Thanksgiving was wonderful!
I woke up alive, watched the sun come up just grateful to have another chance as a child of the planet. Lately I've got this goofy grin going on. My way of coping against difficulties. Smile. Count to ten. Be thankful. Repeat often. Big problems become insignificant.
Doesn't that sound grand! Life is all about attitude.
I didn't have a Thanksgiving dinner this year. Previously I received 2 wonderful invitations, but I turned them down. This is RARE for me to turn down anything involving food! Mama didn't raise me to be a fool. But I was in a ton of pain at the time the invitations were issued and I just wanted to hide like an injured animal. Usually I cook on Thanksgiving and celebrate with others, but I just felt too weak.
But Thanksgiving rolled around, I woke up alive, plastered a smile on my face as if I'd won the lottery for life and was a guest of honor at this exquisite banquet called planet earth.
It was 40F degrees here on the Spacecoast of Florida. I am super uber thankful for the new heat pump and the angels that helped me arrange this. Last night it pumped out much needed HEAT. I feel spoiled rotten to be warm.
The heat pump is suppose to work above 30 or 40F degrees, the manual is real vague about it. Apparently if it gets too cold, it stops working. I kept my dusty old portable ceramic heater as a backup.
But about an hour ago, I cleaned it up and gave it away to someone needy that had access to electricity. Last night they nearly froze to death. Tonight they won't be cold. Tomorrow they hope to go work. I loved their enthusiasm. They thanked me repeatedly as if I'd handed them a check for a million dollars.
A few years back (it seems like yesterday) I nearly froze to death. I had no heat and I was terribly sick. It was an awful hopeless scary feeling of utter despair that can play awful tricks on the mind and body. I woke up alive. I looked for the rainbow.
I had offered up my heater earlier today but they had declined. Whimsically I told them where to find me later. The sun set, temperatures dropped. A timid knock came at my door.
A few short years later, I am able to help someone in a teeny tiny itty bitty way. Pass it along.
Life is goof.
How does fate work? Anybody know?
I am clueless.
Fate has lead me in the strangest ways to be somebody else's cheerleader.
At the dumpsters I've met the most interesting folks.
Just in the past week, five distinct characters at three different dumps crossed my path. I listened to their stories, their tale of woe, how things were, how they are now, their hopes, their dreams, their plans for their future.
Despite being a bit eccentric, they all seemed to have a few things in common, such as zeal and optimism that their woes were just temporary, that surely they were going to find the right path to get where they were going.
They knew the rainbow was there somewhere and they were fervently looking for it.
I surely know the feeling. I could smile, nod, listen.
Little old me in the course of one week, spent hours listening to five different people struggling on the very edge between do or die.
These weren't folks too lazy to work, or standing in line expecting handouts. They are part of a nearly invisible secret sub-culture scurrying around on the fringes of society, looking for ways to help themselves through a very tough time. They hold this unshakable belief that they can get back on their feet and they're doing most anything and everything to try to achieve that against the thousand to one odds thrown at them.
Where others see dark clouds, they see rainbows and possibilities.
I felt humbled to hear their stories. I surely know what it's like to be scared to death but wildly optimistic.
Smile, stop, listen.
It's amazing what a grinning fool like me can learn.
I woke up alive, watched the sun come up just grateful to have another chance as a child of the planet. Lately I've got this goofy grin going on. My way of coping against difficulties. Smile. Count to ten. Be thankful. Repeat often. Big problems become insignificant.
Doesn't that sound grand! Life is all about attitude.
 |
| I took this picture in the Virgin Islands where my homeport was located off and on for many years. It's a treasured favorite. |
I didn't have a Thanksgiving dinner this year. Previously I received 2 wonderful invitations, but I turned them down. This is RARE for me to turn down anything involving food! Mama didn't raise me to be a fool. But I was in a ton of pain at the time the invitations were issued and I just wanted to hide like an injured animal. Usually I cook on Thanksgiving and celebrate with others, but I just felt too weak.
But Thanksgiving rolled around, I woke up alive, plastered a smile on my face as if I'd won the lottery for life and was a guest of honor at this exquisite banquet called planet earth.
It was 40F degrees here on the Spacecoast of Florida. I am super uber thankful for the new heat pump and the angels that helped me arrange this. Last night it pumped out much needed HEAT. I feel spoiled rotten to be warm.
The heat pump is suppose to work above 30 or 40F degrees, the manual is real vague about it. Apparently if it gets too cold, it stops working. I kept my dusty old portable ceramic heater as a backup.
But about an hour ago, I cleaned it up and gave it away to someone needy that had access to electricity. Last night they nearly froze to death. Tonight they won't be cold. Tomorrow they hope to go work. I loved their enthusiasm. They thanked me repeatedly as if I'd handed them a check for a million dollars.
A few years back (it seems like yesterday) I nearly froze to death. I had no heat and I was terribly sick. It was an awful hopeless scary feeling of utter despair that can play awful tricks on the mind and body. I woke up alive. I looked for the rainbow.
I had offered up my heater earlier today but they had declined. Whimsically I told them where to find me later. The sun set, temperatures dropped. A timid knock came at my door.
A few short years later, I am able to help someone in a teeny tiny itty bitty way. Pass it along.
Life is goof.
I am clueless.
Fate has lead me in the strangest ways to be somebody else's cheerleader.
At the dumpsters I've met the most interesting folks.
Just in the past week, five distinct characters at three different dumps crossed my path. I listened to their stories, their tale of woe, how things were, how they are now, their hopes, their dreams, their plans for their future.
Despite being a bit eccentric, they all seemed to have a few things in common, such as zeal and optimism that their woes were just temporary, that surely they were going to find the right path to get where they were going.
They knew the rainbow was there somewhere and they were fervently looking for it.
I surely know the feeling. I could smile, nod, listen.
Little old me in the course of one week, spent hours listening to five different people struggling on the very edge between do or die.
These weren't folks too lazy to work, or standing in line expecting handouts. They are part of a nearly invisible secret sub-culture scurrying around on the fringes of society, looking for ways to help themselves through a very tough time. They hold this unshakable belief that they can get back on their feet and they're doing most anything and everything to try to achieve that against the thousand to one odds thrown at them.
Where others see dark clouds, they see rainbows and possibilities.
I felt humbled to hear their stories. I surely know what it's like to be scared to death but wildly optimistic.
Smile, stop, listen.
It's amazing what a grinning fool like me can learn.
Recently, the temporary view out my nomadic home was stunningly beautiful. An incredible reminder that my own dark clouds turned into a miraculous rainbow. I try to remind myself over and over, be thankful, be grateful, be useful, go help somebody.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even funnier, when I went on Amazon today, I noticed somebody had purchased this movie through one of my links. I've never seen the flick but I love the title.
I love your post today and totally agree with you. I've been reading the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, and in one of the last chapters he explains about reaching the state of heaven on earth. I think I have at least one foot in the door, and he's right. You don't have to die to be in heaven, or in hell. It's of our own making! The folks you've met who can stay optimistic in the face of so much against them are also there whether or not they realize it. Life is great, isn't it. (BTW, you are young to have reached this point of view - it's taken me about 70 years!)
ReplyDeleteYour comments are a complete inspiration to me.
DeleteI read your blog daily! Love to hear about you, HarleyDog and your travels!
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving all of us the strength to go on!,,!