A SHORT STORY...
Thursday September 14, 2017 6:22 pm
(What follows is an excerpt from one of several short stories I have started... with no intention of ever finishing.)
The room is somewhat dark, and with night soon falling the only light is from the small television setting in a far corner. The voice sort of startles him as he had temporarily forgotten he wasn't alone. She said, "You are doing it again."
"Doing what," he asked?
"Looking back," she said. This was stated as a fact rather than her asking him a question: he supposed there was no since in denying.
Sighing deeply before answering he asked, "How can you tell?"
"It is because you are here, but you aren't."
That seemed to be a fair assessment so he only nodded his assent. He wasn't sure in the ever darkening room if she saw this or not? He waited quietly... feeling more was to follow, he was right.
"Does it help," she asked?
"Help how?"
"Do you feel better after you are done?"
He paused before answering, but not because he was trying to gather his thoughts or hadn't understand her question, but the word 'done' seemed so subjective; when was he ever done? Finally he answered, "No... no, not really."
"Then why in the world do you do it?" He could feel more than just hear the exasperation in her voice.
Suddenly feeling bad but not sure why, he softly said, "Habit... perhaps?" The room was quiet for a full minute, or a bit more, then he said, "Maybe one other reason. I might be like the guy who repeatedly hits himself in the head with his own hammer." With the remaining light in the room he thought he saw her smile, even if ever so briefly: he knew she had always liked his stories.
In spite of herself she grinned, she knew he was going to tell a story and she loved his stories. "Pray tell," she said.
He began, "A man had been sitting on a park bench all morning enjoying the brisk fall morning. He had brought several small bags and they were full of nuts and crusty bread and he was liking the morning air and the small wildlife which had gathered nearby waiting to be fed.
"Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man downhill walk into his field of vision. At first he didn't pay a lot of attention. The only unusual thing he saw was how the man was dressed: shorts, sandals and a tee shirt: far too casual for such a cool morning.
"One other thing: he had a small object in his hand: was it a hammer? Quickly the guy sat down... crossed his legs in the Lotus Position and immediately cracked himself in the head with his hammer... right between the eyes! THWACK! There was a loud crack and the man grimaced, cried out in pain and shook his head. Then, a small smile crept onto his face.
"The voyeur to this act was almost in shock... what should he do? Maybe, at this distance he did not actually see what he thought he did? That was it, he must have seen something else.
"Suddenly, THWACK! He did it again! Again it was followed by a grimace and a cry of pain... then, as unexplainable as the first time there was that same small smile beginning to form!
"A couple of seconds passed and he saw the man start to move his arm again, and he wasn't sure he could stand to see the man repeat the act so he leapt to his feet spilling all the goodies he held and screamed, 'Wait!'
"He half ran, half tripped rushing down the hill to get where the man sat, questioningly he looked up at him.
"Sir," he began, "I was sitting on the bench up there..." and he pointed, "And I saw what you were doing, hitting yourself in your head with that hammer!" He pointed at the hammer as if he could not quite believe what he had witnessed. "Why... why did you do that?" The man looked genuinely puzzled, maybe, it was from the sudden encounter?
The young man dressed in the causal clothes finally replied, "I guess I do it because it feels so good when I stop."
She couldn't help herself, she had to laugh.
The now fully dark room fell silent again, except for the low volume on the television. There was really nothing else to say so she quietly turned to see what was playing on the set? She supposed she was glad the room was now too dark too see clearly the other side: for she was sure he was already looking back again.
THANKFULNESS...
Wednesday August 30, 2017 ... pm (&) Saturday September September 9, 2017 12:08 pm
What you will read in this blog are the musings and thoughts I had while riding my 10 speed bike to work yesterday afternoon. If you like this post then you might believe the circumstances that led me to be on my bike was a good thing. If you do not like it then you will probably wish my van was still running as that was the reason I was on my bike yesterday.
Exactly two weeks from today I will be in surgery in Springfield, Missour *** (I had typed exactly this far when I answered my phone, more on that later) Missouri as I'm having knee replacement surgery on my right knee. Because of that I have been trying not to spend any money right now that I do not need to spend: ergo, my biking to work.
Before beginning... this caveat: what I felt so very certain about yesterday I find myself (less than 36 hours later) having a difficult to impossible time putting into practice.
Our thoughts are seldom, if ever, the result of a single occurrence, but are most probably the result of a hundred, or thousand small things that lead to thoughts that (in the end) will shape a persons belief system. Anyway, the musings in my head yesterday during my ride began with the people in Texas, so I will start there.
First, if you are in that small group who truly lost everything... including people and pets that you love: my heart hurts for you, and I pray God will comfort and keep you through this worst time in your life!
However, if you are in that very large group who lost everything you own: please find a way to be thankful that all you lost were 'things.' You still have the people you love with you... be grateful. (As I'm typing this advice to you I'm reminding myself it might well be advice I need to follow as well.)
Are you aware that two different people, or two different groups of people can have EXACTLY the same circumstances in life and yet one is thankful and happy and the other is unthankful and hates their life. It is all in what a person chooses to believe and practice.
