Sometimes when people talk to me they think my hearing is getting worse. In reality I’m preparing, I’m just deep in thought. While in deep thought sometimes it’s hard to let another thought break in.
Some people would say that they’re just “getting their ducks in a row”. They are just trying to put their thoughts and or their lives in order so that they can face the coming minute, hour, day, week, year, or even their lifetime.
For me, I find that when I’m thinking those “everyday thoughts” they are easy for others to break into. But, when I’m working on that “really deep stuff”, I’m hard to break into. That’s when I have a case of what I call “funnel vision”. My entire thinking process is pointed in that one direction! My walls of thought are very thick making them hard to penetrate from the outside.
Years ago I built a greenhouse on the side of the building I call the shed. Over the years it fell into disrepair. Last year I started fixing it up. Inside I built a small gurgling fountain and outside I replaced the badly discolored plastic panels with windows others had discarded. It was only then that I realized I had created a “quiet place”.
It had turned out to be a place I could walk into, close the door and leave the rest of the world on the outside. I had changed the old greenhouse into my preparing place, a place for me to think my thoughts and make my plans. As a bonus, I found it to be an excellent place to talk with my Friend, my Father in Heaven. It has turned into a place where thoughts and ideas come easier.
For many years I found myself continually running headlong into corners. I had many great ideas but I jumped into them before I took into consideration the costs and needs. For each great idea God puts stumbling blocks in its path. The ones that fall and then stand back up and then keep going are the ones that succeed. The ones that say I tried that and it didn’t work so I quit, they’re the ones that failed.
For me, ideas just keep coming. My joy is figuring out how to make them work after that they become boring for me and there is always a new and more exciting idea waiting to take its place.
I guess I need a sign to hang around my neck that says “I’m preparing-Please do not disturb”.
I’ve had different people tell me that they wanted “piece of mind’ or that they “were trying to put their thoughts together” or they wish “they could think straight”. Were they really telling me they only were trying to put their lives in order?
I’ve had people tell me they wished they could live a quieter more simple life. One of the ways could be to turn off the TV. That on switch is also an off switch! Also we have no need for background music for every step of our lives. We don’t need someone at our elbow each waking moment. We need to turn off the rest of the world, to find our own quiet place, a place we can “think for ourselves”. We need a place to give the world a chance to get in step with US. We can make our world a wonderful world. O Yeah!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
One Hundred Percent
Again it happened, as I was listening to CNN I received one of those open my heart messages. I have no idea who said it or what the program was about but this one line shouted to me that this was to be my next blog; “You cannot play every roll one hundred percent!”
Many times I’ve had people say to me “Give it your one hundred percent”. I’m sorry but one hundred percent just doesn’t live in this body!
As I look back on my growing up years and think about my Mother (who did not have an “outside job”) I can remember how fixed our lives were at that time. If I would do things “out of reason” my mother always had my Grand Ma to fall back on and she had my Great Grand Ma as her back up until she passed away.
Life was very routine at that time. I always knew it was Monday because behind every house stood several clothes lines and on Monday (wash day) all the clothes would be hung out to dry. Our underwear was always hung on the inside line because it was never hung for others to see!
Tuesday was always ironing day. That day I could always find piles of freshly ironed clothes neatly stacked on the living room furniture. She even ironed my underwear! Every piece was “put away” before supper.
Each day had that day’s chores as if they had been written in stone! I believe they were followed more closely than the Ten Commandments.
Every day, after school, it was always homework first and no play until it has finished. My spelling was always checked again before school. If I misspelled a word that meant I would have to get up fifteen minutes early to practice my spelling!
Thinking back I’m sure that if you would have listed the occupation of every lady, within two blocks of my home, it would have been “house wife”. Most would have had a hard time reaching that hundred percent goal but I think most tried.
Then along came World War Two and when it was over we suddenly found both Moms and Dads had to work to make “ends meet”. Look at all that great new stuff there was in the stores. And Mom really needs her own car because she doesn’t work the same hours as Dad.
When I returned from service I made up my mind that, if I had kids, they would never have as rough of a life as I had. What a mistake! If I could have just given my kids the love and supervision I had when I was growing up. To give them what I thought they needed and while trying to keep them from having it as rough as I had it had forced both my wife and me to work, sometimes two or three jobs for me.
All of a sudden Mom, who was still expected to be a house wife, was also expected to hold down a full time job. Now, she was expected to play two rolls that meant that at the best she only had fifty percent for each! Think what has happened to those kids with both Mom and Dad working full time, who is going to help them with their spelling?
