One day in a row is a streak, if you've been going bad. Today was a good day. It was beautiful and sunny and I had the top down, listening to the baseball all star game on the way home. Ichiro lined a single to right. Yogi Berra got a nice ovation from the Yankee crowd. Sheryl Crow did a lovely version of the national anthem. I just listened to the first few innings. It was nice to hear some baseball and hear a little of the stories of some of the up and coming players in the game, Chase Utley and Cliff Lee and Evan Longoria. I don't watch the game as often but I glance at the box scores. I need to make another trip to Selah to see the grandbabies and take them to see the Yakima Bears again. Minor league baseball is about as pure a family fun outing as you can think of, a hot dog and a cold drink and a couple of hours in the evening sunshine with your family. Talk a little, keep score, shake hands with the mascot. Last summer Kourtney had a crush on one of the players and he was really nice to her, a great young man. The kids are starting out their careers, and in small towns they become part of the community. It's a nice thing.
In the mail tonight I got my stock statement from the company employee stock purchase plan, and I can use the money to get a new place, so that is good news. As much as I've enjoyed the Wheeler girls the long commute has been crippling, an incredible financial drain. Like a lot of people I've probably been spending $500-750 a month on gas, and I'm a light-footed old grandpa in the slow lane driver. For the last few weeks I've taken to coasting whenever possible, shutting down the engine immediately as I park and waiting to turn it on until I've made sure I've opened the Wheeler gate and adjusted the mirrors and put on my seat belt--I don't turn on the key until I'm ready to drive. Those few simple adjustments have boosted my fuel economy to 30.4 miles per gallon. This is in a Chrysler Sebring with a 6-cylinder engine, well above its fuel rating expectations. I've become a genuine cheapskate in my old age. Sometimes its kind of fun.
This morning before work I looked at a room near 106th and Weidler, a nice place, neat and clean with a beautiful backyard. The owner/landlord was a guy named Rick, a former musician who has lived a little, rides a Harley on weekends and speaks in a deep gravelly voice that sounds full of stories. I don't know if I'll get it but the location is perfect, maybe 12 minutes from work, 2 blocks from a Winco and 5 minutes from the gym. It would add 10 hours a week to my life and save me hundreds of dollars in gas. We're supposed to touch base tomorrow. The house is shared with three other guys so it's a respectable living situation and not a discomfort for Marie, which was important.
At work today I did much better. I just tried to be humble and polite, and was able to help most of the people without any trouble. Folks get upset sometimes and you just have to be patient, as much as you can, and be accurate and follow the guidelines. It can be a challenge. People get emotional about their trash.
One day in row is the beginning of a winning streak. For now, that's good enough for me. I hope you are starting a winning streak of your own.
Tuesday, July 15, 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:
Dad--
Trash is important to me as well. I recently called in to request a larger trash can and they said sure they would fax the order right in and it would only cost me an extra $3.00 a month. Great deal one problem I still don't have my bigger can.....can you fix that??? Anyway, I am calling your bluff the grandbabies and I would love to see you. The Bears have home games this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Also next Friday thru Tuesday is a home stretch. Tom is home this weekend for sure for the Applegate Backyard Olympics but no one knows for sure where he will be next weekend. Tom has mastered his already excellent BBQ skills and I'm sure would be more than happy to grill some burgers and dogs (of the pork hot dog variety for all the dogs lovers I wouldn't want them to get confused). He leaves again for most of the month of August soon, final date yet to be determined so if we are ever going to finish the games we might have to strike soon. I can hear the Da Da Da Da Da Duh Duh....already. I will redeem myself!!! Let me know.....
Me
Today was the first time I was on your blog since we left for vacation and I was sad to see your discouragement. I was going to lecture you but now I see this newest post is more positive so I will save the lecture for later. I will just give you on piece of advice for now. If you truly want to be with Marie you simply have to suck it up at work and do the best job you can. You have to have income in order to make your marriage work plain and simple. Don't mess it up! Oh I'm lecturing after all. Okay more later.
Steff--
I would LOVE to come up--that would be so much fun. I don't get my money until Monday though. I have a 4-day weekend scheduled for the 28th and 29th ( a paid mini vacation).
Gretchen--
I think everyone has days where they feel overwhelmed and feel like giving up. And Doug has often said that few people really like their job. That's why it's called work. I just keep plugging away and live for the good days. How are the grandbabies?
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