Certainty

When I was growing up I played all kinds of board games... Life, Clue, King Oil, Chess, Checkers, Candyland, Risk, Chutes and Ladders, Spades, Hearts, Poker, Backgammon, and several, others. I won more than I lost, but many times I won with just good guesswork.

Skills from game playing carried over to education and life skills like judging character. I won most of the time there too, but it still included some guesswork.

Over time, life skills improve so that guesswork is at an absolute minimum. I am more and more certain of what makes me happy, for example. And I know, without guessing, who I can trust and who I want to surround me. And it is certainly not a guess who brings a smile to my lips and contentment to my heart.

In a few

It's really amazing how just a few words can turn clay into ceramic beauty or pewter to gold. On two occasions today, my day was transformed from normal to supernormal and from routine to extra special by just a few words. That makes this day a charmed day. And that ends this blog with just a few words, in honor of the few words that absolutely transformed this day!

What I wouldn't give!

The other day I had a friend mention a work situation that would be good for several parties involved. I remember commenting, "What I wouldn't give for that to happen." I don't say that very often. I might have said that when I was younger, I really don't remember. But, I have said that only twice in recent memory (probably the last 15 years). Both times it was about a wish I have. And I really would give everything in my world to live that reality, to live out my dream.

Someday!

Matters as a whole

Some days just go right. Not that every little event happened like I wanted. Just that matters as a whole ended on a hopeful, optimistic note. And there's nothing that will allow for life to go forward like hope. A lot like the sun which is about to break out from behind its shielding clouds at the break of day.

Positive pondering

The mind can't help but ponder events during a day's time.

I bought some pottery in Maine last summer. They had to make it first and send it later. It arrived about two weeks ago. I unpacked it just the other day, and it caused me to ponder all the really serene sights and sounds of a magical day on Peak's Island where I ordered the pottery.



My partners and I have a growing business. We have expanded in office space and will expand in services offered in about 3 months. It makes me ponder where all this is headed, but at this end of things, it has much promise.



I ponder many things in a day's time. Those thoughts are not always positive like the two examples. But, mostly I ponder the positive matters. It helps me plan my time with great energy.

I have to say I ponder the year 2009 every day, more than anything I have ever mulled. It energizes me because it was the most positive year in my whole life.

Love to ponder such an energy-giving, life-giving year!

Splash me

Color in life is important. So, being around people who will splash the beauty of their color on us makes our lives just that much more enjoyable. I love the color of having my horizons stretched, for instance. The people who have done that in my life, have splashed me with their color.

There are other colors I enjoy too. So, splash away. Feel free.

Turns

Sometimes in writing people get stuck and seem not to be able to generate any more thought toward what they are writing. They experience "writer's block." It happens. They have to walk away for a while and then return to their work. In that "while" they will have their minds focused on other matters. When they return to their work, they have a fresh perspective on what they should generate to continue their writing. They had time to mull and blend ideas from what they saw during their time away from their writing, so that a fresh perspective can be brought when they sit back down to write. Their time away served as a catalyst to get past their stuck point.

In business sometimes, companies bog down in product development. Cars need a new shape or color, tennis shoes need to be lighter, oil needs to be brought out of the ground more cheaply. Any number of products need revamping. Employees are asked to think of new ways to do streamline processes sometimes. They are encouraged to "think outside the box." Usually it takes a catalyst of some sort like the accident that created Post-it Notes, or the experimentation in space to create lighter plastics, or paying attention to some detail of research that finally makes sense in curing lung cancer.

Stuck points come every so often. Life is great about throwing curves to foil plans, to bring the unexpected angle to a situaton, to twist events into what is dreaded or feared, or to lead people to the mundane, hum-drum, doldrums. Catalysts are needed to get past those points. Sometimes I'm good at spotting those catalysts. I can take a fresh perspective and see how to get through a situation. And sometimes I am not good at all at knowing what to do to affect change. Things are interconnected and convoluted and the way through seems messy.

One of the cruelist hammer blows of life is when I can see the catalyst clearly that will propel me past a blockage in my stream of personal events and I am ready to act, but life disagrees and takes a turn in the path. I hate it when that happens more than I can express.

