In my effort to get back to enjoying life, and not focus so much on the sadness of the past few weeks, what do I do? Join a bowling league! Mind you, I am not a very good bowler. I have not invested in the equipment, but I sure do love throwing a ball with all my might to knock down those pins. In my head, those pins have little faces on them, and knocking them down makes me happy. (Could that speak to a little psychosis? Violent tendencies even?) Nah.
It is interesting what one (me) will do for a little plastic trophy. It must cost all of $4 on the open market, but I want to add it to my shelf of one other. She stands 5 inches tall, all shiny and gold, with her little skirt in motion and in stellar bowling form. Frozen in time. Perfect. My name in black letters below her golden figure. Who wouldn't get excited about that? Okay...most people probably wouldn't. Particularly when your league plays from 9pm to midnight on Tuesdays and you have to get up for work the next morning. What can I say, I need something constructive to keep my boredom at bay.
Last night's game was not a good one. I could not find a good bowling ball and had to suffer (my team-mates along with me) with two hardly adequate pieces of equipment. But I was inspired because upon my arrival at the bowling alley, I was informed that the previous week, I was the #2 female bowler that night. (I can see that new trophy on my shelf right now)...
Despite my effort and inspiration, the gutter seemed intent on taking my bowling balls. When the gutter could not get to it, those pins were obviously conspiring against me. They literally were jumping out of the way of my bowling ball. It was a sight to see. After two and half hours of this taunting, it was all over. Amazingly, I did not do as poorly as I thought when compared with everyone else. So, for now, I can still dream of my new addition to my trophy shelf.
Maybe this time she will be bigger...
I wonder if I will have room for all of the others that will soon keep her company...
I wonder......
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Life Goes On
It is amazing to me how that happens.
Shouldn't everything stop, for at least one moment, to recognize the passing of a life? It stops for some, but for everyone else, they are still figuring out what to have for dinner, getting the kids to dance class and piano lessons, and heading to the gym before it is too late.
And that really is how it should be. It just does not seem right.
This year is proving to me that life, is indeed, not fair. Hundreds of thousands of people are wiped out from ocean waves, and yesterday a little boy and heartbroken husband, lost their mother and wife to cancer. 35 years old. Never smoked a day in her life. Diagnosed with cancer after being blessed with a baby. One year later, January 18th 2005...she died. I cannot imagine the emotional and physical pain this family is experiencing.
It leaves one helpless..but frantic to offer any help that they can. But what can you do?
Pray...be grateful...love those close to you.
So here is to my family...my friends... I love you!
Shouldn't everything stop, for at least one moment, to recognize the passing of a life? It stops for some, but for everyone else, they are still figuring out what to have for dinner, getting the kids to dance class and piano lessons, and heading to the gym before it is too late.
And that really is how it should be. It just does not seem right.
This year is proving to me that life, is indeed, not fair. Hundreds of thousands of people are wiped out from ocean waves, and yesterday a little boy and heartbroken husband, lost their mother and wife to cancer. 35 years old. Never smoked a day in her life. Diagnosed with cancer after being blessed with a baby. One year later, January 18th 2005...she died. I cannot imagine the emotional and physical pain this family is experiencing.
It leaves one helpless..but frantic to offer any help that they can. But what can you do?
Pray...be grateful...love those close to you.
So here is to my family...my friends... I love you!
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
One foot in front of the other
Twelve days into the new year, and it seems every corner of the globe has been touched by some natural or man-made disaster of some sort. Tidal waves, mudslides, earthquakes... Mother nature is pissed, and we better take notice. Or simply realize that this is the nature of the planet we inhabit, and we we are still learning how to co-exist in this relationship.
All relationships are bit like that anyway, wouldn't you say? You have days and weeks of bliss and happiness, with maybe a little tiff here and there of no real consequence. Then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, Bam! Big fight over who-knows-what. Words are spoken that you cannot retrieve, dishes and hearts are broken and you are left to figure out what the hell just happened and why? Can we fix it? Do we want to? Yes. To both. Most certainly.
Today at work I face a meeting that I would rather avoid.
Last year, around holiday time a member of our office was hit with traumatic news. Cancer. His wife. Who just had a little healthy baby. What? Of course, there was an outpouring of sympathy from those who have experienced such tragedy in their own lives and survived. and empathy from those who have been lucky enough to date to have not been touched by this particular disease. She is young, strong, healthy otherwise. she will be fine. One year later...she is not fine. Far from it...and the rollercoaster of emotions that co-workers have gone through make me wonder, how does a person handle a situation like this when it is happening to you? So today we get an update on her condition. And each day I pray for a miracle for them. And for everyone who faces a situation like this. For my girlfriend whose husband was diagnosed last year and I just found out. For my favorite Aunt who has suffered a series of strokes that have left her confined to her bed. For the cashier I met in the drugstore who is recovering from breast cancer..still wearing her draining tubes while she works because she needs the money and distraction. For.......
So I guess you deal with these things like everything else. Keep going..keep doing what you can do. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.
It makes me grateful. Very grateful to have my health. I hope you are grateful too...for something today. Even if it is just for the sunshine that we will enjoy for a few days before the rains begin again. Gratitide does not need to be grand... I think it just needs to be present.
