Posts Tagged: life

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
2
Sep 10

Simply the Future

Hi there.

I hope you read the last blog entry because if you didn’t the next sentence will make no sense.

This blog entry was last Monday’s future.  It is no longer the future but present.  Tomorrow it will be history.

The motion of time is a stubborn task master.  It stops for no one.   If it does stop for you it’s time to start looking for that bright light.

Before I go on I must say, I feel pretty inadequate tackling the topic of the future.  There are literally hundreds of books about the future where minds much better than mine have studied, analyzed and hypothesized.

Nothing makes me an expert on the future and there is no logical reason why you would even take note of what I have to say.  For those who are regular readers I’m sure you have noticed by now that not knowing something about a topic doesn’t keep me from having an opinion.

Anyway, I think a person who possesses something (in this case a future) has a right to pontificate.  I have a future like anyone else.

I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.
- George Burns At age 87; he lived to be 100

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Like George the future is where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.  Now there are no guarantees as to how long of a future I have.  In three minutes I could keel over from a heart attack.  It’s not likely and I sure hope that it is not the case but… who knows?

So I plan to poke around the edges of the “future” topic and just maybe something will tumble out of my head that makes a little sense and encourage or challenge you.

This future thing can get pretty heady if we are not careful.  And like so many things that tend to feel beyond us we make it much too complicated.  The future in reality is rather simple to understand… not easy but simple.

We may not like the simplicity of it but it is simple none the less.  There are two of the basic truths that are important to keep in mind as we look forward.

Simple Truth # 1

We cannot ultimately control the future.  We can potentially impact and influence the future but as I said earlier there are no guarantees.

Life Alert: It has been well over three minutes and I am still kicking.  There have been no bright lights so that’s good news.  So I still have a future… who rah!

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OK, back to the future.  As I stated, we cannot ultimately control the future.  Our best plans and efforts are just that.  We all on some level know this truth but some use it to justify not doing anything.

Simple Truth # 2

Live life now and live it right.  Although there are no guarantees regarding the future the journey is the joy.   I remember as a kid building little towns in the dirt.  I would make roads and bridges and had all sorts of fun stuff.  The joy and pleasure was in the creating not the completion.  Yes there was a degree of satisfaction upon completion but the good memories are of the process

So to help you loosen up regarding your future you have an assignment.  Enjoy yourselves now.  Enjoy the process.  Here are a few things I encourage you to do.

  • use the good china
  • burn the fancy candles
  • take the plastic off the furniture
  • eat the gourmet food in the pantry that you picked up on vacation 3 years ago and you have been waiting for that special occasion (usually it goes bad before you use it anyway)
  • wear the expensive perfume

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Enjoy!

See you in the future… Monday.

Random Thoughts — 2 Comments
9
Aug 10

A Reunion Tale

Hi.  In case you are wondering I am doing much better today than last Thursday.  As you can tell from my last blog entry it was a pretty weird day.

This past weekend I accompanied my wife to her high school reunion.  Have you been to a class reunion with your spouse lately?  Fun huh?

Now that I have been to a couple of reunions with my wife I of course consider myself an expert in such matters and therefore must share my considerable insights.  I must have some fun with the topic of class reunions before I get to the more serious matters.  Knowing me, I am sure that I will embellish it quite a bit just for effect.  But you will notice that the embellishment will not cover the core truths.

It’s amazing what you see at reunions.  People are nipped, tucked, lifted, padded, pulled in, pushed up, pooched out, colored, covered, or disguised – that’s just the organizing committee greeting you at the door.

After you enter the main room you are quickly swept up in a social mosh pit.  People are smiling, talking, laughing and greet you like you’re an old friend while they try to discretely glance at your name tag to figure out who you are.

Once it is determined that you are not a former classmate you are quickly passed over like a wilted piece of lettuce that has been on the salad bar a bit too long while their eyes dart eagerly to something more appetizing.

Eventually the other spouses like me find themselves forced to the fringes not because of rudeness but because we are unable to compete with the energy and activity the center of the room demands.

So we stand and observe.  After a bit the patterns emerge and shortly you are able to mouth the conversation from across the room.  “Hi, where are you now?  What have you been doing?  Do you have children?”   Once these questions are answered you see the mouths stop moving and the vacant stare of wondering what to talk about now.  This usually occurs with those in the class that you kinda knew but had no real history to connect.  I called this the Level One conversation.

If there is a history between the two classmates then a Level Two conversation ensued.   This conversation starts with, “Remember when…?”  If the situation being remembered is significant enough, other classmates quickly gather and join in.  It sort of looked like the pigeons you see at the park swarming and jostling over the discovery of a few morsels of bread.

Before you know it a chorus of laughter breaks the air.  It is almost like fireworks of emotion shooting off and exploding all over the room.

It was always interesting to observe the classmates who had a history together.  But there is history and then… there is history (if you know what I mean).  For example, at the first class reunion I attended with my wife all eyes were waiting to see how the Captain and quarterback of the football team and the Homecoming Queen would greet each other.  They were “THE” couple in school.  Would there be a spark?  Would there be that “affectionate glance”?

I was interested too because I’m married to the Homecoming Queen.

Side Note: Me being married to a Homecoming Queen is a miracle in and of itself.  Let me just say that if I went to my high school reunion no one would know me.  Seriously, I bet there would be no more than one or two people who would remember me.  No offense to the people who would remember me but they weren’t too popular themselves.

Anyway, back to the quarterback and Homecoming Queen saga.  Bottom-line, it was no big deal (whew!).  My point being is that you could usually tell if there was personal history either by observing the conversation between the two people or by the side conversations of others.

