Category Archives: Life

Life

High Flying Skydiving

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Life is a short ride and the older I get, the more I look at the value of experiences over the value of things. Sometimes we get so entrenched in the ruts of our routines that to do something totally different and outside the normal is going to make you look at everything from a different perspective. Skydiving is that kind of thing. I had never said, “Gee, I think I should go skydiving.”  But when someone you care about asks you to share the experience with her, you jump! Physically and metaphorically.

I am blessed to have a significant human who wants to do different things. So It was set to happen, I was not frightened or worried about doing it because many people have done it and most don’t die.  So I wasn’t worried and I also have been realizing more and more, there is less time ahead of me in this life then there is behind me, I had better spend it experiencing all I can, and doing what I want.  So our skydiving adventure kicked off.

False Start

We didn’t get to jump but at least we had fun. Which is easy with good company

The first time we were scheduled for our jump we got there early because we had to take a class to teach us how to be safe and sign a million forms that will absolve New England Skydive if something horrible should happen to us. We watched a video and talked about arching and not grabbing stuff behind us when falling through the air. All pretty quick and easy, but there was one problem, clouds. If it is too cloudy then they are not allowed to jump because there is a danger they would open the chute and float into a tree.

Since we didn’t have control over that we enjoyed the time hanging out waiting to see if it would open up. It didn’t and we had to reschedule for the next week. Having been there before was a help because you knew what to expect and what the preparations would be like. This time it was high skies and we were definitely going to be falling out of a plane. Reality sets in.

Power of Heights

All people have a natural and healthy fear of heights. Some are debilitated by it and others handle it easily. I am able to compartmentalize the concepts. I know we are high up and that is different. As we rode up in the plane, we weren’t all that nervous and we were looking forward to the experience. It is like anything, the anticipation can get you if you think about it too much. Really, you have no idea what to expect, but you soon will. Mastering a height of 14,000 feet is incomprehensible until you are at that height and about to let gravity take its course. Even though you know it is pretty safe, there is still a chance, a small one, that your last moment could be coming up shortly.  But you put that on the back burner and do what you have to.  I was trying to take in the whole experience as we got higher and higher.

Free Fall

Time is a human concept created to allow us to organize our activities. I know this is

No turning back!

true because once I jumped out of a plane, there was a minute or so of free falling. Just falling really fast somewhere between 120 and 160 mph.  In that minute, a thousand new experiences and thoughts came to me. Playing it back in my mind, there is no way that you can put the label of time on it.  I was being videoed during the fall so I thought I would be cool and calm while falling to the ground. Look at any of the pictures and that is far from what came out of me. Here is a short list of the sensations, thoughts, and feelings I remember. There was a feeling of joy and peace for the experience.   There was no fear -I felt uniquely happy, it is like being a kid again and doing something, without expectation or responsibility, just for the fun of it and that expression came out, uncontrollably.

I was laughing throughout the whole thing.  Nobody would know it because I was moving so fast but it was the laughter of the soul that doesn’t come out too often. As adults, we spend our time suppressing our emotions and not letting people know we are happy, sad, mad or anything.  In fact, we do this so well it becomes uncomfortable to see others express emotions. But in the free fall joy was the feeling

I couldn’t control my smile or my laughing

and expressing it was not only desirable but unstoppable.  -It is cold up there, it was 90 degrees on the ground, up there falling was cold, not freezing but comparatively cold.  I think I would compare it to a crisp day in November.  – When the emotions flow out of you uncontrollably you remember the good parts of emotions and the love of life that connects you to everybody and everything.  Then the cord is pulled and you jerk up and the fall is over. Was it a minute, an hour, or a day? Who is to say. It was in that moment where I had my only real moment of doubt, would the parachute open? It did and we were relaxed and floating.

Floating

The floating part was somewhere between 5-10 minutes as gravity did it’s slow work and pulled us toward the ground. My jump partner made small talk, “There is Lake Winnepesaki over there.”   and “The ocean is out that way!” But honestly I wasn’t listening, I was just trying to put it all into perspective and understand that I was still thousands of feet above the ground.  We worked our way down and I looked to find my significant other floating in the sky and she survived too. We worked our way to the ground and finally landed with a thump on my butt. It didn’t hurt and I was happy I had the experience and I didn’t get motion sickness or anything.