If each of us is expected to put out that hundred percent on each roll we are playing what does that leave for us, you and me? Maybe I’m selfish, but I would like a few crumbs of that hundred percent just for me. No role playing, just a small amount of love and joy for me. It isn’t important to me if I live up to the expectations of others. It’s important to me to live up to my expectations of me. You can bet I’m not very worried about percentage points, either!
Many times I’ve had people say to me “Give it your one hundred percent”. I’m sorry but one hundred percent just doesn’t live in this body!
As I look back on my growing up years and think about my Mother (who did not have an “outside job”) I can remember how fixed our lives were at that time. If I would do things “out of reason” my mother always had my Grand Ma to fall back on and she had my Great Grand Ma as her back up until she passed away.
Life was very routine at that time. I always knew it was Monday because behind every house stood several clothes lines and on Monday (wash day) all the clothes would be hung out to dry. Our underwear was always hung on the inside line because it was never hung for others to see!
Tuesday was always ironing day. That day I could always find piles of freshly ironed clothes neatly stacked on the living room furniture. She even ironed my underwear! Every piece was “put away” before supper.
Each day had that day’s chores as if they had been written in stone! I believe they were followed more closely than the Ten Commandments.
Every day, after school, it was always homework first and no play until it has finished. My spelling was always checked again before school. If I misspelled a word that meant I would have to get up fifteen minutes early to practice my spelling!
Thinking back I’m sure that if you would have listed the occupation of every lady, within two blocks of my home, it would have been “house wife”. Most would have had a hard time reaching that hundred percent goal but I think most tried.
Then along came World War Two and when it was over we suddenly found both Moms and Dads had to work to make “ends meet”. Look at all that great new stuff there was in the stores. And Mom really needs her own car because she doesn’t work the same hours as Dad.
When I returned from service I made up my mind that, if I had kids, they would never have as rough of a life as I had. What a mistake! If I could have just given my kids the love and supervision I had when I was growing up. To give them what I thought they needed and while trying to keep them from having it as rough as I had it had forced both my wife and me to work, sometimes two or three jobs for me.
All of a sudden Mom, who was still expected to be a house wife, was also expected to hold down a full time job. Now, she was expected to play two rolls that meant that at the best she only had fifty percent for each! Think what has happened to those kids with both Mom and Dad working full time, who is going to help them with their spelling?
If each of us is expected to put out that hundred percent on each roll we are playing what does that leave for us, you and me? Maybe I’m selfish, but I would like a few crumbs of that hundred percent just for me. No role playing, just a small amount of love and joy for me. It isn’t important to me if I live up to the expectations of others. It’s important to me to live up to my expectations of me. You can bet I’m not very worried about percentage points, either!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Scary
In writing this blog I have learned many things. Just today I realized that for most of my blogs, My Friend opens my heart to many “one liners” (just a few words) to show me what I am to write.
These one liners, maybe I should call them headlines, come from many different places. I’ll list a few; they could be part of a TV commercial, a single line from the Sunday talk at church, a line from a song, a long lost thought in my head that suddenly reappears. I never know when a single line will touch my heart but I always try to keep a pen and paper handy because I always know that from out of the blue, it will come.
I may go several days without that special thought. Then, comes a day that several new thoughts come my way on that same day. That happened to me today, all before nine AM. The first, and the basis for this blog was “Take the scary out of life”.
Each day we learn new things. We don’t always realize that we are learning but we are. What we learn may be good, bad, or indifferent. What we learn is something new and with new there is always a fear of the unknown or untried. A step in the direction of the unknown can always be a bit scary.
Things can be a bit scary but that doesn’t make us cowardly. All new ideas come with just two promises, they either work or they don’t. Our attitude has much to do with our learning process: ifyou’re afraid your idea won’t work, you’re probably right! Look upon learning as a positive. Remember, if you can dream it, you can find a way to do it! Life is nothing more than if that plan doesn’t work, try another way. Don’t be the one hiding in the corner afraid of trying something new. Keep your outlook positive!
Life has many exciting new things for each of us but we must come out of the closet to find them. We must first open our eyes to see them!
Every new invention is built on trial and error; if it didn’t work the first time, we must learn why and try again. Of course, we are all afraid of something but we have to keep on keeping on.
