January 8, 2022

now what

A couple were all snugged in in their bed on New Year’s Eve.  It was about 2 o’clock when the doorbell rings and rings.  The guy finally gets out of bed and opens their upstairs window.  It was a blizzard outside and he couldn’t see a thing.  He says—Who’s down there and what do you want.  The guy says in a drunken voice—I need a push! Man, it’s 2 o’clock and crawls back in bed.  His wife says—Honey, don’t you remember the time when you needed a push and a guy pushed you. Okay okay then, soooo he opens the window and hollers down to the guy that he would be right down.  Sooooo he puts on all his winter garb and goes down stairs and opens the door but can’t see the guy as the wind is blowing the snow around creating very poor visibility.  He says—I can’t see you, where are you?  The guy says—I’m over her on my sled!

This is what Steve (i.e. anyone can be a Steve) says—"You think you know it all, don’t you? You probably would not say it that way (and neither would I), but we all generally trust our own perceptions. Even reading this, you measure what I say against what you believe, your experiences, and the things you value. That is not always wrong, but it is definitely not always right. But you already knew that, correct?” Sooooo I guess Steve is saying that you won’t believe everything that is said in this “It’s Saturday.” Not surprised! Why, ‘cause you are always right! Just remember folks, I’m just a little ol’ farm boy from a mile and quarter south of Roseland, MN. Don't have high expectations and then you won't be disappointed. Besides, you are always right anyway.

Now what? I was getting my mail the other day as well as a gal next to me.  She said to me—They tell me you are a widower—that is true--how old are you—I told her—she then said—you look younger; if you were a little younger or if I was a little older, I would hit on you! She made me LOL!

TheApacheKid says--It has been said--“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” I have been here in AZ for maybe 10 weeks.  I have really learned a lot about myself, I think! And I am still learning. And I have a lot more to learn for sure. Where is this going to go? I have no idea. Hopefully a good direction! Several folks have been influential in developing me this last while (i.e. they don’t even know who they are and how—some by their positive ways and some by their...).  And I’m just getting started. Wow, this is really interesting. I have a different environment than Butler Co. which appears to be conducive to thinking right now in my life. BUT now what?

The new phase of life!  I’m not unhappy with my last phase, actually I really liked it, but I need to go to the next phase, that past phase is over. But I’m not really in charge of the next phase, well, sorta kinda but not really. PastorJohn said that if we let God be in charge, life is a lot easier (i.e. sleep a lot better). I talked to a 90-year-old guy in our park the other day.  He lost his wife three years ago and would like to find another woman to associate with.  I said—You got any possibilities—yes, my wife’s sister is my age and lost her husband five years ago; we get along fine; she coming down here to rent a place; I said she could just live with me; she said, I don’t want the chaos—erv, what does that mean—I really don’t know--erv, I’m 90 years old; I’m entering the 90-year old phase, whatever that is; it is a lot different than the 20-year old phase!

There are “somethingelses.” Steve goes on to say—"The Bible talks a lot about the idea of overly trusting ourselves. One of my favorite books in the Bible, Proverbs, focuses on wisdom and folly. Toward the end, it drops this bombshell, 'Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him' (Proverbs 26:12). In short: Overly trusting yourself is dangerous. Some self-confidence is crucial to living a healthy life, but not overconfidence.” And Steve says more—"The Bible discusses two different ways in which people become blinded by their overconfidence in themselves: Hypocrisy, and self-deception… In his 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote, ‘No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.’ Can you think of anyone this describes?” Are you and I that way sometimes? Yikes! Could you and I be a “somethingelse” at times?

I read this while eating my oatmeal with a half banana on it—Tom Landry said that football was his god before he began to follow Jesus Christ. After reading that line, I changed my morning plans.  Yes, I did.  I was going to do an activity that some folks wanted me to do but instead I did something that I wanted to do that was much more important to me.  I went and saw a couple of folks who I really wanted to see.  I went to the woodshop to visit with a certain person and then went to see another person who wanted to talk to me.  Activities are ok but relationships are more important to me. I told myself, I don’t have toooo but I have the opportunity.  Now what! I just don’t want to chase after the wind. An acquaintance I met at a little party told us that she loves it here in the park; I have made more friends in 6 months here in the park than I have in my hometown the last 6 years.  I asked her what she met by “friends.” She said—People who I can invite to my house for dinner. Saturday question—Do you agree that friends are more important than a fortune? CrazyMarvin, who is a birthday cake, says—I’ll take the fortune, for sure!

Sooooo I went to the woodshop. An acquaintance invited me to come and use the wood shop.  The lead man/big dog teacher added—we teach one on one; most folks here have never done wood working before.  Another new acquaintance I made who was there told me he was a one of those guys who never did woodwork before and really likes it.  For $25 a year you can use all the equipment, but you need to furnish your own wood.  I said—I have no experience and probably would mess up to which he said—It’s only a piece of wood; you just throw it away and start over. I finally got to talk to the guy I went to talk tooooo! While leaving and getting on my park bike, I was invited by a couple of gals to go line dancing with them—I said I never did that before—we will teach ya—how many guys come to line dancing now—none—that is what I thought! What a hoot! As I have heard many many times—If you get bored here, it’s your own fault.   