What I learned

First I learned that the change in temperature from the fall to the ground was significant and I started sweating a lot.  But more importantly, it has taken days for the experience to sink in. It still is a little bit. All of your worries of today really don’t mean anything more than your mind makes them. You can leave them behind free falling in the sky. I think my life did flash before my eyes and I know I am happy about some of it and not as happy about other parts. There are things I am afraid to do and that really seemed silly in the circumstances.  Who cares what others think of you or your life choices. It is silly.

The long-standing refrain of thought that has been guiding me, took even more significance. I have less time before me than behind me, make the most of it and experience all the things you want to.  Spend time with the people you want, do the things you want to do and make choices based on how your heart thinks.  Absolutely reject the judgment of others it is only giving away your power.

Would I do it again? Yes probably, but not today or tomorrow. There are other mountains to climb and experiences to have, but I will carry this experience with me always.

Life

My Notes on The Four Agreements

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The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a book I read years ago, and I just came across my reading notes. I thought they were worth sharing. Each of us has to agree with the truth of a thought before it can affect us. Once we do accept, that thought will affect our lives positively or negatively until you choose to change it.  The book talks about fear and how fear dictates what we do, and what parts of ourselves we show to others.  The four agreements are the ones we should seek to create in our minds. Interesting thoughts.

Agreement #1 Be Impeccable with Your Word

Your words contain magic in them and the power to make your life like heaven or like hell. The magic that you wield through your words is either light or dark- a blessing or cursing yourself and others. Too many of our bad agreements about life were planted by the callousness of the words of others. And even sometimes our own.  We are all connected as one.

Agreement #2 Don’t Take Anything Personally-

All the people are living in our dream. You are but a bit part in another person’s vision. Most of what people say and do is because of their lives, NOT due to you, your value, or behavior. The best action is to stay away from the insult or adverse response. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.

Agreement #3  Don’t Make Assumptions-

 

All assumptions are fantasies made in your mind about the behavior of others. See yourself reflected in the faces of others. Deal with the facts using the pure nature of your words and that of others. Truth is desired; fiction can be left behind.

 

Agreement #4

– Always Do Your Best

A simple thought can change your life negatively or positively. In each activity, each day, in every moment, simply trying to do your best is all anyone can do. If you continually strive to accomplish your highest achievement: you will embody your best to all.

Other Key Thoughts from Notes:

 

-Be who you are NO matter what someone says about you, or whatever they do, don’t take their words personally, and it doesn’t hurt anymore.  You will no longer be afraid to love, to share, or to open your heart.  NO ONE ELSE IS LIKE YOU!!

-Most people are emotionally wound

ed and sick with fear. All people carry wounds in their minds, which are open and hurting. They make us afraid to be who we are.

-Shyness is a fear of expressing yourself, and you may believe you don’t know how to sing or how to dance, but this is just repression of the healthy human instinct to express love.

-We are born into this society, grow up in it, and we are condemned to be like everyone else in it. Playing nonsense all the time.

-Fear leads to injustice- we become full of emotional poison, which eventually we have to release in some manner. Telling someone how bad they are or about all of their perceived flaws. These actions allow the poison to move from one person to another.

-Love is not about concepts: Love is about action.  To practice love is the only way to master it.

-Bad, complicated, unhealthy relationships are based on fear, drama, and the war for control.  The battle for control = no respect and selfishness, not love. “I have to control you because I don’t respect you. I have to be responsible for you because whatever happens to you is going to hurt, and I want to avoid pain.

-Team players play together but not against each other, and you are playing because you want to have fun.

-Track of love- you are giving more than you are taking. You love yourself enough not to allow selfish people take advantage of you.

  • Everyone dreams of their dream. You can control your half but nothing else. Or partner in a relationship is responsible for their half.
  • Know what love is and what is fear: you become aware of how you communicate your dream. The choices you make in each moment determines the quality of your communication. Just by catching the awareness of the track of fear, you can change it. Merely changing your attention can change your world.
  • Love and happiness come out of you. There is no dependence on anyone else for feeling this way.

This book allowed me to look at my dream and how I was not myself in some ways. Following the four agreements can give you freedom. Just the fact that most people are not treating you a certain way because of you, but because of them has been great for my personal growth. It is being a better communicator to other people, not assuming and asking questions and being impeccable with my word and honest with all, and doing my best. The level of my best can change from day today, but I try to give it all, whatever that tends to be on that day.  I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking personal growth and understanding.

Quotes from the Four Agreements

“To be alive is the biggest fear humans have. Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we are. Just being ourselves is the biggest fear of humans.”

“We don’t see the truth because we are blind. What blinds us are all those false beliefs we have in our mind. We have the need to be right and to make others wrong. We trust what we believe, and our beliefs set us up for suffering. It as if we live in the middle of a fog that doesn’t let us see any further than our own nose. We live in a fog that is not even real. This fog is a dream, your personal dream of life — what you believe, all the concepts you have about who your are, all the agreements you have made with others, with yourself, and even with God.”

“Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves. All people live in their own dream, in their on mind; they are in a completely different world from the one we live in.”1

“The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth.”

“All the sadness and drama you have lived in your life was rooted in making assumptions and taking things personally.”

 

Life, Philosophy

Autumn’s Song

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Fall really has it all, bright colors over a melancholy heart.
Fall really has it all, bright colors over a melancholy heart.

There are few things that make me feel as great inside and out as the autumn of the year. Living in a legitimate four seasons area, a person is fortunate to see all of the positives and negatives that each time of year provides.  Each has a list of positives and negatives but the one that makes me happiest is fall.

The nostalgia that naturally appears this time of year is so strong and vibrant that you not only think of those times in the past but you can feel them. The weather is cool, but not cold. It is the perfect weather for being outdoors and being outdoors connects you to activities in the past.  Just closing your eyes and feeling the breeze on your face and smelling the air connects you to those times in your past when the

What more do you need?
What more do you need?

same unique and powerful sensation washed over you. It could have been at a football game, a hunting trip, or even a  through an autumnal sea of pumpkins. Whatever activity of fall entertained you in your past, it is back in your mind each and every time the autumnal equinox passes and the days get shorter.

For me there is a unique melancholy in the air that is universally enjoyed by all during this time of year. Each emotion needs to have a season and fall is the season of feeling a bit sad.  I don’t think it is so much a season of endings, but more a season of letting go and moving forward.

Help yourself to a pumpkin. It's fall!
Help yourself to a pumpkin. It’s fall!

The autumn air tempers the pain of some endings and allows for a person to deal with them in unison with the season. No matter how painful something was and the hurt that you feel, fall reminds us all that endings of all kinds are the way of things in life. Each glorious summer will end and all of its possibilities and joyous memories no longer exist in the cool, crisp fall air. They are gone and need to be put away as happy memories.

Yet there is a hope that fall brings in its melancholy. There is an understanding that although one season has ended and another year is approaching and in its ending we are allowed to close the book on it.  Good, bad, indifferent, we are allowed to leave that year behind us and to move forward to new adventures where anything is possible, and another summer of fun awaits us, if we just have a little patience.

Autumn is the natural time of reflection that nature brings to us and allows a time of appreciation and enjoyment. Without endings, there are no new beginnings and fall allows you to remember the past, and the pleasurable experiences of your younger days and allows the ability to carry them into the future and to share these moments with the ones you care about.

As the leaves change color,  contribute a bright message to the world and ultimately fall to their inevitable end, so will autumn and with it a small piece of you knows exactly what that feels like.

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Gratitude

What a Year

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I learned people from Croatia are not good at hide and go seek
I learned people from Croatia are not good at hide and go seek

This is the end of the Super Gratitude Project on my website, it has been 31 days of nonstop gratitude.  I have looked for things to be grateful about and fortunately it hasn’t been all that hard.  For the final day I decided to express my gratitude for the entire year and all of the people I met. They changed my life!

Not the experience I expected

I learned people from Ireland drink and swear a lot!
I learned people from Ireland drink and swear a lot!

If you had told me a year ago that much of the following year would be spent helping to organize and promote a summer camp, I would have thought you were on drugs or crazy or both.  Yet here I am after a summer of learning at the Maine Golf and Tennis Academy.  Here is what I am grateful for in this experience.

First for the wide range of experiences I was able to have, from hiring people and crafting a staff I hoped would be great, to seeing that staff come into existence and watching them grow, struggle and ultimately succeed by any form of measurement.  There were also other organizational tasks I did not like.  There was a required meeting every morning at 7:15.  I am grateful I will never have to attend one again.   But overall the experience in helping to run the camp was a great learning experience.

I learned people from England, don't work well with rodents of any sort.
I learned people from England, don’t work well with rodents of any sort.

The most important thing I am grateful for though, it all of the great people that have entered my life this year.  I have become friends with people from England, Australia, Ireland, and even Hungary.  It was a true blessing to work with and build relationships with such great people.  Each has contributed to my understanding of life and other people and for that I am truly grateful.  Even though they are all gone home now, back to work, college and their “normal” lives, I think of them often.  I think many would be surprised of the impact they had on me, even if they were there for a short time.

 

Future is so Bright

I also met the next Tiger Woods. His name is Alejandro and this image is going to be something ten years from now!
I also met the next Tiger Woods. His name is Alejandro and this image is going to be something ten years from now!

I have to be grateful for this year because of what it has given me for the future.  I have developed an almost wanderlust to travel to different places in the country and across the world.  One of my friends at camp told me that I should, move to Germany and live there for a year.  Even though I don’t think I am ready for that yet, I now see it as an actual possibility in my life.  I owe this new vision of what life can be to all of the people I met this year.  I can only hope that the next year is filled with as many interesting characters.

I am truly blessed with friendship and experience and am grateful for it.

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Gratitude

Family First

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quotes-and-images-family-love-family-quotes-24132It is Day 30 of the Super Gratitude Challenge which means, only one more day to go.  Today I am going write about how grateful I am for the experience of having a great family.  Not everything in my life was perfect but there are a lot of things to be grateful for and I want to share just a few.

My Grandparents

I was fortunate to have a relationship with all of my grandparents, which was unique and I treasure.  I also had the great good fortune of knowing all but one of my great grandparents as  well.  This extended family connection allowed me to be spoiled and feel like I was the center of a lot of people’s lives.

This picture, four generations of Hilton's, taken in early 1970's. My father, grandfather and great grandfather in the back. My brothers and myself in the front. Guess which one is me.
This picture, four generations of Hilton’s, taken in early 1970’s. My father, grandfather and great grandfather in the back. My brothers and myself in the front. Guess which one is me.

There were so many things that I was taught by these people, from how to behave myself and be polite when company came to the value of honesty and doing what you say.   The greatest gift that each of them gave me in a different way was to tell me that to them, I was special and had the potential to do about anything.  One by one, they passed away over the years and are all gone now, but their lessons live on in my heart and will for my life.

The Parents

Like most people in adulthood, we look at our parents with a knowing understanding.  They were never going to be perfect, and Jimjoannejeffjonmy parents weren’t.  But they did give me a safe and happy childhood. I was never abused, or neglected and felt again like my life mattered significantly to them.  It still does today.

My father was a school teacher and coach and shared a love of sports with me and my siblings that still exists today.  It is a way that we can relate to each other.   My mother is a minister and she is still preaching every Sunday.  Even though I don’t agree with her religious beliefs, she doesn’t push them on me.  She is a thinker and writes and well, so do I.  I got great gifts from each of them.

Sibling Appreciation

Well these people are the ones who have shared the common experience of JonathanJeffreyswinggrowing up.  There aren’t many people who really know what that means, but they each do.

All relationships are formed over a common experience, school, work, a hobby or your family life and siblings are the ones who really know who you are.  I am grateful for  the experiences of childhood, even though they involved a lot of arguing and many disagreements, there were a lot of shared moments of special times that even today are fondly remembered.  I was one of four and that in itself made me part of a unique group.  All of my family have first names that begin with the letter J.

So there it is, on Day 30 of this gratitude challenge I am thankful for all of my family members, those who have passed on and those that are still around.

;

Gratitude

Thank You Great Story Tellers

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ithinkthereforeiblog I have been fortunate enough to fall into this strange little world and it has truly been a wonderful rabbit hole experience. There are thousands of people out there writing their thoughts, hoping to connect with others in a more meaningful way. These connections have helped me become a more comprehensive thinker and a more dynamic writer.  There is no questioning that this experience has helped form my personal growth.

No Idea What I am Doing

It was several years ago that I first realized that there was a community of people who spent their time writing and diligently posting on their blogs each day. Providing know how thoughts and even motivation to the general population at large.  I remember feeling like Alice in Wonderland, stepping into a new world I didn’t know existed.   I had written on my website for a time, but really just did it for me, to express my feelings and thoughts.  Who else would want to hear them?  It must have been time to share.

The First Blogger got me Hooked

I had stumbled into this world because I installed Zemanta onto my site.  It’s a program that makes adding articles from other people to the end of your blog easy.  I actually got a note from one Raraof the people I had pinged back.  When I looked at their site, there was a green little dinosaur gravatar I couldn’t help clicking on.  It was called Rarasaur and it was one of the best blogs I ever saw.  It was there I left my first tentative comment and was blown away that I got a thoughtful response.  It was awesome and started me searching deeper into the world of blogs.

Mysteries Abound

One of my most naive thoughts was the everyone who blogged seemed to have developed interesting monikers and identities that symbolized who they were and what they meant.  It was too late for me at that point, I had already built my site years before. My name was no mystery, and I often wondered if I should start over with a secret identity.  I often wonder about the lives of the bloggers I read.  Do they have problems like me? How often does writer’s block affect them?  What are they grateful for? What motivates them?

Bloggers I Love to Read

There really are so many that to make a list would short change somebody but I am going to list five excluding Rara because she clearly is a favorite and should be read.  Many of these people I first read because they guest posted on her blog.

Mr. Tookles

This blogger from Holland is one of my favorite people in the world. She is a fantastic word artist and says more using fewer words than I could imagine possible.  We share a love of bacon and have a mutual hope that life is going to show us what we are supposed to do.  Don’t mess with her though, because she will hit you on the head with a frying pan. (her threat) Seriously, funny, intelligent and so very creative, she is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world.  Follow her and see what amazing things she creates.

matticus_Matticus-

He writes on his blog each day like it is a mission. I am often in awe of the number of posts he makes and the quality. He loves movies and movie dialogue and each Friday he leaves a post about it.  He has a great sense of humor, but his best quality to me is the friendship and feedback he has shared with me on my work.  He is a relatively new Dad, and with a young family I wonder how he finds the time, but I am glad he does.   Reading his blog is a trip to an enchanted land, I encourage you to make the trip.

sass_and_balderdashSass and Balderdash

Written by the witty, sarcastic and sometimes inappropriate Katie, this website has never met a topic it wouldn’t address.  Katie is funny and makes me laugh and usually think. I think she writes more to women than men, but I have honestly learned more about how women think about everything from shoes to working out in the gym.  This blog is one that I try to read every day because it is worth it, if you like intelligent, witty observations about life then this is the blog for you. Katie is awesome even though she lives in Chicago, which is known for…………wind.

camel_lifeThe Camel Life

This is a relatively new blog on my must-read list but Breezy K who writes this blog has won me over recently by writing on a regular basis and talking about her “dynamic” life in Canada.  She writes with a lot of funny images, but deep down her topics are interesting and even though she is from Nova Scotia, I think that it is very close to my experience in living in Maine.  She is funny, insightful and definitely doesn’t take herself very seriously.  The reason I feel this is a must read blog, is that it just entertains me. From the “witty” way she plays on words, to the perspective of diet and exercise. I always learn something and most often laugh as well.

tranquil_dreamsTranquil Dreams

This is kind of unfair because Kim who writes this blog is one of my favorite people.  She visited Maine this summer and I met her and her boyfriend and we had a lovely time.  Her blog is a combination of reviews, recipes, and thoughts but what wins me over is that Kim has always been so nice and supportive of me.  She leaves positive and supportive comments, and I like that.   This blog is well worth checking out and reading.

There are of course many other blogs and bloggers I love to read and learn from each and every day. I am certainly grateful to experience all that you do each day! Thank you for being so wonderful.

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  • Gratitude
Gratitude

That’s Where I Come From

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Today I am expressing my gratitude for Growing up in Greenville, Maine.  There have been few influences on my life greater than this.  The foundation of who I am today was built on the streets, in the school, in my home and with the people I shared the experience with.

S

Winter is a long season in Greenville, it makes you tough. and you really like spring! the Katahdin is a iconic boat that cruises Moosehead Lake, and of course an image of Mt. Kineo. All images of home.
Winter is a long season in Greenville, it makes you tough and you really like spring! the Katahdin is an iconic boat that cruises Moosehead Lake, and of course an image of Mt. Kineo. All images of my youth and this wonderful place.

Small Town To Say the Least, Greenville, Maine

Greenville was and is a very small town, but it was the only town I knew as home as a child. There are two sides of the coin when you

My brother and I actually playing outside. That is what it looks like.
My brother and I actually playing outside. That is what it looks like.

live in a small town.  On one side people are supportive of you in all that you do.  On the other side, it is difficult to live your life without having everyone know your business.

That is the fate of a small town, for me, those issues were never a factor because I loved living there and growing up with the people I grew up with.  A small town gave me the foundation to think, create and write.  In  many ways, I have never felt as much like myself as when I was there.

Friends Forever

It is an odd thing about friendship that it often flows in and out of your life like the tides in the sea.  The shared experience that you

The Indian Store, a non- PC name for a non-PC town. But a one of a kind shopping experience.
The Indian Store, a non- PC name for a non-PC town. But a one of a kind shopping experience.

build your friendship around often determines the length of the friendship.  Believe it or not, the people that I went to elementary school with in Greenville, Maine are still some of the dearest friends I have.

There was something about working our way through the growth of our youth that allowed us to bond.  With very few exceptions, today when I see someone from that era, we can talk and carry on in a fashion like no time has passed.   I believe this is true because we knew each other before life taught us hard lessons, and gave us difficult things to deal with.  At the core of each of us is that person we were when we were young.  I think I look at those friends with the eyes of understanding, that I know who they are, and they know me.  There is no judgment on choices we have made, or what we have become, it is what each of us was that I remember.

When I hear from one of these people on Facebook, or should I see them in person, I am transported back to a time in the 1970’s before cell phones, computers, and video games, when we actually played outside, every day.  These were my brothers and sisters and still are today.  That is an experience I am extremely grateful for.

The Town Itself

If I took you on a tour of 1970’s Greenville, we would walk the mile

It was not a rare occurance to see a moose, a bear or any other Maine wildlife. It was a small town in the middle of nowhere!
It was not a rare occurrence to see a moose, a bear or any other Maine wildlife. It was a small town in the middle of nowhere!

from the school to my house in the Junction, and on the way there, most every car that passed we would recognize.  It seemed like I knew everyone.  We would walk to Breton’s store which is still there today and buy the candy treat of our choice with the quarter I had squirreled away for just such an occasion.  My parents never worried that I would be harmed or abducted. They told me to never talk to strangers and in Greenville, it was easy not to do, I knew everyone even as a kid.

If we went into the downtown area, there were a number of old haunts which still exist today at least enough to let you meet the ghost of my memories. It doesn’t matter if I went to Jamison’s Store or to Harris Drug Store, I always seemed to get what I was looking for.   I was always with a friend or my brother and we were always on the go, heading to a pickup game of some sort.

Moving, The End of That Life

As I was finishing the 7th grade, I found out my family was moving. I didn’t tell anyone because I  think I felt if I just ignored it then the move would never take place.  I did not want to move.  I loved my friends and my life there.  After moving I picked up the pieces of my shattered reality and moved forward, but in my heart, I will always carry that place, the people, and our experiences there in Greenville, Maine.  I am grateful for them all!

Gratitude

Music Makes It Better

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My Top Ten Music Countdown
My Top Ten Music Countdown

Day 11 of my special gratitude project has me thinking of music.  Music plays such a big part in most peoples lives, it is no different to me.  The music sets the mood and can latch on to a memory and allow you to be transported to a particular place and time simply by hearing the notes.  I almost always put a song at the end of every post, not because they need it, but it makes it better to read if you listen to the song as you read.  Try it.

My favorite songs change each and every week depending on the randomness of what is happening in life.  Since I am feeling particularly grateful for music I will give you my top ten songs of the week.  They are random and not specific to genre.  A song can be number 1 one week and gone from the countdown the next.  Enjoy!! Be grateful.

