blast off

I still think it would be neat to see a spaceship rocket blast off.  Ya, I’ve seen it on TV but that isn’t in person.  Things seen in person are just different.  You can tell folks what ice cream tastes like but until you taste it, well, it’s a new experience.   BobbyJoe, from deep in Butler County, says—Impossibilities are simply just things we haven’t learned yet.  I am just amazed about all the amazing folks that have come from Butler Co. and what they have accomplished.  Ya, we usually hear about the sport figures who get attention but many of you have done great things but will probably never get noticed.  Congratulations to you.  Actually, you might be much more important than the sport figures and maybe have accomplished much greater feats. You did it dude?

CoachB says—You cannot blast off into the future chained to the past. That is probably a good statement CoachB.  Sooooo how can we self-evaluate ourselves objectively?  Do we need some type of test? Do we need a benchmark to compare ourselves toooo; maybe something or someone or some measuring stick? In business there are job evaluations based on a formula based on the objectives of the company probably.  Sometimes the evaluation is done by a buddy or by a team member soooo it makes it useless as it is not a fair evaluation. SusieQ, who is a great table setter, says—And we all know that the only thing that is fair is the Butler County Fair and that is in June. Soooooo maybe the start of a self-evaluation is to decide what the standard is going to be to test ourselves against. 

JoeBusinessPerson says--The evaluator needs to have a neutral mind and can’t be bias in seeing the situation (e.g. a medical doctor).  When the old broken-down maire is near the end of her life, we got to accept that.  But if the young maire is the “rain maker,” we got to accept that toooo. That is a scenario to many situations.  Many older, opinionated folks can’t accept that.  They want to kick the same can down the street.  They don’t want to blast off with something that is taking off. JoeTechnicalFoul says—That has always been that way.  Some things are just hard to get launched off the pad. 

RickyRick says—"Emotions are often unreliable.  Your gut is often wrong. Your intuition is often flawed. Your emotions often lead you down a blind alley. You can’t depend on everything you feel! You want to succeed in life. Study after study has shown that your emotional quotient is far more important than your IQ when it comes to success. How many people do you know who ruined their reputation because of something said in anger? Or missed a job opportunity because of their lack of self-control?” “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.” — Abraham Lincoln. I try to teach my grandkids to have poise.  They don’t really understand what that is (i.e. as well as many adults).  Poise is soooo impressive in soooooo many situations (i.e. it’s class).  Are you poised?  Do you want to be more poised?  It might be good for all of us to work on as when to talk and when not to talk and what to say and what not to say.  Maybe.  CrazyJoe says—I know for sure from my past experience, it never works to fly off the handle.  Probably right CrazyJoe; my mentor would say to me—erv, it’s never as good as it looks and never as bad as it looks.  Sooooo maybe he was saying—relax erv, cool your jet burners and don’t blast off!

Robert Frost said—The only way around somethings is through. Maybe that is true Mr. Frost in some situations and maybe in other situations it isn’t; just like you said—somethings.  I think I am learning that there are “certain somethings” that I don’t enjoy. I don’t have to do them and if there are “certain folks” I don’t enjoy soo then, I don’t have to be around them.  “Those somethings” are tooooo hard on my life.  Why do I want to be around difficult situations or around jerks?  I guess I have to be careful who I think are jerks and what are difficult situations or pretty soon I won’t be around anyone or anything!  haha I was drinking coffee while sitting around a round table with folks of the park after Sunday chapel recently (i.e. most of the folks I didn’t know).  The discussion, of which I was a listener, was how the dynamics of the chapel needs to change as the newer, younger retired residents don’t like the old traditional way the chapel has been run for the last 30 years (i.e. nuttin has changed).  And as a result, they aren’t coming (i.e. maybe), and the numbers are way down.  They also talked about how the numbers are down as well in some of the activities of the park.  The younger residents are not doing some of the old-fashion activities as much but want to do some of the newer activities. The old residents want to keep it the same as always (e.g. some older activities aren’t the kings anymore).  Hey, folks, it will change one way or another, for sure, no question. JoeBlowSr, who can get my goat, says--YaBut I really don’t know what younger folks want and I wonder if they really know.  It can be sorta kinda confusing! It’s hard enough to decide what I want! Yabut, things change. We have girls’ sanctioned high school wrestling in IA.  Who would ever guessed that 10 years ago.

Joesixpack says--We say money isn’t the issue but then again it seems like it’s what’s on everyone’s mind. Folks will kill themselves to make more money, but many say it’s not that important.  What! Saturday question—What are the intangibles in your life that are very important? Maybe even more important than money.  Missperfect, who is a drama queen, says—There are none more important than money for me! Really, what makes you blast off? I have been thinking about the intangibles in my life that are very important to me.  Are they really important to to me or am I just blowing smoke?  Now that is a good question. I really like the discussion I am having with me, myself and I. It has been fun, and I think important.