For me, life would be far less exciting if all the scary were to be removed. My Father in Heaven has taught me how to take a lot of the scary out of my life. At my age I find that I have lost a lot of the goodies in my life (most is my own fault because of the way I took care of my body) but I try not to think much about all those “can’t dos” because it is just a waste of time. I try to concentrate on the many “can dos” and build my life around them!
Each morning, as I wake, I’m always sure that I will have new hurts and pains that weren’t there yesterday, but I want you to think about this; I woke up! I took my first breath of that new day! Just think: I already had two blessings and my feet hadn’t touched the floor yet! Those new hurts and pains (and the old ones too)? I hand them all to My Father in Heaven for I know He is better equipped to handle them than me. It seems He always is able to show me how to overcome them.
Next, I walk into that day with positive thoughts because I know the rest of that day is up to ME. Sure, some days I’m scared, but I’m going to live every minute of that day the best I can!
These one liners, maybe I should call them headlines, come from many different places. I’ll list a few; they could be part of a TV commercial, a single line from the Sunday talk at church, a line from a song, a long lost thought in my head that suddenly reappears. I never know when a single line will touch my heart but I always try to keep a pen and paper handy because I always know that from out of the blue, it will come.
I may go several days without that special thought. Then, comes a day that several new thoughts come my way on that same day. That happened to me today, all before nine AM. The first, and the basis for this blog was “Take the scary out of life”.
Each day we learn new things. We don’t always realize that we are learning but we are. What we learn may be good, bad, or indifferent. What we learn is something new and with new there is always a fear of the unknown or untried. A step in the direction of the unknown can always be a bit scary.
Things can be a bit scary but that doesn’t make us cowardly. All new ideas come with just two promises, they either work or they don’t. Our attitude has much to do with our learning process: ifyou’re afraid your idea won’t work, you’re probably right! Look upon learning as a positive. Remember, if you can dream it, you can find a way to do it! Life is nothing more than if that plan doesn’t work, try another way. Don’t be the one hiding in the corner afraid of trying something new. Keep your outlook positive!
Life has many exciting new things for each of us but we must come out of the closet to find them. We must first open our eyes to see them!
Every new invention is built on trial and error; if it didn’t work the first time, we must learn why and try again. Of course, we are all afraid of something but we have to keep on keeping on.
For me, life would be far less exciting if all the scary were to be removed. My Father in Heaven has taught me how to take a lot of the scary out of my life. At my age I find that I have lost a lot of the goodies in my life (most is my own fault because of the way I took care of my body) but I try not to think much about all those “can’t dos” because it is just a waste of time. I try to concentrate on the many “can dos” and build my life around them!
Each morning, as I wake, I’m always sure that I will have new hurts and pains that weren’t there yesterday, but I want you to think about this; I woke up! I took my first breath of that new day! Just think: I already had two blessings and my feet hadn’t touched the floor yet! Those new hurts and pains (and the old ones too)? I hand them all to My Father in Heaven for I know He is better equipped to handle them than me. It seems He always is able to show me how to overcome them.
Next, I walk into that day with positive thoughts because I know the rest of that day is up to ME. Sure, some days I’m scared, but I’m going to live every minute of that day the best I can!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Our Blip In Time
Each of us is impressed with our own importance but we must realize that in today’s world there are almost three billion others. That’s billion with a B! You and I are just a grain of sand on God’s beach!
It is my belief that my God has written my Book of Life and that He wrote it from before my birth to the last period of my life’s last breath. In fact my Friend told me; I came from eternity to my birth, from my life until my death, then back to eternity. He explained to me that my life was a perfect circle with no beginning or ending.
Each of our earth lives is just a short blip in God’s time. We must remember that no matter how important we feel that we are each one of the other billions is also a child of God. And, each one of them is as important to Him as you and me.
It’s a blessing that each of us cannot check out our Book of Life from God’s library. For if we could; I’m sure many of us would spend most of the rest of our lives trying to edit and revise our book. I know why only God can write our books because if we had written them we would have included many ifs, would haves, should haves, buts or but ifs. I’m sure our God knows us much better than we ever know ourselves!
God’s time runs from forever to forever! How can we ever expect our little space in time to impress one who already knows all? We have to face the fact that we are not the biggest fish in the pond when in our hearts we know that we are only another minnow in the school!
We must learn to be happy with those few seconds God has given us. We must treat each of those seconds as if it were our last (for it could be). We must learn to take the biggest bite of life for each day that we can. We must learn to write our “headline of the day” with only positives and learn to file all the day’s negatives in a file called history (learning experiences).
