Month: May 2022

Categories
short stories

Make time for Needful things

       In today’s world, we are in such a rush that we are forgetting the most important things in life. We hurry to work, eat fast food, while time for family and friends are laid to the wayside. Is this what life is all about in society today? It sure seems that way, but is this a healthy way to live? The answer to this question would be a resounding no. If we don’t find time for the needful things in life, then what kind of life are we really living? This answer would add up to be a very empty life indeed.

Small girl sitting with a smile

       All the money in the world won’t be near as precious a gift as a smile from your child. A child’s smile is more than enough reason to find the needed time for family and friends. How many people live their whole lives working and look back from an old age, knowing they have waited a lifetime? This is such a sad existence and one that should never be lived in the first place. Did you take care of your family with all the work you did? Of course, you did, but how many birthdays did you miss because you got called into work, and you took it upon yourself to answer the phone?

       It is true that working hard for your family is very honorable, but what did you miss because of work? Don’t get me wrong, I respect a hard worker, and I’m sure your family does as well. The thing I’m talking about is the downtime to enjoy your family and friends. Do you find yourself spending all spare time in front of the television or reading all about the bad stuff happening in your newspaper? When was the last time you spent free time teaching your daughter to fly a kite? Maybe it’s something even of a shorter time, like explaining a math problem or teaching your child how to bake a cake. The key is to find time when it seems like there isn’t any to spare. If you can’t spare it now, then when?

        Using your free time wisely is extremely important! Some of this time must be used for relaxation of the mind, other parts need to be used for connecting with loved ones and friends. If you don’t find time for others, why would they find time for you later? Many people grow old alone because they didn’t have time for others earlier in life. Don’t set your life’s goals only upon working that nine to five job. Finding the downtime away from work leads to a much healthier and happier life for you as well as those around you. Why wait until that one-week vacation to find out who is important to you.

Old man sitting alone reading a book

      We live our lives sitting on a time bomb! What I mean by this is, we never know when our time is up. Some die at a very young age, while others live to be very old. Are you going to lay odds that you will have time to enjoy life later? How old will you live to be? More importantly, how long will your family and friends live to be? Will they still be around when you decide it is time to get to know them better? Furthermore, will they be willing to give you the time of day after so many years of being ignored?

     I understand, in this day and age, it is hard to make a living for your family and many friendships may be put aside because of the stresses you have to deal with every day. I also understand how important it is for us to have friends and family in our lives in a social environment.

Dog getting a pat on the head by his owner

      Let’s think of a dog for a moment. Your pet dog is a great pet because they are always happy to see you! You could leave the house and be gone ten minutes. When you return, your dog is so happy to see you that he can hardly stand still. As long as you give your dog a pat on the head or a quick scrub on the belly, your dog is happy. He is always looking for another way to get that pat or scrub. Why do we call dogs man best friend? Because they are forgiving and ready to please you anytime day or night. Now, people are very different in this nature. People have to be reminded that they are loved and needed. If you go long enough without reminding them of this love and need, they will forget and look for another place to receive these things. Dogs are loyal to their owners, but people are their own owners and only loyal to those that show loyalty to them. Are you willing to pass a time to show your family and friends your loyalty? How long do they have to wait on you? Besides, your dog tends to get more attention from you than your family and friends, even if it is only a pat on the head. This is very sad if you think about it.

       When your children were younger, do you remember how excited they were to see you, even if you had been gone only a short time? As you become too busy to spend time with them, are they still as excited or are you now just someone that lives under the same roof? There was a time when you would call your friend, and they were excited to come over for dinner. Now, when you call, they seem to have other things planned. Do you feel any of this happening in your life? If so, then it’s time to find time for others, even if it’s just a few minutes to let them know you care. Make the connection today, or live to wander later when you are alone.

Father and children holding hands and playing

       One final note, and I will let you consider if my words hold truth for you. If you don’t want to grow old alone, I suggest you take this post to heart, and do so today. Don’t wait until it is too late. Remember, people are different from dogs, besides most of us outlive our dogs. Show a need and love for your family and friends today. Tomorrow may be too late. Take care, God bless and remember, we are all in this together.

Your words are important to you and your health

     I have demonstrated in a couple of posts before, trying to come up with the best way to show how important our words are. In these before posts, I don’t believe I have gotten my point completely across to the satisfaction of my readers. In this post, I will attempt to explain how important your words are to you and your health differently. As I have been known to teach others in various ways, I refuse to quit until my students have received the full benefit of knowledge I have gained through years of study and a life filled with learning the hard way. I now am committed to pass along as much knowledge as possible before my time here on earth ceases to exist. For everything I teach someone else, I learn double the amount. So I’m not trying to show how smart I am but to not only pass something onto you, but gain knowledge for myself.

