I am currently reading a book by Robert Schuller Tough Times never last but tough people do, Inspirational writings. in this book Dr Schuller poses a question, How do people repsond when you ask them how they are doing? He rates the answers on what he calls "Schuller' Scale of Spirit". Everyone's answer falls somewhere on this scale of 1 to 10, but it totally reflects their attitude on life and ultimatley how well they may succeed in life.
1. Silence, trembly lips, eyes filled with tears.
2. Profane Anger, a torrent of swear words
3. Awful, you would be too if you had the problems I face
4. Not to bad. ( this is barely just one step above awful)
5. Pretty Good (just a a step above not to bad)
6. Good
7. Great
8. Terrific
9. Fantastic
10. Sensational
While we may never get to many responses in the 1 to 3 range, even though I have heard 2 and 3 a few times. The same is said of responses in the 7 thourgh 10 range. I hear a lot of Not to Bad, and pretty good responses, even the good or fine range, but they do tend to be pretty negative comments about us. We have become a very negative society, we tend to look down on our lives, and not counting our blessings. We grow complacent about our abilities, and when things go wrong we feel helpless to change them or climb out of our complacency. Negativity is running rampant in society today, especially with the economic downturn we have experianced. Even now with signs of the country coming out of the slump we still tend to be negative and fatalistic. The dollar is growing stonger, prices seemed to have peaked and seem to be edging back down off the crest, but we moan and groan about what we don't have, instead of being thankful for what we do have.
Just as negative, we seem to part company by another seemingly innocuous statement such as Take care, or Take it easy. They seem on the surface a pretty neutral comment to be making, take care, don't do anything to rock the boat, don't venture to far from land. Discoveries weren't mande by taking care. Continents would still be undiscoverd if we all took care. Answers to medical problems would still be unanswered if we all just took care. The same goes for take it easy. Many things worth accomplishing would go undone if we all took it easy. The world would be a much different place if we all just took it easy. When the times get tough, tough people have to roll up thier sleeves and do things the hard way, not take it easy.
On the scale of life where do you fall, not to bad or sensational? Do you plan to take the bull by the horns, or stand around and just take it easy? And for those who care to ask I am sensational. I woke to a beautiful sky, I have a loving wife, and I have all the opportunity in the world, I just have to work at it and not take it easy, or for granted. I don't sit around waiting for opportunity to fall in my lap but I get out and try to make my own breaks.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saturdays
We tend to take time for granted and feel that things will always be the same and that those we love will always be there. A friend sent me this story. I had seen it before but forgotten all about it. It will put a lump in your throat.
"3900 Saturdays
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.
Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business He was telling whomever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital' he continued. 'Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'
'You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.'
'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.'
'Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.'
'There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.'
'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.'
'It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!'
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.' 'What brought this on' she asked with a smile.' 'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.'
A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.
And so, as one smart bear once said...'If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.' - Winnie the Pooh."
I hope you go out and buy your marbles. Let us get a real perspective of what is most important in our lives
"3900 Saturdays
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.
Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business He was telling whomever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital' he continued. 'Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'
'You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.'
'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.'
'Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.'
'There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.'
'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.'
'It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!'
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.' 'What brought this on' she asked with a smile.' 'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.'
A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.
And so, as one smart bear once said...'If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.' - Winnie the Pooh."
I hope you go out and buy your marbles. Let us get a real perspective of what is most important in our lives
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Be careful what you ask for
Many people do not believe in God, or they don't believe that God answers prayers. I was out picking blueberries this evening, as has been my nightly and weekend project since late June. I was down in the field in the midst of a patch of low bush blueberries that were hanging like grapes. The mosquitoes were like a black cloud around me, and all you could hear was the constant buzzing. It sounded like the world war II movies when they show the planes all over the sky, and that incessant drone. I looked up to the sky and there were rain clouds off in the distance, and I said, "God, I know these mosquitoes are some of our creation, but can you do something to control them while I pick my berries. Just then the sky opened up and the rain poured down on top of me. I considered coming down out of the field but I decided I was already soaked and by the time I got to the house I would be soaked through as I was way up at the top of the field, so I just kept on picking, and picking, and picking. When the container I was putting the berries in was full I stood up and the rain suddenly stopped, and a rainbow came out ending right on my property. I am amazed about how many blueberries are out there this year, it is like a carpet of blue out there.
This does bring up a pet peeve of mine. I have all these berries and I am picking like crazy, but I will never harvest them all or even come close, I offersd a local food pantry to let their customers come over an pick berries for themselves, and was politely told they couldn't do that, they can't require their customers to do any work like that, but if I wanted to pick them and bring them over they would gladly give them out to the people who came in for food.
This does bring up a pet peeve of mine. I have all these berries and I am picking like crazy, but I will never harvest them all or even come close, I offersd a local food pantry to let their customers come over an pick berries for themselves, and was politely told they couldn't do that, they can't require their customers to do any work like that, but if I wanted to pick them and bring them over they would gladly give them out to the people who came in for food.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Lives
Publius Syrus once wrote, "We should not live one life in private, and one life in public."
Those who know me well know I love to collect quotes, as a matter of fact I have filled two journals with quotes I have collected and am currently working on my third. This is one quote that seemed very very appropriate just after I found it. It was shortly after I wrote it in my journal that we got news of the John Edwards affair. This was definitely a case of a person living two separate lives, his public personae of a man who adored and supported his wife's battle with cancer. A loving man who was there for her ignoring his personal needs (but not his public ones in running for President) to help her with her battle. Then there was the personal life where he sought and acted on the relationship with another woman during this time. he stated that he grew into the assumption that due to his successes he could do whatever he wanted without any reprisal or ramifications, he had become a legend in his own mind.
We must live transparent lives willing to let what we do in our private lives be as upright as that which we let be seen in our public lives. If anything we should be more upright in our private lives as our giving spirit should be a private matter. God knows our hearts and He knows our intentions. If we do what we do for public acclaim it may be for the wrong reason.
Those who know me well know I love to collect quotes, as a matter of fact I have filled two journals with quotes I have collected and am currently working on my third. This is one quote that seemed very very appropriate just after I found it. It was shortly after I wrote it in my journal that we got news of the John Edwards affair. This was definitely a case of a person living two separate lives, his public personae of a man who adored and supported his wife's battle with cancer. A loving man who was there for her ignoring his personal needs (but not his public ones in running for President) to help her with her battle. Then there was the personal life where he sought and acted on the relationship with another woman during this time. he stated that he grew into the assumption that due to his successes he could do whatever he wanted without any reprisal or ramifications, he had become a legend in his own mind.
We must live transparent lives willing to let what we do in our private lives be as upright as that which we let be seen in our public lives. If anything we should be more upright in our private lives as our giving spirit should be a private matter. God knows our hearts and He knows our intentions. If we do what we do for public acclaim it may be for the wrong reason.
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