Now I know a lot of people who would say that they hate to go or would never go to there spouses school or family reunion.

If you are a spouse you need to read the next blog.  It is for you.

See you Thursday.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
3
May 10

A Time Box

Good Day!

I feel kinda weird this morning, I sit pecking away on my computer trying to allow escape of anything of worth and meaning.

This journey of life I am on is taking a new twist… we are unexpectedly moving (that’s a story for a different time).

Don’t be afraid of unexpected twists and turns in life.  They used to rattle me.  But I have learned that they tend to be gateways not obstacles.  What I viewed as a negative, in the greater scheme, were amazing points of growth and opportunity. 

The beauty of a river is not in the straightness of the path.  The beauty and contribution a river makes is in the countless twists and turns as it winds its way through the countryside providing life and enjoyment.   So my river of life is taking a new bend to new territory.  It’s not comfortable but it’s exciting.

So back to my weird start, it is due primarily to the pensive mood I am in.  As I mentioned, my wife and I are moving so I spent most of the afternoon yesterday sorting through boxes in the basement.  Most of the boxes have lain dormant for years tucked out of the way in their assigned corner unnoticed, undisturbed.    

Most of the boxes contained bits and pieces of kitchen and household stuff that when opened demanded an impulsive burst of, “Why in the world did we keep this?”

But then I opened a box of stuff that my mother had in her home.  I am one of five and she had boxes for each of us kids where she tossed all sorts of oddball things that were mementos of our youth.

It was like opening a box of time. 

Side Note:  To get a perspective of where you are and where you are going it is necessary to periodically look back.  It is not a place to dwell but a place that provides context.

 

Most of the boxes I opened with casual disregard… a chore that needed to be accomplished and expediency the goal.

But when I pulled this box onto my lap there was a pause, a sudden slowness to my cadence.  There was an unexpected soberness. 

I cracked the box and the distinct smell of time escaped… musty, dusty and fragile. 

I had very mixed feelings about the box.  Like most people I grew up with a mixed bag of good things and not so good things. 

I was blessed with some wonderful positives that laid a magnificent foundation for my life.  Two things particularly shouted loudly.

  1. I was loved… really loved.  There is nothing more beautiful and foundational. 
  2. Faith… a real, personal, meaningful, relevant faith. 

But… there’s always a “but”, I have other parts of my youth that shaped me in a not so positive way. 

Allow me to share a couple of examples for context.  I knew that we moved a lot.  In my baby book mom listed my birthdays and each of the first nine I lived in a different town.  Secondly, most people enjoyed their high school years, not me, mine were awful. 

I unpacked and sorted the box physically but over the next couple of blogs I plan to unpack it mentally.

There’s a lot stirring.  Not bad stuff, it’s a good stirring.  Its things that I believe will serve me well on my current journey.

If you stick with me over the next couple of blogs you too may learn something about yourself from my time box.

See you Thursday.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
15
Apr 10

Stayin’ Alive

Hi. 

Are you new to my blog journey or are you an old friend?  I can’t tell who you are or how many times you have visited.  I just know how many visitors I have on any given day. 

I kind of like the anonymity.  It keeps me from getting nervous.  For all I know you could be Oprah, Joe the Plumber or Lady GaGa.  Or you could be a person like myself that is remarkably ordinary, enjoys the journey of life, and likes to know how other people see the world.

I have become more and more fascinated with life, people, and nature.  Something continues to be awakened.  In the early blogs I talked about a stirring within.  There is something inside pushing at the confines testing the potential of release.  Sort of like one of those street mimes who silently and methodically work their hands around the invisible box. 

It is not a negative feeling at all.  In fact it is joyous.  Movement indicates life, and new life always brings joy. 

That’s why I am pumped at having a blog.  It is not because I think it’s cool, but because this blog was the eventual manifestation of one of those invisible rumblings. 

Side Note:  Sometimes life can become so rhythmic that the repetitive cadence creates a comfortable stupor.  The essentials of life continue to progress with their defined routine.  Nothing is bad, nothing is wrong, nothing is happening, nothing….

Please don’t get me wrong.  Having routine in life is normal and appropriate.  Nor am not talking about thrill seeking, or doing something dramatic just because you feel bored.  (Jesse… what were you thinking?  Poor Sandra and the kids have to live with the pain of your need to be a thrill seeker.  Not cool!)

 

I believe there is a continuous call for us to awaken from our stupor.  A Divine tap on the shoulder that is trying to get our attention to realize the dormant seeds inside that just need a little tending. 

What are the things we can do to awaken the dormant seed?  Simple, take a lesson our childhood.  Three simple words stop, drop and roll.  Uh… oops!  My mistake.  That’s what you do when you’re on fire. 

Let’s try again.  How about stop, look and listen (yep, that’s better)?  I know that’s what we were taught about crossing the street but it applies to this.

Stop:  Anytime… just stop… pause long enough to disrupt the cadence of the moment.

Look:  Slowly look around and see something simple and seemingly ordinary that may catch your eye.

Listen:  Literally say a quick statement (for me it is a prayer)  “Help me to hear what I need to hear.”  Then open your heart and mind and tune your ears to hear something audibly or internally. 

Now do it.  Seriously.   I’ll wait.  Take a moment. 

I have no question that sometime this week you will think of Stop, Look and Listen.  If you do, take it seriously and do it.  Now it may take a couple of weeks but I guarantee that a dormant seed will begin stirring.  We will talk about how you nurture it at another time. 

Enjoy life.  See you Monday.