enjoy the process

A few paragraphs into his classic story A Christmas Carol, author Charles Dickens tells us, “Once upon a time...old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house.” When Dickens published his now-classic story in 1843, that opening phrase, “Once upon a time,” had been well-used in English literature since 1600—even going back to its earliest use in 1380. It’s the perfect way to begin a timeless story. Soooooo folks, once upon a time!

Disclaimer: This “It’s Saturday” might not worth writing home to your mom about, but you get what you pay for.  If you don’t have high expectations, you won’t be disappointed.  Such is life.

I woke up the other day and decided to go for a bike ride.  It was a beautiful morning, and I haven’t ridden yet this summer.  I pumped up the tires on the ol’ bike and mounted it on my vehicle and headed out.  I stopped at McDonald’s for a sausage egg with cheese McMuffin and a senior drink and read the Des Moines Register (i.e. I use to do this more often but not for a while).  There was a lot of super-seniors in there telling jokes, giving advice, talking about the weather, and gossiping.  I heard one super-senior lady say—This is not gossip ‘cause it came from the ... church; ... don’t gossip or drink; it’s the real stuff!  I heard another super-senior lady telling the ladies at her table that her granddaughter has never been baptized soooo we were in the pool the other day and I dunked her and said the magic words and she’s good now, good to go!  While riding bike, I thought of what DoctorDan meant (i.e. tried to eye ball it)--At the end of one of DoctorDan’s teachings either in Greece or Turkey, he challenged us with this statement—Do you go to church to just go to church (i.e. do the superstitions and traditions of your denomination) or do you go to church to build a church?  Now that is a good question DoctorDan. I really did enjoy the bike ride on my favorite 15-mile trail. I also really enjoyed DoctorDan’s teachings. Both were just plain great.  I enjoyed the whole process.  Yes I did. What a hoot.

Soooo when I got home I went for a ride on my Yamaha XT250 on some off road trails of a couple of friends in their wooded paradises. It was beautiful and really fun.  You think I live the life of Riley.  Not really, when I got home I washed windows!  Yuck!

Aging is really a process.  Yes it is.  We are all in the process if we like it or not.  Sometimes that process is soooo much fun and sometimes it isn’t.  It’s more fun for some than others for sure.  But we all get older now don’t we.  My knees hurt after I play pickleball, my golf game is surely not the same, I get tired easier, I can’t remember as well, I don’t have as much interest in certain things, but I really enjoy my life; I enjoy the process even though it is different.  I have many adjustments.  I try to tweak the process to fit my situation. KingSolman says—There is a time for everything. That is what I need to adjust toooooo.  On our trip, I was the oldest person. Huh, interesting. Why do you think? We usually got up at 5:30 and toured all day (i.e. some days walking maybe 6-8 miles on uneven rocks and getting back about 6 and having dinner at 7. Big days for some seniors. It’s a lot easier to sit on the couch and eat chips for many. Sooooo, I have just completed their process as I am going to volunteer to be a patient advocate at an area major hospital.  I think this will be something I think I can do and will maybe help some folks (i.e. maybe I will even help myself). Maybe. I don’t know, I will see. I’m looking forward to it (i.e. enjoy the process). Such is life. Ring the bell! Many of you seniors are soooooo great in helping others.  My hat goes off to you.  I want to be like you. Oh ya! 

RickyRick says--Every day when you wake up, you need to remind yourself of what counts and what doesn’t count. Don’t be distracted by things that are insignificant and petty. Why is it important to remind yourself of what matters? It’s easy to lose your joy over some small thing. In fact, it’s usually the small irritations—not the big issues—that cause you to lose your happiness. Somebody cuts you off when you’re trying to make a turn, and you lose your happiness. It’s the little things that sometimes affect people the most, and yet they don’t really matter. Paul said in Philippians 3:7, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.”

A golf buddy on the 6^th tee box told us that we have a tendency to remember some stupid thing we did when we were a teenager.  Absolutely no one remembers it except us, but it still bothers us.  Now isn’t that the truth.  And another golf buddy said that he remembers making an error in a high school ball game that cost us the game (i.e. his opinion) which he has never forgotten and that no one remembers from some 50 years ago.  Crazy huh, just crazy. Hey, enjoy the process of the good stuff folks. Such is life. I read this by Tony Dungy while eating my oatmeal with a half banana on it--Whatever is evil, vengeful, lustful, tempting, or otherwise ungodly tends to stick in our minds or hearts and grow.  We need to be vigilant not to let that happen.

