Gifts from Above

Often in life we lose focus of all the wonderful things and people in our lives. Unfortunately, sometimes a traumatic event in our lives can put things in to perspective. Our lives have many people come and go like the tide. Also like the tide, we are sometimes lucky enough to have something wonderful wash up on our shore. It is up to us to see it for what it is and hold on to it with all that we have. It is not often that we can or will have someone wash up that is truly special. Because of that we must be diligent in our recognition of the special people. I have been fortunate enough to have someone wash up on my shore. I know this because this person has made sacrifices to be able to help and comfort me. I recognize how fortunate I am and although I still tend to lose focus on just how fortunate I am it just takes one conversation to put things back in to focus. This month we, in America, will be celebrating Thanksgiving. It is easy to see all the negative things in our lives but that day reminds us to be thankful. This year I have A LOT to be thankful for. I have found someone that I know will share all my experiences with me and I will make sure I am there to do the same for her. I have so much to be thankful for and now I have someone to be thankful with me. 2009 has truly been a wonderful year.

Proud and Concerned

I will not claim to be the staunchest patriot in this wonderful country of ours but I do consider myself patriotic. Being a patriot is what has caused me to have great concerns about the condition of our nation. During the last Presidential elections I was very concerned about Mr Barrack Obama being elected. I did not think John McCain was up to the job but I felt that he was clearly the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, it seems as though I may have been correct in my feelings. This Presidency is not like any other in recent history. Our government is clearly being ran by the Speaker and not the President. He is far too busy to be concerned with the state of this great union. He has more important things to do, like campaign for two Democratic Gubernatorial candidates, which by the way they both lost. We are heading to a very scary place in my opinion. We are adopting Socialist policies. We are more concerned about what other nations think about us than what our citizens feel. We are in a war that cannot be won they way we are fighting it. We have one of the worst economies. Rhode Island is predicted to have an unemployment rate of 13.8% by next year. All of this plus serious social security and health care issues. Have no fear though, our President is campaigning to have more Democratic governors in order to secure his ability to further his Un-American agenda. I am proud that a large portion of our country was able to get passed his race to elect a President of African decent but this was not the guy to have break that boundary. People we are in trouble and the American populous does not want to see it. They are so enchanted by this "lawyer" and his charisma. We need to wake up.

Our government is now the proud majority share holder in the banking industry and the auto industry. As if that is not bad enough they are trying to push an extremely Socialistic health care system. The government is doing a poor job at managing its affairs and now they want to make decisions regarding our health. I am truly horrified by the thought of this happening. If the government were to take charge of the health care system what kind of increase in size of our already huge government will there be. Our founding fathers should be rolling in their graves. Let's see what our government does for us. They over tax based upon how much you earn. That's right I said earn. Earnings are looked at by our government and then we are told by said government "I think you should give me X% of what you made." The money you just earned has just been taxed once. Now when you take that money to buy the things you want and need in your life, that same dollar is taxed again. Should you decide you want to own property, which by the way no one really owns their property, it is all on loan to us by our government, you are taxed again and again using money that you earned that you already paid taxes on. Now that they have taken what they feel is their fair share of your hard earned income they are going to take more money for Social Security. They are now planning your retirement. Unless, of course, you decide to take more of your money and invest in your own retirement. Wait, a huge portion of our nation cannot do that because of all the other expenses. We have a welfare system that supports and promotes laziness. We tell the hard working Americans "For the greater good of our people we need to use your money to take care of the guy that does not feel like there is a job he wants to do." That's right I said wants to do because there are plenty of jobs out there that are classified as jobs Americans don't want to do, thus the reason we "NEED" illegal immigrants. Wait how does that work they are illegal but we need them to do things that the people we give checks to monthly don't want to do. Does anyone else see something wrong here?!?! Why is there not a hue and cry about these issues? Why is everyone so afraid to point out our problems and figure out a solution? The issues our government should be working on are being blatantly neglected in order to work their way further in to our homes. We have become a nation of cattle. We are herded in any direction the media wants us to go. We have to believe everything we are told in the news or in the newspapers. We don't ask the question that was so popular to us as kids, the question WHY! We must be politically correct. Not morally correct, politically correct. The phrase alone is offensive to me.

