Timshel.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Smiling: Part III
"Why are you smiling?"
"I'm smiling because I'm happy.
It is easy to understand when someone says, "I'm smiling because I'm happy." When we see someone smile it seems obvious that person is happy. Most everyone smiles, at least a little, when they are happy.
Try this. "Why are you happy?"
"I'm happy because I'm smiling."
Smiling when we are happy is just a response or almost a reflex.
Choosing to smile, just plain choosing to smile, actually can help us be happy.
Again, Sage was right. Everyone is watching. When I choose to simply make my face smile and when it isn't just a reflex or a response I take an active role in deciding to be happy.
"Why are you happy?"
"I'm happy because I'm smiling."
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
"I'm smiling because I'm happy.
It is easy to understand when someone says, "I'm smiling because I'm happy." When we see someone smile it seems obvious that person is happy. Most everyone smiles, at least a little, when they are happy.
Try this. "Why are you happy?"
"I'm happy because I'm smiling."
Smiling when we are happy is just a response or almost a reflex.
Choosing to smile, just plain choosing to smile, actually can help us be happy.
Again, Sage was right. Everyone is watching. When I choose to simply make my face smile and when it isn't just a reflex or a response I take an active role in deciding to be happy.
"Why are you happy?"
"I'm happy because I'm smiling."
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
Friday, April 15, 2011
Smiling: Part II
Sage's note that said, "Smile Jim, everyone is watching" is true in another way. I am part of everyone and I notice when I smile. Smiling makes me feel better. In some ways I think I might notice more than other people notice.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
Friday, April 8, 2011
Smiling: Part I
Back in the 2004-2005 school year one of My Geniuses tacked a small note on the door jamb of my office. It said, “Smile Jim, everyone is watching.” She placed that note there after talking to me about wanting to see me smile more. I told her that I felt I smile a lot and that maybe I needed to scream more. (I don’t scream now and I didn’t then.) She told me that the class needed to see me smile right away when they came in the door. Again, I told her that I felt I did that. I reminded her that there was nowhere else on the campus where kids did the greeting (pounding on the tables and singing) and that counted as a huge smile.
I was going to take that note down after a few days and just drop it in the recycling. It was at eye level so every time I walked out of my office I saw it. I ended up reading it several times a day for years. I didn’t take it down until my last day at the high school. It was a good reminder for me that right or wrong other people’s perceptions aren’t always consistent with my perceptions. More importantly it served as a daily reminder that it is important to make the effort to smile because indeed everyone is watching. Thanks Sage Lynn; I'm still working on it.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
I was going to take that note down after a few days and just drop it in the recycling. It was at eye level so every time I walked out of my office I saw it. I ended up reading it several times a day for years. I didn’t take it down until my last day at the high school. It was a good reminder for me that right or wrong other people’s perceptions aren’t always consistent with my perceptions. More importantly it served as a daily reminder that it is important to make the effort to smile because indeed everyone is watching. Thanks Sage Lynn; I'm still working on it.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
Friday, March 11, 2011
Jumping into the Garbage Can
I woke up last Friday with a bad case of vertigo. I was so dizzy I couldn't walk without holding on to something. Gagging from the nausea I just sat still and looked straight ahead. Katy stayed home to take me to the doctor. When the clinic opened I called to make an appointment with our family doctor. He had broken his ankle the week before and had to have surgery to have it pinned back together. We went to the walk in clinic instead.
I assumed that Mark, our doctor, had broken his ankle skiing. Hmmm... Okay, Mark likes to ski but still I wondered if maybe he had injured himself doing something else. Having fished together a couple times I have gotten to know Mark outside of the doctor/patient relationship and I guess that made me wonder.
Because of the vertigo and my age (good grief, do that they have to say that?...) the doctor in the walk-in clinic had me get an ultra sound of my main arteries to see if I had the beginnings of a stroke. Swell... I'm thankful for modern medicine; I just don't want modern medicne finding bad things. I have to go for a follow up appointment with Mark, my doctor, on Monday to go over the test results. (The ultra sound technician said my results were "squeaky clean".)
In the process of making the appointment to see Mark next week I asked the nurse how he had injured his ankle. "Was he skiing," I said, "Or was he doing something crazy like cleaning the gutters and walking around on a slippery roof?"
