Richard threw another barbeque tonight and it felt like a wake for summer, dark by 7:30. Although it was 90 today by eight it was coolish, and we enjoyed maybe the last corn on the cob of summer and a burger, shared what we had. I excused myself and went inside and lost two dollars in two minutes flat, falling with pocket kings to a smarter and luckier guy who had the good fortune to hold pocket aces. Statistically this happens once every 4000 hands or so, and when it does, you just smile and wish everyone good luck. Unless fortune tosses a stink bomb into your opponent's lap and visits you with a king.
Marie stayed over last night and it was wonderful to hold her again and wake up to the sight of her, pulling a tee shirt over her blonde curls. If I live to be 80 (and a lot of times I hope I don't) I don't think I would ever forget her. I sent her a mournful email when I got home. I can't shake the feeling that something is going on in her life, a new development, an alternate path. The last few times I've seen her as she's left I've had the feeling she was on her way to somewhere else. Of course thinking like that is foul and dishonorable and bound to turn things for the worse. Sometimes I am tired of living inside my own head. I ought to dig a ditch or something, so I could think only of cold water and how the sweat stings in my blisters. I spend too much time thinking, and that turns thinking sour. It's a fruitless pursuit, a bridge to nowhere.
Bridge to nowhere. That's been in the news. It's sad to me how the presidential race has turned. I think in trying to discredit one another they disgrace themselves, and there is too much innuendo and mischaracterization going on, trying to demonize the opponent and their views. People want real solutions and a more hopeful future, but all they're getting is a lipstick-on-a-pig show that threatens to turn mean. I thought it was a graceful touch that both candidates met at Ground Zero today. Maybe that will raise the level of discourse. It's a shame that so much of the electorate makes their decision based on an almost primal fear of what the other candidate represents, sold the notion that Candidate X will invade their wombs or their pocketbooks or make the world unsafe for decent and right thinking people. I don't think either candidate is a bad man. Certainly there are ambitious or they wouldn't seek the job. Ultimately that's the trouble--who would want that job?
Who I am kidding? I don't know anything. Here is some advice from someone smart:
"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things."
---Albert Einstein
I am too blue to blog. I'll leave you with that.
Thursday, September 11, 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.
1 comment:
I've been a little preoccupied with Victoria's soccer games (four this week) and the fun parts of being so balanced so I'm a little behind on your blog. The weekend is here and I hope you have time for good times with Marie
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