The Ducks had a miserable game today, losing 37-32 at home to Boise State, and looking utterly awful while doing it. Three failed conversions, two missed field goals, a three-yard punt deep in their own end of the field, a fumble in Boise State territory, three interceptions, one at the Bronco one-yard line when they were driving just before half, another deep in their own territory; blown assignments, horrible pass defense: it was a debacle in every way, a reminder of the bad old days when three wins and a couple of moral victories was the best you could hope for.
I'll be officially depressed for three days, and then I'll forget about it and go on to the next game. As I've said before, it's not life or death, it's way more important than that.
I only played one game of poker this morning. My heart wasn't in it. Played an ace-king for 10000 chips versus an ace and eight of diamonds, and the other guy flopped a flush. Not my day, for football or cards.
I think I'll go to Winco and get some fruit, then go to the gym. Marie and I have a date tonight--we're going to Hayden's in Tualatin to hear Conroy-Debrie and have a glass of wine. I need consolation and a memoratorium on poker and football for a while.
It's gray and chilly today. It's almost feels like a winter day. "Now is the winter of our discontent," Shakespeare wrote. Some days the gloom hangs in the air like an inversion layer in the Gorge. Usually I see the world as a beautiful and hopeful place, but right now I don't want to talk about it. I need a banana and a kiwi fruit and two hours of sweat.
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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.
8 comments:
I mentioned to Doug I thought Conroy was at Hayden's. We were just next door at Par45 for abotu an hour last night. I hope you enjoyed your date.
Too bad about those Ducks....Not
DUCKS SUCK......hehehe And don't not post this comment Dad.
Ethan is really sick has a bad cold he got from his big sister. So I'm off to wipe noses
me
I feel your pain. That game was a classic case of a team playing for a coach named Mike.
It's not easy being a Duck fan--thanks for checking in guys. I'll post tomorrow after the shock and dismay has worn off. Our date was very nice--we wound up going to the Tillicum to hear another band we liked, and we danced with the same passion and warmth we've always had, even though it had been months.
Great news about EJ--I can't wait to see him and play football on the carpet with him.
I have a great idea, give up the Duck fan thing and come on over with the rest of us to the Beavers! Since three of your favorite people are Beavers fans don't fight it anymore just join us!
Gretchen, Gretchen, Gretchen. Asking a Duck to become a Beaver is like asking a Rabbi to become a priest. I do root for the Beavers every week of the year but one, but as Doug has pointed out, it's hard to root for any team that has a coach named Mike. There's some kind of hidden curse. They can only win in one half of their season.
Dale, I feel your pain, though not as acutely. Here's hoping the Ducks can go 10-2 and get back in the rankings, at least enough to keep the computers happy and the Trojans in the title game. *lol*
(And before you go bashing 'SC, remember that they are in Corvallis on Sunday to rout the Beavs.)
But the real reason I'm writing is to cheer you and Marie on. It can be tough sledding, this life, even with someone we love. Whatever demons you have to battle to keep yourselves together, they are far more benign than the twin harpies of loneliness and regret.
Take care. Or, if you prefer, "fight on." ;)
Brad better get his story straight. First, the Trojans were in town tonight (Thursday), not Sunday. Second, the Beavs schooled USC in the rushing game. Never saw that rout that many spoke of. It's a great day to be a Beaver!
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