Sometimes blogging is like a night of binge drinking. You wake up the next morning and think, "What in the world did I do that for?" Neither is a recommended practice. Today I realize yesterday's post requires further elaboration.
Marie and I are fine. Our day was the Something Wonderful of the post--we went to church, had an invigorating workout, had a picnic in the car with the top down in the parking lot of Albertsons, sliced ham, spicy cheese, slices of bread with parmesan and artichoke dip, cole slaw and a York Peppermint patty for dessert. It was a very Abby-like meal, eaten with pleasure, some good music on the Alpine stereo. The large, rich life you want to live is right in front of you, a life of simple and sustainable joys. Then we went to her place for a nap.
And that is where the Something Awful happened, something horrible and embarrassing and humiliating. I was asked to leave. "I don't do crazy. And after the last little incident the two of you had I don't want you in my house." Never mind that the speaker of the above statement has had plenty of crazy of her own. It just hurt to the quick to be spoken to in this way, to be treated like a pariah. So today I feel like one, and I'm licking my wounds. I feel an enormous temptation to pull the covers over my head and sleep till two, or play golf and leave the cell phone in the trunk. Brooks and Dunn, a pair of country singer/songwriters, have a poignant song they do about foolish pride and the decline in the number of husbands and wives. I can hear the song in my head but can't bring out the tune. If any of you know it please send it to the blog, or play it over for yourself and listen carefully to the words. I am surrounded by waters, and haunted by melodies. Today life is teaching me a lesson I don't want to learn.
Monday, June 23, 2008
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This is the Way the Transformation Begins
"Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw, Robert F. Kennedy
This is the way the transformation begins.
It begins in me.
It begins now.
It begins with small incremental changes and shifts in attitude
it begins with positive action
failing forward
and suddenly I start looking at the world and my place in it in a new way. I speak differently and dress differently and project a different energy, and the world opens up like a glorious pink azalea bush, eight feet tall and blooming like mad.
photo by Kajo123 from the website flickr.com
Good morning!
An engineer builds a bridge and every bolt and weld has to be exactly right; every measure has to be perfect, or the bridge collapses or fails to take its place. Fantastically detailed blueprints have to be laid out. Impact statements have to be filed, sediment has to be studied, years of effort, months of planning, and a man-made marvel rises in the sky. Park somewhere and take a good look at a bridge, and think of all the skill and knowledge and hard honest work it took to create it. Consider how a few thousand years ago we were living in caves.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
The Hawthorne Bridge at sunrise, Portland Oregon. Photo by Joe Collver, from flickr.com
Genuine happiness and success start with an attitude of abundance
Make it a daily practice to begin your day with five minutes of thankfulness. You can even do it in your car on the way to work. Do it in your own way, whether it's thoughtful reflection or a prayer or singing out loud, but focus on your rich, amazing, abundant life.
Feeling grumpy or resentful or worried instead of thankful? Change direction! Consider the incredible gifts you have--mind, body, spirit, senses, your family, your friends, your clothes, your car, and the breakfast you enjoyed this morning. By the standards of 99% of the world, Americans are incredibly, amazingly rich. You truly have no idea how richly blessed you are until you start thinking about it. Even the heart that beats within you and the lungs that breathe your air are an intricate and amazing miracle.
Some of my favorite movies are ones that feature a once-defeated character waking up to an absolutely new day: "It's A Wonderful Life," the various versions of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" and "Groundhog Day." How exhilarating it is for George Bailey to wake up and realize his life isn't over, it's just beginning, and that today truly is a brand new day.
"It's a Wonderful Life"
George returns home to everything he ever wanted.
3 comments:
Here's a qestion for you do you want advice and comments from me on your posts or is the writing simply an outlet you don't want advice on?
Gretchen
Gretchen, Your comments and observations are always welcome. I value them personally and it makes for a better blog.
After reading the past several posts, I am anxious to see what advice Gretchen is going to offer. I am certain that I have no idea what's going on.
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