Thought For the Day

        " Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough."      

Richard P. Feynman

A LIttle Pre Christmas Thought

If you've read some of my previous posts, you know what a sucker I am for Christmas and my undying penchant to not let Christmas just be for one day a year but for the other 364 days as well.  So, here's a little pre Christmas cheer for us.  And in light of the miraculous discovery of the 3 young women in Cleveland, Ohio yesterday, I can only imagine the joy there families are experiencing.  There is a God!! It's only 230 days away.  Merry Christmas!!

VISION

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are. 
Niccolò Machiavelli

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief…and unspeakable love."
~ Washington Irving ~

E.E. Cummings

It May Not Always Be So; And I Say

it may not always be so; and i say

that if your lips,which i have loved,should touch

another’s,and your dear strong fingers clutch

his heart,as mine in time not far away;

if on another’s face your sweet hair lay

in such silence as i know,or such

great writhing words as,uttering overmuch,

stand helplessly before the spirit at bay;

if this should be,i say if this should be—

you of my heart,send me a little word;

that i may go unto him,and take his hands,

saying,Accept all happiness from me.

Then shall i turn my face,and hear one bird

sing terribly afar in the lost lands

Now I Lay Me Down

Thought for the Day

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. 

Hal Borland

INFINITY ON HIGH

"Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all."
Vincent Van Gogh

 

MY GET UP AND GO

Old age is golden, or so I’ve heard said,
But sometimes I wonder, as I crawl into bed,
With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup,
My eyes on the table until I wake up.
As sleep dims my vision, I say to myself:
Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?
But, though nations are warring, and Congress is vexed,
We’ll still stick around to see what happens next!
 
How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get-up-and-go has got up and went!
But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin
And think of the places my getup has been!
When I was young, my slippers were red;
I could kick up my heels right over my head.
When I was older my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night through.
Now I am older, my slippers are black.
I huff to the store and puff my way back.
But never you laugh; I don’t mind at all:
I’d rather be huffing than not puff at all!
 

How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get-up-and-go has got up and went!
But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin
And think of the places my getup has been!
I get up each morning and dust off my wits,
Open the paper, and read the Obits.
If I’m not there, I know I’m not dead,
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed!
 

How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get-up-and-go has got up and went!
But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin
And think of the places my getup has been!

Dad used to love this verse.  He had the article clipped to the refrigerator before refrigerator magnets were popular.  He used to love to read this to me.  It tickled him so.  In doing some "research" on its origin, I found an entry on the internet that claimed it actually originated in St. Louis.  The "author" is unknown but the writer of the entry says it was written by someone from the old Globe Democrat, a now defunct St. Louis newspaper.  In spite of its origins, I still find it humorous, poignant, and characteristically true.  Hope you enjoy it and by the way.....Happy Easter! 

This Aging Thing

“You don't stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.”
― George Bernard Shaw“
Embrace aging.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

“It is lovely to meet an old person whose face is deeply lined, a face that has been deeply inhabited, to look in the eyes and find light there.”
― John O'Donohue

“I'm pretty sure that eating chocolate keeps wrinkles away because I have never seen a 10 year old with a Hershey bar and crows feet.” 

― Amy Neftzger

There is an element of serene tranquility that peppers my life now.  Gone are the hurried days of completion and fragmented accomplishments.  The veneer that so covered an existence without hesitation has vanished.  I read these quotes with humor and reflection and ask myself if there is a need to clothe myself in review.  Was there something missing in my life or had I failed to find the leprechaun's pot of gold?  I used to ask myself of how I would be at this age...fearful, deliberate, oppositional, or even surreptitiously happy?  I prefer the latter as aging hasn't become something as a distance yet to be reached, but moreover a veneration that I'm here and moving forward.  “Good thing I'm aging, otherwise I'd be dead.” So, on the contrary, I'd prefer it to be this way.   

― Ana Monnar

The hair is graying, the face is lined, there's a bit of a paunch, I don't see as well, the body parts don't all get up together in the morning, but surprisingly they all fall asleep together.  But, I like it this way and have grown accustomed to this.  There is no guesswork at life for I've laid it out with commitment and resolution.  I would not change a thing.