Living in the Now

I have been doing some soul searching lately and I have come to realize that as a generation and as individuals we are so busy worrying about the past or planning for the future that perhaps we are failing to live in the moment. To really experience the NOW, the thing that is happening at this very instant.

I have to admit that I have been guilty of this myself on way to many occasions. Looking back I realize I have missed many MOMENTS because I was busy planning or at least thinking ahead to the next moment or day missing the true joy of that very second in time.

There are many occasions, where I did not live for just that moment, that I wish I could have back. I wish I could go back to precise moments in my past so that this time I could concentrate fully on that moment taking it all in and absorbing it so that it was etched into the very core of my soul.

One such moment that comes quickly to mind is my daughter’s wedding. Oh, I remember it and I can recall many things about the elaborate event, but there is also so much that I missed in just that one day. Instead of worrying about the guest and making sure everyone else was enjoying themselves, I wish I had been just a bit selfish. I wish I had stood back and absorbed every smile that crossed my daughters face, ever laugh line. I wish I had taken the time to have etched the sound of her laughter in my mind so that I could reach within and play it back, from that very instant in time, whenever I wanted to or needed to. I wish I had basked longer in the glowing sparkle of her eyes, drenched myself in the pure joy and happiness of her moment, her day.

I am slowing beginning to understand and realize that NOW, this very second, is what life and happiness is really about. Let tomorrow take care of itself for it may not come and if it does then I will live in that moment then. I have wasted so many now moments worrying or thinking about the next moment that I feel I have missed so much.

My wish for you today is that you do not let another second in your life pass without fulling enjoying the very NOW of the moment; so that tomorrow or next year, or many years down the road you will not have any regrets or have missed out on a single opportunity to experience the full happiness of that one moment in time.

There will be bad moments for we cannot have life without them. Just like nature cannot survive without rain. For those bad NOW moments, which aren't so happy and pleasant, close your eyes and hand them over to God then move on to the next moment in time. For this exact moment in time is all we are guaranteed.

I write because I care,
Granny

Technology Woes

Is there any such thing as an uncomplicated electronic item these days? Something with a simple on and off switch? Everything now a day’s comes equipped with multiple options that will do everything but wash your butt for you. Cool right? Sure is, if you have a Geek Squad education, which the majority of us mature seniors don’t.


Why can’t you purchase a simple TV that just allows you to watch TV, or a cell phone for that matter, that just makes calls? Nope, it has to come with all sorts of game plug ins, pc plug ins, camcorder plug-ins, camera plug ins, and the list goes on.


Don’t get me wrong, these new technological inventions are great if you have a need for them or if you are young enough or fortunate enough to have someone in the household who understands how this new technological stuff works.


However, this leaves out a large majority of mature seniors. Do you have any idea what we go through if our TV goes out and we have to purchase one of the new TV’s on the market today? Unless you can afford to pay an arm and a leg to have the technicians come out and install it for you, you’re doomed. There’s a gazillion plug-ins in the back where there use to be a simple connection to screw in your antenna wire. Not only are the gazillion connections on the back a hassle but then the TV has to be programmed. Talk about a nightmare! Appliances today need to come with a dictionary attached just so you can read the darn instruction manual.


Scenario:


Customer – “I need to buy a TV.”


Salesperson – “Which do you prefer LCD or Plasma.”


Customer – “Uh…whichever ever gets the best picture, I guess.”


Salesperson – “Do you prefer 60 HTZ or 120 HTZ?”


Customer – “I don’t know what that is, I just want a TV that I can watch regular programs on.”


Salesperson – “Well, we have 720 and 1080 resolution with up to 30,000 contrast ratio or we have…”


Customer – Looks at wife confused. “We just want a simple color TV that you can turn on and off.”


Salesperson – “Well, I don’t believe we carry anything like that but we do have a lower end HDTV equipped with Blu-Ray…


Customer – Holds up his hand, grabs his cell phone, and hands it to the salesperson. “Here can you call my grandson? He’s in the address book under…

Think About It

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attiutdes.

~Charls R Swindoll -quotes (American Writer and Clergyman, b.1934)

Awesome!

Some one who loves me sent me this and I had to share it.

Your Choice

It's early and the sun hasn't fully risen over the tree tops as of yet. Not being much of a morning person I am surprised to find that I am enjoying the stillness just before dawn. It's quiet, peaceful, and beautiful.


It sometimes takes a morning like this sitting back and appreciating the wonders of God's beauty to understand how it is possible to hold on in a world so full of chaos, destruction, and yes, even hatred. It's difficult for me to understand how people can be so cruel to nature and other human beings. What is so hard about just being nice? You may be thinking, well that's fine for those who haven't experienced the trials and troubles that I have. It's easy to be nice when your world is all good.

Well, I'll have to disagree. My world has not always been good. Have I suffered through trials and hard times, most certainly. However, regardless of what befalls us, WE are the ones who make the choice of how to deal with those trials and the after effects. I guess I choose to try and learn from my troubles instead of blaming the world for them. I deal with them and then put them in the past. I refuse to allow them to harbor deep in my heart and drudge them up and use them as an excuse to do evil

Economic times are tough and will most likely get worse before they get better. We can make a choice. We can let these difficult times harden our hearts, we can sulk in anger, allow depression to take over, or we can get up every morning say a prayer and ask God to help us to be kind to others regardless of the difficulties we face.