Teacher in front of classroom, using whiteboard

      A teacher, who cannot learn, should no longer attempt to teach. I must explain here that I have never taught in a school atmosphere other than a time I was a trainer for a truck driving school in Tucson, Arizona. I have however taught multiple people in every career that I have ever been a part of. Furthermore, I know you have heard the old adage “those that can’t, teach”. I personally have always been against this saying! Additionally, I believe a teacher should not teach a subject that they themselves cannot do. The main reason for this is obvious, how can you teach what you don’t know? And yet there are so many that break this rule every day. So it is up to you and me to pass on knowledge as we have learned to those that need to know. So let’s dig in deep and try this lesson one more time. If need be, I will find another way to teach this lesson if this one doesn’t get the rest of you on board that may have missed it the first couple of times we discussed this.

      There is a way to say things in a way that will make you feel a certain way, and hard to change that feeling. For example, if you were to say, “I am sad”. You have just painted yourself in a corner of being sad. Now, if you change that a bit and say, “I am experiencing sadness”. You have now given yourself a way out. You can now go from sadness to happy right away if you so choose to. Instead of locking the door on an emotion, leave it cracked a little, just in case you would want to allow another emotion to enter the room. Without allowing yourself some form of change, you will lock yourself into the room with no way out! Of course, this works both ways. Even though most find it is easier to become sad than it is to become happy, we need both of these emotions. For full disclosure, I and people that try to stay with the positive side, have learned it is easier to become happy than it is to become sad. The last sentence was just food for thought!

How would one mourn the death of a family member or close friend without sadness? How would we be able to move on from this loss without mourning? Without the use of all of our feelings, we would become less than human. Furthermore, we must have a way to change emotions as needed depending upon what is needed at the time. So if we lock ourselves into one emotion when another is needed, we won’t be able to change as needed. And how do we lock ourselves in? That’s right, by locking the door on the emotion we are in. Now, what is the fastest way to lock that door? By convincing ourselves to stay in one emotion. And how can we convince ourselves of this? Yes, with our words. When we voice what we feel, we tell ourselves, that’s it. Why and how do words accomplish locking that door? Here is where it gets interesting. Who on this earth do you believe more than you? Nobody right? So you spoke the words, you believe you and you even heard the words by the one you trust the most, you! Boom! There it is, your words are more powerful than anything you possess.

      Here is another example that most of us can see very clearly in our day-to-day life. I can’t lose the weight. I have to eat that chocolate  cake. My body needs that soda. I can’t do it! Well, you are absolutely right, you have just told yourself what you can and can’t do. You have just received the best intelligence that you can get on this earth. You have not only closed the door, but you pad locked it, took off the door knob and plastered over it!

Why do people look to and get excited by motivational speakers? The answer is because, they convince us to change our minds about something. And what is the #1 thing they ask us to do? They tell us to speak the words, shout the words, write down the words and repeat this saying every day! Why? Because, you have to convince you! The speaker is just giving you the tools to use. The person on the stage cannot convince you if you decide not to believe it. You have to not only believe it, you have to convince your mind, this is the way. The only way for this to work is to speak it. The more you say it, the more you will believe it.

Two ladies talking in sign language

There is always someone out there that ask me, “What about people that can’t speak or those that can’t hear?” I answer the same way all the time, “Is sign language, not, a form of speech?” “Are vibrations through touch not a form of hearing?” We may not hear or speak the same way as others, but as humans, we find a way! I hope this puts an end to questions about people that have a different way of speech for good!

I hope this post has taught you how important your words are. I can’t express how important and how much this lesson weighs heavily on my heart. This is so important to understand. I am constantly fighting myself to follow what I am trying to teach here. This is not a natural thing for us to do, especially in this day and age. You must continue to work with using your words carefully every day. If you want to accomplish anything worthwhile in your life, you must get this process right. If you don’t, you will find yourself falling back into the same thing you have fought so hard to get away from. This can include losing weight, getting out of debt, or even creating a new lifestyle. Trust me when I say, “It is a constant battle, but one that is worth fighting“. I believe in you, now you need to believe in you and change whatever it is to achieve what you will. Until next time, take care and God bless. Remember, we are all in this together.

Categories
short stories

Repair your inner core to look younger

      I have been watching and learning from people all my life. Some feel this to be normal, but I look into the thoughts and actions of people deeper than most. We all come to a point in life where, no matter what your age, want to become something we can no longer be. The older we get, the younger we try to become. This concept has engulfed most of my thoughts while studying others. Whether it’s make-up for women or lifting weights for men, we are always trying to turn back the clock of life. Let it be known, you will be a day older tomorrow, regardless how much you do today to try and change it. Once you are thirty years of age, twenty-nine is gone forever. So are we trying to turn back the clock to help others see us as we were, or are we trying to help ourselves live a long and healthy life?

     Watching people can teach you a lot about yourself, but one thing it won’t teach you is to be happy with you! You can lose the weight, run five miles a day and eat all the right things, but you are still you. If you believe losing ten more pounds will make someone love you more, you are sadly mistaken. If anyone has ever made this statement to you, then surprise, they don’t know what love is. And if you believe it, then guess what, you don’t know what love is any more than they do.