I'm going to use a story I have told before to illustrate this truth. A monk in a monastery lives a drab existence. They are confined to a small area and have little contact with the outside world. They dress in the same clothes day in and day out. They usually eat the same foods over and over. They have a set bedtime and a set time to be awake, and during their waking hours they have assigned, and menial jobs they fulfil every day. One more thing: all day long they sing and live with joy in their heart and are thankful for the life they live!
An inmate in prison lives a drab existence. They are confined to a small area and have little contact with the outside world. They dress in the same clothes day in and day out. They usually eat the same food over and over. They have a set bedtime and a set time to be awake, and during their waking hours they have assigned, and menial jobs they fulfil every day. One more thing: all day long they curse and live with hate in their heart and are unthankful for the life they live!
The above two groups have the exact same circumstances in life... yet, two polar opposite reactions: why? It's simple actually, one group has chosen to be thankful for all things in their life and the other group has chosen to be unthankful for the life they live! It is a choice... choosing between being grateful or ungrateful.
In our everyday life we can exchange one word in a single phrase that will help make it easier to choose between being thankful or not. The word we need to exchange in our thinking is, 'get,' as we need to change get, in place of 'have.' I'll illustrate. A work at home mom might think, "I have to take care of the kids again today." This she imagines in her mind is a hardship and she isn't thankful in her heart. Instead, imagine the difference if she thinks, "I get to take care of the kids today."
By exchanging that one word (get for have) she can think about the difference the child, or children has made in her life. She can now think about the privilege of getting to watch the children rather than the duty of having to watch them.
The same can be said for a man having to go to work, or getting to go to work. While it is true that only one word is being exchanged for another it is also true that in changing that single word it completely alters our thought processes and can well be the difference in our heart and mind between being thankful... or unthankful!
Imagine the difference between having, to dust, wash dishes, mop the floor... and do laundry, seldom when we HAVE to do something are we thankful.
OR... getting to dust, wash dishes, mop the floor... and do laundry, almost always whenever we GET to do something we are thankful in our heart.
If you believe that this is just semantics and would not work then you lack understanding in the human psyche. Have you heard people say, "The more I thought about (it) the angrier I became!" WHAT? Yes, something as ethereal as a thought can make us angry, which immediately affects us physically: i.e. blood pressure rises, heart rate accelerates, etc. and ALL because of just thinking about something we didn't like! While having these thoughts we are always unhappy and unthankful!
Conversely, thinking about something good in our life... or thinking about something (or someone) we love has the opposite and calming effect and we become happy. While having these thoughts we are always happy and thankful!
Do you remember Pollyanna and her Glad Game? There is great truth to that once you understand that ALL of life, including what we think about is a choice!
So, how does the stay at home mom choose to change 'have' to 'get' in all of her circumstances in life? Simply by imagining and thinking about alternatives.
I have to ... (fill in the blanks) becomes I get to ... (fill in the blanks) when we think properly. I get to take care of the kids today is a thankful thought when she remembers what life was like before she had children to love. When she remembers the people who would gladly change their life for hers simply because of the children she has in her life. Please understand that once you start thinking about alternatives in life you can change have to get and it really does have a positive effect on your thought processes and can quickly change unthankful into a state of being thankful!
Now to my phone call... and one other thing. I had stopped writing long enough to look online to see the amount of my check being deposited in a couple of days. I was dismayed to see that a significant quarterly bonus I was expecting was not on my check. I didn't like seeing that, but I also knew it wasn't life-changing for the bonus not to be on that check.
Within a couple of minutes of being disappointed about my pay I received a phone call. It was from Mercy Hospital telling me that my surgery would be postponed because one of my doctors hadn't cleared me for surgery! WHAT? C'MON!!!
Now, time for me to fess up. I don't make notes or have any particular plan when I start typing. I just have ideas in my head and I try to convey those thoughts into a somewhat readable form. Here then is my confession: while it is true I did not know all that I was planning to type, it is also true I DID know the main idea I would be writing about: e.g. finding reasons to be thankful in everyday life.
So, in less than five minutes I learned of two unhappy circumstances that had arisen in my life... what did I do? (Well, the two dates at the top of this blog is a huge clue!)
I should have rightly understood that although I hated both of these new circumstances, that in reality neither were anything more than a bump in the road of life and I should have finished my blog and got on with living and start naming reasons to be thankful.
Instead, I closed my laptop and had the thought... "this is just another of many blogs I've started and will probably never finish!" Ridiculous, huh?
Every person, from the beginning of time, until Joshua making an important decision for himself and his family... and to all creatures unto our time today: all of life is making decisions; some are good, but, sadly many are bad. I ask you to not be like me and all others who have chosen badly: choose well, be Pollyanna and not Scrooge!
I will end with an exchange between Scrooge and his nephew Fred. Fred only wants to wish his uncle a Merry Christmas, but Scrooge is having none of it. He questions why Fred is happy and in Scrooge's mind he can't imagine anyone in his nephew's condition (not having great financial wealth) could or should be happy? Fred reminds his uncle that he has great financial wealth so, 'why should he be unhappy'... it is a great point that Fred made but it clearly passes over Scrooge's head.
So, will you continue living everyday life HAVING to do whatever it is that you are doing: or will you begin finding joyous reasons that you GET to do whatever it is that you are doing. In the end, it really is up to you whether or not you are unthankful, or thankful. Choose well!
