dead end

On the very first page of Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol, Dickens describes Ebenezer Scrooge as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!” Dickens knew that if his story was going to engage his readers, they needed to know its main character. Scrooge was a nasty old miser who desperately needed redemption. In other words, Scrooge was going down a dead end! SusieQ says-I have been down that road alright and it doesn’t go anywhere let me tell ya!

Last year two women visiting Hawaii drove their rental car straight into Honokohau Harbor in Kailua-Kona. A nearby sailboat saw the sinking vehicle, and crew members dove into the water to pull the women to safety. The women said they had simply been following the directions on their GPS. It’s terribly important to have good directions and not go over the dead end. ItchieBitchie says—I get directions from many many sources these days; I have no idea what direction I should take as those sources all think theirs’s the best. How can I figure it out anyway! Saturday question—Should I listen to your directions? If soooo, where will I end up? 

RickyRick says—"What we believe about the world around us shapes everything about our lives. Why? Because what we believe determines our behavior. Our behavior then determines what we become, and that has a direct effect on the direction of our life. The same is true of a country or the world. They are largely shaped by the values we believe.”  “When the foundations of life are undermined, what can a righteous person do?” Psalm 11:3 (GW) JoeBlow says—It’s a dead end maybe!

At our garage sale I learned many things, yes I did. One thing I learned was that I many times think my stuff is more important and valuable than it is to other folks! Da! In reality, much of my stuff isn’t worth much at all and maybe worth nuttin. BUT I also learned that some stuff is only valuable to a select person or group of people (e.g. what certain folks collect). Also, that many folks don’t know the value of some stuff as they don’t have a background with it. And when most stuff gets older it ain’t worth much anymore. It’s reality folks. Much of my stuff is really dead end stuff a.k.a. dumpster stuff!  Ouchy ouchy!

I have learned by being around folks who are embittered, that they are going down a dead end road and many don’t even know it. Bitter folks are not good folks for me to be around. Soooo why are folks bitter? Are you bitter? I really believe that we are what we think, and bitterness is a dead end. I know folks, and I’m thinking about one in particular and that could be you, who could be bitter but decided not to be bitter and is just a great person. She had a choice I think! She took the route of kindness, forgiveness, gracious, generous, believing, and being sweet. Her life seems to really be great. Soooo what do you think? That is what I thought. I read while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it this--Some professionals say we should see bitterness as the seat of a mental illness.  An acquaintance told me that she doesn’t believe in God but she’s bitter at God! What! JoeSixPack says—It appears folks who are bitter are never happy; always anxious about something! BitterBetty says—I’m pretty much like road kill; a dead end. My Daddy, Chester, would say to me—erv, everyone has problems but it’s just that some handle them different. Patti says--Never underestimate our power to take our life in a new direction.

Velvet Elvis says--Central to the Christian experience is the art of questioning God. Not belligerent, arrogant questions that have no respect for our maker but naked, honest, vulnerable, raw questions, arising out of the awe that comes from engaging the living God. This type of questioning frees us. Frees us from having to have it all figured out. Frees us from having answers to everything. Frees us from always having to be right. It allows us to have moments when we come to the end of our ability to comprehend. Moments when the silence is enough.

Hey, LuckieEddie says--Sometimes the road is closed, dead end. We can embrace that positively or negatively. Hey, it might be a great opportunity, yes an opportunity but we just don't know it yet!  Soooo don't get sooo frustrated folks. Thepersonnorthoftown says--The ability to remain calm and focused in stressful situations is central to making positive decisions.

WorldClassLarry says—If we are going down a dead end road in our lives, the sooner we can figure it out and make a complete U-turn a.k.a. an 180 ASAP the better our lives will be. LuckieEddie says—How in the world do I know I’m going down the wrong road or have my ladder against the wrong wall anyway? If we don’t figure that out, nuttin makes any difference maybe. Well, it appears LuckieEddie, that sometimes it takes a miracle or sometimes we have to get hurt real bad and find ourselves at the very bottom of the barrel before we figure it out it seems. A friend asked me once—erv, why do we have to get beat up soooo bad before we figure things out? BigPictureLynn says—If we can figure it out early in life and often, life is much more enjoyable.

Maybe you have heard the saying “There are no guarantees in life.” Perhaps that’s true if you place your faith in yourself or in the world around you. But here Jesus states with certainty the core truth of the Christian walk. Ding ding ding!

I believe that attitude has a major part of much of our lives. I like this statement by Charles Swindle that I read and try to understand it often--"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  It will make or break a company... a church... a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes”

What is our road ahead? When we are seemingly going down a dead end with our lives and then we turn it around, our lives change which will make our lives for sure better. No question. It’s not sooo much that the road has changed but we have changed and when we change, we change the road.  MissPerfect says--Cultivate our play, cultivate our life, cultivate our relationships and our lives will be much better. Cool beans!

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

erv

MyFriendJean said--A kick in the rear is a step forward.

PS  Here is a response to last week's "It's Saturday" from a retired engineer-- Re:  Your paragraph on learning thru asking questions:  ---- A man and his young son went fishing, and fishing was a little slow.  After a bit, the son asked his Dad ---"Dad, how do fish breathe under water ???"   Dad replied "I have no idea" .   As time passed, the son looked at his Dad and said " Dad, How does a boat float on water ??? "   Dad said.  I really do not know, son ".  Time passed, and the son asked his Dad " DAd, why is the sky blue ???".  Once again Dad replied : Not sure ".   ----  Finally the son asked his Dad --" Dad, am  i boring you with all these questions ???'  and the Dad replied.  "Of course not, son.  How else are you going to learn anything if you don't ask ????:.