Category: inspiration

Peace of mind: {What’s it worth to you?}

Is it worth the effort to have peace of mind?

Do you have peace of mind, or is your head just a storage place for stressful clutter? Peaceful thoughts are what we all deserve, and achieving them seems to be impossible nearly all the time. Even when we sleep, the turmoil of our thoughts can be very difficult to handle.

This is a different world today than it was even ten, twenty, or forty years ago. Today’s fast pace has stolen our peace trying to keep up. How can we turn back the clock to achieve a more peaceful experience in our thoughts? Is this even worth talking about, or are we doomed to live with all the turmoil in today’s world, with stress and unhappiness? I believe that peace of mind is achievable if we learn how to control stress in our day-to-day lives.

I have lived into my late fifties and have seen how much more stress has come upon society year after year. It seems as though we must live in this ever-changing world by living with more stress and less peace in our lives. There must be a solution to this ever-evolving process of trying to keep up without putting ourselves through the stressful situations we find ourselves in.

I am here to tell you that there is a solution! This comes with a few things that we must first honestly ask ourselves.

  • What is the number one stress in your life today?
  • Are you willing to take time from your busy life to do something good for you?
  • Are you willing to put aside a stressful situation to better your health?
  • What is it worth to you for a peaceful existence?
  • Do you think that you deserve peace of mind?

For some people, the above list can be answered easily and without much trouble. To others, the list of questions above can be very difficult indeed. Most of the time, answering the above questions depends on the occupation you do for work and the family that you are supporting. It is very different for an air traffic controller to answer these questions as opposed to a person working as a carry-out for a small grocery store. It is also just as different for someone who has five kids at home as opposed to someone who is single without a family to support.

So the stresses for each individual are different and at higher or lower levels depending on their lifestyle. To say that the air traffic controller is doing a higher-stress job than a carry-out in a small grocery store is an understatement. A person who has a large family to support as opposed to a single person who only has to take care of themselves also shows a vast difference in stress. However, with a supportive family, the one who has a large family may benefit more than the one with only themselves to take care of.

I must add this before I continue. Do you realize that being a positive or negative person has a great effect on how you perceive things and address them in stressful situations? If you are that air traffic controller and are a positive person, you can control your stress levels better than a negative person who is a carry-out at a small grocery store. The positive person will look for the quick solutions to the things creating their stress and, in turn, will lower their stress level. Furthermore, the negative person will take a small stressful situation and turn it into a huge stressful situation just by dwelling on the problem! I have never been an air traffic controller, nor do I know any. However, I find it hard to believe that someone in that job could be a negative person. If any air traffic controllers are reading this, I would like to hear your opinion.

Only you can answer for yourself as to the amount of stress that you feel. The fact of the matter is that we are all different and feel stress at different levels. The air traffic controller mentioned above may handle stress more easily than the carry-out (as they should). This is where it becomes difficult to determine a person’s stress level. This is where you must look within yourself to determine your stress level and how well you can handle stress.

Take each of the questions from the list above and see if you can answer honestly. Only honest answers will work. If you try to cheat yourself by not being honest, you might as well quit reading right now.

What is your number one stress? Is it financial, your occupation, family, or something else? The reason I didn’t ask you to list all your stresses in order and only asked for the number one is because this is the first one you must deal with. After you have dealt with the first one, you can move on to the second, third, and so forth. If you try to fix your third-most first, you will find it nearly impossible because the number one puts so much pressure on you that the third is just an irritant when the first controls so much.

Is relieving the stress in your life worth putting aside a few minutes in your life? This may seem like a ridiculous question, but some feel stress is a good thing and should be welcomed, not released. This makes absolutely no sense to me, but some do feel stress as a benefit. If you like your stress, stop reading and move on. This is probably not the article for you.

Lady looking at a computer screen. Both hands on her head showing stress
Stress can be painful

Next up, we have your health. Stress can cause many bad things to happen within your body, including high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes, just to name a few. There is also the ability to pass your stress on to your loved ones! This is truth in its purest form. If you come home yelling at your significant other and/or your kids because you are under stress, you have now raised their stress level or added stress they did not have before you got home. You may feel a little better about blowing off steam with your family until you open your eyes and see the effects it has on them. This doesn’t just affect families; it can also affect others at work if that’s when you blow your top. I usually use families because people tend to take it more personally that way. People who bring stress into the home may find themselves alone before long.