"Better than that," she said, "He was doing some clean up in his yard and had a garbage can filled with weeds and trimmings. He was pressing it down with his hands to make more room but it wasn't going down so he climbed up on his ladder and jumped into the garbage can to really press things down."
Since she was laughing when she told me I felt it was okay for me to laugh too. I still think its funny. His ankle will heal and I imagine his pride will too. Then again, I'm not sure about his pride needing to heal. I just have to go the the appointment on Monday not to confirm the good results of the ultra-sound or to get my perscription renewed but I have to hear Mark tell me about what happened. This man is highly educated, very successful, and he is 58 years old. And he climbed up to the top of his ladder to jump in his garbage can to press down weeds and clippings. When he landed he must have broken his ankle immediately. Did he climb out on his own? Was he stuck in the garbage can and did he have to call his wife Lori? Did he tip the garbage can over to get out? These and other important questions will be part of my appointment on Monday. His pride may not actually need to heal; knowing him he just may be proud of jumping off a ladder into a garbage can. After hearing all about Mark's ankle I hope during my appointment there is time to talk about my test results.
Laugh at yourself. That's good advice. Just don't climb to the top of your ladder to jump in your garbage can so that you can laugh at yourself. Be careful; that's good advice too. But still laugh at yourself.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
I assumed that Mark, our doctor, had broken his ankle skiing. Hmmm... Okay, Mark likes to ski but still I wondered if maybe he had injured himself doing something else. Having fished together a couple times I have gotten to know Mark outside of the doctor/patient relationship and I guess that made me wonder.
Because of the vertigo and my age (good grief, do that they have to say that?...) the doctor in the walk-in clinic had me get an ultra sound of my main arteries to see if I had the beginnings of a stroke. Swell... I'm thankful for modern medicine; I just don't want modern medicne finding bad things. I have to go for a follow up appointment with Mark, my doctor, on Monday to go over the test results. (The ultra sound technician said my results were "squeaky clean".)
In the process of making the appointment to see Mark next week I asked the nurse how he had injured his ankle. "Was he skiing," I said, "Or was he doing something crazy like cleaning the gutters and walking around on a slippery roof?"
"Better than that," she said, "He was doing some clean up in his yard and had a garbage can filled with weeds and trimmings. He was pressing it down with his hands to make more room but it wasn't going down so he climbed up on his ladder and jumped into the garbage can to really press things down."
Since she was laughing when she told me I felt it was okay for me to laugh too. I still think its funny. His ankle will heal and I imagine his pride will too. Then again, I'm not sure about his pride needing to heal. I just have to go the the appointment on Monday not to confirm the good results of the ultra-sound or to get my perscription renewed but I have to hear Mark tell me about what happened. This man is highly educated, very successful, and he is 58 years old. And he climbed up to the top of his ladder to jump in his garbage can to press down weeds and clippings. When he landed he must have broken his ankle immediately. Did he climb out on his own? Was he stuck in the garbage can and did he have to call his wife Lori? Did he tip the garbage can over to get out? These and other important questions will be part of my appointment on Monday. His pride may not actually need to heal; knowing him he just may be proud of jumping off a ladder into a garbage can. After hearing all about Mark's ankle I hope during my appointment there is time to talk about my test results.
Laugh at yourself. That's good advice. Just don't climb to the top of your ladder to jump in your garbage can so that you can laugh at yourself. Be careful; that's good advice too. But still laugh at yourself.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Proud to be an American: Part IV
This week Frank Woodruff Buckles died. Frank was born on February 1, 1901 making him 110 years old when he died. He was the last surviving American to have fought in World War I. He was also one of the oldest military veterans in the world. Is that possible? Someone who fought in World War I was still alive last Sunday.
He had to lie about his age when he enlisted. The first few places he went he told the recruiter that he was 18 but since he looked his age which was 16, they sent him away. Finally he went into one recruiter and told him he was 21 and they took him. He served from 1917-1920 in both England and France.
During World War II Frank spent 3 1/2 years as a Japanese POW.
In the seventies and even the eighties when we did Veteran's Day Assemblies at the high school we would have veterans stand and be recognized. Even then it seemed incredible to me that World War I Veterans were still alive. In time there were no more who came.