Lady with lots of make-up with scowl
Make-up doesn’t cover up meanness

In the time it has taken you to read this far, you have gained age, and nothing you can do will change that. You can make the package look better, but you are still the age you are. I have nothing against anyone that wants to improve themselves physically, but you’re not turning back the clock, you are just putting a new coat of paint on it. God Bless those that try, but remember, we are still who we are. If you were a rotten person at three hundred and fifty pounds, you are the same rotten person at two hundred pounds unless you fix the inside, not just the outside.

As I watch, most people try to do the upkeep of their bodies, not for themselves, but for others. This is a huge mistake! If you want to truly improve yourself, put as much work on your inside as you do on the outside. And some might take this wrong and yell at the screen, “I am eating right!” This has nothing to do with what I am suggesting. To fix the inside (inner core), we must fix numerous things that have nothing to do with what we eat. We must repair our attitude (positive rather than negative), humor, thought process and even something called love for our fellow humans. Do you treat others the way you wish to be treated, or just expect them to show you kindness while you treat them like dirt? Are you making people feel welcome or slamming the door in their face? These are inside things that can be fixed with less will power, than it takes to leave the cookie jar closed.

You have now gained a few more minutes of age and there’s no going back. The good news, you can change for the better and make the world a better place beginning now. It may take a long time to lose the weight. It may take a long time to be able to lift them free weights you have been staring at. But you can start making yourself a better person by the time you finish reading this post. All it takes is to decide to do it. Once you have made this decision, it will start making you a better person immediately. Do you feel good about who you are? This question has nothing to do with weight, muscles or what job you have. I ask again, do you feel good about who you are? Can you look someone in the eyes when talking to them, or do you have to look away? Are you trying to hide who you are, or are you proud of who you are?

Lady running in triathlon with smile on he face
Good inner core makes all the difference

Here’s the good news. Once you start working and repairing your inside, it will become easier to repair the outside! All of a sudden, it will be easier to lose the weight or run them five miles, if you wish. And as far as turning back the clock, the glow you put off to others will make you look much younger than what you are. We can’t turn back the clock of age. We haven’t the technology of a time machine yet. Make-up may cover the rust, but when it is taken off at night, the rust will still be there. But an inner core can be repaired and will show on the outside as though you have the ability to turn back the clock. You have the power, but do you have the will? This is my challenge I lay before you. If you should accept, I promise you will become a new you, and you don’t have to believe an infomercial to receive it. God Bless, I wish you well, and I will talk to you again next week.

Categories
short stories

Pain dealt with using humor

     A person in pain with no sense of humor is a miserable person indeed. However, a person in pain that has a sense of humor, may still be in pain, but is able to deal with it a lot easier. Is it not true that laughter is the best medicine? Try to laugh (I don’t mean fake laugh, I mean a true laugh) and think about being miserable at the same time. Can’t do it, can you? You are trying to cause two opposite emotions to invade the same place at the same time. So a person who has a great sense of humor has a hard time not laughing at something or someone that is funny, even if he or she is in pain at the time. This in turn will, even if for just a few seconds, will allow the pain to be forgotten. This few seconds are worth a million bucks to someone who lives with pain all the time.

Laughing baby

     As someone who deals with pain on a daily basis, I am always looking for the next laugh. Heck, there are days that a small chuckle would be worth its weight in gold to me. The days that I can’t find something to laugh about are the worst days by far. Now I’m not saying I have a great sense of humor, I’m saying I have a great sense of humor for me. Everyone has a different kind of humor, but we all started out with the same kind. You heard me right, have you ever seen a baby’s first laugh? Anyone who can watch a baby laugh and not smile themselves, has completely forgotten whatever sense of humor they ever possessed. How many baby’s have you known that never laughed? I will await your answer……

Okay, I’m done waiting. We must move on now. So since we all agree that as babies, we have a sense of humor, then where did some of us lose it? Was it a bad childhood, something happened after growing up, or was it trained out of us? That is a question you must answer for yourself. I had a few years that my humor left me, it was the heartbreak of divorce. It took a few years for me to locate it again, and oh, how I missed my old friend (humor). Once I allowed my humor back into my life, my whole life returned to me. Shortly afterwards, the love of my life entered my life, and we have been married now for twenty-two years and still going strong. It was up to me to allow my humor back and because I did, the pain I once went through with heartbreak has now been replaced by the love of my life. Why must I tell you this, easy, because I want to show that it is very possible to regain the humor you may have lost somewhere along your lifespan.

After getting injured during a mining accident, even though it caused a physical pain and not heartbreak, I find my humor helpful. The days that are my worst are the ones without a good laugh. Now I look for ways to laugh every day, regardless how bad the pain is. It works, my friends, it really does!

Lady sitting in chair, with hands on her head, looking very happy.

The whole point of this post is to let you know, pain exist, and it hurts, but humor does help. No matter what you are going through in life, a little laugh now and then can only help. It most definitely won’t hurt. You don’t need to be happy all the time, and humor won’t fix a broken heart or broken bone. It will, however, make the situation a little easier to deal with. I leave you with this final thought, why not take humor for a spin and see if it helps you? Take care my friends and remember to smile, besides it takes more muscles in your face to frown.