I'm embarrassed with myself for sounding so mopey and helpless. Last night I put on my best suit and Marie put on a sexy red sweater and curve-flattering black slacks, and we took twenty bucks of her hard-earned first paycheck and went out for Chinese food. We went to China Jade, our favorite place. The service is quick and efficient and the food is fresh and beautfully prepared. On the way home we stopped at the Red Box and got another movie. We ate peppermint Easter candies in bed and watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. It was a perfect evening and next day, the perfect antidote to the morose self-absorption I was feeling yesterday.
Occasionally it's good to watch something bright and colorful and happy, to remind yourself that there is magic and it is real, and that the most powerful and magical things are simple. Holding a squishy, bright, beautiful baby. Whispering to someone that you love them. Having them squeeze you in return. In the afternoon at lunchtime the last two days I caught pieces of Ella Enchanted and Remember the Titans on cable, and in my life and in my viewing I'm getting all these subtle and encouraging reminders that it's okay to believe, that there's no reason to give up merely because circumstances are discouraging or your sinuses are stuffed. Today is a brighter day and I'm grateful, even though it's Sunday afternoon and time to go back to work. At least I'll have leftover Chinese food for lunch.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
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.
2 comments:
Dad--
Glad things are looking up for you. Hopefully you'll figure everything out. Tom called again yesterday. All is well in Kandahar at least for now. Hopefully it stays that way, but with the news happily reporting that the bad guys are gearing up for the upcoming fight in the city who knows what will happen. Sometimes I wonder if the news people that reported on it would report differently if it directly affected them. They do it it seems without a thought at all to the families of the soldiers that are actually there preparing to fight those that are gearing up. The article I read talked all about how they are planting bombs, and taking new courses in combat and practicing their shooting like it was no big deal. I don't like newspeople much I've decided. they lack.....I'm not even sure what but lots of things that make people sympathetic. Anyway that's my rant for the evening. By the way Elizabeth is thinking about an early arrival so I'll keep you posted. Tom is scheduled to come home hopefully some time in June so we'll see if she holds out for Dad like she's supposed to.
Me
Stephanie--
Your note is a powerful reminder that compared to whatis going on in your life, there is nothing going on in my life. Keep me posted on Elizabeth and her arrival time.
You are right about newspeople and information in general. There's a lot we're being told in small pieces, about the economy, the environment, the state of the world, even the food we eat. I think a great effort is made to keep us amused and inattentive. The families of the men who are fighting are keenly aware of the risks and costs and sacrifices, in ways that escape the rest of us.
Words too are tricky. There's a long difference between a freedom fighter and an insurgent and a terrorist, between a noble cause and madness, but a bullet is no respecter of goodness.
I love you and think of you every day. I am counting the days with you until June.
Love,
Dad
Post a Comment