Growing up.................

What do you wanna be when you grow up? Nope, you're not! And if you are, then quit it! Never grow up. Never cease to be something else....achieve another goal.....learn another lesson. When are we grown? Twenty-one? Thirty? When? I hope I never grow up and stagnate. I think we all should face lives as Lessons of Challenge and Change and Growth and Renewal and Taking on new things and Learning new skills and yes, even Mind Sets. If you think you've seen it all, experienced life to the fullest, you are sadly mistaken and frankly, just sad in general. I don't care if you are young, middle aged or old....which are all mental mind sets by the way. I don't care about your chronological age; that is what it is. But your mental age is a different story. You control that. You are the power there. You are the driver in your car of achievement. Maybe the Ole Mare ain't what she used to be physically. But you, nor I, not anyone is using the power of our minds to even a tenth of their potentials. Read a book on something completely new, watch a show on that huge flat screen in your den that takes you to parts of this wonderful wide world you've never even thought of, start a discussion with someone who is learned in a field you've never learned. Be Active Mentally. I wish for you growth, and personal power like you've never seen. I wish for you tiny, then medium then huge steps of learning. Stop and listen to your dreams that you've not thought of in years. Say them aloud. Daily. Then Ready, Set....Go!!!

Our...............

There are many words that I love and OUR is one of them. It denotes being a part of something bigger than yourself. Our family, our friends, our business, our school, our this, our that. Now, there are things you may NOT want to be a part of....things that you'd rather not be associated with. And I agree that these feelings are valid and should be respected. But MY is such a solitary, selfish word. So I'm sticking to 'our' as the word to explore. Just exactly where is this Yellow Brick Road of the day leading.....well, it's leading to finding something that you want to be a part of and can enjoy saying OUR when you speak of it. I challenge you to find some organization, some group, some association that you can join and be a part of and feel proud to say......our. It doesn't have to be political, it doesn't have to be civic, it doesn't have to be time consuming. What it does have to be is something that gets you away from yourself and into life. Maybe you already do this....and if so....go you! Maybe your plate is so full of OURS that you have lost your MY....and that, my friends, is another blog. But today, think about your OURS. I hope you have some that you are proud of and active in and enjoy. Whether its a group of friends who routinely get together for coffee or dinner, or it's a group of readers who love to talk books, or it's some organization that reaches out in other ways, join! Be an our not a my! Share yourself......you're worth it!

Awareness................

I saw an interesting interview on television last night. I would tell you who the interviewee was but I don't have a clue......and it doesn't matter. It's not who she was, but what she said. She was a young woman and had a very unique, wise perspective on life. She confessed that during her really young years.....her twenties....she delighted in other people's failures. O, they would never know it. She would be sympathetic and supportive, but inwardly she would clap silent hands. She said these failures would give HER a sense of empowerment. They would make her feel superior and she would even delight in discussing them with her friends or family members, those people whom she considered her confidantes. One day she was asked this question......Do other people's failures and your gossiping about them make YOUR life better, enhance you in any way....the ugly spewing of words that are coming out of your mouth? Do they give you strength? Do they give you wisdom? Do they give you confidence? With each question she began to see that no, in fact the opposite was true. Celebrating other people's failures took something away from her. It chipped a little piece of compassion away, it broke off a tiny bit of love, it opened a small space of entitlement. I wonder how many of us secretly delight when someone we know...or don't know......fails? I wonder if you do, are you aware of it....conscience of those small hands silently clapping within you. Think about this. Be aware. Delighting in failure is ugly. It not only changes who you are with each invisible fist raised in the air, it becomes a habit, a way of life, a character flaw. And then it becomes YOU. Live your life with joy, not hate. Walk your days with love, not envy. Be that person who cheers, not secretly whispers behind backs. Awareness of self. Change, growth, not envy and empowerment. Let your light shine WITH others not against them.

The Eyes of the World..............

So the guy got on this microscopic wire and walked across a wide, tall, long stretch of air. The eyes of the world were truly upon him. My FB page blew up with comments about will he make it, why would he do this, he's crazy, etc. etc. I'm gonna admit that I didn't watch it. I have such a fear of heights I couldn't keep my eyes on him. But it made me start thinking about eyes watching him and you and me.......EVERYDAY. Each and every day we step out onto the tightrope of life. And people are watching....you. I hear it all the time....."I don't care what anybody thinks". Well, you should. You are leaving your lasting footprint on this earth with each step you take, each word you speak and each thought you have. We live in a 'throw it all out there' world. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram......these all provide ways for us to be in front of hundreds of people. Your life is on review, more so now than ever. What you angrily type, critically say, openly express on any type of Social Media does NOT go away. Texts, FB posts, Twitter words, or Instagram pics.....they are in cyberspace for eternity. You leave a trail of your existence for anybody to witness. It sickens me to see people air their grievances publicly. Not saying you can't disagree with each other....a healthy argument is a cleansing thing. But please, do it with respect. When you don't......you are not hurting anybody but you. What do you want your legacy to be? What do you want your kids, friends and family to read? You may not literally be on a tightrope over the Grand Canyon, but you are on a keyboard over something even larger.......cyberspace. You have more power in your fingers than you realize. Use that power wisely. All eyes may not be on you at one time...but never forget, they are at some point. I hope you don't have to hit the DELETE button of life too often.

Wordless.............

I have been wordless for several days. In fact, I have been unusually wordless in my writing, my speaking and in my thoughts. A blank slate. And frankly, I think that sometimes, we just need that. I have been centered. I have been introspective. And I would like to say I have emerged with a sense of self knowledge, and learning and maybe even wisdom. Not sure that has happened. But I do think that wordless times are healing for some of us. Especially for 'wordy' people. You know, sometimes, the syllables flow, the words form and the sentences emerge with such an ease that it is impossible to keep them inside. And then come the wordless times. Those times are the most precious. Because at those times, I belong solely to myself. What a grand marvelous sense of freedom. I don't think your thoughts or dream your dreams or feel your emotions. I'm all about me and myself and me. Try it. Live it for as long as you can. Maybe a minute, or an hour or if your lucky a day or two. It is a spa for the soul. It is a balm for your being. It heals, and levels and brings insight. I hope you can do this for yourself. Leave things, and worries and habits, and longings behind. Live in the moment of you.

So God Made A.........................

Flea!!! Now, we all know that to question the actions, thoughts or intentions of our Almighty Lord is wrong.....all the time and I would say especially on a beautiful Sunday morning. But m'dog has fleas. We have sprayed the yard, we have bathed,the dog, we have picked , we have dipped. We have fleas. So I do not pretend to be Paul Harvey and I am MORE than certain I'm not God, but the question remains, the reasoning examined and the intention undiscovered. Why, God, did you make a flea? And how did they get on the Ark? I'm supposing on the backs of the two by two's. I wish that Noah would have had a huge container of insecticide and he could have spent his time spraying and dipping camels, tigers, elephants and bears. But then if it doesn't work for us, it probably would have frustrated Noah to the point of jumping ship and thus, the history of the world would have changed. These little buggers are invincible. They are tiny, they jump, they crawl and they are making m'dog miserable. She's afraid to even walk CLOSE to one of the bathrooms in the house in fear of yet another bath......possibly her third or fourth of the day. She tries hard not to scratch...I can see it in her little black eyes.....this is her thought process....scratching leads to the assumption I have fleas which leads to a bath. She's that smart and more importantly, that tired of baths. So the question remains.......and I truly ask forgiveness for questioning anything my God does.......why? P.S.....I bet, when you read the title, you thought this was going to be something sentimental or philosophical......fooled ya didn't I?