(Click the title to SEE THE VIDEO)

  1. Wake Me Up- Avici-  This song just hits me right in the heart.  The message of looking for yourself, resonates.  Give it a listen and you will feel better!! Go ahead. Click it baby!
  2. Chillin’ It- Cole Swindell-  Any song that reminds me of my young self I can’t get enough of.  I am a country boy, I was raised in Maine, I had no choice.  This song reminds no music no lifeme of those those days a long time ago, spending time with that special someone, rollin’ with the music.
  3. A Message- Cold Play-  This song caught my mind this week and hasn’t let go.  I think we are all continually sending messages.  Some overtly like blog writing, and many more subtle ones.  I think we all want our message to be received and understood.  Get the message?  My song is love, is love unknown and I’ve got to get that message home!
  4. Radio- Darius Rucker- Not only am I a huge Darius fan, and have been for many years, this song, is one that again takes me back to my youth.  Really all we needed was a car with a radio to make us feel really cool.  It is great to feel cool. Even when you know you are not.  Go ahead go riding down that highway.
  5. Ships In The Night- Matt Kierney–  Aren’t we all just ships in the night, that pass without knowing anything about each other.  It is a waste of time to not connect, especially with someone you could be great friends with.  Don’t be a ship in the night.  Good song.
  6. Over You – Daughtry- This is an older song that I have been able to relate to lately. I never saw it coming, should have started running a long, long time ago, and I never thought I’d doubt you or be better off without you, more than you, more than you, more than you know!!   Give it a listen if you are trying to forget someone. It helps.
  7. Mine Would Be You- Blake Shelton-  Because we all have, guilty pleasures, and those that know us better than anyone else, and we don’t often say it when we have the chance. My finest hour, my wildest dream come true, mine would be you!

misic is safe8. Here I Stand- Sonny Rey–  I heard this song on an episode of touch, which is about how we are all connected.  I believe that for better or worse this is true and this song captures the essence of my feelings.  Here I am, I am just a man, here I stand.  I’m doing everything I can to show the world who I am.  Here I stand.

  1. A Drop in the Ocean- Ron Pope-  You never know why a song attaches to your mind, but this one grabbed mine probably because………it’s a drop in the ocean, a change in the weather. I was hopin’ that you and I would end up together!!  Whatever the reason, have a listen and be careful it will get in your head.
  • Sweet Annie- Zac Browne Band-  This is a beautiful song, that makes you want to know someone named Annie.  But haven’t we all known someone who makes us feel like this? Here’s to all the sweet, pretty, kind, beautiful women I have ever met.

    • There it is, take a listen and I hope you are as grateful for the music in your life as I am.

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    Gratitude

    Friendship Thing

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    grateful for friendship
    I have known this guy for over forty years and he still makes me laugh by ignoring signs and being funny. (he is trespassing)

    It should not be difficult to look at one’s friends and to feel an overwhelming gratitude.  For me, that is certainly the case.  Friendship isn’t a relationship that you can buy or force anyone to participate in, it is a connection over a shared experience that binds you to that other person in a positive way.   I think that the right positive friendships in life can enhance your life.  At this point, I have come to realize that all friends are not created equal, but all friendships are a valuable thing, and here are my thoughts on why.

    Laughter is the Best Medicine

    Life is too short to go without laughter, and a good friend can usually bring about a laughing fit about almost anything.  It doesn’t matter how long you have been friends, looking at life in a humorous way is going to allow your friendship to grow.   I have always been drawn toward the people who can snicker at the day to day events we are faced with.  If you can’t laugh about it then you are probably going to be spending a lot of time crying.  Think about your friends and how many have been centered around laughter.  I am having a hard time thinking of one person that I have enjoyed spending time with that didn’t involve laughter and joking of some kind.   I am sure it is possible to be friends if you don’t laugh but it would seem to me a much more dour prospect.

    Think about your friends and how many have been centered around laughter.  I am having a hard time thinking of one person that I have enjoyed spending time with that didn’t involve laughter and joking of some kind.   I am sure it is possible to be friends if you don’t laugh but it would seem to me a much more dour prospect.

    Old Friends, Always Friends

    grateful for friends
    All friends are valuable and don’t need to be labeled.

    I was blessed to grow up in a small town in Maine, where I went to school with the same group of kids until the seventh grade.  The neat thing about these people, is that now almost forty years later when I run into one of these people, the time that has passed does not matter at all.

    With some, it is as if no time has passed at all, the conversation is a bit different but the relationship is still the same as it was back in the old days.  The shared experience of growing up like that apparently builds a bond that isn’t easily broken or forgotten.

     I am grateful for these relationships because no matter what is happening in my life, those people know who you are and always accept you the way you are.  I am grateful for these connections.