What’s it worth to have peace of mind? I’m not talking about money, but rather time and effort on your part. There are many programs that you can pay for to help relieve stress, but if you’re not willing to put in an honest effort, you might as well flush that money down the toilet. It takes practice and a willingness to relieve stress. You have to work at it; it doesn’t come automatically. For some, it takes more work than others. We are unique in our minds and must determine for ourselves how much effort to dedicate to the relief of stress. In a way, strangely, someone’s main stress may be their job, and I’m telling you that you must work on relieving stress. So, what do you do about it? I’m not telling you to quit your job; I’m suggesting you find a different way of approaching it. Don’t go to work worrying about what’s going to happen before you even get there! Go to work with a positive attitude and take care of things as they happen, not before they manifest themselves. Going to work with worry on your mind is a negative approach and will guarantee that you are going to have a miserable work day.

The big question

Do you deserve peace of mind away from stress? The simple answer is, of course, you do. However, you must feel that you deserve it. It doesn’t matter what I or anyone else thinks; you have to believe that you deserve it! Once you decide to have a positive outlook on life, you will find that stress will roll off like water off a duck’s back. Keep worry away and focus on solutions.

Now, here are a few solutions to stress relief

All of us are different, and all of us have a special thing we love to do. For some, this may be different types of exercise (like riding a bike, lifting weights, and so forth). Others may find that cooking is their favorite thing to do. Bird watching, photography, hunting, fishing, reading, writing—the list goes on and on. The key is to make some time to do these things that you enjoy, and you will find your stress level lowering as you do. (Fifteen minutes a day can change your whole day.) And, if you need to scream to let it out, don’t do it in a work environment or with your family. Instead, go into the woods, yell at that fish you caught, or even scream into a pillow. Don’t bring others’ stress levels up. We are trying to release stress, not pass it on. What is the thing that you are passionate about doing? Only you can answer that question. Whatever it is, find it, use it, and enjoy it.

Lady at a computer desk, handing papers to the boss with a smile. Showing positive attitude.
Positive attitude helps your day go better

“Stress is a state of mind that can be controlled if we are willing to put forth the effort.”

Remember, we are all in this together. Take care, my friends, and have a stress-free day.

Neighbors Unite: A Tale of Courage and Community in the Face of Danger

In the face of danger, will your neighborhood pull together as one? I am proud to say that our little neighborhood will and did work together in a firefight for our little community.

07/26/2023 Dripping Springs, Az.

It was 6:30 p.m., and I was deep in sleep when my fifteen-year-old daughter woke me up. “Dad,” Brett said in a calm but firm voice. “What is it?” I responded, still trying to wake from my dreams. “Dad, I smell smoke, and I can’t figure out where it’s coming from,” she said. “Alright,” I said, sitting up on my bed and shaking the cobwebs out of my head. As I started getting dressed, Brett went back out the door and searched some more. A few minutes later, she opened the door and said that there was a house on fire up the hill and someone was yelling for help. She was still using a calm voice, but with a firmer sense of urgency now. Brett and her sixteen-year-old sister (Landree) headed up the hill while I was now tying my boots. By the time I was heading up the hill, my two daughters were ready to take on the task of firefighters. I made it up the hill as quickly as I could and asked one of my neighbors if the fire department had been called. I was told they had been.

In the small community that we live in, we have a volunteer fire department ten miles from us in the town of Winkelman, and it does take a little time to get them together from surrounding communities as far as thirty miles away. It is up to the citizens in the area to do what they can until the fire trucks come rolling in. I found Brett and asked her what the situation was. She informed me there was a building (a single-wide trailer house) on fire and small propane tanks exploding. I made my way the rest of the way up the hill to see the trailer house already burned halfway. The few neighbors that live in the area had already dragged hoses out of their yards and were hard at work fighting the flames. I located an unmanned hose and joined my neighbors in the fight.

