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!
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.
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 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.
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
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.
My freshman year of college on the b-ball team. Didn’t have a clue.
Hey Young Jonathan, it is time to put the toys away. Put down the beer bottle and pay attention, I have to send you a message that will change your life. It will make you more successful, happier and in the end me.
This is a post I have often seen and wanted to do. I have been endowed with the incredible talent to send this back in time to myself at 18 years old, I can only tell myself five things or it would be a book, not a blog. I have gone a lot of miles in the last 29 years and I should have a lot of good advice for me. You can be the judge of the value, I can only provide what I have.
YOU ARE SMART
Hey Jonathan, for much of the last five years or so, people have been telling you that you are not that intelligent. And the worst part is that you believe them. People are making judgments about you because you had a hard time with the system.
Homework is not your thing, and yes you could have tried harder, but I know that most of that time you were a walking ball of hormones and being in school was just a social occasion for you. It didn’t mark your intelligence, that is inside you. Start to believe in this now, college gets easier for you and by the time you are an adult, you realize how easy learning is, particularly when it is on your terms and about things you like. You are smart, you have always known it, don’t hide who you are because it is easy!
Be Yourself
Much of your life is going to be spent worrying about what others think for some reason. It is a silly waste of time, because you will only be happy, really happy when you accept who you are and do what makes you happy.
You like to write and create, but for much of your life you will be scared to be creative. Fear is just a thought Jonathan and you need to face the world with the love that is in your heart. Be accepting of others and they will be accepting of you. BE Yourself, because the one thing I have learned, that I am absolutely sure of is that the person that you are is OK.
Understand Friendship
Friendship is a crazy thing. Understand that all friendships are formed around a shared experience with someone else. Do not hesitate to open the door to more shared experiences and more friends. Don’t judge others too harshly because you will notice that you can only criticize in others, what you know is inside yourself. Rather than judge, open your heart and accept all people as friends when you have the chance.
Understanding the nature of friendship is to realize that people will come into and fall out of your life. Some may enter again later and some you may never see again. When the shared experience that makes you friends is gone, most often so are the friends. Work is a shared experience, a hobby is a shared experience and life can be. Don’t expect too much of a friendship, because in many cases they will let you down.
But understand that when your eyes are open, there are new friends and experiences coming down the road. Most often they are going to teach you just what you need to know, and help you survive the shared experience you are having right now. Follow your nature Jonathan, make more friends, and let them move in and out of your life without judgment or expectation.
It isn’t All About YOU
Jonathan, there is one aspect of your life that I want you to change, and that is to be less selfish. You put yourself first in too many situations and that is no way to live. As you only worry about yourself and what you have. The focus of your life is your existence and eventually the only thing in your life will be you.
One of the secrets of life I have learned is that the more you give, the more you get. It is a simple thing, but when you are acting self-centered you can’t see it. Give to others freely and without expectation of reward and…………………..you are rewarded. Life has quite a sense of humor. This is true in relationships, jobs, money and every aspect of life. Giving always allows you to receive.
Read more, Open Your Mind
It will take a long time for you to really start to grasp how the world works Jonathan. I have run across people who are in their 20’s and have their shit together, so I know it is possible. Read some books and pay attention to the ideas they share.
Read “The Game of Life and How to Play It” by Florence Scovel Shinn and really think about it. Understand that each thought that you have in your head matters. Those you entertain really matter and will affect your experience in life. You have the ability to decide which thoughts are entertained in your mind, and your thoughts will dictate how you act in life, treat other people and what comes into your life.
This is important. More important than playing golf, more important than the time you waste doing nothing, and certainly more important than any of the television you watch. Once you read this book, follow the progression and read what seems natural, my suggestion is Believe in Yourself by Joseph Murphy. As you read, your mind will expand, and we can start making good decisions earlier on in life. Then as I write this I will be president or at least I will be rich. You can’t be stopped once the light of intellect is sparked and you look at the world with an open heart and mind.
So there it is, a long message to myself. If I knew myself from the past, you will stop reading after the first paragraph. But don’t worry I included plenty of pictures so you will be entertained. Like most people, I don’t really want you to change a thing, because I think we have ended up in a good place and the future is wide open.
This world of blogging is a strange world indeed. You read blogs, leave comments and begin to feel like you actually know the people you are talking with. Yesterday I had the great
Kim (left) of Tranquil Dreams visited the Life of Jonathan the other day. It was awesome.
fortune of actually meeting one of my blog friends in person and to make them an actual friend.
If you have never read Tranquil Dreams then you don’t know Kim. She writes eloquently about food, books and especially movie reviews. I enjoy reading her work and what I like best is that she always has a friendly and encouraging comment to share with you when you visit her blog.
Kim told me she was coming to Maine awhile ago, and I was hoping that we could meet in person when she was here. We were able to work out the details and I was able to spend some time with Kim and her awesome boyfriend Eric. They were kind enough to humor me and listen to my stories about camp and life.
For me it was a thrill, and if Montreal is full of people like Eric and Kim, I definitely have to visit there.
I hope anybody who is coming to the area, gets in touch with me to arrange a meeting, it was amazing to meet your blog friends in person. Also in the picture, Kim makes me look really tall.
Poetry is not something that I have never written much of. One of the great blogs I read, shared a sonnet on Thursday. I am taking the opportunity to write one myself, because I never have and it should be a unique experience. It was an interesting : first I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed rhyming. Secondly I apparently have some unresolved issues inside. I think they are resolving.
I Remember You
by Jonathan Hilton
Oh, yes I remember you,
As a deep dark mystery I sought to reveal.
I never found or discovered, what was due,
The truth about you, hurts too much to feel.
We used to talk and be together every day,
Laughing and sharing each special time.
Now you have left, and moved along your way,
The emptiness inside alone is mine
Where is the justice? Where is the Peace?
I destroy all the selfish evidence of us.
There is a thought that this will bring a release,
Nothing worked, nothings fixed, It wasn’t worth the fuss.
The dusty, empty room is inside of me,
It is as vast and as deep as the mightiest Sea.
So what did you think of my first poem? I know, but it is the first try.
Here are a couple I remember you songs to help set the mood.
Skid Row: I Remember You
Someone Like You
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Sonnet X:
