A Few Things I Should Know.

Poppy Abstract.

I am always in a great rush. I have been all of my life a person who burns energy like it was going out of fashion. I was giving this some thought this morning as I began to prepare myself for a week of running in the mountains. I love these days but I am also conscious of the fact of the raised level of danger from the normal daily running I do here at home.

I run in the mornings and walk in the afternoon/early evening then fall into bed exhausted to be ready for the next day.  I became very aware of this after reading the blog of Sherry, Conservatively Bohemian.  So I sat down and gave thought, here is the bones of my time of thinking, of what stops me being all I want to be and the artist I dream of being.

I think the first thing is this rushing and trying to fit things into something else I am doing. I plan a walk and set out. During the course of the walk I take out my watercolour box and do a painting, but all the time my mind is on the clock and the time I have yet to walk. The end result is a bad walk and a bad painting. I need to learn that when walking I am walking and when painting I am painting. I need to schedule if I want to do both.

Next. If we continue to repeat a story in our head, we eventually believe that story and embrace it – whether it empowers us or not.  So the question is: Does my story empower me?  Do I place my mistakes in my mind; where their weight may crush my current potential.  Instead, I must place them under my feet and use them as a platform to view the horizon.  I must remember, all things are difficult before they are easy.  What matters the most is what I am starting to do now.

I also need to stop  being  s hard on myself.  There are plenty of people willing to do that for me. I need to do my  best and surrender the rest.  Tell my self, “I am doing the best I can with what I have in this moment.  And that is all I can expect of anyone, including me.”  I need to be proud of everything that I do, even the  mistakes.  Because even mistakes mean I am trying.

Lastly; stop waiting for tomorrow; I will never get today back.  It doesn’t matter what I’ve done in the past.  It doesn’t matter how low or unworthy I feel right now.  The simple fact is that I am alive and that makes me worthy.  Life is too short for excuses.   I have to; Stop settling.  Stop procrastinating.  Start today by taking one courageous step forward.  If I am not sure exactly which way to go, it is always wise to follow my heart.

This blog is linked to my blog  Poppy Abstract

A Kindness Repaid

 My morning run does so much more for me that get me fit and help to lose the excess weight. It also allows me to recover the steps of my youth. As I tread the lanes and paths I remember the times I tread them as a youth and more importantly the people who were with me. Now I am not one to dwell in the past but I do find it rewarding to remember some of the events and the lessons learned.

Regular readers of this blog are aware that I spent a lot of my youth walking with my father. It seemed we walked for miles, in reality it was not so far. I can now cover what I thought was a long walk in a very short time once the trainers are on and the legs are moving.

Today I remembered an incident that has travelled with me for the rest of my life. A friend and I one day decided to go on a walk our two selves. We set off flowing in the footsteps of one of the walks done with my father. It seemed to take so much longer without him. Maybe because we stopped to do things he might not have allowed us to do. Soon we were out in the country. We came across a row of farm cottages. By this time we were feeling tired and thirsty so we knocked on the door and asked for a drink. The old lady invited us in and gave us a glass of fruit juice and a biscuit, a real treat. She also gently lectured us about being so far away from home without having told our parents. We promised her in future we would do just that, and we did as during the course of that summer we visited her often. We learned many things from her and how I wish I had been wise enough to tell her how good it was to have her as a friend.

This reminded me of another true but similar story.

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.

Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry and so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"

"You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness." He said, "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strengthened also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, he went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day, he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested from the business office to pass the final billing to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words:

"PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK....

(Signed)

Dr. Howard Kelly."

It is amazing how small little acts of kindness can imprint on the lives of people. I hope some day someone will remember me doing something that helped form good intentions in their lives. I would feel that my life had not been meaningless.

So day by day I look to see if I can do such small acts of kindness. Will you join me?

Such is the way of Tao.

This blog is linked to my other. Dog 4

I Am Angry With You But Never Mind.

I sure do not want to make him any angrier with me so he will remain nameless. He had come up to the village and left his wallet at home. He wanted to write me an IOU for the price of a pint of milk and a dram and half pint of ale.


I refused point blank to accept his IOU, instead I offered to purchase the pint of milk and then go with him while he had his whisky and his half pint of ale. I would then drive him home. We had spent a good time at our vegetable plots and the time together relaxing would be worth every penny. He reluctantly agreed. It was while I was driving him home his pride got the better of him and he said, “I am angry you would not accept my IOU.”

I told to stop fassing ( a good Scottish word) because as sure as sure there would come a day very soon when I would do the same. Age is catching up with me I told him I forget things all the time.

Friendship is the most wonderful thing we have and it has to be cherished. I have decided I will probably forget my wallet next week some time.

I will do this because of some of the things life has taught me over the years. Let me share just one or two of them with you.

I've Learned.

I’ve learned-

that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I’ve learned-

that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I’ve learned-

that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I’ve learned-

that it’s not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I’ve learned-

that you should never ruin an apology with an excuse.

I’ve learned-

that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I’ve learned-

that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I’ve learned-

that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I’ve learned-

that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I’ve learned-

that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

This is the way of Tao.

That is by far not an exhaustive list but I do not want to send you away weary.

I have also learned that you can meet the nicest people in the world of blogging and miss them when you do not hear from them.

This blog is linked to my other. The Litter Bin

Something to Consider

Having taught world religions and philosophy for so many years I have always been interested in how people seem attracted to the use of special numbers. Consider, seven occurs often, forty is frequently used to consider indeterminate time. Five is another figure that appears and sometimes in the form of two lots of five coming to ten. The Ten Commandments and then the Beatitudes. Islam has its, Five Pillars and Sikhism, has, The Five Ks.


None of these numbers are used accidentally, they are significant and so often have deeper and underlying messages.

I was reminded yesterday of two that I have used frequently throughout my life. Both have the number five. Forgive me if I am boring, and if I am please say. But I feel an urge today to share them with you. Maybe you might like In a quite moment to consider them and keep or discard.

The first is, Five Bad and Five Good. I like to ask myself to stop for a moment and list the five worst things about me. If they are still the same five things as the last time I did this exercise I have not progressed at all. Then I will attempt to list the five best things about me.

I always found that it was easier to say five bad than it was five good. I have had to work fairly hard at being able to do both.

The other five I would love to share with you I think you might have come across. The Five Balls of Life. They are, Work, Family, Health, Friends and Integrity. We all the time try to keep these balls in the air. What a difference it made to learn that the ball, Work, was a rubber ball. Drop it and it bounced back. The other four are made of glass and if dropped so easily become damaged or maybe even smashed.

Once we really understand that we can get balance into our lives and the Five Good Five Bad become so much more meaningful.

I have just read that all again and am tempted to change the blog so will not be at all surprised if the comments today start with an instruction to lighten up.

This Blog is linked to my other  Summer Days and Holidays