Whatever your life’s work is, do it well.

A few weeks ago, I joined 20 of my fellow governors in a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to repeal the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate for our military, and today I’d like to provide an update on our request.

Dear readers, Perhaps nothing that has ever been published in any newspaper is as well-known as the piece I’d like to share with you today. Although it was written more than 120 years ago, its message is timeless and perhaps even more important today than it has ever been.

People generally want to know that the job they are performing in order to earn a living, where they spend the bulk of the hours in their day, has purpose and meaning. They want to know that their work makes a difference.

It’s been more than 80 years now, but the date continues to live in infamy. Just before 8 a.m.

It takes a special person to work in a public service career. Public service professionals serve their community in immeasurable ways by offering social services, educating children, protecting the welfare of others and promoting public health. For this reason, I have never understood why the salaries of public servants are often much less than the salaries of other professions. It’s a sad state of affairs when occupations such as professional athletes earn unfathomable amounts of money in the form of a salary. I’m of the mindset that if you want insight into what a business, society, family or employer does value, just follow where money is spent. If this is true, society has proved over time that professions such as police officers, EMTs, teachers, first responders and social workers are not truly appreciated. At the root of being valued is respect.

On balance, it’s been a disappointing season for the University of Arkansas football team, capped by a frustrating loss last Friday in Columbia, Mo., to a Mizzou team that the Razorbacks should have beaten.

In these days of stress and strife, there are many things that people disagree on, but there is one thing we all agree on, and that is we all want to be happy. Even the grumpiest of people long to feel happiness. It’s something you can’t chase but I believe there is a sort of formula.

Sometimes, life gets hectic and it can seem as if there’s never enough time to get everything done that needs doing, much less time to pause and reflect. But this week is all about reflecting.