A Time To Say Thanks

 

 

Those of you who know me already know that Thanksgiving has always been a special day for me.  You may find it surprising that its not really because of family traditions or specific memories, but simply because the purity of this holiday has been largely unsullied.  It provides an opportunity to look back upon our lives, the people and events and experiences that have shaped us and, if we take the time to do so, to pause in quiet reflection and offer sincere thanks for everyone and everything that has blessed us during our journey thus far.

 

Its sad that Thanksgiving is now so largely overwhelmed by the retail glare of the December holiday - in the eyes of commerce at least, merely a placeholder between Halloween and Christmas - yet traditions do continue on a personal level for so many, and it is the hope those traditions bring that I pray resound within you and yours.

 

We are all so busy - and the nature of the day itself sometimes brings so much hustle and bustle to cook and prepare and travel and juggle priorities - that its easy to go through the motions, eat the turkey, watch the football games and then fall asleep on the couch or drag ourselves to the next 'obligation'.

 

But my wish for you on this day is that you take the time to find a place of quiet solitude and close your eyes.  Let the events of your life - and especially the people - unfold before you in a diorama that is uniquely yours.  Look inside the actual events tothose moments you shared with people who really influenced and changed your life.  In many cases, you may find it was not a specific occurrence at all but a longtime association that built the memory.  In others, it will be the pure flash of blue light that occurred when suddenly the scales fell from your eyes and you saw something clearly for the first time - and became a better person for it.

 

There will be moments of pain during this time of reflection, but I encourage you not to dwell on those feelings - for pain is a great teacher in and of itself and even those who hurt us can sometimes help us to learn and to grow even if that was never their intent.  Pain from loss of those closest to us is also inevitable - but the bitter is also always sweet for the memories and the love it invokes even as we mourn the physical presence that will not return.  Instead, focus on the happy memories large and small and the feeling that person still evokes within you whenever you visit them in your soul.

 

This has not been the brightest year of my own life - yet I find myself with a multitude of things and people for which to be thankful.  Some are longtime and permanent.  Some are new, but as or more special than any I have held close to my heart for as long as I can remember.  Some things for which I am thankful might surprise you, because to the casual observer they might seem painful or difficult.  But the aspects of those events I summon in my heart are the aspects that taught me, that helped me to grow or that allowed me to savor an ongoing relationship with my father which will not be with me forever - and which needs to be celebrated and appreciated every day no mater what.

 

I wish these quiet moments and purity of reflection to each of you.  But then I ask you to take things one step further and to take the time to contact those people for whom you are thankful and who are still with you - to tell THEM how much they mean to you and how much they've helped you become who you are.  Don't hide your thanks - share them with those you hold in your heart.  Thank you is such a simple thing to say, yet most of us never take the time to truly stop and recognize those important to us.  Take the time and you may well be surprised at the kind responses you receive in return as well.

 

Finally, I ask you to take today's moments of thankfulness and to let them influence your lives in a positive manner EVERY day - to take small breaks from the commotion of daily life and to look for the blessings around you.  If times are good, this will come easily.  If times are currently less so, I guarantee that you will still find more blessings in your life than you can imagine - and the more you count, the more you will find.

 

Happy Thanksgiving - today and each day.  And THANK YOU for reading!

An Altered Perspective; A Wider View

 

 

Sometimes life teaches us lessons in ways we never expect.  And sometimes if we take what we learn too literally, we may not receive the full value of the lesson at all.  So many times as we careen through the corridors of daily existence our focus is so much on the task at hand that we don’t see the life lessons displayed before us – and if we do not sometimes take the time to step back and truly absorb what is around us, our lives are the poorer for the blinders we wear.

 

A few years back, the company for which I worked brought in a safety trainer in an effort to reduce the number of minor vehicle accidents in our fleet of cars for salespeople. I’ll share the instructor’s lesson with you here – try it the next time you drive and I think you’ll see it’s a simple and effective way to improve your awareness and overall safety (and I won’t even charge you $300 an hour!) – but also please take the time to read this entry to the end.

 

When we drive, we tend to focus – even fixate – on the vehicle in front of us.  We may think this is not necessarily a bad thing because we are alert to any sudden changes and will hopefully have time to react should an unexpected avoidance maneuver be required.  But the instructor asked everyone to look beyond what stared us in the face and to work to absorb the bigger picture.

 

He took a person at random and asked her to sit in a chair at the front of the room.  Then he asked her to stare into one of the corners of the room, near the ceiling.  When she did, he moved his hand partially into her field of vision.  Her eyes instinctively moved to follow his hand.  He then asked her what she saw and she replied that she saw his hand.  He asked if she also still saw the corner of the room and she truthfully replied ‘no’, because her gaze was fixated upon the closer object.  Then he asked her to shift her vision back to the corner of the room and not to allow her gaze to come back to his hand.  As she did, he began moving his hand back and forth slightly within her field of vision.  He then asked her what she saw and she replied that she saw the corner of the room, but still saw his hand moving near her.

 

The lesson here is that if we set our gaze at a far point down the road, we can see stopped traffic, a tight curve or other obstacles well in advance and have time to react to them – while still being able to see if the brake lights of the car in front of us come on in time for us to stop suddenly if necessary.  Conversely, if we focus simply on the vehicle in front we lose the big picture perspective and need to rely solely on our reflexes and constant attention to keep us safe.