A friend at breakfast told me that after his wife died, he had a friendship with a neighbor who lost her husband.  They would get-to-gather but after awhile he decided that it just wasn't going to work.  I was moving on and she was not; she wanted to stay in the same spot. He told her that he would not be able to see her anymore.  She was dragging him down.  As the saying goes--It's a lot easier to drag someone down than to lift someone up.  Saturday question--What kind of person are you? Negative or positive?  Yabut erv, I read in the liberal newspaper, so it must be right, that even 8 out of 10 Democrats say it's going in the wrong direction. Holy smokes! I'm just showing you what's in the newspaper folks. Maybe it's just more fake news!  Could be. Maybe it's just propaganda with an agenda. CommonJoe, is it going in the wrong direction? C'mon erv, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out (i.e. I still don't know what he things). Maybe this is not a Democrat or Republican question folks, but it's an American question.

A friend gave me some ground cover called Ajuga.  I like to say that word AJUGA! ANYWAY, I did not baby the roots of Ajuga enough and they all died.  My bad.  And I like Ajuga. The plant is very tough when mature but not when they are babes. She gave me some more and I have learned that I need to baby Ajuga more and I will.  Certain babies, clients, kids, spouses, friends, church folks, truckdrivers, employees, employers, carpenters, etc. need to be babied more than others now don’t they.  Some are really high maintenance to get the best out of them.  Very time consuming much like my Ajuga!  They are pretty and nice to be around but can be a pain in the butt at times, my opinion.  Soooo I asked a friend how many poor folks go to their church—none; how many do you have in your church—none; soooo where do the poor folks go—maybe they don’t go to church was the answer. CommonJoe says--C’mon, some churches don’t like high maintenance folks as they are time consuming, and they need to be babied tooooo much; they want to stick with the homogeneous folks; not near as much work. We give $5 sooooo someone else can deal with them. The Ajuga are just left to die if not babied!  Such is life.  ItchieBitchie says--Talk is cheap, but it takes money and time to baby folks who are different than us!

A friend of a friend, who is a school secretary, told us that their school teaches coding to elementary kids.  I had no idea what it was.  She explained it this way—It is learning to talk to a computer and tell it what you want it to do, a little different that programing.  I goggled it and that is pretty much what it is.  I talked to a friend who is an educational specialist and asked him about it.  Ya, schools do that.  It is suppose to stimulate kids minds but we have kids that can’t read, rite or do rithmatic but we are teaching them coding. But maybe it’s the new future, the new process.  The gal who told us about coding was a grandma who was educated as a graphic designer and how she learned graphic designing back then is all obsolete as it is all done by advanced computer programs now.  Sooooo there. 

Experts ask--Can you change how fast you are aging? Some think you can.  Maybe do positive things. Maybe keep moving. Maybe eat right and in moderation. I guess there are somethings we can control and some things we can’t. I noticed in Greece and Turkey there were not near as many obese folks.  I asked the locals about that—some think because they walk more and work harder physically.  They don’t have the means to just sit on the couch and eat chips.  That was their opinions and only that.  But there must be a reason.

My Daddy, Chester, would say—erv, the best discipline is self-discipline.  But sorry to say, very few have it.  That is why folks hire trainers, psychologists, pastors, and others to manipulate their minds.  A friend suggested I read Battlefield of the Mind—Winning the Battle in Your mind by Joyce Meyer.  It must be good as it says on the book cover—Over 3 million copies sold! Or folks hope it will do magic for them. haha Another friend a.k.a. Mr.MBA has self-discipline it sure seems.  Maybe! haha ANYWAY, he says if you read the first chapter of those books and the last, you are good, the middle is all fluff.  Another friend, who also has great self-discipline, says—Those books are all the same, but you have to have discipline to do what they say, most folks are just wasting their money ‘cause they won’t do it.  There are millions and millions of self-help books on the market and now we even have YouTube to tell us how to do stuff (i.e. how can we mess up! haha). I agree with Joyce. It is a good reminder and encouragement for sure.  We need an encourager of some kind.  As some of you know, I like the book of Ecclesiastes. Here is a good verse about that--A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Some of you have heard me use the illustration of that being you, your spouse and God (i.e. a pink, blue and Purple braided cord).  I believe that, very powerful, my opinion.

The other night I was sitting at a ball game with some folks eating popcorn.  One of the folks was a guy who grew up in Aplington who I know along with his siblings and I also knew his deceased parents.  Well, maybe about a month ago he fell dead to the kitchen floor. His wife did CPR until the police came and then the paramedics.  They flew him to a hospital. They had to shock him to get him back to life on two more occasions. They did by-pass surgery and there we were eating popcorn together and watching a ball game a month later.  His cardiologist told him that his odds of living was less than winning the lottery.

OldTimerSally says—The way people age and the signs we show of ageing is nature’s way of tattooing.

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

erv

MyFriendJean said—If a goal is set properly, its already half achieved.

PS I'm interested in buying a used female or youth motorcycle helmet.  You got one?