A Change of Seasons
I may have to stop blogging soon. Not much happens in my life, so there isn't much to write about one day to the next. What little that does happen is so sordid and melodramatic there's little point in reporting it. The weekend was restful but uneventful. I won $89 playing poker, worked out, watched the Ducks. The weather was beautiful but today I am sad, because it's the first day of the season where it is full-on dark when I wake up. Winter is here, at least psychologically. The long trudge of drudgery has begun. I am not a winter person, and I squandered the summer. I feel a touch of grief over it. Like Lincoln I am prone to melancholy.
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.
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.
Genuine happiness and success start with an attitude of abundanceMake 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.
4 comments:
Dale, I like your blogs, don't stop. The details fo life are very interesting. I have known you for 35 years but at the same time feel like I am jsut really getting to know you since your blog.
Write stories like you have done sometimes. Your stories are wonderful you put so much emotion and detail into them.
What happened to faith, hope, and possibility?
Dad--
I agree, I have known you my whole life (hahaha) but I feel like I'm getting to know you more now than ever because of the blog. Your stories about growing up and Grandma, and what's happening every day it's nice to hear. It makes me feel closer even though I'm 3 hours away. If you stop I'll be sad and you wouldn't want that......I agree with Gretchen again (see we women know) I like when you write stories you could always do more of that. And even Doug Hope, Faith, and Possibility all thrown out the window because of a few bad days? Buck up Dad if the stupid Duckies can make a comeback so can you....
Love Me
Dale -
The summer wasn't wasted. You had some wonderful times -- just read your blog archive: great conversations, good food, quiet moments of reflection, and in the end, you ended up with a better-than-even chance to make a go of it with Marie.
That's a good season, my friend.
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