Things move fast here at the blog. Too fast, I'm afraid, for a coherent message. The only conclusion an attentive, objective observer could make is that we're all crazy. An objective observer would probably be right. But I'm not objective, so I'll just keep posting the madness and let everyone else sort it out.
We were going along fine and I was feeling all kinds of tender, devoted thoughts. Sunday morning came as a shock to the system, the worst kind.
I woke up earlier than everyone else. Marie was snoring as I often do and there was little chance of getting back to sleep, so I woke up and made some oatmeal. I cut an apple into it and added some brown sugar and cinnamon, breakfast disguised as an entire apple pie. My belly is contentedly full though my mind is nearly empty.
Saturday morning we cleaned house and in the afternoon we had our burger and golf outing and everything was lovely and harmonious. We came home around six and Marie made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, then we met the kids for the parade. Everything was still fine. We rode home on the jam-packed Max train with Bryce in my arms and Marie's hand on my waist. At home she fell asleep in my arms watching "Kate and Leopold". I kissed her forehead and held her close. "I love you so much," I whispered.
So the morning came and I couldn't sleep so I made the breakfast and fiddled with the blog a little and checked out Rob Moseley's Oregon Duck blog in the Register-Guard for updates, which are usually a little scare in the early days of June. Turns out the PAC-10 is making overtures to six members of the current Big-12, including Texas and Oklahoma, a deal that could mean twenty million in revenue to every team in the newly created superconference. I played in two little poker tournaments, one with a ten-cent buy-in and the other with over 6,000 entrants putting up a dollar each. I used to play a little bigger but I've since found I can get just as frustrated, elated or challenged playing small. After the first hand it's just chips and cards, although the small-limit players will show you some creative devastations: the other day I lost with ace-ace, all-in before the flop for ten thousand chips versus jack-three offsuit. I raised seven times the blind behind a limper and and he RERAISED me. Flop came king-jack-three. Rivered another jack. Now that was impressive. It reminded me of that old Mel Brooks quote, "tragedy is when it happens to me. Comedy is when it happens to you."
Marie and I didn't have a good day today. She got on me about playing cards on Sunday morning and before we were done everything came out of the anxiety closet, from both of us. I'm not sure she would jump off the Brooklyn Bridge to find me through time but she might push me off another one before we're done. Clearly, Kate and Leopold we are not. But then I'm no Hugh Jackman. I don't have the charm or grace of his characters, and I don't have his perfect proportions or full head of hair. Unless we find a time portal of our own, we'll have to make the best of the present and the assets we have in reality.
Sunday, June 6, 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment