de miminis

Toot toot, move over please, I’m coming through.  They didn’t move over for me one little bit! I think I might be too small for them meaning unimportant for them to care about me! Yikes! Such is life.

I sorta kinda like some Latin words; they seem intriguing to me.  De minimis means, essentially, too small to care about!

When I was a kid, I think everyone who found a penny on the ground would pick it up. Not anymore, it is now de minimis. Maybe a nickel or a dime might not even be picked up.  As my 8-year-old neighbor boy said to me when I tipped him a dollar: A dollar, what can I buy with a dollar! He is sorta kinda right even though I didn’t care much for his appreciation. I have to admit that I pick all pennies up as I like to read what it says on them—In God we trust. It’s a good reminder to me. And also, Lincoln’s face is on them, and I like what Lincoln stands for.  Sooooo a penny makes me sorta kinda feel good. Some of you will call me a de minimis! That is okay! You may!

I read again the other day that 99% of stuff won’t make any difference 5 years from now and some stuff won’t make any difference 5 minutes from now (i.e. we think about bad stuff that angers us but maybe it could be good stuff also that we get all bend out of shape about). Actually, some of us might be died in 5 years, maybe. And many can’t remember much now in five minutes! Much of the stuff is soooo de miminis. Saturday question—Then what is important that we should pay attention toooo? ItchieBitchie says-I don't think it was improper when I responded to a neighbor's wedding invitation with "Sorry, I can't make it, maybe next time!" 

I must admit that I’m stiff-necked and stubborn (i.e. that is not a de minimis thing). Are you? I don’t want to be stiff-necked and stubborn but I still am. How about you? Do folks like stiff-necked and stubborn folks?  Sooo what type of person is a person who is not stiff-necked and stubborn?  An antonym of being stiff-necked and stubborn is being humble, unpretentious, and modest. Tom Brady said this about Brock Purdy--"You don't hear of guys like Brock Purdy until Brock Purdy's doing amazing things out on the field, so it's kind of a fun story and I hope it continues for him because he seems like he's a really humble young man, and he wants to go out there and do great things." Soooo how can we lessen being soooo stiff-nicked and suborn?  AverageJoe says—The first thing we have to do is admit we are stiff-necked and stubborn which many can’t do soooo that makes it impossible, maybe. OneSmartPerson who does not like splashy headlines about himself, says—Maybe we need to self-evaluate ourselves and our churches. Maybe. Could be. But I don’t know! But possibly!

This for sure will sound like a de minimis to some of you but not to all of you.  Get counsel!  Get counsel from an expert who is neutral. I have done this on business matters many times. Sometimes from professionals and sometimes from very knowledgeable friends and acquaintances who know what they are talking about. I have never got professional counseling on anything personal in my life. Many of you have and it has been very helpful. Very! I think it’s really great to have a friend who we can talk to who will listen and can be trusted to keep their mouth shut. That itself is a form of counseling, I think. I know of churches and individuals who got counseling and who were given good possible solutions to their issues but didn’t accept where they were wrong and didn’t apply the advice, in which case nuttin probably changed. Soooo the same can gets kicked down the same street. Joesixpack who sounds a lot like a clanging cymbal, says—Yabut erv, at least I know how my current pain feels and I might not like the maybe new pain of change that might happen! I think I will just keep hitting my head against the same wall just like I have been doing!

Our kids think my hearing is bad but I don’t. Our son gave me a membership to Costco for Father’s Day  soooo I could get it tested! Soooo I went recently as my membership was running out. On the information sheet it asked why I am getting my hearing tested. I wrote—to see if our grandkids mumble or I can’t hear!  The technician laughed! The test showed that I had mild hearing loss but not significant. Soooo then it is that our grandkids mumble—the hearing technician said, well erv, our younger generation do seem to mumble—why is that—they do communication by electronic methods and don’t talk face to face and when they do they do a very poor job in talking clearly and looking at folks in the eyes; especially talking with adults.  Now that was her opinion. I will recheck my hearing in a year again and hear what I hear or don't hear then again!

