What does it take to ruin a  whole day? My answer to that is NOTHIN’!

I am grateful for my frame of mind.  I am grateful that I can frame my mind…yes, I put myself into the frame and picture it!  I live in the NOW, and always am trying to keep a ‘lookout’ on what I’m looking at, thinking about and trying to figure out.  I know I have an advantage because I am retired and nothing particularly dominates my wakeful hours – like an 8-hour job, let’s say.  BUT, I do recall when I did work for a living, and even then, the series of events that came and went in my day HAD TO TAKE THEIR RELATIVE PLACE FOR CONSIDERATION AND IT WAS I WHO HAD TO PRIORITIZE IT ALL.  In the mornings when the kids were younger, when I drove to work I would  be planning my day  and when driving home I was planning my dinner meal, and wondering if I had laundry to take care of.

Thinking back on this time of my life, I guess it would have been pretty difficult to be in the NOW…at least, it seems like it would have been. I was juggling so darn many balls – while one may have threatened falling to the ground another would flip in and become a part of the circus of my life.  I think all of us who had this kind of action were going with the flow and didn’t even know it…and by and large we all did a pretty good job of it too.

Actually, when I was that busy I guess I was living in the NOW because I had to “take it as it came’…deal with what I HAD to deal with, WHILE I picked up the kids from daycare, got their snowsuits on (wintertime, of course), piled them into the car, continued on to the house, facing the possible snow storm, slipping and sliding on the roadway, pulling into a snow-filled driveway, into the house,  snowsuits off, dinner started, eating done, bathwater run, in bed by 7:00, because we started the rat race all over again at 5:00 the next morning.   In those early years I had demanding jobs, and not to forget, had to get my drinking/wind-down time into this picture, eat later, and get myself into bed by 10:00.  Dishes, phone calls, and whatever socializing while I was overseeing the boys’ activities in the bathroom had to fit in somewhere too.  Also, if it was still snowing I had to get out and clear that driveway so I could leave the next morning…and not to forget, set the alarm earlier if I anticipated more snow had to be cleared before I could back out in the morning to begin the day all over again! As the kids grew school age, God Forbid there was a “School Day”…then I had to scamper to find someone to look after them so I could go to work!

WHEW!!  I HAVEN’T LOOKED BACK THIS FAR FOR A LONG TIME…IT WAS TIRING JUST TO WRITE ABOUT IT!!

Well, that was then, this is now, and I am grateful I somehow managed to get through the ‘series’…groundwork for today, I suppose.  Yet, thankfully, I’m more conscious of what is coming to me and how I will try to handle it…There is a moral to this story:  I am so glad I am trying to be more conscious to take myself off the wheel of haste, and keep too many cooks out of my ‘life kitchen’, and too much business of others which is not ‘my business’ away from me, and halt the  juggling of balls that don’t enhance my life in any way, and stop as much as I can the activity which keeps me from a modicum of peace and organization, and defers my enjoyment of what is really important!  I always want to be mindful to take optimum care of ME, what is my assumed responsibility, and to treasure my relationships of Love.  And, too, I want to always be mindful to give of what I have, especially if I perceive someone has a need…never to presume what I have is what they need.

NOW I try to hand over the reins to Life and keep uppermost in my mind how grateful I am for every thing that presents itself to me.  There truly is so much joy to be recognized – with humor…even delight…when I remember how minuscule my presence really is, and how all I’m really up to is trying to get through each second of my existence with this gratitude and observation of how everything is as unimportant as it is important.

I DON’T WANT TO BE EXHAUSTED when I go to bed these days at 8:00 at night…I want to feel like I’m ready to close my eyes after a long day of ‘doing my thing’, with an enthusiasm for what’s going to be around that corner of life tomorrow morning.  WELL, I’M AT IT AGAIN, CUZ’ THIS BLOG WAS STARTED AROUND 4:00 AM today!

GOOD MORNING!  WHAT’S COOKIN’?  Blessed Be All, and to All Be Blessed.