Category: Blog

The sun sets on another day…

It is a wonderful day no matter where you are, and where you have been. Even if it seems difficult now, it will get better as you realize that you have the choice to make it a good day. It is pretty normal to assume the world can be coming down on you, but it isn’t. I have said many times “you know the good lord never gives you more than you can handle, but I wish he would stop thinking so highly of me” and on those days, the world seemed to be closing in, and nothing could go right. That being said, I made the decision each day to do as well as I could with the hand I was dealt,

You should too, each day we are dealt a hand that may well be an impossible hand to win, but it is up to us to work through it and make the best of it as we can “hope” there is a tomorrow, but we cannot ensure there will be.

I have a friend that is going through a maelstrom at the moment.

She is young, with a daughter, and has had some pretty difficult cards dealt her however she has stood up and made her cards her own, and played them well. As she moved through her sunsets and enjoyed her life with her daughter I have no doubt she will make good decisions for herself, her family, and those people she loves dearly.

We should take her action and make a commitment to ourselves to roll with the punches, pay attention to our children, pay attention to ourselves, and live to be the happiest we can be always.

For those of you who don’t think so, it is time to change, time to pay attention to what makes you happy, then work your way down, instead of vice versa.

The sun sets on another day…

In the midst of Black Friday shopping in Alabama I met two women in a line that seemed to last forever that embody how we should all see life. As we sat waiting for people to move along at their snails pace (Over 50 minutes) we talked about a few things and we all giggled and laughed. As we laughed I found that they were from Chicago and Colorado, and were here because they had become great friends. As such, they knew each other well and we laughed about everything from people to places and things. In the end, they were ready to have some fun, and I hope their friend “Brian” helps them have fun each and every day. The point of this? We could have been upset, angry, and irritating as we waited in the never-ending line of a poorly run store, but instead we had fun, enjoyed ourselves and laughed like crazy for almost an hour and in the end, made a good impression on each other.

I hope you all can be as patient as we were and enjoy the day, even when it seems overwhelming, irritating and a pain in the bottom. Be happy, love life, and enjoy another sunset!

Today is Thanksgiving. A time for family, for friends, and for football?

As the sun sets on another day lets consider how much fun we can have doing something simple. For fun, lets consider calling someone important to our lives, and let them know we still care. Either way, life is good. Enjoy the moment, eat some turkey, and snore! A quick post and homework for you all, have a super day!

The sun sets on another day, and today I am thankful for my children, my family and all of those people who have given me the myriad of experiences I have enjoyed every day. I am thankful for the people I have loved and do love. I am thankful for those who love me. I am thankful for my past, and I am thankful for my future.

It is sometimes easy to forget that some people really do not understand that they only have 29000 sunsets on this earth and they need, no they must enjoy each and every one. There is no punishment greater than the punishment of a mundane life. So as we prepare for our thanksgiving morning and to sit with those friends and family that we feel have touched our lives, hug someone, feel something, and remember how it feels to be the most important person in the world, if only for a moment then it can be forever.

For each day in life most people start out with a clean slate. when first awakened, most people are a pretty blank as their mind copes and clears away the hurt, pain and other items from previous days allowing the past to fade, both good and bad. This allows people to handle a myriad of issues without constantly feeling as though the world is closing in on them. (I would like to pause here for all of you that can do this and give you a hearty SNL “Isn’t that special”)

There are those of us who are a bit different. When we wake, we still have access to a tremendous amount of information which is sometimes positive, and sometimes not so positive. This makes for either really good days, or really bad days as the thoughts, feelings, and positives and negatives multiply and we just feel (and think and enjoy, and a whole lot of things concurrently)

So as the sun sets on another day today I felt a little down, not for any good reason, but because the plethora of happy times in my life collided with the not so happy times and it just made me miss a few things. 

So now, as I write this post, for all of you who feel as I have felt. Take a deep breathe, hold on to the happiest times in your life and try, just try to set aside the negatives from those people and situations that pulled you down and in the process, feel good. Breathe, smile, and love the moment. Moments may hurt, and they may hurt until the end of time, but that does not mean you cannot enjoy all you can until such a time that you find a way to those things that would make you happy forever. When you get there, hold on, and perhaps, just perhaps you may find peace, fulfillment, and happiness for a moment then reach for forever. 

The sun sets on another day…

Cut me some slack, I took this picture at 70 miles per hours running down a highway, but the colors were unreal.

As we sit and look at our sunsets it is important to remember that no matter how close they may look, no two sunsets are the same, ever. It is interesting to consider that life, and people, are similar to those sunsets as no two people are the same, and no two lives are the same either. We are the sum of who we are in life, and as such, none of us have ever experienced the same things in their lives. We can listen, learn, and understand everything about someone else but we cannot ever say we really know how they feel exactly. (We just make a good guess based on ourselves)

Why does this matter? As you are sitting and considering your actions and reactions you really need to understand that people may not see the world as you do and may not understand your reactions to how they do or say things. When dealing with children, we must adapt to the child as they see the world differently even if they are raised in the same house. In a relationship you may understand your partner, or may have no clue where they are in life if their experience is different from yours. At work, each employee has a different hot button that will open their life up, and allow them to be more effective.