A smile, a kind word, a helping hand, it cost nothing. You may even be surprised at how beneficial it can be. We can chose to sit back, complain, take our troubles out on the innocent and stand around and cry VICTIM, or we can chose to face our troubles head on, do what we can to get by, and choose not to let our circumstances turn us into miserable, depressed, hateful, uncaring, violent human beings.

WE are all victims of something. The difference is how we choose to deal with our problems, and the incidences that befall us. I am often amazed when I see or her of a parent forgiving a criminal who has in whatever way destroyed a part of their lives. But I understand now. It is a choice. They have decided that they had rather forgive and let those responsible be judged by a higher power, instead of letting their anger and hatred boil within them until it manifest into criminal and hateful acts towards others.

What kind of person will you choose to be?

You are who you are because YOU choose to be.
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May you have a wonderful day and may God bless you in some unexpected way.

Granny

Are You Happy?

I didn’t ask if you were satisfied or if your life was problem free, I asked, Are you happy? Happy in your heart where it really counts.

So many times, we find ourselves drifting through life doing what is necessary just to get by, for whatever reason. From the time we are born, we are lead and guided by those who think they know what’s best for us, often guided by their own experiences. However, you and only you, truly knows and understands what makes you happy.

If you had a choice to do anything you wanted what would you be doing? I’m not talking about just a momentary break from life; I’m referring to everyday of your life. Is there a passion that runs deep down in your soul, but you have kept it locked away, because you have followed what others believed was best for you. How many people do you know who have fallen into the trap of taking over the family business or have became a doctor or lawyer because that’s what their father did, or their father before them did?

Often, we are cornered into taking our lives in the direction others have laid out for us although we have no real burning desire to be, or do, what others have destined us to do with our lives. “I always wanted to be a painter but…, I always wanted to be a writer, a racecar driver, whatever it may be, but instead of following our passion we allowed our love or our sense of responsibility to force us into doing the expected.

Have you thought about what you would do if their where no influences in your life from others? What is your passion? What would you do if you could do anything your heart desired?

I can name two, off the top of my head, who pursued their passion and achieved not only a life for themselves but fame and fortune along the way. NASCAR racing champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. and talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Did they just wake up one morning and say my passion is racing and then automatically become great, an instant success with money flowing like wine. Of course not, they made a choice to find a way to make their passion their lives work and they became not only rich but admired, for their triumphs.

It’s easy to spot those who are living their passion, whether it is a teacher, a baseball player, a dancer, or a singer. They have a special something that sets them apart from others in their field and it’s not just the amount of money they make. However, you most likely will find those who have a real passion for what they do have become monetarily successful and they are happy. Not because of the money but because they are living their dream. They wake up every day and get to do something they love and it shows. If you are passionate about what you are doing, you are going to do a better job, you are going to put forth more effort, and you are going to reap the rewards.

Pursuing your passion is not an easy task. In many instances, it can be more difficult than just roiling with the flow and doing the expected. We all have to face challenges in our lives, whether we are doing what we love or just working at getting by. Since we all have to deal with the challenges of life doesn’t it make more since to face those challenges while pursuing our passion instead of just settling for what others think we should be doing?

You may be thinking I don’t have the time or the resources; I have too many responsibilities to follow my dream. Those are only excuses and we all have them. The afore mentioned individuals had responsibilities and had many hurdles to overcome in order to pursue their dream. So what makes those who succeed at pursuing their dream different from the rest of us? Sacrifice! Ask anyone who has ever made a living doing what they love and they will tell you there were many sacrifices along the way. Suppose your passion is becoming a writer. The biggest challenge most writers face is time. They have families to juggle and often fulltime unfulfilling jobs and very little time for hours spent writing draft after draft after draft until their writing is polished enough to be worthy of publication. Very few things worth pursuing in live come easy and they all come at a cost. The key to those who succeed is that they are willing to make the sacrifices it takes to pursue their passion and become the best they can be at it.

Take Dale Earnhardt for example. Read his biography and you will find that the man made many painful sacrifices in his life to pursue his dream. I’m not saying you should sacrifice all that is important in your life just to follow your dream. I am saying that if you have a passion and a burning desire to be something nothing is stopping you but you and your willingness to make the necessary sacrifices. Your passion should be a priority in your life and not just something you lay on the back burner to pursue when the time is right. Life will eat you up, spit you out, and be over before the time is ever right.

Our happiness lies in our passions not in just doing what is necessary or right according to others. It doesn't seem to matter how many hours are in a day we always find the time to take care of our priorities, whether its work, kids, husbands, or taking care of our elderly parents. Therefore, it only seems reasonable that if we make or passion a priority we will somehow make the time to pursue it.

It is only by discovering our true passion and then establishing goals towards that end, that we discover true happiness.

Your choice. Are you willing to just get by and do what’s expected of you or is it time to rip free of whatever is constraining you and make the choice to accept the necessary sacrifices and reap true happiness?
_______________________________
My prayer is that you can spend your days doing something you love, which will fill your days with happiness.

Granny

Your Bank Account

This was passed to me through an e-mail. I have no idea who the author is so that I might give him/her credit, but it sure spoke to my heart as I hope it will yours. It's not all about the money.

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This is AWESOME....something we should all remember.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hour s of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'

'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.

'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. 'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.'
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.

May blessing pour down on you from heaven.
Granny