A handful of people fighting massive flames with ordinary garden hoses was a site to admire. We were actually making headway, but with the flames catching nearby trees, this was a monster that would be hard to conquer. It dawned on me that I hadn’t seen Landree, and I yelled for Brett to come over to me. “Where is Landree? ” I asked with concern. “She is protecting two children in the neighbor’s house (which is three trailer houses down and across the dirt road from where we were fighting the blaze),” Brett said. I found out later that Landree saw these children, who are seven and two years of age, needed to be cared for so their mom could help with the fire.

Landree knows that, in an emergency, there are no small jobs, and everyone has to work together. She took on the responsibility for these two lives with the promise that if the fire jumped the road or got too close, she would take them down the hill to our house. She would protect them and keep them out of harm’s way.

Meanwhile, Brett had run back down the hill to grab a case of water from our place to hand out to the ones fighting the fire (this, of course, was her idea, with nobody telling her to do so). I also learned later that Brett had been one of the people to call 911 and report the fire. She returned to the scene with the case of water and started handing it out. Most of us are in our elderly years, and this was taking a lot out of us. A second trailer was on fire now, and we were being spread thin. I knew we would need longer hoses to position ourselves to fight the ever-spreading fire. I said, “Brett, go back to the house and bring up some more hoses.” She answered, “Yes, sir, and was running back down the hill once more. I thought to myself how nice it was to have a high school track star to make these runs back and forth. In no time flat, she was back with two 100-foot hoses and helping hook them up, so we had a better reach to fight this demon of the night.

House fire on July 7, 2023 in Dripping Springs, AZ
Hard at work with garden hoses photo by Brett Scaggs

Another explosion as yet another five gallon propane tank exploded! “How many propane tanks are over there, for God’s sake?” I heard a neighbor yell. This is absolutely crazy I thought. Here we are, a few neighbors (most of us, well over fifty years of age) fighting this blaze of not just one building but two now (along with the trees a blaze) and actually holding on fairly well! Working as one without any disputes and looking as though we had trained to do this! What a class act we were in that moment.  Fighting hard for what seemed like forever, a small firetruck arrived with their big hoses and trained volunteer firefighters. They went to work knocking back the flames and creating a firewall to help keep the fire from spreading to the next trailer in line. We kept our hoses going as well, but we had moved farther down to stay out of the professional’s way. We continued to work on the hot spots from the embers landing farther away as the wind blew them from the trees that were on fire. The fire truck used up its water, and as they left to go reload with the precious liquid ten miles down the road, we jumped back in and continued fighting the beast that was trying to destroy our homes.

A short time later, we had two more small fire trucks arrive and take over to extinguish the fire monster in the night. After all was said and done, there were two trailers lost in the flames. However, the two that were lost were vacant, and we, along with our firefighters, stopped the blaze from going to the third trailer house, which is the home of a sweet lady. Our community came together in an hour of need and beat the beast blazing in the night.

I would like to thank our volunteer fire department for coming and stopping what could’ve been a disaster. I would like to commend my neighbors for coming together and working as a team to help conquer this demon of destruction. The Dripping Springs community is now even stronger after our fight! We did it!

Later that night, at home, my daughters came to me and asked if they had done a good job tonight. I told them they kept their heads up and did not panic during the ordeal. They found a way to help instead of finding a way to make a bad situation worse. Landree replied, “Dad, Brett did good by calling 911 and running back and forth, getting things to help, but all I did was babysit.” I answered her with my honest opinion: “Brett was on cue and kept her head. She took care of calling 911, bringing us water, and even bringing up the hoses that we needed. She is one that I want by my side in an emergency. Now, as for you, Landree, you are an incredible asset in the face of danger, taking care of two children and keeping them safe. You took responsibility for not just one soul but two. I am so proud of you both!”

Two teenage sisters., one with her arm around the other posing for the picture.
Brett Scaggs is on the left Landree Scaggs is on the right. photo by Nicole Scaggs

My girls showed me tonight that they have grown past their years in maturity, and I am one proud dad! One last thing before I go. Many prayers went up to Heaven from many of us during this fight. God heard our prayers and answered.

