Change....

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”   Mahatma Gandhi

We went to the library today….  As we walked back to our car, there were two men doing yard work. One was mowing and the other was using a weed whip to edge the grass.  As we walked closer, both men turned off their machines to let us pass by.  As I walked past the man with the weed whip, I smiled at him and said “thank you.”  He nodded and returned my smile.

No big deal.  Not earth-shattering.  And certainly not worthy of a blog, right?  Wrong.  This small, insignificant incident is the epitome of my understanding of Gandhi’s words.  Both men were working and both had a schedule to follow, I’m sure.  Yet, they took the time to be considerate of others.

How many of us take that time?  How many of us spend as much time doing good things as we spend complaining about the sad state of our world?  Seriously….how many?

I have read so many of Dr. Maya Angelou’s quotes in the days since her death…. I wonder how many people have been touched by her words.  How many have thought about something differently, or reacted differently, or taken a different path because of the words she shared with all of us?

I doubt that my words will ever have the impact that hers have, in the general population of the world.  But in MY world, I have the power to influence friends and family with my words.  How often do we take the time to tell someone how much we appreciate them?  Do we uplift those around us, or tear them down? 

 

Each one of us has the opportunity (read: responsibility) to treat others as we want to be treated.  Imagine what this world would be like if we did that….

Yesterday, I had a very long wait at the lab.  Several other people who were waiting were less than kind to the lab techs who were doing their best in the situation.  One woman, sitting across from me, proudly told her companion how she had “told off” the tech.  Oh my…

When it was my turn, I went to the draw station with a smile on my face.  When the tech apologized for the wait, I told her that I understood and it couldn’t be helped.  When she was finished drawing my blood, I thanked her and left…

Perhaps nearly forty years’ of service as an RN influenced me: so many patients treat nurses like waitresses, and scream at them for things that are out of the RN’s control.  I know I have taken a lot of verbal abuse in my career…

Or perhaps I just wanted to be the kind of patient that she wished all the others would be…

Maybe I just wanted to be the change that she needed in her day…

Simple Things....

Rain falling from fat, gray clouds. Drum, drum, drumming on the roof. It's staccato beat is reassuring: it's warm and cozy inside. And dry. The smell of meatloaf baking in the oven wafts through the house, lending its fragrance to the sensory joys of being at home in a rain storm.

Candles flicker in the gathering dusk. Familiar sounds punctuate the silence: the washer and dryer humming as they work, a basketball game on TV, and my fingers pushing the keys on the computer. Familiar and safe and restful sounds.

Life is full of familiar things. Things that have become too familiar, perhaps. Sights and sounds and smells that need to be noticed and appreciated because they are truly the fabric of life. And it's a complex fabric, tightly woven and durable and long-lasting.

I have lived here for most of my life but, until recently, I didn't look at the mountains every day. And now, I do. Today they were beautiful, bluish tinted with caps of snow. And then their caps disappeared behind the fat, gray clouds that engulfed them. Last night, those same clouds were a fierce orange in the glow of sunset...

Simple things, daily things, familiar things....that mystify, and cause awe, and brighten each and every day.

Rain or shine....

Cali

Just Be......

Could it be? I've run out of words?

I can't think of a single thing to write about. Or is it that I have too many things to write about?

I think that's it. My mind is abuzz with thoughts. Things I cannot change but can't seem to stop thinking about.

That's the clue: stop thinking.

Get comfortable. Turn off the distractions. Let my mind go blank. Then invite the thoughts back in.

One at a time. Think it, then let it go. Think another thought, and let it go, too.

Reach a level of peace with all that is in my life. Those things I can influence, and those I cannot.

Let peace envelope me. Let life happen.

Just be....

Cali

Simpleness....

I find myself thinking about “the good old days” today. Perhaps because of the horrific events of this weekend. Perhaps I would be thinking these thoughts anyway.

My mind wanders back to a simpler time. A time when everything seemed like fun and amusements were simple. A time when the world had not shown its ugly side. At least, not to a six-year-old child.

I realize that Thomas Wolfe was right: you cannot go home again.

All I can do is try to return the simple to my life now. Cherish what is important to me and ignore the everyday annoyances that seek to steal my serenity.

I think I'll go put on my apron and make biscuits...

Cali

A New Year....

It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's even a new decade: the second one in a new millennium!

Such an auspicious day and date should not be taken lightly. I need to have plans. Hopes. Dreams. Goals. Resolutions? I don't think so....

