Life is too short to---

 

Living in a retirement community means seeing the constant rotation of old residents being replaced by new residents.  For the old, most of them are in their 80s to over 100. Seeing smiling happy bingo players on a Friday becomes hearing about their deaths on Saturday.

It is time, time to realize your bucket list or any list should not be delayed.  That said, here is some of my list:

Life is too short to...

Order the cheapest entree on the menu.

 

Buy and eat store-made sushi.

Sleep on an old mattress.

Use duct tape to fix the same thing over and over.

Be ignorant of history. Knowing the past 
changes how you understand the present.

Be mean. You will regret this
all your life.

Stay silent when speaking out will help people
or situations.

Avoid puddles when walking. Splash in them, dang it.

 

Stay inside at sunset. God created them, they are amazing.

Put off sorting through the boxes of photos in your closet.
They are not going away. Having your heirs do this is
embarrassing.

Watch TV all the time, regardless
what is on.

 

Make judgments about people.

Eat stale bread. Bread is God's gift.

Gossip. Truth will out. 

Purchase absolutely the least expensive, most awful toilet paper.

Rage at and curse the TV.

 

Give up on someone. 

 

Drink cheap wine.

this is from Calliers Chocolate factory in Switzerland. You have no idea.

Consume poor quality chocolate (go for the good stuff, like from Switzerland).

Avoid saying "I'm sorry".
 

Behave angrily and irrationally.

Be too proud to ask forgiveness.

 

Buy store-bought pie. I am a pie snob.

Be serious all the time.

 

Discount power of prayer.

Make plans to do something or go somewhere, but then don't do it.

 

Wear cheap shoes.

Eat an ice cream whose flavor you hate 
for some strange reason. 

Neglect friends or family.

 

Be serious all the time.

Forget what it was like to be a child.

Suppress a giggle. 

This list could go on and on. Don't you have a list of your own?  

 

What is it? What should you do about it?

 

This was written a few years ago.  I have edited it.  The list has grown longer.

 

 

 

 

 

Life is Drama

 

In looking for something, I found treasures…I think I have used that phrase before...anyway...

Well, not treasures exactly.  Journals from years ago, I found my journals. 

At times throughout life, I have kept one or more journals at any given time.  They would be filled with everything—a record of good and bad events, thoughts, and concerns.

In my childhood, there was nothing print-worthy happening in my opinion, so my journals-diaries were little snippets of drama.  A verruca wart on my foot was exaggerated to be a crippling illness.  That would then morph into life threatening.  To make the diary appear even more dramatic, I dribbled some cologne water over entries to create tear smears.  Oh, I was big on drama as a child, my father always maintained.

Drama must be part of life in one shape or another.  Falling in love, getting married, childbirth—those are darned dramatic.  I have photos to prove it!

But, the little dramas, the ones that are interspersed on a daily basis?  

Losing one’s car keys?  Not drama.  Standing in line at Starbuck’s behind an elderly couple holding hands?  That’s drama.  Their whole life was played out before me in simple gestures, soft looks, few words, and even their order. 

She had “…the decaf coffee with vanilla syrup…not too much, now…and room for creamer…”  He had the “…full-strength stuff, and …NO, I will not have decaf instead….”  (There lays a whole one act play, filled to the brim with drama, leaving a little room for cream:)  “…leave room for cream…you have real cream, dontcha? Not that fake stuff they call creamer…”

See what I mean?  Real drama.  I wanted to follow them to a table, but my order was ‘to go’.  Who knows what I missed? 

Those journals covered months!  Months, I tell you. They morphed into years without realizing it. 

 

Life will always find a way.

                               

resilience 

In all places and in all situations, Life finds a way.

In Sedona, Arizona

Time. Time. Time..

Passing Time

During these past almost three months, time seems to stretch from breakfast to dinner. Not that those two meals are just fine in themselves, but something to stimulate the sleepy, food-numbed mind would be nice.

Time. Time. Time.  That has a good rhythm and rhyme. Rhyme.

Robert Frost, e.e. cummings, WB Yeats, Maya Angelou, Carl Sandburg....and many other poets can provide creative thought during anything.

A poet's words can capture time and hold onto it just a bit. 

“Time is the coin of your Life.