I like people’s names that can be either male or female like Bobbie, Erin, Billy or Chris.  I can’t tell you really why but I just do.  This is what I read while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it by Billy Graham—"The Psalmist said, ‘Fret not thy-self...’ The implication is that fretting, complaining, and distress of mind are often self-manufactured and can best be coped with by a change of attitude and transformation of thought.” I also like those two statements—change of attitude and transformation of thought.  BUT how do we change our attitudes and transform our thoughts?  And then do we really want toooooo? A pickleball player I know tells me that she is just not a morning person (i.e. takes her a long time to wake up in the morning).  Is that genetic or is she programed?  I don’t know if some folks can change or if some folks what to change.  What do you think?  That is what I thought.

I, as well as many others, believe in the health triangle.  How can anyone not believe it that.  Think about it.  Is it work?  It sure is. Do we have to concentrate on it? Sure do. Do folks like to do it for the most part? No! I was invited to a get-to-gather of college friends. One guy told us that he once weighed about 210 pounds.  He went to the YMCA every morning and went in the seam room and did 300 sit-ups for months and only basically ate lettuce and lost about 50 pounds. And he kept it off.

TheGalDownTheStreet asked me the other day if I still play pickleball—ya I do in moderation—how about you—I use to but decided not toooo this year; I didn’t want to be soooo engaged so I gave pb up but continued my other interests; I wanted to have more time to write, read and think (i.e. quiet time stuff).  I really enjoy that; I want to be myself and not be over influenced by others.  Huh, interesting.  I had sorta kinda a revelation the other day (i.e. at least for this day or this week—haha). It is a direction in my life.  I seemed to come to my senses about this direction.  Sooooo far I have really enjoyed my decision.  BUT, it just blasted off soooo I will give it some time.  BUT it is me and what I believe (i.e. it is the real me). BUT, it took me three months + for me to figure it out.  I’m a slow learner. BUT, I think it will be very good for my mental, spiritual and physical health. It has been very good for me in my past but I sorta kinda got away from it. I sorta kinda woke up! Bingo!

I have to admit that I change my mind about doing somethings.  I do.  I think that a certain thing sounds like a lot of fun and then after I think about it, I wonder what I was thinking about when I thought that.  I think age does that, I come to my senses!  Maybe we rethink stuff when we get older.  An older guy downthestreet was telling me that he observed that the older he gets, the more accepting he is of people with whom he disagrees with (i.e. he has cooled his jets). He said he has found the sweet spot in his soul where he could hold firm to his convictions and still get along with people who think differently. I wonder if he had an implied wonder at how relationships might have been different had he found the sweet spot sooner. BUT I still wonder how some folks can think soooo crazy!  I do. Surely, they don’t think that of me or you, do they? Da! CoachB says--Do we know how hard it is to know ourselves?  For the most part, many folks don’t want to know themselves (i.e. don’t like self-evaluation—much easier to be critical of someone else). SusieQ says—It is much easier to smell someone else’s bad breath than our own! Yikes, halitosis of others can be soooo bad! BUT it’s sooo hard to smell our own bad breath.  Golly sakes alive, I need to buy some Listerine for sure 

I talk about deception a lot it seems.  Okay, here is some good deception (i.e. well good for one and bad for another).  Our grandson, Jimmer, is 12 years old. He seems to be quick and can run fast for his age.  At Thanksgiving he and I went to the hoop in the cul-de-sac and worked on a simple deception regarding basketball.  I taught him the simplest of the three basic basketball deceptions, the little fake one way and go the other (i.e. it’s not rocket science). He had some success in doing this in his games. Success makes you buy into it and the more you buy into it the more success you have (i.e. pretty crazy, huh). It really isn’t that hard to figure out.  BUT we need to learn a simple basic method to use our skills and abilities and then work on it and buy into it. BUT if you don’t want to change (i.e. blast off), it’s all for naught. JoeCool says—That is being coachable or non-coachable. I was delivering some grapefruit from my tree to a friend and some ladies were digging up some cacti.  They asked if I want some.  I could use one as one is dead in front of my place.  DeniseFromWI said--Here is one that will get about 20 feet tall in 30 years.  I will take it.  Don’t touch the milky stuff where I cut the slip off; it will burn your skin bad.  Let it lay out in the sun for about a month and then plant it.  I was coachable; I know nuttin about planting a cactus.

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean said—When a man retires, his wife gets twice the husband but only half the income.