putting it together

We seem to live in a world of being misled about almost anything and everything soooo if I were you I would be very sketching in believing anything in this “It’s Saturday” but I'm not you. Maybe taking just the opposite approach to everything said might work better. Warren Buffet says--Do the opposite what everyone else is doing!  Soooo, there!

Did you know that according to some reports, Americans check their phones 344 times per day—on average? That’s once every 4 minutes! I can’t hardly believe that. I don’t nearly check my phone that much soooo some of you must make up for me soooo that means you must check your phone every 2 minutes.  That can’t be, can it? Now maybe that is why some of you don’t get much done in a day but just think you do.

I get confused with myself, yes I do. Some days I feel I want more on my plate and some days I think I have too much to do.  It can’t be both ways. Some days I want to go faster and some days I think I should slow down.  I can’t have it both ways. JoeSmooth who works his tail off, says—For some it’s a status symbol to be very busy and have a constant full schedule but others just can’t handle that demand. Ya can’t have it both ways. I talked to a guy the other day who said that his schedule was fully booked for the next five years!  The world could turn upside-down by then! I’m wired it seems to be sorta kinda a type A personality soooo my thinking seems to gravitate to more to do (i.e. but not soooo much anymore).  And sometimes I don’t like that agenda, but I can’t have it both ways. It’s like folks who like to eat a lot but also want to stay thin; you can’t have it both ways. I am just amazed how busy some folks are but also amazed how little some folks get done! I’m trying to put this all together!

I have to admit that some days I have a higher motivation level than I do others. Why, I really don’t know. Probably there is many reasons with some of those reasons being good and some maybe not sooo good. Some of you are up at 4 and have more done by noon than another person does in a month. Then there are others of you that really don’t do much in a whole day and think you had a big day (i.e. taking the garbage to the curb is a big project and is a big day). Aren’t we really different. Why are we soooo different? Why did we become who we are anyway? A friend told me recently that I am a lot like many of my friends and they think they have really influenced me. Could be. What do you think. I think I’m still in the process of putting my life together. I’m not there yet.

KnowItAllPete, who has a straitjacket legalistic heart, thinks he has his life all put together now doesn’t he. But does he really? Just maybe something will happen to him that will just turn his world upside down. Chuck Swindoll in his book David said basically, when we aren’t humble but think we have arrived and know everything, we aren’t very receptive tooo much; why should we be, we have power and money; we have it all put together; we think we are on top of the world. Actually, we can be pretty cocky. As my mentor would say to me—erv, things are never as good as they look and never as bad as they look!

Ya, it seems that all of us need to take a break once in a while. I call it a Sabbath Day a.k.a. a day of rest. BUT we all take a Sabbath differently. A friend drove 295 miles the other Saturday to run a half marathon with his grandson in 30 degree weather, another sat on the couch all day watching football and eating chips, another painted the kitchen, another drove 2 hours and went shoppin’ with friends all day, another drove 3 hours to go to a music concert etc. We all take a break differently now don’t we. Some even go to AZ for the winter! haha

CoachB says—"Sometimes we all start our day and live each day in hell. Now that is a behemoth problem if we let that happen. We need to change the way how we greet folks! I’m going to tell folks good morning, good evening, good afternoon with enthusiasm. Great day to you! I’m going to cut that hell out of my life. That’s a no brainer!”

I read this in the paper, soooo it must be right, as what Harvey had to say—"If you are in business, chances are you are familiar with the term ROI – Return on Investment. However, I have learned a more important term called ROL, -- Return on Life. ROI is what we get back from investing money; ROL, is what we get back from investing in ourselves. I suggest we cultivate a love for learning and a capacity for earning. These qualities are important ingredients for success, significance, and fulfilment. But the things people really get passionate about are the things that come directly from their sense of service.” Is this sorta kinda putting things together do you think?

