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I heard a man criticizing the founding fathers of America on Tuesday morning. That got me thinking about how my perspective can change my world. And my perspective is what I choose it to be. Here are two ways I can look at six areas of my life:
Bin Ladin is dead, Are You Alive? – Contentment
I love the story of the Greek philosopher Diogenese of Sinope. He said that no man needed much to live off of. He was homeless, begged on the street during the day, and slept in an empty tub at night. Diogenese was hated by some for his odd behavior, like carrying a lamp around during the day saying he was looking for an honest person.
Alexander the Great, and admirer of Diogenes, went to see him once and asked him Continue Reading…
Why My Life Sucks: 6 Reasons
photo by Jannie-Jan via Flickr
I heard a man criticizing the founding fathers of America on Tuesday morning. That got me thinking about how my perspective can change my world. And my perspective is what I choose it to be. Here are two ways I can look at six areas of my life:
1.) I live in a country that is going down the tubes. Debt, recession, high gas prices, and no plan to change it.
2.) I’m overweight
3.) I’m old (43)
4.) I’m broke
5.) I never finished college
6.) I live in a small, one bedroom apartment
Or:
1.) I live in a prosperous county of abundance and opportunity. It is historically rare to live in a free society that has such economic abundance. America has been down Continue Reading…
The Story of the Strawberry: How to Enjoy Each Moment
A man was running from a ferocious, man eating tiger when he came to the edge of a cliff. He looked down at his feet and saw a rope. He grabbed the rope and shimmied down about a hundred feet when he came to the end of the rope. He looked down and saw jagged rocks three hundred feet below. He looked up and saw the tiger looking down at him, drooling. Then he looked into the edge of the cliff and saw a strawberry. He reached out, plucked the strawberry and ate it. He said aloud, “Man, that was the BEST strawberry I have ever tasted!” Now, if he had been worried about the jagged rocks in his future, or hung up on the tiger of his past, he would have never gotten to taste the strawberry that God wanted him to have in the present.
What are you missing because you are not living in the present?
Two and a Half Men: My Life After I Gave Up TV
I went from 2005 to 2007 without owning or watching tv. For a sports and political nut, that would seem like a long time. I would guess I went from watching between 30-40 hours of tv per week to nothing. The reason was my house had been foreclosed and I lived out of my car for a considerable length of time. What I found surprised me.
My life prospered without tv! My attitude, social life, creativity and spirituality flowed like a mountain spring. When I finally got back into an apartment, a friend gave me a tv, and I ordered cable. I wanted to watch Lance Armstrong’s comeback in the Tour De France. As Lance raced for first place (ended up third), so did tv’s hold of my attention and time race ahead.
Television viewing advanced from a few hours, to more than I care to own up to over this past winter. Life on tv was great! Regrettably, my life was becoming non-existent. Instead of hiking, biking, playing music and making love, I was watching everyone else on tv do it! I was a spectator without a sport. Something had to change.
Recently, I decided to try life without tv again. Continue Reading…
Rocky-6 Steps to Get Back Up
“…it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” –Rocky speaking to his son in Rocky Balboa
Have you ever lost weight, then gained it back? Have you put some money away in savings, and then spent it on, perhaps, a 42” flat screen tv that was on sale? Have you started a book and never finished it? If so, Continue Reading…
Donald Trump, I love you but, “You’re fired!”
You can sleep in your car, but you can’t drive your house to work”-Nashville songwriter
I was once homeless for six hours, after which I decided to live in my car. My $850, 1991 Chrysler New Yorker, with duct tape holding the right headlight in place, would become my new home. After spending a couple of nights parked at a local truck stop to sleep, I attended a bible study. Father Gordon Walker of St. Ignatius Church in Franklin, TN, spoke about gratitude. He said God wants us to be grateful for all things, good and bad. I was at a low point in my life when I heard him say that. All my material possessions were stored in a 10×10 storage unit, except a few books and a guitar I had in my car. With nothing to lose, I figured I should put Father Gordon’s principle to the test. I would be grateful for all the bad in my life, and whatever good was left. Why not?
Continue Reading…
$$$ from Manure
On my dad’s farm in western Pennsylvania, every couple of months he would have me hook up the rusty-red Farmall M tractor to the manure spreader and back it into the barn. I would then grab a pitch fork and clean out the horse and cow stalls. With the manure spreader piled high with manure, I would head out to our fields to “fertilize” them.
On a manure spreader, the tractor engine drives the spreader by using a pto shaft at the back of the tractor. The speed of the tractor engine determines the speed of the tongs that throw the manure in the air and spread it on the pasture. On one particular day, with the engine revved up high, I engaged the pto and started spreading manure. The manure flew like a bird into the heavens. I had a strong wind at my back. With the tongs of the manure spreader flinging manure high into the air, the wind blew the manure right over me! You’ve probably heard of meteor showers, well, Continue Reading…
