manage

If you drive a car into a forest and leave it for one hundred years, when you return, you will find it has deteriorated. That is an elementary example of the Second Law of Thermodynamics which says that without inputs of energy in a closed system, entropy (disorder) increases over time. When left alone (no input of care or energy), things get worse, not better, over time. That is how I feel if we don’t manage our lives constantly. That’s my opinion. And you might think my opinion is a legend of the Cascade Mountains or the gospel truth or neither! You can believe what you want! Most of you readers live in America and have that freedom!

We manage our cell phone package, we manage our finances, we manage our kids’ TV time, we manage our car maintenance, we manage our diet, our weight, what we do in our spare time, etc. We manage a lot now don’t we. Some folks are in management soooo they manage others (i.e. and many folks need management as they can’t manage their actions; they need help). Some folks are in upper management where they manage other managers. There are managers who are in top management like the head coach, CEO of a company, head pastor of a church, parents of a family, the chairperson of a board, etc. Even wolves have a leader of the pack (i.e. maybe the strongest male or female)! There are dictators of countries who have complete control and some countries are democracies where the people decide, they are supposed to anyway even though there are differences of opinions about that it appears.

I have repeated what a late friend said to me quite often—Decisions have consequences and guess who gets to make the decisions. Sooooo who is managing our lives? I have a good friend who said to me recently that she wants to change who is managing her life (i.e. she wants to change back to who she was and wants to be). I think to do that it will take some changes. What changes do you think she will have to take? Dr.J says—"Most people today are living lies. They’re trying to be people they’re not. But Moses—because he was a man of integrity—refused to live a lie. Against all kinds of peer pressure, he insisted on being who God made him to be. Here’s my question: Who are we letting determine our identity?”  And who do we let make that decision?

A challenge I have in managing my life is to slow down; I want to slow down in some facets of my life; I’m working on it but it ain’t easy for me. I read this like it’s written just for me by Joy. Joy says—"Often I feel like life is a race; one in which my pursuit, and even capture, of the next “important” thing or accomplishment still leaves me wanting. Technological advances have brought many of us countless personal benefits. However, I believe that continual access to work email, regular text alerts, location tracking, and the expectations that accompany these conveniences may prevent us from slowing down, giving God praise for his daily gifts to us. We might rush through life too fast to take joy in a hug. We may not ever pause to marvel that the barren ground of winter will soon bear our favorite spring flowers. Or we miss the beauty of creation before us because we’re too concerned about getting the best photo of the sunset to share on social media.” The joke is from the MI-Wizard!

Have we had a defining moment in our lives? I mean a moment or a point in our life when we're urged to make a pivotal decision, or when we experience something that fundamentally changes us (e.g. when I met Jeanne). There is quite a spectrum in thinking why that happened (e.g. a coffee buddy thinks everything is random and we think it was a God wink; that is quite a range). Well, that special moment was very important in our lives, no question. Or some might say it just fall in our laps! We really didn’t make it happen; we didn’t manage it but we sorta kinda did! But I always like to be on the lookout for opportunities. A guydownthestreet said to me this week--erv, when an opportunity comes along, seize it; it might not ever come again! Soooo suck it up cupcake and let's get going!

I read what RickyRick wrote while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it—"If we’re honest, the desire for money or position may have a regular stronghold on our decision-making. We may be very concerned about looking good in the neighborhood. If so, the shine of our earthly treasure may blind us to the real blessings of life. If not money, we might live in fear about the “what ifs” around the corner; expending a lot of energy seeking to control situations for what we perceive will be the best possible outcome. Perhaps, and sadly, a deep need to know what’s coming next means missing the chance to be grateful for the blessings right in front of us. Consider our personal focus.” I hope I’m not missing the boat! ItchieBitchie said to me—“erv, the time is now. Stop hitting the snooze button on your life.” Yikes!  Folks often ask me if they are ItchieBitchie. The pic is of ItchieBitchie. If the pic looks like you, then you are ItchieBitchie!  hahaha

SusieQ says--It is soooo hard to stay strong, especially going through what I’m going through. It’s tough let me tell ya; you have no idea! I agree SusieQ! Tough times are not easy; they never are. We somehow need to manage them; some how! I recently was around a couple of new acquaintances who told me about their tough times that they are going through (i.e. not much different then what we are going through or have gone through). ANYWAY, I learned from them that to express ourselves and talk about struggles seems to do folks good, it seems to help; It’s great to be around good folks. Oh ya!

Do we ever wonder if we are going in the right direction with our lives?  CadillacJack says—It all depends on who you ask; there is always a yes and a no by someone or some group! I was told by a someone—erv, we don’t think like you! Even my GPS navigational system in my vehicle tells me there are different ways to get where I want to go and even sometimes it is wrong or it doesn’t give me the best alternative (i.e. it thinks differently than I do). I read that even AI can be wrong soooo don’t always trust it. Soooo then how do we decide? We saw the Sphere lite up at night in Las Vegas when we were there. It’s all done by computer as like many things are. If someone puts in the wrong information, they get the wrong result (i.e. programed wrong). I wonder sometimes if some of my programing is wacko! As a result, I'm lite up wrong! Or maybe other folks are lite up wrong!

VelvetElvis says—These are the kinds of people who change the world. They improvise and adapt and innovate and explore new ways to get things done. They don’t make a lot of noise, and they don’t draw a lot of attention to themselves.

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

erv

MyDeceasedFriendJean said—The best gifts are tied with heart strings.