Each and every day of our lives is ours to make or break. Each morning it is our wakening decision; are WE going to start that day on the right foot or the wrong one.
Our earth time is limited! Don’t waste it. We can’t put the sand back in the top of the hour glass because it is already sealed. Make each of your grains of sand mean something. It’s your life, LIVE IT!
Never judge your life by comparing it to others, if God would have wanted us all the same He could have made a rubber stamp and stamped out the day’s quota! Don’t bother with; why wasn’t I or why were they. Each of our lives has been formed by us-you and me-but as God had already written in our book. If we want to admit it or not we’re standing where we put ourselves today. If we don’t like where we find ourselves, there is no better time to start changing ourselves than RIGHT NOW.
We’re just a passenger in the vehicle called life. Do you always want to be a passenger or sometimes (like me) you would like to drive?
It is my belief that my God has written my Book of Life and that He wrote it from before my birth to the last period of my life’s last breath. In fact my Friend told me; I came from eternity to my birth, from my life until my death, then back to eternity. He explained to me that my life was a perfect circle with no beginning or ending.
Each of our earth lives is just a short blip in God’s time. We must remember that no matter how important we feel that we are each one of the other billions is also a child of God. And, each one of them is as important to Him as you and me.
It’s a blessing that each of us cannot check out our Book of Life from God’s library. For if we could; I’m sure many of us would spend most of the rest of our lives trying to edit and revise our book. I know why only God can write our books because if we had written them we would have included many ifs, would haves, should haves, buts or but ifs. I’m sure our God knows us much better than we ever know ourselves!
God’s time runs from forever to forever! How can we ever expect our little space in time to impress one who already knows all? We have to face the fact that we are not the biggest fish in the pond when in our hearts we know that we are only another minnow in the school!
We must learn to be happy with those few seconds God has given us. We must treat each of those seconds as if it were our last (for it could be). We must learn to take the biggest bite of life for each day that we can. We must learn to write our “headline of the day” with only positives and learn to file all the day’s negatives in a file called history (learning experiences).
Each and every day of our lives is ours to make or break. Each morning it is our wakening decision; are WE going to start that day on the right foot or the wrong one.
Our earth time is limited! Don’t waste it. We can’t put the sand back in the top of the hour glass because it is already sealed. Make each of your grains of sand mean something. It’s your life, LIVE IT!
Never judge your life by comparing it to others, if God would have wanted us all the same He could have made a rubber stamp and stamped out the day’s quota! Don’t bother with; why wasn’t I or why were they. Each of our lives has been formed by us-you and me-but as God had already written in our book. If we want to admit it or not we’re standing where we put ourselves today. If we don’t like where we find ourselves, there is no better time to start changing ourselves than RIGHT NOW.
We’re just a passenger in the vehicle called life. Do you always want to be a passenger or sometimes (like me) you would like to drive?
Friday, January 14, 2011
Prayer and Miracles
While having my first cappuccino this morning I saw something on TV that got my juices flowing. It was; “Sometimes prayer brings miracles, sometimes it brings heavy equipment”. Sometimes a quick one-liner like that draws back and smacks me between the eyes!
In 2007 I was told I was being given the Gift of Healing. With this gift there has been many times that I have been able to see hurts in others. Sometimes before they even know the hurts are there. Those times I pray to My Friend and ask that His Will, will be done.
Sometimes I’ve been told to suggest that the person contact a doctor to have the problem medically attended to. Other times I have known their problem was terminal.
This has bothered me. I had been told that I had been given the gift of healing and then later told to send them to another source. I questioned my faith! Wasn’t it strong enough for everything? Then, I realized, hadn’t I ended each prayer with “Your Will, will be done” and then I was questioning His Will!
I had an irritation on my right ear that had not healed in over a year. I had worked on that place for quite a while but it was still there! Hadn’t I been given the gift of healing? I had seen my gift work on others. Why wasn’t it working on me?
Then one day I was told to go to a certain doctor. He was a cancer doctor! A week later he removed an inch and a half growth from my right ear! My healing was provided by a doctor trained for just that! Both my prayers and my questions had been answered. “Sometimes our prayers are answered by miracles, sometimes they’re answered with heavy equipment”. (My doctor)
Sometimes when we expect that miracle God gives us Divine Guidance. Remember it is HIS WILL!
