Even When It’s Not Easy

I read in a book that when given the choice between right and being kind we should always choose to be kind. Both boys understood that concept. Wouldn’t it be great if we could teach it to the whole world?

I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here. You, my reader, are kind. You probably show kindness wherever you can, whenever you can, to everyone you can. I don’t need to tell you not to judge others because they wear mismatched socks, or yell at their kids, or cut you off on the highway, or took the last bag of storm chips. I don’t need to tell you to use words of encouragement, to lift others’ spirits, or how a smile can change someone’s day. I think my readership already understands the power of kindness.

You do, don’t you?

However, the words”you can” from that last paragraph leaves us a bit of a loophole, doesn’t it? If you can, you do. If you can’t, you don’t. It is really tough to show kindness that arsehole who just told you you’re a bad parent. It’s really tough to show kindness to the jerk who just flipped you the bird. It’s really tough to show kindness to the idiot who just drove a front loader through your house. But if you can, be kind.

I see it as paying it forward. I’m kind to someone and in return they’re kind to someone else. Eventually, that chain of kindness will return to me. Or you. Or all of us. I think that’s how karma works.

I can honestly say, as much as the boys can drive us absolutely mental sometimes, one thing they fully understand is kindness toward others. Crash looks out for his classmates with special needs. He makes sure they get outside safely when the fire alarm scares them. He sees that they have all their belongings while they’re on field trips. Bang knows how people people laugh. He has adopted all the ladies of the church choir as friends. Sure, they can be total jerks to each other. They’re brothers. However, when it comes to others, I’m proud of them.

*Kindness is one of the greatest attributes one’s character can possess.

*An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

*When you lift others up, you also lift yourself.

Please share your favorite quote on kindness in the comment section. It can even be one you made up…

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H is for…

is for home. It’s that place in which you live. The walls, the windows, and the roof that keep you safe. It’s where you come to rest after a long day of work. Where you wake on Saturday mornings when anything is possible. Perhaps yours is overrun with kids or pets or both. What we’ve come to learn in wisened years is that it’s not how big your house is, but the family that’s in it. 

Our home is where we feel safest. It’s our harbor, our hangar, our underground garage. We can let our hair down (if we happen to have some). We can wander around in our pajamas, or our underwear, or our birthday suit. It’s where we lay our head and sleep easy. 

It’s also the place that gets wrecked, especially if you have kids. Laundry, dishes, dust, and endless amounts of dirt. When the kids start running the walls get scratched and dinged. Fingerprints cover every surface and there are noseprints on the windows. Clothes cover the floor in their haste to come off our weary bodies. Or just because our kids are too lazy to walk another 4 inches to put them in the hamper. Nevermind the mess. It just means life is being lived. It’s a home that is lived in, not a museum.

Our home is where we can let loose the chains of inhibition. We can truly dance as if no one is watching. Even if the kids are giggling relentlessly. We sing our hearts out like we’re on Broadway or the Grand Ol Opry or in the shower. We are free to laugh until our faces hurt, fully belly laughs, until we’re out of breath and tears rolls from ours eyes. I’ve written before about how our kids are angels in school. We’re sometimes not sure the kid’s teacher is talking about the right kid. When they’re at home, they are safe, they are loved, unconditionally. They are free to let tempers fly, test the boundaries of attitude and behavior, and free to be their whole and total self.

Sometimes it’s not as simple as where you live. A couple years ago, when I was last at my parents, I wrote about having two homes. I feel blessed in being able to call two places home. There is here where I live with DW and Crash and Bang. There is also where I grew up 1,100 miles south of here. In this instance, home isn’t a house or a building, it’s the place we grew up. It’s the place where we have loved ones, fond memories, and we can always return to.

Whether you keep your home hospital clean or dorm room dirty, or just tidy enough to pass as clean, it is your space. It’s the smuges on the walls, spills on the floor, dishes in the sink, and the laughs in the living room that turn a simple house into a home. Hang your hat, hang your heart, sing loud, dance proud, and let your home be lived in.