JoeBlow who can be pretty frisky at times, says--You learn nothing from life if we think we are right all the time. Do you ever worry that your future will be just like your past?  I mean, we think that we will have the same negative things happen to us in the future that have happened to us in the past. And they might unless…! BUT we have some control over our future and the past is just that, the past. Am I correct, do you think? Probably if we do the same things, act the same way, think the same way, say the same things that we have done in the past, more than likely the past will reflect what the future will be. If our life was mayhem in the past and we don’t change anything, why do we expect it to change.  If we do the same things and think the same way that we did the last five years, why in the world will the next five years change much.  Da! Soooo we shouldn’t be surprised if we don’t change. CadillacJack says—Now that is putting our life together. C’mon folks, if we look like a duck, if we quack like a duck, walk like a duck, we’re a duck! Winston Churchill said---Those that won’t change their mind don’t change anything. AverageJoe says—Suck it up baby and let’s get going!

Putting your life together. I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it--We often assume that people base their choices on logic and reason, but most decisions are based on feelings. I had a friend tell me that she loved her husband but really didn’t like some ways how he lived; most gals would not have put up with what I put up with.  Another gal had two pursuers who she both liked. She ended up going after one as she thought he was a better match and would be a better husband; she never mentioned she loved either one. Another gal told me that she really didn’t think she liked her husband or loved him; their marriage didn’t work out very well. And another gal told me that she really loved her husband and liked him, and they had a great marriage.  Some marriages are made ‘cause he needs a wife and she needed someone to provide for her (i.e. she likes the lifestyle he can provide for her). Wow! Sooo I was jogging down the street to the golf course this fall, and a guy was outside with his big dog (i.e. part German shepherd and part golden retriever).  I asked him if he likes their family dog—not really, I generally don’t like dogs, not this one really either but this dog really likes me!  I laughed and said—It’s always nice to have someone like you!  He laughed.

This was written in a Louis L’Amour novel that I liked—"Owen Chantry was a man without illusions. Nothing in his experience had given him the idea that he was protected by any special dispensation from Providence. He has seen good men die when evil lived on, and he was aware that he was vulnerable as any other man.” Pretty thought provoking for me. How about you? I have no idea why I have had soooo many good things happen to me (i.e. seemed to just fall in my lap). Pretty incredible. I got a text from friends pertaining to a very amazing event that happened in which they were part of—erv, you have a friend in HIGH PLACES!!  Signed--Your earthly friends... I agree but that doesn’t make me any different than any other human on this earth. Even if a dog would like me! Listen, dog treats do wonders just like free money! In general dogs don’t really like me! I think it is because I treat them like dogs. Hey, I was raised on a farm a mile and a quarter south of Roseland, MN. An acquaintance recently told me that their pup broke its front leg. They had to take it to urgent care in Des Moines. It cost $6,700 to have the surgery done and the puppy had to be immobilized for eight weeks. I said holy cow! They said they paid $3,800 for it to start with so they had a lot of money in the puppy. So they took the pins out after eight weeks and it was a 15 minute procedure that cost $1.600! Holy smokes I said. Listen, Chester and Anna would have no way done that back on the farm! ThreeWifeJoe says—I wouldn’t have spent that much on any of my wives, but in retrospect I should have! What was I thinkin’! I thought mostly about me!

You can do it folks, whatever you are thinking about. You can do it in putting your life together. I like this story--During the final round of the 2017 British Open, eventual winner Jordan Spieth was in big trouble on the 13th hole. As anxiety mounted over the next shot, a Golf Digest article reported, caddie Michael Greller proved helpful. Michael asked Jordan if he remembered the group of star athletes they’d been with a week earlier. Then he said, “You belong in that group.” Jordan crushed the next shot and won The Open. I knew Jordan’s parents, who are both deceased, and they were friends of mine. Some of you might remember Bear, his dad, as he spoke and gave his testimony at a men’s’ breakfast at our church years ago. A very good man. I got to know him through my connection with Northwestern College. Soooo how important is a positive attitude with confidence?

This is my opinion and not fact, but it could be—It doesn’t take a very big person to hate anyone who disagrees with us but it takes a big person to love those folks! I think we can still love folks even if they disagree with us.  What do you think? Corrie ten Boom said—"You never so touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive and love your enemies.” Anyone can hate their enemies, anyone. What’s the big deal about that! Soooo maybe think about that when putting your life together folks. 

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

erv

MyFriendJean said—You have to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.