I could go on and on and on but then I wouldn't have anything else to blog about at a later time. We wouldn't want that now would we. People, I implore you to just ask why. If we can do that, it will be the first step to getting this country headed in the right direction. I am not claiming to be correct in my beliefs and I am not saying they should be your beliefs. I am simply putting them out there for your perusal. That is what made this nation great, our ability to believe as we want and not fear repercussions from our government. Those days are quickly going by the wayside. Our rights are being stripped from us and we are watching it happen and saying nothing. Be proud to be one of the youngest and greatest nations on this planet. We are Americans because our ancestors stood up and revolted against a government that they felt was unfair. Where did that spirit go? Why are we sitting in our living rooms thinking it doesn't affect me so it doesn't matter? It does and it will. At this rate our children and grandchildren will no longer live in this great republic. They will be forced to live in the USSA.

Morning Glory

I have not been known as the cheeriest person around. I am trying to make the changes necessary to embrace the joy that I do have in my life. I have a lot of reasons to be miserable but there are more reasons to be joyous. I was reminded of that this morning while I was on the phone with a dear friend of mine. I was watching a squirrel that was digging through some leaf litter. As he was digging he was pouncing on this spot repeatedly. It was absolutely adorable to watch. Along came a small flock of what I believe to be Pine Siskin (yes I looked it up). There were a least ten of them and they chased the squirrel up a tree and started foraging for food. They were small and very beautiful. I was just so caught up in the happenings of the animal kingdom. Then to my surprise a Blue Jay came to join the party. This bird was absolutely gorgeous, hopefully my channeling Steve Irwin was successful. It had a tail that just captivated me. I enjoyed watching this so much and that is when I realized all of this occurred in a span of probably fifteen minutes. Within that short amount of time I saw so many things that brought me joy. When you feel so down it is hard to realize this but it is important that you try. It is far too easy to just allow the negative aspects of life to engulf you. It is more difficult to fight for your joy. I assure you though it is well worth the fight. It is truly amazing the things you can find to make you happy if you are willing to look.

Perception

I am not sure why but Homo sapiens have a strange ability to project their perceptions on to the situations of others. Why is it we as people find the need to look in to the window of someone's life and compare it to our own. The picture looks pretty through the window but once you are on the inside looking out I assure you it is quite different. I for one love the cold and the snow. However, if someone that preferred a more tropical climate were to look in my window when I was out shoveling snow they may feel inclined to think that it is a horrible moment. Meanwhile, I might be happy just enjoying the feel of the cold and the beauty of the snow as I shovel.

So often you will here someone say "My life would be so much better if I had more money." Is that really true? Would your life be better with more money or would there be another issue to fill the void that was left when you solved the money problem. Life is filled with opportunities to be happy. It is up to us as people to seize the moment. I, for one, do not believe the old latin saying Carpe Diem. I am more for using Carpe Momento or seize the moment. It is far to presumptuous for us to assume we have the day. Life is full of moments in time that define our moods and perceptions. We are quick to say we had a great day but was the day that great or were there moments in that day that made it great. The sun shines all day and night, every day of every month of every year but from where we stand it rises and sets once a day. That moment is beautiful but the sun has not changed. It is our perception at that moment in time that captures the beauty presented to us. There are always going to be bad days but find the beautiful moments in them. A smile from a perfect stranger, seeing a man hold the door open for his female companion, the laughter of a baby from the table in front of you at a restaurant, the kind words of someone that you care deeply for. I could go on and on of the simple moments of joy and beauty that we lose in the chaos of our lives. Try to live for the moment and enjoy every gift that is given to us and when we are having a bad moment in our lives let's use that moment to make us grateful for all the good ones we have had.

Hidden Damage

Anger rages through my soul
Undoing my damage is the goal
I think about how you treated me
Blinding rage is all I can see
Don't you realize I am your son
Do you feel bad for all you have done
You made me feel like I was bad
My childhood memories only make me sad
I only wanted to make you proud
To set myself apart from the crowd
I am worthless back then I would think
Every day my confidence would constantly shrink
I thought I was born to be your slave
The affection I needed you seldom gave
When you held it back from me
Even better I would try to be
I never learned it wasn't my fault
All this pain is locked in my vault
I hope you are happy with what you have made
All of my pain never seeming to fade