But, Hope can overcome even this on occasion, smile with favor, and turn the path back.

An offering

A very special person in my life likes having and using quotes. So, I would like to offer a quote, since I have had the benefit of being around the beautiful life of this person who places noble and worthy quotes on desks, on blogs, on walls, and in this person's own heart and soul.

I offer it for your new job and for the continued higher education you seek. I offer it because you live by it and have taught me to trust what you live by.

___________________________________________________

When you come to the edge of all the light you have,

And are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,

Faith is knowing that one of two things will happen:

There will be something to stand on,

Or you will be taught to fly.

(Patrick Overton)

I have all faith that when you step off into the unknown, you will be standing on top of Mt. Everest and soaring with the eagles!

Magnitude

There is a way to show that certain aspects of something mean more than other aspects. We weight things we like and slight things we dislike. If we like sitting by a fireplace rather than going to the grocery store, then we sit by the fireplace more than go to the grocery store. If we want to exercise by jogging rather than by weight lifting, then we jog instead of lift weights. If we like some people more than others, then we choose to show friendship to the ones we like more.

The idea of giving weight to show meaning shows up in more places than just our ordinary preferences in lifestyle. We show this in proportioning our spending, saving, and investing. And speaking of investing, inside investing there is a way to give weight to certain areas of investment. Whether trading stocks, real estate, metals, or currency, adding magnitude to some trades yields greater profits than if the normal trade was made.

So, when we find the ones along the way in life who would add magnitude to our own lives, we don't hesitate. We add the magnitude. And, it yields greater happiness, more productivity, more energy, and a higher level of fulfilled living.

Empty chambers - not for me

In my house I have three rooms that I rarely go in. The front room is stocked with a snooker table and couch, but they just sit there looking pretty for the people on the outside to see since curtains don't fully cover the windows. There's an extra bedroom for "guests" who might drop by once a year. The lady who cleans vacuums it twice a month, but she is the only guest to visit the room. And, there's a study with part of the room for pictures. When someone might want to use the printer, that part of the study gets used, but no one really ever goes to look at the pictures.

The chambers of our mind are like that. Many of them get used, but there are those areas that are rarely entered. Memories fade when that happens because the brain is going to use its capacity, so it begins using old paths for newly made information and all the connections that go with it. It overrides what was with what is happening now.

I think of life's rhythms sometimes, how they wax and wane. And, to avoid the empty room syndrome or the synaptic pruning in my brain during some of life's rhythms, I think of meaningful events that still push me to do things better or different. They keep my mind active and progressive rather than empty or stale. Or I think of the amazing person who makes my life colorful and happy. So, the rhythms in life don't leave behind empty rooms or withered dendrites, they leave behind traces of spectacular reflectons in rainbows.

Chagrined

Tomorrow I have to go to jury duty. It's like going to the fair. It's all very predictable. It's a place where games are being played, shows are going on, rides are taking people on a streak of giddiness. People spend a lot of money. It doesn't last very long, and people have to convince themselves that it is all worth it.

That's, of course, a cynical way of looking at it. I go to watch the backstage antics put on by the attorneys. I like to see them jockey for a favorable position with the jury pool. What actors they are. But, I like to also watch the defendant. No matter how dim or bright his prospects look, he puts on a sober face to act as if he doesn't care.

I'll show up, but all the legal activity is not about the truth. It's about foolery. I'll see who's better at it tomorrow - the defense or the prosecution. I hope to read about the case in the newspaper. I surely don't want to give an account from the inside after having been picked. I would be one of the attorneys worst nightmares if chosen. I would be counting words for the type-token ratio to know where the lies are. That's the most predictable part.

Next day beauty

Yesterday was a day of great negativity.

Today is different. It's amazing what a day later brings. Today I have health, a business that is growing, money in the bank that matches a decent lifestyle, success in trading on the exchange, a future that is not cut short by anything except my own limitations, and someone who illuminates my thoughts and makes me vibrant. I couldn't see that yesterday. But, today I can.

What a difference a day makes in perspective. The sun is shining on the beauty of this day.