Many times we look upon our prayers as we do our life insurance. We say them but hope they never have to be used. My daily prayer always includes the following: Please watch over my friends and my family. Last week that prayer was used and answered!
My son Robin was driving to his home. He was stopped at a red light just before turning into his street. When the light turned green he started his turn. He was driving his ‘Vette. That low ‘Vette was hit on the passenger side door by a large van that had failed to stop! At the speed that van was coming it could have completely run over the ‘Vette! But, it did not! My son was well shaken but not seriously injured. Thank you God!!! Yes my prayers had been answered! As many of you know I had already received one of those dreaded phone calls and I certainly never want to receive another.
Miracles or heavy equipment, I’ll take it either way. Knowing it is His Will now is enough for me! I’m not going to question it.
In 2007 I was told I was being given the Gift of Healing. With this gift there has been many times that I have been able to see hurts in others. Sometimes before they even know the hurts are there. Those times I pray to My Friend and ask that His Will, will be done.
Sometimes I’ve been told to suggest that the person contact a doctor to have the problem medically attended to. Other times I have known their problem was terminal.
This has bothered me. I had been told that I had been given the gift of healing and then later told to send them to another source. I questioned my faith! Wasn’t it strong enough for everything? Then, I realized, hadn’t I ended each prayer with “Your Will, will be done” and then I was questioning His Will!
I had an irritation on my right ear that had not healed in over a year. I had worked on that place for quite a while but it was still there! Hadn’t I been given the gift of healing? I had seen my gift work on others. Why wasn’t it working on me?
Then one day I was told to go to a certain doctor. He was a cancer doctor! A week later he removed an inch and a half growth from my right ear! My healing was provided by a doctor trained for just that! Both my prayers and my questions had been answered. “Sometimes our prayers are answered by miracles, sometimes they’re answered with heavy equipment”. (My doctor)
Sometimes when we expect that miracle God gives us Divine Guidance. Remember it is HIS WILL!
Many times we look upon our prayers as we do our life insurance. We say them but hope they never have to be used. My daily prayer always includes the following: Please watch over my friends and my family. Last week that prayer was used and answered!
My son Robin was driving to his home. He was stopped at a red light just before turning into his street. When the light turned green he started his turn. He was driving his ‘Vette. That low ‘Vette was hit on the passenger side door by a large van that had failed to stop! At the speed that van was coming it could have completely run over the ‘Vette! But, it did not! My son was well shaken but not seriously injured. Thank you God!!! Yes my prayers had been answered! As many of you know I had already received one of those dreaded phone calls and I certainly never want to receive another.
Miracles or heavy equipment, I’ll take it either way. Knowing it is His Will now is enough for me! I’m not going to question it.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Everyone Else
While I watched the 2010 Olympics I noticed that there were tears in the eyes of the medal winners and I also saw tears in the eyes of those who had not won, the ones the announcer described as “everyone else”. That started me thinking. My kids always said it could get scary when I started thinking. God had created many, many more “everyone else’s” than winners. If it wasn’t for the rest of us there could never be a winner!
I realized the brightest light on the tree would be just another light if all the lights shown the same. Also if the dimmest light were the only light that hadn’t blown out, IT would be the brightest light on the tree. If the world had no “everyone else” or “everything else” it would be a boring world, there would be nothing to compare to. I am important, you are important; you have to be proud that each of us is an “everyone else.”
Just what does it require and what does it mean to be that “everyone else”? It means that when you see a rock in the road ahead you don’t have to panic and try to find the shortest way around. We, you and I can take the time to look at that rock, to study it closely. It could be a beautiful stone-it could have a vein of precious metal. It even could be an uncut diamond! Most of all we have the time to wonder why God put that stone in our path in the first place. Could it have been HIS answer to one of our prayers?
In my Book it says “God gave each of us a talent and if we use this talent, more talents will come our way”. It says nothing about me forcing others to use my talents and then be judged by my interpretation of them. With your talent you may be able to run faster, jump higher, or have more money than me. Just remember God gave ME a talent too and I’m going to use my talent the way that I understand God’s words coming from my heart tells me to use them. You must understand that winning means very little to me because I am an “everyone else” you must judge your life by me, not me on thee!
Being an everyone else also means we can change our direction of travel or even our minds in the shortest of time, it means we can admit it when we know we are wrong, or even cross our fingers and say we were wrong even though we know in our heart we were right.