    Some Come and Go and That is OK

    In life, I think friendship is often like the tide, inevitably moving in and out.  It has become a belief of mine, that people enter your life for a reason, most often to teach you something.  Friendship is no different.

    Maybe it is how to do something or how you look at things, but the more you allow people into your lives the greater your personal growth is.  Unfortunately once the lesson is learned, these people often move out of your life.

    This is OK because you will have to grow, be open to new experiences and new lessons that friends yet unmet will teach you.  The value of the old friends is not lessened by the fact that you have to move on for now.  You can keep in touch and when you see each other later in life, you will always have that shared experience.

    Since new friends are a great path to growth, you always have to be willing to greet and make new friends, which can be difficult.   My advice is to take them wherever you can get them from.  I have learned much more from the friends I have made over the past year than they could ever imagine.

    Toxic Friends

    Not everything in friendship is a bowl of cherries.  Sometimes, there are people you are drawn to who initially are great, but after awhile you realize that all they do is talk about other people in a derogatory manner.   Sometimes it is as blatant as making a comment as soon as someone is out of earshot.

    If they are doing this, what do they say when you are out of earshot?   Probably nothing good.  I am grateful that I haven’t had to deal with too many of these, but the ones I did have to deal with, taught me a lot.

    I think there are only two choices here, change the dynamic of the friendship or move away from it.  The people that you choose to spend your time with will not only define you to the world but will impact how you feel and how you react in it.

    Changing the dynamic is nearly impossible but give it a try.  When something negative is said about somebody, immediately say something nice about them.  I have done this twice and in both cases, the person found reasons not to discuss other people with me again.    Life is too short for negative thoughts and feelings, I am grateful to keep most negativity out of my life.

    Thank You Friends

    Friendship is one of the most important factors that makes this human experience worthwhile.  There is something about sharing, thoughts, ideas, laughs or good times that is bonding to all of us.   The educational experience, the work experience, the life experience, all of them are grounds for bonding through friendship and through friendship we are able to grow exponentially further than we could by ourselves.  Isn’t that the basis for blogging?  Putting your ideas out there and seeing if there are like minded people who can appreciate what you are thinking, feeling or doing?

    Personally I am grateful for all of the friends that have entered my life, either for a season or a lifetime and I look forward to meeting those that come into my life in the future.  Friends are the measuring stick of Your reality.

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    Gratitude

    Found My Voice

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    my computer for expression
    My computer allowed my voice to be heard. In much of my adult life, there was a voice inside of me that had no expression.  There were thoughts that were forced to lay dormant and unexpressed, feeling no life except for the minuscule moments that thought sparked a light on them, only to see them cast back into the darkness from which they so hopefully emerged.

    My voice, for whatever reason, could not speak these thoughts or express the feelings I felt, for many years this was the way it was, until one day, I found that I had a voice.  This voice was not an uttered word, but a written one.

    What an amazing liberation that was, to free these observations inside of me, about people, places, life, religion, hope, fear and everything else in between.

    I have been grateful to relay my observations about other people and in doing so, observations about myself that needed to be expressed, needed to be shared, even if nobody ever read them, by offering them to the world on their own merit, at least they took a form outside of myself.

    Many times I hbeing yourself expressing the truthave wondered what this sharing would lead to?  Anything? Are there others who think like me?  This voice of expression is honest and from the heart and it is truly me.  It feels sometimes when I write something about gratitude or feelings I feel free, totally free from all of the expectations and restraints of life and of others.

    It should be easy to leave these behind, the negative voices in your head, to follow the true voice inside your heart.  Writing has allowed me to see this voice, hopefully someday soon

    find your voice, gratitude
    Have you found your voice?

    it will help me to trust it.   As each day comes, I feel so much hope in my heart that this will be the day that magic happens for me.  Yet that is determined by me.

    I am grateful for the ability to write and express what I feel inside myself.  Each small step to understanding life, or other people or the Universe and how we all work together is amazing and my vehicle for this exploration is my voice and that voice is to write what is inside my heart.

    Being yourself is the scariest thing you can be because there is no facade to hide behind, the world can see you and judge you and that can be difficult.  Yet it is only in being ourselves that our true talents can show, I am grateful to at least be on the path to this truth.

     

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