The common key for us all is to listen and at least try to understand. I may be wrong, but I feel I have had an advantage as I have had such a myriad of experiences, good and bad; have been awake longer than many people much older than me; and like to listen and learn always. I feel the most important aspect is listening, and we should do so all the time and hopefully see the point of whomever we are listening to at the moment. 

So pay attention, hug your child, encourage your employee or colleague, and love the person who loves you until our sunsets are no more.

Have an amazing night, after all, tomorrow is another day. 

The sun sets on another day…

As I was wandering by the beach looking at the snow and cold I looked to the car window and saw a cardinal pacing me. The cardinals red wings shone brightly in the sunlight and I considered how wonderful it was to have this beautiful bird facing the cold and adversity but enjoying every moment.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were all as carefree as that cardinal and only had to consider food and fun as our goals for the day. In this model we would not be burdened with the myriad of daily chores, problems, stresses and general goofiness that we deal with all the time.

Well, I do not see the day coming but I do see we can meet halfway. Perhaps we should take a lesson and spend more time looking at the necessities in life and less time focusing on the petty items we cannot change. Perhaps we should be thankful daily of those people who have the vision, understanding and love to move us forward and make our days complete. Perhaps we should take our moments and make each day the best possible day it can be. Perhaps we should the that person at our job that everyone knows wants to be a success. Perhaps each day we should grab onto love, and ride the wave of passion to tomorrow.

I hope you agree. There is no tomorrow until it is today, and as today becomes yesterday we only have ourselves to blame for anything we have missed.

So race with the cardinal, feel the wind flowing through your hair, love the moment and as the cardinal looks for its goal, lets also find ours and make it happiness for us, and others will soon follow by our example.

The sun sets on another day…

I am thankful today for those people who are around me. As I worked on truly mindless yet fulfilling tasks today I felt good about life and considered one of the people I talked to today. Young and patient, he has a rather unique name that I think I purposefully mispronounced at least 10 ways today just to be funny. He is a good sport, and took it all in stride but it made me consider how our parents give us these names, and how our name either does or does not drive who we are in life. I consider one side where Shakespeare says:

“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title”

As Shakespeare has said, our name does not define us, we are defined by who we are and what we do in life. We can be perfect or imperfect based solely on how we react to our day, how people see us, and the lessons we leave to those around us. 

But wait, how about those times where our name forces us down a separate path. What if our name brings out something that makes us uncomfortable, or someone uses our name against us. It is those times that we see our inner spirit either rise or fall to the occasion. We can be like the young man today and take it all in stride, or take it harder and stew about something that really does not matter.

What I am saying is easy, those people you touch today will not always remember your name. Those people you stop to help or work with or meet will not think about Fred, or Sam, or Sally. Instead they will remember that guy or girl that went the extra mile to make their day a better day, and they will remember your smile, your passion, your perseverance, and your action. If they remember all of that, perhaps they will remember your name, but I for one would rather be remembered for what I did, how I did it, the promises I kept, the way I loved, the way I laughed, the way I lived, the way I tried and did not give up, or the way I changed to make the world a better place, than ever by just my name. So to our young man, good job, keep your life straight, love life every day, and be who you are always.

 

_{Photo by Gary Samples}

The sun sets on another day…

The cold wind blows and takes away the warmth of the day

I feel the chill invade my body, my heart, and my soul

the wind blows, and I feel the grip of ice upon me

little knowing how hard comes the tole

 

The chill is upon me now and i close my eyes

the warmth of your light a glowing spark

I feel the warmth return to me

and chase away the imposing dark

 

Close my eyes and make it right

chase away the darkest night

a memory held that warms my life

and a hope of time and no more strife

 

You know, each day we are given a choice on how we perceive life. It can be cold and stormy, or warm and inviting. The choice daily is up to us as the world may not ever be on our side. As such we have to have the courage to step above what the world gives us and keep our positive attitude while doing the necessary to eliminate the low parts in our life. Eliminate is a tough word. I have been eliminated before and it is not  pleasant journey. By the same token I have eliminated before,  and had to bear the pain of penance and eventual redemption of my own. 

So I say to all, make good decisions for love and peace in your life and live every moment you can to enjoy your life and be happy. 

 

 

The sun sets on another day…

…on the beach the fences are built to hold the sands from being eroded by the massive forces of nature. The dunes can be blown away, roads covered by sand, and the beach as a whole can suffer. Men have seen this and the fences they build hold the sand fast, while letting the wind and force of the world pass harmlessly by.

So we too build our fences to save us from the world that can erode us with its massive forces, the people and situations that erode us and make us worn from life. With that in mind many of us build massive fences, to protect our core from the pain, suffering, and despair that can overwhelm our hearts and our souls. Many of us are surrounded by truth, and some are not, but in the end this is not the way.

I feel strongly that we need to let the walls down sometimes for the right people and let them in, the walls protect us but there are those people we can trust and allow close enough for us to experience the joy of life, the joy of living, and the joy of passion and love. So take a moment, and determine those people you can trust, let them in, trust them with your heart, protect their heart, and love more that you ever thought possible, the benefits are worth it, no matter what.