 

It takes a little training to shift your gaze to the horizon – and it takes many internal reminders before this skill becomes second nature.  But the fender-bender accident rate for the people who took this course dropped over 30% in the first year after the class was held and frequent reminders were issued.

 

 

Now there are many things I’d ultimately like to convey in this journal, but driving tips really wasn’t at the top of the list - so I’ll ask you now to take this lesson and really learn from it.  While this simple shift in thinking works well in the context in which it was taught, it is also a metaphor and a lesson in how to live our lives.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day routines that we focus only on the next task.  Worse, when life turns in negative directions, our vision is almost always consumed by the challenge before us and we lose the perspective of the larger whole.  And it is exactly at those times that we need to stop and raise our eyes to the horizon, still seeing the task at hand, but keeping our vision fixed on the new dawn in front of us - and not on the clouds directly overhead.  Easy to do?  Not at all.  Effective in helping us cope with the down cycles of life?  You bet – try it for yourself and see. 

 

And while you’re at it, the next time you’re taught something - take the time to think of that lesson in a larger context as well.  Clear your head for a moment and look tothe horizon - you may well be surprised at what you’ve really learned…….

Embracing Change

 

You smell it in the air - a tang that was not there only a week or so ago.  The breeze is a little sharper, the nights more crisp and perhaps a bit more clear.  The chirp of the crickets diminishes by almost imperceptible degrees each night - portending the silence to come.

The sound of acorns randomly bouncing off the deck adds a staccato beat to life - and the movements of creatures large and small outside the window appear more furtive, more purposeful.

The earth prepares for slumber in a thousand small ways - and all who call her home make their own preparations as well.

I walk amidst the turning trees and absorb the changes all around me.  My heart laments the passing warmth of days, but welcomes the cool refreshment of the nights to come, the quiet contentment of a crackling fire, the imminent blaze of nature's color all around us - the anticipation of the quiet awe of the first unblemished snow.

Life changes around us every day.  If we try to hold to the past and the now, we miss what the future holds or at least fail to appreciate it.  All too soon, our own time of endless slumber will arrive - we do ourselves and all in our lives a disservice if we do not accept and embrace each change until then.

A Passing

 

 

I lost an old friend yesterday.  She wasn't a person, but she was important in my life in a special way.

 

I am blessed to live surrounded by nature's beauty.  My home is nestled into a ring of wooded acreage. Although close to people and the services that help make everyday life bearable, it is possible to feel and believe that one is alone with one's thoughts and the beauty of God's creation.  The curtains are never closed for there is no one near enough to look in and I choose never to place a barrier between me and the ever-changing wonders just outside the windows.

 

One of those wonders has always been a lovely Hickory tree outside the bedroom window.  Each morning, she would be the first thing I would see as sleep fell from my eyes and the world came into focus.  I found that when I traveled I missed her calming presence - and I always looked forward to the moment when she would greet me the morning I returned.

 

She was a sturdy tree, blooming a bit later than most but stubbornly holding her leaves almost a full month after those of others had burst into color, faded and fallen gently to the earth.  But her tenacity was also her downfall, for when early ice or snow fell heavily, her branches, still laden with leaves, would sometimes buckle under the weight - and I would watch helplessly as major limbs were torn from her sides.

 

Twice over the years her shape was altered in such manner, and each time I would treat her wounds and learn to love the new face she presented to the world.

 

This past Spring, however, she endured the worst indignity to her proud form yet.  I tried to tell myself that she would survive, but something inside me made me treasure her presence each morning a little more.  As Winter now undeniably approaches, I sighed in the realization that she would not survive another harsh season - and yesterday I bit my lip and lovingly brought her down to earth.

 

This morning, the dawn came as it relentlessly does.  But something was missing when I cast my first glance through the window.  Where she always stood was what appeared to me a gaping void, although others would never notice her absence.  There was a small emptiness inside me, but I pictured her in my mind - as I know I always will, no matter how long I live, or where.

 

Soon, however, she will warm me once more - and something tells me her heat will be just a little more intense, her flames just a little brighter than any of the rest. 

Hello

 

I am a man blessed in many ways.  I have people in my life who love me despite my many flaws.  I have friends who have stood the test of time and those who may not yet have the longevity of years, but who add value to my life and smiles to my heart.  I have health and the blessing that with age also comes a kind of wisdom.  I am blessed to be able to see the beauty in simple things and the best in people - and to appreciate both and never take them for granted.  I am also blessed in ways that may not normally be considered blessings, but we will talk of them at another time.

 

As this document grows and breathes and takes on a life of its own, I will hope to share bits of life with you - simple truths, lessons learned, life in its raw power, sheer emotion, cacophony of voices and messages and opinions, and perhaps an example or two of the indomitable nature of the human spirit as it unfolds before me, demonstrated by family, friends, even strangers.

 

This will not be a mere chronicle of events - the mundane details of my existence are best left unshared (unless of course you're looking for a sure cure for insomnia). Rather, I hope to share with you stories of this life's journey - and hope that perhaps my experiences, thoughts and words may strike a chord in your life from time-to-time as well.

 

Let's see where this takes us - let the journey begin......