What I wish for myself, I wish for you, too: Happiness, Peace, Contentment with your place in life, Love, Honor and Joy in the little things. It's the little things that comprise the big things, I think.

May you find just enough peanut butter to make yourself a sandwich, just enough sunshine to plant a garden full of flowers, just enough rain to nourish your soul, and abundant laughter to make everything it touches worthwhile.

Happy New Year, All!

Cali

Christmas Cookies....

I baked cookies today. In a little while, my granddaughter and I will decorate them. And then, it will really be Christmas.


I haven't made sugar cookies for the past three or four years. I guess I was too busy. And, as silly as it sounds, Christmas wasn't the same without them. I guess it's true: when you do something for fifty years, it becomes a habit....


I only have one of my mother's cookie cutters left: a star with scalloped edges. The rest of mine are at least thirty or more years old. I have stars and hearts and a gingerbread boy and girl, an angel, a Christmas tree, a hand, and a reindeer.


The way to “share” sugar cookies is to fill the cookie container with the easy cookies, then put a few sugar cookies on top, for show. They are way too labor-intensive to just hand them out, willy-nilly! What it means is, if you get a sugar cookie or two from me, you are special!


I don't know which is more fun, helping my grandchildren decorate the cookies, or watching people enjoy them.


Every year, on Christmas morning, Dylan's Grandpa Jim comes to pick him up to go celebrate with his family. And every year, Jim looks around furtively.....for the sugar cookies. I've had to apologize to him for the last several years, for not making cookies.

He's in for a pleasant surprise this year!


Merry Christmas, All!


Cali

Simple Pleasures....

It's funny the things that please us. I have been waiting for over a year for Dave to convert some shelves and drawers in the kitchen for me. Dave is my former daughter-in-law's husband. He is an excellent carpenter and a very nice man.


Today was the day! The new shelves were built and the one drawer, replacing two small ones, is done, too. It only took him about an hour to install them, too.


And now? I have more room for cooking utensils and knives in the one BIG drawer, instead of two, awkward, smaller drawers. And the best part? I now have slide-out shelves for my pots and pans. Open the cupboard doors, slide out the drawer, find the pot or pan I want, and close the drawer.


No more getting down on the ground to dig for the perfect pot or pan!


Right now, I am going to go through all the whatchamajiggies that were in the drawer. If I don't know what it is, or how to use it, I probably don't need to keep it. Everything in the cupboard next to the stove will be clean, neat, and orderly. And, easy to reach!


How cool is that?


Cali

Happiness Is Homemade....

Somewhere, sometime, I heard the saying “Happiness is homemade.” Just what does that mean? We have to make things at home? Doing that will make us happy? No, I don't think so...


I think it means that we are responsible for making our own happiness, rather than depending on others to make us happy. Happiness comes from within.


Being happy requires effort. We have to let go of grudges. Release our negative feelings. Lower, or raise, our expectations of ourselves, and acknowledge our own responsibility in achieving happiness.


Lowering our expectations of happiness means realizing that we don't have to have a lot of money to be happy. Or “true love” or even good health. Happiness does not have modifiers: “if this happens, I can be happy”....


Raising our expectations means that we actively seek happiness. Go outside and watch the sunset. Or get out of our rut and find new places to seek happiness.


Happiness is a choice. Others don't make us happy, or unhappy. We do that all by ourselves. Happiness IS homemade.


In our own hearts....


Cali

Simple Joys...

I wake up with a head full of thoughts. Thoughts about the weekend, the week, Christmas, family. Thoughts about what I need to do today. And tomorrow.

It's cold; there's frost on the lawn. I turn up the heat and pull on something warm. Still thinking about a myriad of things, I walk out into the kitchen.

Little stirrings coming from the laundry room: the girls are awake. As I walk over to the laundry room door I see them: tails wagging, front paws on the “baby gate” that keeps them in the laundry room. I greet them with a “good morning” and they respond in soprano howls of joy.

The morning routine: I open the other laundry room door and the girls race across the family room floor, and out the doggie door. Cinnamon, the alpha dog, always goes first. Then little Ginger. Once out the door, they turn around and wait for my hand to come through the door, holding a doggie cookie.

Grabbing their cookie, they head off to their doggie bed on the patio to enjoy their treat. That's it; that's the routine and the daily morning joy. They don't think about other things, or other times.

A new day. Mom's here. And a cookie. In their world, life is good.

Simple joys....