It is the only coin you have,
and only you can determine
how it will be spent.
Be careful
lest you let other people spend it for you. And when you spend it, spend it wisely so that you get the most for your expenditure.”

Carl Sandburg

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. 

Confucius

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen. 

Mark Twain

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. 

Buddha

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death. 

Leonardo da Vinci

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I've got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.

Life doesn't frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

Maya Angelou

Do not think that I am so brilliant and creative enough to hunt for all these and compile them. Heck, no. I just happened on to this site. Good thing to pass on.

Brainy Quote

Great Minds, great words

The Golden Time in 1959

thirtythreeandathird blog

I was 8 years old, life was filled with adventure, learning, and ignorance.  I had NO idea about what my parents faced and what things cost.  

This post is not about anything special or imbued with great meaning. It is simply a reflection of that golden time of the 1950s.

Enlarge this by pressing ctrl +

Life is a fast ride.

source

January is hitting its stride and that makes me realize that this year, 2018, will slide to December 31st too quickly. In fact, old sledding hills have now become ski jumps covered with black ice.

When did this happen? What should I do during 2018 acceleration?

Obviously, nothing can be done to slow time down. It is what it is.

What we all must do is to examine and activate these most necessary requirements: Gratitude, Faithfulness, and Honesty. Why these, you may ask. These three weave through all aspects of living, encompassing our entire existence.

Gratitude may be silent in most lives.  What we have now is not of our own doing at all, because this has been gifted to us by God.  Yes, everyone has had to work for everything, no doubt about that. The difference is that our drive is nailed into our DNA, into our thought processes.  This is part of who we are. And this comes from God.

Be grateful and give thanks.

Be faithful in all things.  When we are faithful to who we are and what we believe, when we are faithful to those we love, and when we are faithful to paths and goals laid out before us, life moves along. Faith gives all the strength needed.

Be faithful and hold onto your faith.

Honesty. This is huge.  It is not just telling the truth to those around us, it is about being honest with ourselves. Admit it, we would like to believe that we will finish the garage cleanup in one afternoon dictated by someone in the family, we know that is pie in the sky.  Be honest. Look at the mirror and see that 50 pounds will not drop off in one year.

Honesty is a personal attribute, to be developed personally. Others wrestling with honesty have nothing to do with the honesty in your own life.

Be honest to yourself and those around you.

Gratitude, Faithfulness, and Honesty are daily goals and always a work in process.  Fasten your skis and grip your poles because life is a fast ride.

Life is too short to....well, lots of things...

"Life is too short to drink cheap wine" is now repeated way too often, but it is still has meaning. With that thought, life is too short to do many activities.  Here are a few I have compiled.  In the comment section, please add your own thoughts.

Life is too short to:

...always order chicken from a menu because it is the cheapest entree.

...buy and eat CostCo or store bought sushi.

...use duct tape over and over to mend the same object; this indicates laziness.

...be ignorant of history.

...be mean.

...eat freezer-burned meat

freezer burned meat

...stay out of the rain.

...avoid stomping in a rain puddle.

...watch TV for hours and hours.

...play video games non-stop.

...miss a sunset.

...waste your time.

...be bitter.

...hold a grudge.

...miss opportunities to learn.

...lose a friend by choice.

...forget those who helped you when you were helpless.

...accept rudeness from a check-out or store clerk.

...make judgments. (Only God has that right.)

...run away from problems.

...eat stale grocery products.

...use cheap toilet paper.

...buy store-bought pies.

...hold back love.

...sleep on an old mattress.

...give up on people, relatives.

...walk quickly through a rose garden.

...dismiss an art museum as "boring".

...to walk by a child without giving him/her a smile.

This list is probably short compared to what could be.  Add some below.

WedWords: The Diary of Lucy Powell

Source

When the town’s beloved, elderly, and feisty Lucy Powell died suddenly at age 95, all wondered how to peer into her belongings.  Miss Powell had no relatives yet alive and no family to inherit a lifetime of her history.  Her family was her community and friends.

Slowly, close friends began to assimilate bits of China, old books, quilts, and other items into their own homes.  That was when the diary was discovered. Who should take it?  Who should even open it?

