Tag Archives: inspirational

A Blast From the Past

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The Domino Effect   (January 2014)

 I want to say something profound and memorable. I wanted my first full post of 2014 to be something people spoke about to each other for days and weeks. And then I realized I had it all wrong. It’s not about the words I use. It’s not about how I feel about what I write. It’s about reaching out from the isolation of my home to the world. We are not alone. We never have been.

I’m a big believer in the importance of chance. You meet a stranger on the street and you smile in an abstract, bored sort of way. The person you smile at doesn’t realize you are bored and his spirits are lifted just a tiny bit and when he gets home to his wife he’s kinder. His wife spends a little longer getting dressed that night because she’s starting to believe she’s beautiful because her husband was kind. She speaks gently to her child that night and he goes to sleep feeling loved. The next day he goes to school and does exceptionally well on a test because he feels good about himself. His teacher is thrilled that her problem student has done well and she feels better about herself thinking she’s the reason. She goes home that night . . . All of this happened because one woman smiled at a stranger. It’s a domino effect.

We live on this little blue world made of dirt and water and people. There are a lot of us. There are wars and hunger, violence and apathy. Every day we deal with our own perceived inadequacies, our own diseases. But there’s one thing we must never forget: somewhere, someone is in much worse shape than we are. Somewhere, someone is watching their life blood seep through a gaping wound, alone and frightened. Somewhere, someone is watching as a loved one slowly succumbs to a painful and deadly disease. A woman is raped and beaten, killed. A man is shot dead by a stranger for his empty wallet. A woman feels the hands of a lover on her throat tightening. Children are shot by children, men and women are tortured, planes crash, people are dying of hunger, disease and greed.

You have a choice. I have a choice. We can give in, be victims and wallow in our own self-pity. Or we can take what quality of life we have, embrace it, relish it, enhance it if we can, and live. Reach out to the stranger next to you and smile. We are all in this together.

Recipe to Live

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One foot behind

The other in front

Reverse and repeat

Please let me be blunt . . .

 

You are the pilot

In this thing we call real

But work needs to happen

In life that’s the deal . . .

 

It may not be easy

It may not be kind

But wonders are there

If looking you’ll find . . .

 

God gets the credit

For the good in my life

The devil gets the blame

For those moments of strife . . .

 

One foot behind

Now bring it in around

Keep moving forward

To the future you’re bound.

 

Just Have Fun!

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I was born in the 50s, barely. So I was a child in the 60s. An era of free love, free drugs and an optimism I don’t think we have seen again. Of course as a small child I wasn’t into all the free stuff! I was a child! My sexual awakening came much, much later during a particular . . . Another time perhaps.

One of my favourite shows as a child was Star Trek. The creator, Gene Roddenberry, described it as a ‘western’ in ‘space’. It was a show that was optimistic, it believed in the good that we could be. It was inclusive, mostly. There were crew members of every colour, gender and species. The original show did show women in a slightly different light than men but I don’t think it was disparaging, I think it was protective. And that was the mindset in those days. It still showed powerful women.

I think being so invested in Star Trek as a child help to mold me into the person I am today. No, I’m not an astronaut or a scientist or an explorer, but I do believe I am optimistic and compassionate. I believe in the good that we could be even though we often fail miserably. And isn’t that a good thing? The believing not the failing!

The Star Trek franchise, and yes it is now a franchise, is worth billions. There were several series, lots of movies and more products than you can shake a stick at. Why? Because I think it gives us something we all need: optimism.

Of course there’re probably plenty of people in the world that either do not like or know of the series Star Trek. But I would hazard a guess they still feel the need for a little optimism in our lives.

The news today is full of death, destruction, disease and terror. People are mistreating people for selfish reasons or even for no reason at all and that is terrifying. Movies used to be a form of escapism. We could hide from the realities of the world for a couple of hours in a dark movie theater. We could work out our fears and aggressions on the silver screen and hurt no one.

I love the escapism of a good movie. I love the movie that teaches me something without ramming it down my throat. I like a movie that shows me things I would never do, but someone else does beautifully. People like to be frightened, safely in a movie or titillated by a guilty pleasure. Movies can do that. For 135 minutes, more or less, we can escape reality and just have fun!

Seen any good movies lately!

I’m Just Say’n!

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My first time on earth

Was the moment of birth

When my feet hit the ground

I was running!

 

Move on a few years

Through laughter and tears

And I ain’t stopping

For nuthin!

 

They say time catches on

To where I have gone

The ravages will show

Notwithstanding.

 

That’s really just fine

I think it’s a sign

Cuz now I am running

on wheels.

 

Life is for living

And it’s all I am giving

I think I’ll be here

For a while!