~ Maya Angelou

Body Like A Bugatti

I’m going to show you two vehicles and I want you to decide which one you want to drive to work. You’ll certainly get the boss’s attention with either of them, but which one would earn you an invite back to work? Especially if you took your boss for a spin. 

You probably picked the Bugatti Veyron. I sure as hell did. It’s a 2.6 million dollar vehicle. It’s oil change is $20,000. It’s set of tires is $30,000 and will need to be changed every 2500 miles. It’s a high performance machine that can reach 60 mph from a standstill in just over 2 seconds. This is a high maintenance vehicle if I ever saw one.

While that dump truck is powerfully strong, it’s certainly not high maintenance. It runs on dirty diesel fuel. It takes about 45 minutes and a downhill to reach 60 mph. It’s not a luxurious ride.

I want my body to work like a Bugatti.

Unfortunately, I’ve been driving it like a dumptruck. I’ve been fueling it with diesel instead of high octane. I haven’t gotten it up to speed, revved the engine, or treated it like the machine it could be. Sweets, and salty chips don’t make an engine or a body run well. Sitting on my butt doesn’t work either. It takes exercise and eating right to make our bodies like the well oiled machines others would be jealous to drive. 

You see, there may only be 40 bugattis in the world, but this is only body we’ve got. It’s even more rare, even more precious than a 2.6 million dollar car. The difference between our bodies and the cars is that our bodies get stronger when we run them hard. Our bodies run smoother, more efficiently. Whereas cars wear out, need oil changes, new tires and $21,000 routine maintenance to prevent them from breaking down while running hard. They don’t get strong with workouts. 

It’s time to eat right, time to exercise right, time to get this machine running better than a Bugatti.

The Mystery Blogger Award

It may be a “Mystery Blogger Award” but my nominator certainly is no mystery. Thanks, A Momma’s View for the nomination.

Okoto Enigma writes, “Mystery Blogger Award” is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts.  Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates.  They are one of the best out there and they deserve every recognition they get.  This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging and they do it with so much love and passion. 

To think that someone else thinks I’m an amazing blogger with ingenious posts which captivates, inspires, and motivates simply leaves me speechless. As for finding fun and inspiration… that’s easy considering the two, wild subjects who often find themselves at the source of this blog of mine. I can’t imagine what you would be reading about if it weren’t for those two.

Rules For The Nominees:

• Display the award logo on your blog. √
• List the Rules. √
• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog. √
• Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well. √
• Tell your readers three things about yourself. See below
• Answer five questions from the nominee. See below below
• Nominate anywhere from ten to twenty bloggers. I’ll try! It’ll be below below below
  
• Notify the bloggers by leaving a comment on their blog. Got it. Below x 4…
  
• Ask your nominees any five questions of your choice, including one weird or funny question. okilydokily…
  
• Share the link to your best post. easy peasy…

3 things about me

1. I can touch my nose with my tongue
2. I can juggle 3 objects but not 4
3. I used to play the tumpet

5 Questions

1. Would you jump in front of a bus for a complete stranger?

Perhaps? Maybe? Depends really. I suppose if I’m being really honest with myself I would, but only if I can get myself out of the way as well. I’m not sure I could take the hit for a complete stranger. I do have my own life, wife, kids, and family, too.

2. If a neighbor was a hoarder and lived in unsafe and unhealthy conditions, would you ignore it or take action?  If you did, what would it be?

I probably wouldn’t. Like Momma said, hording is an addiction, a mental disorder. Would attempt to get them the help they need? Yes. First I would attempt to get them to see that how they’re is unhealthy. If they refused my help I would attempt the help with a professional. Perhaps an addictions expert. Would I attempt to clean their house? Most definitely not. I don’t even like cleaning my own house. I suppose if they refused to accept any help I would eventually just end up moving.