All relationships are bit like that anyway, wouldn't you say? You have days and weeks of bliss and happiness, with maybe a little tiff here and there of no real consequence. Then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, Bam! Big fight over who-knows-what. Words are spoken that you cannot retrieve, dishes and hearts are broken and you are left to figure out what the hell just happened and why? Can we fix it? Do we want to? Yes. To both. Most certainly.
Today at work I face a meeting that I would rather avoid.
Last year, around holiday time a member of our office was hit with traumatic news. Cancer. His wife. Who just had a little healthy baby. What? Of course, there was an outpouring of sympathy from those who have experienced such tragedy in their own lives and survived. and empathy from those who have been lucky enough to date to have not been touched by this particular disease. She is young, strong, healthy otherwise. she will be fine. One year later...she is not fine. Far from it...and the rollercoaster of emotions that co-workers have gone through make me wonder, how does a person handle a situation like this when it is happening to you? So today we get an update on her condition. And each day I pray for a miracle for them. And for everyone who faces a situation like this. For my girlfriend whose husband was diagnosed last year and I just found out. For my favorite Aunt who has suffered a series of strokes that have left her confined to her bed. For the cashier I met in the drugstore who is recovering from breast cancer..still wearing her draining tubes while she works because she needs the money and distraction. For.......
So I guess you deal with these things like everything else. Keep going..keep doing what you can do. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.
It makes me grateful. Very grateful to have my health. I hope you are grateful too...for something today. Even if it is just for the sunshine that we will enjoy for a few days before the rains begin again. Gratitide does not need to be grand... I think it just needs to be present.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Out with the old, In with the New
With the start of a new year, having this past year end with such devastation must make one feel truly blessed to be alive and able to change, correct or redirect one's life ..focus..priorities. At the very least that is true for me. All of us tend to want to begin the new year with grand resolutions. When maybe what we really should be thinking about is how to better connect ourselves with those around us. To be globally informed, and commit to a resolution to create some positive change on the planet.
Pie-in-the-sky ideas, I know. But I have to start somewhere. And as the pre-pedophile Michael Jackson sang, "I'm starting with the wo/man in the mirror".
Last night as I trekked all over town running errands...the grocery store, Costco then the pharmacy.. I noticed every establishment had a donation site for the victims of the latest natural disaster, the Asian Tsunami. At the grocery store there were buckets at every register. I passed by the one at the register line I was in. But I thought to myself, "what a nice gesture", although I did not see any money inside. At the exit in Costco, there was a huge square glass structure to collect funds for tsunami victims. Everything at Costco is huge. I passed that one by too...I just could not get back into my wallet, push my cart through and show my receipt at the same time. Inconvenient. But I did see dollars, 5's and 10's resting at the bottom of the case. Heartwarming. My final stop at the SaVon pharmacy placed me in front of an empty can on the register asking for donations for the tsunami. Well, they could not find my prescription, had to dig around the files to get the information to fill it...and I had to wait for about 15 minutes. I did not put anything in the can. I just did not think about it. But when they called my name and said my prescription was ready, I pulled out my wallet and paid for my much needed drugs.
As I was putting my wallet back in my purse and wrapping things up.... a fleeting but vivd vision came to me. It was the video we all saw of that wave crashing into town carrying people, cars, buildings along with it. I thought of what it might have been like to caught in that madness. To be stranded, have nothing, to have lost your family, your children, your parents, your love. The very clothes off your back. All of this ran through my mind in a matter of seconds. I dropped my donation in the empty bucket.
In the time it took for me to move to the side, get my things together and head for the door.. I looked back and noticed that the people behind me placed their donations in the can.
Empty when I arrived, filling as I left...I felt I made a postive change in that little donation can. And maybe those dollars will actually be able to do some good somehow.
Pie-in-the-sky ideas, I know. But I have to start somewhere. And as the pre-pedophile Michael Jackson sang, "I'm starting with the wo/man in the mirror".
Last night as I trekked all over town running errands...the grocery store, Costco then the pharmacy.. I noticed every establishment had a donation site for the victims of the latest natural disaster, the Asian Tsunami. At the grocery store there were buckets at every register. I passed by the one at the register line I was in. But I thought to myself, "what a nice gesture", although I did not see any money inside. At the exit in Costco, there was a huge square glass structure to collect funds for tsunami victims. Everything at Costco is huge. I passed that one by too...I just could not get back into my wallet, push my cart through and show my receipt at the same time. Inconvenient. But I did see dollars, 5's and 10's resting at the bottom of the case. Heartwarming. My final stop at the SaVon pharmacy placed me in front of an empty can on the register asking for donations for the tsunami. Well, they could not find my prescription, had to dig around the files to get the information to fill it...and I had to wait for about 15 minutes. I did not put anything in the can. I just did not think about it. But when they called my name and said my prescription was ready, I pulled out my wallet and paid for my much needed drugs.
As I was putting my wallet back in my purse and wrapping things up.... a fleeting but vivd vision came to me. It was the video we all saw of that wave crashing into town carrying people, cars, buildings along with it. I thought of what it might have been like to caught in that madness. To be stranded, have nothing, to have lost your family, your children, your parents, your love. The very clothes off your back. All of this ran through my mind in a matter of seconds. I dropped my donation in the empty bucket.
In the time it took for me to move to the side, get my things together and head for the door.. I looked back and noticed that the people behind me placed their donations in the can.
Empty when I arrived, filling as I left...I felt I made a postive change in that little donation can. And maybe those dollars will actually be able to do some good somehow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