It means that on those special days we can take the time to look to the sky and picture animals floating in the clouds.
It means that we can feel the quiet call of a beautiful flower that God has placed there just for us to see and to smell the fragrance that is there just for you and me.
It means that two of us can share a hug and maybe share a heart beat or two as well.
It means God has given us the time to hold a hurting persons hand and listen to those hurts.
It means, I think maybe this is the most important part of being an “everyone else” that you no longer have to prove yourself to yourself.
It means you now have time to: be yourself, to be happy with yourself. Yes, even to love yourself. There is no longer apologies needed you and I know that we are the way God made us.
I am happy with me! I now realize that I am a true “everyone else” and that I don’t have to compare myself to another living soul. I don’t have to worry about “what would others think”. I can march to my own drumbeat and apologize to no one. I can think my own thoughts. I now know who I am, I am an “everyone else” and it feels great.
I never had dreams of being a super star. Being the winner never rated as being my number one goal. But, think about this; I never suffered the agony of defeat either. What has been my goal in life? I only want to be just Bob “an everyone else”. I never had a desire to win, step on or belittle someone else to make me look good. I am the way my Father in Heaven created me, I know He is happy with me or he would change me. That is why I’m happy with me, just Bob.
I realized the brightest light on the tree would be just another light if all the lights shown the same. Also if the dimmest light were the only light that hadn’t blown out, IT would be the brightest light on the tree. If the world had no “everyone else” or “everything else” it would be a boring world, there would be nothing to compare to. I am important, you are important; you have to be proud that each of us is an “everyone else.”
Just what does it require and what does it mean to be that “everyone else”? It means that when you see a rock in the road ahead you don’t have to panic and try to find the shortest way around. We, you and I can take the time to look at that rock, to study it closely. It could be a beautiful stone-it could have a vein of precious metal. It even could be an uncut diamond! Most of all we have the time to wonder why God put that stone in our path in the first place. Could it have been HIS answer to one of our prayers?
In my Book it says “God gave each of us a talent and if we use this talent, more talents will come our way”. It says nothing about me forcing others to use my talents and then be judged by my interpretation of them. With your talent you may be able to run faster, jump higher, or have more money than me. Just remember God gave ME a talent too and I’m going to use my talent the way that I understand God’s words coming from my heart tells me to use them. You must understand that winning means very little to me because I am an “everyone else” you must judge your life by me, not me on thee!
Being an everyone else also means we can change our direction of travel or even our minds in the shortest of time, it means we can admit it when we know we are wrong, or even cross our fingers and say we were wrong even though we know in our heart we were right.
It means that on those special days we can take the time to look to the sky and picture animals floating in the clouds.
It means that we can feel the quiet call of a beautiful flower that God has placed there just for us to see and to smell the fragrance that is there just for you and me.
It means that two of us can share a hug and maybe share a heart beat or two as well.
It means God has given us the time to hold a hurting persons hand and listen to those hurts.
It means, I think maybe this is the most important part of being an “everyone else” that you no longer have to prove yourself to yourself.
It means you now have time to: be yourself, to be happy with yourself. Yes, even to love yourself. There is no longer apologies needed you and I know that we are the way God made us.
I am happy with me! I now realize that I am a true “everyone else” and that I don’t have to compare myself to another living soul. I don’t have to worry about “what would others think”. I can march to my own drumbeat and apologize to no one. I can think my own thoughts. I now know who I am, I am an “everyone else” and it feels great.
I never had dreams of being a super star. Being the winner never rated as being my number one goal. But, think about this; I never suffered the agony of defeat either. What has been my goal in life? I only want to be just Bob “an everyone else”. I never had a desire to win, step on or belittle someone else to make me look good. I am the way my Father in Heaven created me, I know He is happy with me or he would change me. That is why I’m happy with me, just Bob.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year
I originally wrote this piece as a part of my “Book of Bob”. It was written on New Year’s Eve 2009. I reread it today and decided to share my year old thoughts with you.
Sandra was spending New Years with friends and the cat and I were staying home. With only the cat to talk to I had time to do some reflecting. These were some of my thoughts:
It took me many years to realize that I did not need to waste a lot of my life reading fictional day dreams of others. It appeared to me; many of these books were written by unfulfilled people and read by others who were unhappy with some part of their life. They were either trying to break away from a life they felt was routine or boring, or they were trying to find happiness in reading books written by other unfulfilled persons trying to dream happiness.