3. If you could go back in time and change one day in your life, which day would it be and why?

I’m not going for the butterfly effect here. If I were to go change one day, only that day would change, not all the days after it. However, one decision I would change would be decision not to attend my grandfather’s funeral. I was in university when he passed. Back then, death was still foreign and scary. Really, it still is, but I can face it now. I’m older and wiser now. I should have been there.

4. What is your favorite word?

Really. I know, really? It has all the functionality of that F word. (I like that one, too. I just use it much) You can imply “WTF” with a well intoned “really?”. Or it could mean, “OMG” with a different intonation. Or you use it consecutively you can express your love. Because I really really like you. Really?

5. The weird question:  If you knew you could get away with it, would you rob a bank?

Are we talking about stealing a buck 50 or millions? For millions, I would. I’d be all over it. Banks are insured. They’ll get their money back. I’d share the wealth, though. Family, friends, charities. I definitely would keep my big mouth shut about it. The money would just mysteriously appear and only I would know of its existence. Of course, it would probably erode my guilty conscience until I snapped.

My favorite post

I like what Momma’s View said about not having yet written her best post. I hope I haven’t my best yet. But my best so far? That would be this one, The Value of a Teacher. But I had the most fun writing Life Before and After Kids.

My nominations

I know some of you don’t do the awards and nomination thing. Too bad, I’m nominating you anyway because I think you deserve the recognition for writing such spectacular blogs. If you don’t accept, that’s fully okay. Consider this your virtual high five, smack on the ass, fist pound.

Grubbs n Critters
Anxious Mom
Coach Daddy
Ah Dad
Not the Average Mama
Green Grapes
Mirror and Soul
Harsh Reality
Return of the Modern Philosopher
Niki’s Thoughts

Your 5 questions

1. What is your best trait?
2. What would you do if you won the lottery?
3. You see a car veer off a bridge. Do you jump in the water to rescue the driver?
4. What is your blog mostly about?
5. Ben and Jerry want to make an ice cream flavor in your honor. What do you taste like?

Thanks again, for nominating me for this award! I’ve never gotten this one before. This gives me an extra day to put together the post about our skating trip and DW getting kicked off the ice.

I’m not here…

I want to let you in on a few things. I’m not here to be popular. I’m not here to get rich. You are a fantastic audience and I thank you from the bottom of the heart (and the top and both sides – there are four chambers after all). It is you who keep me coming back to write more. Yes you, the one reading these very words. Banana. Turtle. Poop. See? I just made you read poop. Twice. I might still have a little growing up to do.

Anyway, just like my running is for me, so is my writing. I’m not sure why I publish it for the whole world to read, but I do. I’ll figure that part out later. Or never. Doesn’t matter. What I do know is why I write almost every day.

It keeps me thinking

Writing every day for a non-specific audience can be challenging. The options are limitless, boundless, unrestrained. While I haven’t really ventured into sharing my fictional writing yet, the option is obviously there. I’m constantly thinking and looking for the next article to write. Can I expand upon a certain topic yet still keep it interesting enough to read? It’s not writers block I experience, it’s an inability to get started. Much like a car when it’s -10 degrees outside.

Practice practice practice

Part of my writing is to practice the art of writing, story telling, informing, or persuading. However, what I’ve really been trying to focus on is my self-editing. I tend to omit words – often keywords. DW can testify to that after a few years of instant messaging each other.  Also, I’ve been working on my wording – writing in such a way that others will want to read it.

A book

One day I hope to publish a book or two or many. I love writing short stories. I’ve written in numerous genres, ranging between 1,000 and 1,500 words. One story I was writing is up to 13,500 words. However, it so closely resembles the start of The Neverending Story that I’m afraid I would get nailed for plagiarism. My hope here is to build up an audience who enjoys my writing enough to buy a book I write later down this road of life. I hope I don’t have this backwards and should publish a book then build the audience to read it? So, to my 41 followers, thank you.

As a little bonus here is an e-book I co-wrote Mr. Eus – The Story of the Future available on iTunes for only $1.19. Here is is on Google Play for your android.