It’s my opinion that it is good to accomplish something every day. It makes me feel way better. It doesn’t have to be much, even something like making my bed, taking a shower, dusting, washing the dishes, reading my devotions, walking my 2.3 miles, mowing the lawn, washing the car, cleaning the bathrooms, talking to friends and family on the phone, sending an encouraging note to someone, doing a fix it project. Actually, anything of an accomplishment is very good for me. It might sound de minimis to you, but it is very important to me. I picked up an old friend for breakfast (i.e. old ‘cause he’s old and old because we have been friends for a long time).  He told me that he woke up at 6:30 and stayed up as he didn’t want to oversleep and miss me and then he got cleaned up, clued his teeth in and dressed; it was a lot of work to go out with me. He told me that he is doing much better than a year ago when it wasn’t good at all.  He did admit that he does not have his initiative/motivation back; he said he is very lazy!

This might sound de minimis to you, but I think it’s very important to me.  That is to be appreciative about my life and my situation. Are you appreciative? We live in a very competitive environment and very comparing environment soooooo they distract me from being appreciative. I think most folks would be much more content and enjoy life more if we could be more appreciative. Sooooo how do I get to this frame of mind if that is true? I have some ideas and have implemented some of them. Yes, I have. I think I need to work on creating them and then working on them. That is my opinion. RickyRick says—"God never meant for you to go through life exhausted. When you’re too tired to love others well, take a good look at how much you’re resting, what you’re eating, and how often you exercise. Then make better and often more difficult choices to take care of yourself.”

Pretty de minimis but…! Soooo I asked both of our teenage grandgirls if they would call me as I have some advice I want to suggest to them. They said they would when they have time. I did tell them they didn’t have tooooo if they didn’t want tooooo (i.e. left them have an out). They both called me when they did have time. I gave them my suggestion a.k.a. advice. I have no idea if they will do what I suggested. It might be de minimis to them but maybe not. I don’t think I will ever know. They are both good kids soooo they might take my suggestion a.k.a. advice. BUT that is ok if they don’t. I’m 77 (i.e. they probably think I'm as old as dirt) and they are teenagers!!! We have a lot of air between us! I understand. Yes, I do! Such is life.

“Finish your broccoli, or you can’t go to the sleepover,” says MissPerfect, the mom. It’s an empty threat, a rash promise that the child knows cannot be true. How many promises have we heard from others that we know aren’t true?  Most everyone knows it except for a few who have their heads up their butts. TomSmart says--C’mon folks, figure it out, quite living in la la land!  Abraham Lincoln said-- “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of time.”

A friend told me about a private experience she had (i.e. very personal).  I was very impressed with her actions and also her mind set. ANYWAY, she said she talked out loud while doing some actions and it was very rewarding for her. Do you ever talk to yourself out loud?  Do you every talk to God out loud?  It might be a de minimis action we think but it might be very rewarding for each of us. If you haven’t, try it, you might like it! Or let Mikie try it first!

Is this de minimis do you think? What does it mean to be MidWestern anyway? It must mean something! I have lived in Iowa for most of my life soooo I must be MidWestern. Am I MidWestern? Must be! A friend from Butler County told me, I think we are the minority, erv!  And he wasn’t talking about not having a dog either, but I really don’t know exactly what he meant but I think I do! I do know when visiting the Seattle area this summer, that it appeared that some of those folks don’t care much for the beliefs of the folks from Iowa (i.e. why do I know 'cause they told me sooo, very vocal about it). Soooo there! I read this in an Iowa newspaper soooo it must be right—Evangelical voters in Iowa are crucial to Republican presidential hopefuls. I really doubt if voters in New York give a hoot what the Iowa voters think! Maybe they think Iowa voters are nobodies a.k.a. de miminis who live a little west of Nowhere (i.e. just a fly-over state where they grow corn)! This ervie likes to be Midwestern! My evening meal is still supper! I grew up learning that and other stuff from Chester and Anna on the farm a mile and a quarter south of Roseland, MN.

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

erv

MyFriendJean said--Everyone wants progress, but few want the change that progress requires.