At this time I have almost finised reading "A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present" by Howard Zinn. I don't know what else to say except that this book is staggering. Before and after World War I there were way more strikes and riots in our country than I ever realized. It makes the sacrifices that people made in the past even more impressive.
I am free, I live under the rule of law, I reap the rewards of my work, and I have almost complete freedom of expression. Thank you Frank Buckles and all those who went before you.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Enjoy your weekend.
P
He had to lie about his age when he enlisted. The first few places he went he told the recruiter that he was 18 but since he looked his age which was 16, they sent him away. Finally he went into one recruiter and told him he was 21 and they took him. He served from 1917-1920 in both England and France.
During World War II Frank spent 3 1/2 years as a Japanese POW.
In the seventies and even the eighties when we did Veteran's Day Assemblies at the high school we would have veterans stand and be recognized. Even then it seemed incredible to me that World War I Veterans were still alive. In time there were no more who came.
At this time I have almost finised reading "A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present" by Howard Zinn. I don't know what else to say except that this book is staggering. Before and after World War I there were way more strikes and riots in our country than I ever realized. It makes the sacrifices that people made in the past even more impressive.
I am free, I live under the rule of law, I reap the rewards of my work, and I have almost complete freedom of expression. Thank you Frank Buckles and all those who went before you.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Enjoy your weekend.
P
Friday, February 18, 2011
Gratitude Attitude: Part I
Life has a way of intruding on itself. At 12:40 AM last Friday morning Katy's sister, Judy, called to say she needed to be taken to the emergency room. Katy took her in and they performed emergency surgery. Judy had a ruptured colon. She has had colitis for some time so her colon was basically useless and consequently all of it was removed. In the process of removing her colon they found cancer. It was on her colon and had migrated to one of her ovaries which was also removed. She was in septic shock. They could not, and still haven't, closed the incision. There was some quesiton as to whether she would live through the weekend. She did and has made good progress. They told her Monday evening that she has cancer and told her Wednesday that it is somewhere between stage 2 and stage 3. The oconlogist is going to meet with her this evening to give her a more complete picture. Katy stayed at the hospital until after 5:00 PM on Friday. She has been spending a good deal of time there. Additionally Judy lives in a third floor apartment in which she can no longer stay. The family is in the process of finding her a ground floor apartment and getting her set up with with a rehab facility for a couple weeks after she is discharged from the hospital.
Judy is hopeful that the cancer is treatable. She will be wearing an ileostomy bag for the rest of her life. The bag is attached to a hole in her abdomen where it collects intestinal waste. Like I said, life has a way of intruding on itself.
Okay then, here is some gratitude attitude for you...I am grateful that my colon is not ruptured. I am grateful that I don't have cancer. I am grateful that I don't wear an ileosotmy bag.
Hmm... Let's see here... Well obviously we are all grateful that we don't have ruptured colons. There is little value in saying that or even thinking it for that matter. I woke up this morning. I am breathing. I can hear. I can see. I can speak. These things are all miracles. I just stepped away from the computer and walked around the bottom level of our home to remind myself what a pleasure it is to be able to that simple thing--move around on my own. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude isn't just about being glad that for things I don't have. A meaningful gratitude is about being thankful for the simplest things that we all take for granted so easily. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude is when I make a conscious and practiced choose to be grateful. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude is about realizing that in so many ways blessings abound.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
Judy is hopeful that the cancer is treatable. She will be wearing an ileostomy bag for the rest of her life. The bag is attached to a hole in her abdomen where it collects intestinal waste. Like I said, life has a way of intruding on itself.
Okay then, here is some gratitude attitude for you...I am grateful that my colon is not ruptured. I am grateful that I don't have cancer. I am grateful that I don't wear an ileosotmy bag.
Hmm... Let's see here... Well obviously we are all grateful that we don't have ruptured colons. There is little value in saying that or even thinking it for that matter. I woke up this morning. I am breathing. I can hear. I can see. I can speak. These things are all miracles. I just stepped away from the computer and walked around the bottom level of our home to remind myself what a pleasure it is to be able to that simple thing--move around on my own. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude isn't just about being glad that for things I don't have. A meaningful gratitude is about being thankful for the simplest things that we all take for granted so easily. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude is when I make a conscious and practiced choose to be grateful. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude is about realizing that in so many ways blessings abound.
It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.
P
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