Happiness is not found in the fictional dreams of others. Happiness comes from the dreams in our heart and making those dreams happen. Happiness comes from the POSITIVE side of your heart.
I came to this realization that night as I sat with the TV tuner in my hand. I have over 70 channels on my set and I clicked through each and every one twice. I could find nothing that I felt was worth my time watching. Believe it or not I turned the darn thing off.
I sat for several minutes with that dark eye looking back at me. All around the TV was shelves of books that, at that time, I had no desire to read.
I don’t know about you but my body does not work well with extra time and nothing constructive to use it for. So I picked up a pad and pen and started to write.
This is what I wrote: I’m happy. How did I get that way? When and where did it start?
I guess it all started many years ago with my best friend, a little girl named Joie. We were six or seven and she lived across the street from my house. I’m sure she was the one who opened the happiness side of my heart. I could write an entire book on the little things I remember about her. I’ll share one of them with you as I glance at the dark screen then close my eyes for a second so I can pull those distant memories into focus.
On hot summer nights we would spread a blanket in her backyard. We would lie on our backs with a shoulder touching, she always had to touch. We would lay there watching for shooting stars. As we would see one, we would take turns making a wish. I don’t remember any of these wishes being personal, this was during the Great Depression and you did not have to look far to find a hurting person to have a wish for. Some nights we would lay there for hours
We laid there in total happiness. Yes I’m sure she unlocked the happiness side of my heart. Over seventy years later I can close my eyes and smell the fresh cut grass around us and still feel that touch of her tiny shoulder against mine.
I just looked at my watch; the time is 12:45, the first morning of the New Year. Time moves much faster when it isn’t interrupted by commercials!
Thank you Joie, this New Years Eve I have learned a great lesson: memories of a tiny touch of love can open a person’s heart. There are many of these memories bottled up in each of our hearts. All we have to do is push the off button, lean back a close our eyes and bring them back. Best of all they are our memories, not the fictional dreams of others.
I Wish You a Happy New Year and good night.
Sandra was spending New Years with friends and the cat and I were staying home. With only the cat to talk to I had time to do some reflecting. These were some of my thoughts:
It took me many years to realize that I did not need to waste a lot of my life reading fictional day dreams of others. It appeared to me; many of these books were written by unfulfilled people and read by others who were unhappy with some part of their life. They were either trying to break away from a life they felt was routine or boring, or they were trying to find happiness in reading books written by other unfulfilled persons trying to dream happiness.
Happiness is not found in the fictional dreams of others. Happiness comes from the dreams in our heart and making those dreams happen. Happiness comes from the POSITIVE side of your heart.
I came to this realization that night as I sat with the TV tuner in my hand. I have over 70 channels on my set and I clicked through each and every one twice. I could find nothing that I felt was worth my time watching. Believe it or not I turned the darn thing off.
I sat for several minutes with that dark eye looking back at me. All around the TV was shelves of books that, at that time, I had no desire to read.
I don’t know about you but my body does not work well with extra time and nothing constructive to use it for. So I picked up a pad and pen and started to write.
This is what I wrote: I’m happy. How did I get that way? When and where did it start?
I guess it all started many years ago with my best friend, a little girl named Joie. We were six or seven and she lived across the street from my house. I’m sure she was the one who opened the happiness side of my heart. I could write an entire book on the little things I remember about her. I’ll share one of them with you as I glance at the dark screen then close my eyes for a second so I can pull those distant memories into focus.
On hot summer nights we would spread a blanket in her backyard. We would lie on our backs with a shoulder touching, she always had to touch. We would lay there watching for shooting stars. As we would see one, we would take turns making a wish. I don’t remember any of these wishes being personal, this was during the Great Depression and you did not have to look far to find a hurting person to have a wish for. Some nights we would lay there for hours
We laid there in total happiness. Yes I’m sure she unlocked the happiness side of my heart. Over seventy years later I can close my eyes and smell the fresh cut grass around us and still feel that touch of her tiny shoulder against mine.
I just looked at my watch; the time is 12:45, the first morning of the New Year. Time moves much faster when it isn’t interrupted by commercials!
Thank you Joie, this New Years Eve I have learned a great lesson: memories of a tiny touch of love can open a person’s heart. There are many of these memories bottled up in each of our hearts. All we have to do is push the off button, lean back a close our eyes and bring them back. Best of all they are our memories, not the fictional dreams of others.
I Wish You a Happy New Year and good night.
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