Not writer’s block, it’s writer’s pain

      I have to admit, this has not been one of my best weeks. In fact, it probably ranks in the lower half of all weeks that I have lived through. I started writing a few years after a work injury ended my career in mining. Along with helping keep my mind busy, I found that I was also helping others along the way with my thoughts and experiences put in print. Having nerve damage can be very painful at times. Even after years of dealing with this up and down pain and learning to handle what comes with it, there are days and sometimes weeks that are just too much to function with, let alone have the peace of mind to concentrate and write. This has been the case this week, no matter how many times I sat down to write this week’s post, I just couldn’t get started, let alone finish. Don’t get me wrong, I have many post in my head just waiting to come out and share with you, I just couldn’t sit still and concentrate long enough to get it done.

     The problem this week has nothing to do with writer’s block, more like writer’s pain that has been holding me back. I’m not the kind of writer who can create a lot of material and stockpile it for a later date to publish. I am the type that has to write at that moment of inspiration. It is true, I have a few posts started with the possibility of continuing at a later date. In these unfinished posts, none are more than two paragraphs long. I guess you could call them ideas more than posts. These will sit by the wayside until inspiration hits, and I can finish them. Some of these posts will never make it any farther than they are right now. I took some time this week and looked these over, with not even a hint of inspiration to grasp hold of. This is not to say that I couldn’t finish them as we speak, but they would not have the heart and soul I like to poor into my stories. If I ever finish a post without a small trickle of sweat on my brow, I know I haven’t put enough of myself into it yet.

A picture of a starry night with a quote by Billy Scaggs "Why look to the darkness of night when looking at the stars show the light?"
I’m reminded of what I was told about not seeing my inspiration. Thanks Doc

     Today, a very wise man (one of my doctors) suggested I write about how I have felt this week and be true to my word about it. He said that inspiration has been with me all week, I just wasn’t paying attention. I never realized pain could be a form of inspiration, especially someone who deals with it day-to-day.

     After starting this blog to help myself, a little over a year now, I have come to write more for your benefit than mine. This has done more good for me than it did when I started, I now have a reason to write other than keeping my mind busy. I now feel I’m maybe helping others who take a few minutes to read my posts. I feel almost selfish writing this post because I keep thinking, in some way, I am letting you down not posting my normal stuff. At this point, I’m not even sure that I will even publish this.

     I have never and will never believe the pain I go through is in any way worse than someone else’s. There are multitudes of people that are much worse off than I am. I can only write about what I know and let the others tell their own stories. I do, however, share a bond with others suffering from nerve damage. My sciatic nerve was damaged and there are many times I have parts of the left side of my body go numb, itch, ache and worse of all is the burning sensations that come to me. Real bad weeks like this one is when all of these symptoms come on at once and includes not just parts, but the whole left side of my body. When this happens, my normal insomnia becomes super insomnia, which, of course, stacks pain on top of pain without rest to break it up. Alas, here is where the problem of writing becomes huge, or as I like to call it, writer’s pain.

     The more I think about it, I’m becoming convinced that maybe, just maybe, there is someone out there that may get some good out of this post. If this is true and not just me over thinking, I would do that person an injustice by keeping this from being published. As long as I find this to be true and as long as I don’t convince myself otherwise, I will publish this as soon as I finish writing. I want to let others who deal with nerve damage know, I understand. I know how it feels when a slight change in temperature, change in barometric pressure or even a slight breeze can set off the pain in your body. This is no carnival ride, for sure. I guess the worst part about it is when people can’t see your injury, they sometimes don’t believe how you can possibly be hurt. If you’re not wearing a cast, you must be faking. Then comes the time when you find someone else who is suffering from the same thing, and you realize, “Hmm, I’m not crazy after all!” Just because an injury cannot be seen from the outside, doesn’t mean it’s not very real on the inside.

The last paragraph is for those who have nerve damage. Those who don’t share in this infliction, have no idea how it truly affects you. We, who do, learn to hide it the best we can for those who don’t.

I guess I should wrap this up now. Once I got started writing, it was hard to stop because while writing, the pain seems to disappear or at least, I don’t notice it quite so much. Thank you for allowing me to get away from my normal writing this week while I get my body to calm down. I will be posting again next week, going back to my normal writing. Take care, God bless and as always Remember, we are all in this together.