Here is another little plumbing story that made me laugh. There was a little leak in my water line under my metal tent.  I thought it was a compression connection but after looking at it closer it was a hodgepodge connection using a connection like a garden hose. My metal tent is a 1980 model I doubt if the rubber washer was original and was probably replaced many times.  ANYWAY, it was a $1.90 fix as I had to buy three rubber washers of course (i.e. even at Ace you can’t just buy one).  The rubber washer was hard and worn.  I’m starting to figure myself out!!!! haha I signed up to play pickleball using SignUpGenius to play in certain venue with other folks from different parks.  It sounded fun when I did it but after thinking about it, it was going to be an inconvenience to my plans soooooo I deleted myself.  I just didn’t want to do it that day.  Maybe next time.  Seeee, I’m getting harder and not as flexible as I get older.  I pick my medicine I like!

Our 55+ park has about a 1,000 units and when after the New Year will have about 1,500 folks.  I think all the activities, and there are many of things to do, are all administered by volunteers.  Amazing. It develops a family atmosphere of sharing with each other. It appears that folks who help others seem to enjoy life more, my opinion. People seem to really care for each other. Now what’s for me?  How will I fit into this?  Time will tell. The old saying is—There are givers and there are takers in this world.  WorldClasLarry says—It appears to me that the givers are a lot happier; it seems like the takers just can’t ever get enough! 

RickyRick says—"What matters most to you? What are the top three or four values in your life? Here’s a firm decision you need to make: Choose God’s values, not the world’s. I can easily name my top values: integrity, humility, and generosity. I decided long ago that I wanted to build my life on those three things—because they’re the antidotes to the three traps of leadership. Can you name the three most important values in your life? If you can’t, then you certainly can’t live by them. Before you let another day go by, sit down and ask yourself, What’s most important to me? What are the top values in my life? Write them down, because until you clarify your values, you can’t live by them. Why is this so important? If you don’t decide what’s important in your life, other people will decide for you. They’ll push you into their mold, and you’ll live your life by their values, not your own.” RickyRick, you are soooo smart.  A friend told me that he and his son were having a discussion, maybe more like an argument. He said to his teen age son—You are no doubt more intelligent than I am but I’m smarter than you! CadillacJack says—Surely the values we decide on will direct us to our “Now What.”

CoachB says—"Sometimes in life some of the things that used to be, the things you used to have, what you used to be, what you used to enjoy, they are gone. You got to learn how to live in the present and forget about the past, let it go. It was a beautiful life, but it’s gone now, you got to learn to move on and enjoy where you are.” That sounds harsh to some of you folks I think but I think CoachB is right.  The past is gone. Soooo how do you do that?  Well, folks do it different ways for sure. And some just continue to live in the past. A long time, good friend reminded me recently what his late Mom would say to him--"can't sat on the stump and never did nothing".Myneighbordownthestreet said or was it Helen Keller who said--I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but I still can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do." BigTillie says--I would rather sit on the couch and eat chips and watch the depressing news; I just love that depressing news and can't get enough of it!

I was at a restaurant recently and there was an entertainer in the main dining area doing a show on trivia which was very entertaining.  I sat in the adjoining bar area eating my sandwich and could hear his show.  One of the trivia questions he asked the packed house was to write down what they thought were the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for 2022 to win a prize.  According to 10 web sites, he said, it was concluded that these were the top 10 resolutions.  Some of the top 10 resolutions were the same generic ones, but some astounded me.  The #1 resolution was to learn or do something new or do something different.  Other top 10s that really surprised me were spend more time with family and friends, travel more, and read more.  Wow!  Making more money, become busier, watch more TV/the news, or work more were not mentioned.  Interesting, I called an ol’ college friend recently who is a snowbird here in the Valley and asked him what he’s doing—He went on with the typical snowbird stuff but did say that he is going to lessen his schedule of commitments sooo he has more free time as he wants to read more.

Many years ago, we went to a bb game and dinner with friends on a cold, snow stormy IA night. When coming back there was a car that was in the ditch and a guy was standing in the middle of the road with no coat on.  We stopped and found him to be about 19 and way intoxicated. He explained that his friends all left him. Soooo what were we going to do? Call the law or take him home? We decided to take him home. Our biggest fear was if he would throw up in the van.  We got him in his apartment, and I left him my number. About 10 the next morning, he calls me and wanted to know where his car was.  Sooooo we will never know if we did the right thing.  We do know we gave him a big break that night. Maybe and maybe we didn’t! ANYWAY, what fun memories we have. Oh, about halfway to his apartment, he put on his seat belt; he said he was worried about his safety as the roads were bad! We still laugh about that.

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

erv

MyFriendJean said—May you never miss a rainbow because you are looking down.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for your upbeat blog, something I needed today. Doreen

    ReplyDelete