A diary can paint a picture of unrequited love with hearts broken, hearts renewed, and love lost then found. Finding a worn diary, fringed from fingers turning pages over decades, awed all who gathered around.

Finally, Old Ms Alda Franklin stepped forward.  I will take it.  She and I shared so many memories… All agreed.

When Alda settled down into her rocker with a cup of tea, she opened the cover and began reading each page. She chuckled, cried, gasped, and sighed until she read the last page:

My life had meaning and gave me reason to exist.  Touching others, being kind and generous, loving those who are unloved: that is the essence of life.

To all who turn these pages: Go!  Make your life count!

Source

This Wednesday, Make every moment count has posted 6 to 12 words to be used by any blogger who wish to enjoy a break from the serious stuff.  Use these words to write fiction, prose, poetry, flash fiction, etc.  Either post it on your own site and link it back to Every Moment or  make your addition to her blog site comment section.

The underlined bold italicized words are this week's words.  Hope you enjoyed how they were used.

Also, many thanks to Delores at Under the Porch Light who started this writing stir up, and to Elephant's Child who took up the the challenge. And also to River who grasped the baton to pass on, then to J. Blethers and now Every Moment.  Brave bloggers, talented and devoted.

Go on with it!  Fling yourself out into the unknown!

Wednesday Words: Emma

Ocean floor

 Emma had retreated to the basement  of her mind as years passed and words came less and less.

A gentile in a kind Mormon rest home, Emma heard the nurses as they changed shifts and discussed patients, as if they were inanimate objects.  “Her extremities are more spastic” and “Exhibits increasing imbecility daily” were the diagnoses and observations expressed. 

Rage and anger filled Emma’s mind, but words could not break the barrier the stroke had given her.

A new orderly, Kevin was hired for the night shift and was assigned to Emma’s care.  His kindness was a gift.  Kevin spoke to her with gentleness, a relief after her silence had muted her voice.

One late, late night night, Kevin softly entered Emma’s room and awoke her.  “Emma, you know you have fulfilled your life’s purpose.  Now,” he covered her mouth and nostrils with his big hands.  “Let’s go swimming in a cool ocean.  Take a deep breath, and dive to the bottom.”

Emma’s mind grew darker and darker as she reached the ocean’s floor.  “How lovely!”  were her last thoughts. 

These italicized and underlined words are provided by Delores from Under the Porch Light.  Each Wednesday,  Delores provides six daunting words for any who wishes to participate in this writing challenge. Please visit her site by clicking on the shivering cardinals in the sidebar; you will find other writers who have taken different slants on these words!

M-n Posts: Massacre, part 2--never seen

Massacre on a grand scale is brutal and grotesque.  It cannot be hidden or ignored.  The results clearly scar the world with undeniable evidence.

But, what about massacre that goes unseen, unrecognized?  The NEVER recognized massacres?  But they exist all the same.

One of the most debilitating and ultimately fatal diseases in the world is multiple sclerosis.  This is literally a systematic, massacre-like attack on the myelin lining of the nerves. 

A quiet disease it is.  A deadly and unrelenting disease it most certainly is.

Another massacre that exists on a grand scale, but which has created great debate is the destruction of newly-forming life: abortion. 

Politics being what they are and staunch personal beliefs collide here.  Is this simply a multi-cell organism that can be removed at the convenience of the female?  

Or

Is this a living baby with the potential to grow and become a fully functioning human being?

Since 1974, the number of abortions numbers in tens of millions.  If this were a massacre of an existing population, the outcry would be deafening.  (Note:  No photos will be shown here.  Statistics can be found by clicking on the underlined above.  Thanks.)

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was active in her support of Roe v. Wade passing, allowing for abortions.  Click on the site below the photo for information.

One statement she made during the interview ("Frankly, I had thought at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of.")

Finally, the massacre of our environment.  Environmentalists and scientists declare the massacre of threatened species cannot be reversed.  

Photo credit: Tom Brennan

Whether it is a frog in a wetland marsh or a rhinoceros in Africa, the sad truth is that massacred numbers of many species are rising.

Siberian tiger: Source

Question:  These quiet massacres—the ones that occur quietly around the clock—do they infuriate you the way they do me??  How do you react to the list above?  Controversy awaits this post, I am sure.