2015 FEBRUARY From My Perspective

This is how I felt after Christmas and all the reminders of how much I spent.  I’m sure some of you can identify.

 

I was asked to join a group of ladies where one could reveal their soul.  Here is what was presented and my reply to it:  "Everything that is shared in our group STAYS within our group."  This may be true; HOWEVER, there are personal images one/some want to keep and the revealing of what may be contrary to that image can be tarnished.  Everyone judges another, from my experiences.  Some get judged more or more
readily/severely than others because of the standards some communities have and expect.  To truthfully answer questions in a group of peers creates doubt in the minds of those peers about that person.  I am who I am....rags, tags, tatters and wears.  God knows me, who I am, what I am, where I've been, and where I'm going.  These statements I've made should/could be considered before asking and answering the questions in a group.

I just discovered the 9 Circles of Hell from Dante’s INFERNO.  It is thought-provoking reading, y’all.  Here is where you can find what I read, if you’re interested:

http://historylists.org/art/9-circles-of-hell-dantes-inferno.html

I’ve discovered stress balls really work.  I threw them at the stressor and felt so much better.  Too bad they weren’t coconuts.

Brenduhh stopped by for tea.  She seemed a bit befuddled.  “What’s going on with that look you have, Missy?” I inquired.  “Trudy, everyone’s talking about a family tree.  I don’t have many relatives and feel I don’t really have a family tree.  My parents weren’t married when I was born, and I don’t really know my father’s side of the family.  What do you think?”  “Hmmm, I think you just may have a family bush…..small branches with some sprouting here and there,” I sapped.

 I NO LONGER

“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me, I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature.  I lost the will to please those

who do not like me, to love those who do not love me, and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me.

I no longer spend a single minute on those who like or want to manipulate.  I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise.  I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance.  I do not adjust either to popular gossiping.  I hate conflict and comparisons.  I believe in

a world of opposites and that’s why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities.  In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal.  I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement.  Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals.  And on top of everything, I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve

my patience.”  Meryl Streep

I don’t know if she said all this, but I DO know I’m just about there with her.  Move over, Sweetie.

Those who talk about you BEHIND your back do not have the courage to talk about you IN FRONT of your face.

It only takes a few seconds to hurt someone, and sometimes it takes years to repair the damage.  Cherish the hearts that love you.  The tongue is the strongest muscles in the human body----it can build and it can tear down in a single word.

In a courtroom a judge said, “You and you alone are responsible for the consequences of your actions.”  I’ll add to that…you are responsible for your actions AND the consequences of them, whether you like it or not.  An excuse is a veiled lie in a pretty cloak.

“It doesn’t take a lot of strength to hang on, it takes a lot of strength to let go.”  J C Watts

To be nobody but myself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. -E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

Biographical history, as taught in our public schools, is still largely a history of boneheads: ridiculous kings and queens, paranoid political leaders, compulsive voyagers, ignorant generals, the flotsam and jetsam of historical currents. The men who radically altered history, the great creative scientists and mathematicians, are seldom mentioned if at all. -Martin Gardner, mathematician and writer (1914-2010) This is for sure.  When I was teaching, I was atypical of the usual teaching of history.  I enjoy trivia, so I shared it with my students about history, leaders of various countries/nations, political leaders and the such.  I kept the kids’ attention and, boy, were they surprised to find questions on tests and quizzes about all I’d shared. 

If ever anyone starts telling you you’re putting too much peanut butter on your toast/bread, stop talking to them.  You do NOT need that kind of negativity in your life!

 

Eagles mate while flying---‘gives a whole new meaning to THE MILE HIGH CLUB.  If you start walking east, you will continue to walk east, but if you start walking north you will eventually be walking south.  Giraffes can go longer without water than camels can.  (The high water content in the leaves they eat makes it so they don’t need to drink water as much.) Horses can not breathe through their mouths.  (The thin layer of skin that keeps them from inhaling food also prevents them from taking in air through it.)   

I don’t ask for much anymore only: grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good fortune to remember the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.   Now that I'm older here's what I've discovered:  1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.   2. My wild oats are mostly enjoyed with prunes and all-bran.  3. I finally got my head together, and now my body is falling apart.  4. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.  5. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.  6. If all is not lost, then where the heck is it?  7. It was a whole lot easier to get older, than to get wiser.  8. Some days, you're the top dog; some days you're the lamp post.  9. I wish the buck really did stop here; I sure could use a few of them.  10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents.
11. Accidents in the back seat cause kids.  12. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.
13. The world only beats a path to your door when you're in the bathroom.  14. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he'd have put them on my knees.   15. When I'm finally holding all the right cards, everyone wants to play chess.   16. Its not hard to meet expenses . . . they're everywhere.  17. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.  18. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter . . .I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what I'm "here after".   19. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.  20. HAVE I POSTED THIS MESSAGE BEFORE???

If a giraffe drank a cup of coffee, it would be cold by the time it reached its stomach.  Did you ever think about that?  NO!  You were thinking about yourself, weren’t you?  Poor giraffe.

When I taught 3^rd. grade, I had a student who talked incessantly.  I tried everything before moving their seat to another location in the room.  The kid came up to my desk and said, “I don’t know why you moved my seat to over there.  I talk to everyone, and I can talk loud, too.”  I bit my lip so I wouldn’t laugh.

Have you ever noticed that if you get a new puppy or kitten, first they steal your heart; then, they steal your couch!!??

Have you ever stopped to think of all the things money can NOT buy?  Here are 11.  1.  Manners 2. Morals 3. Respect 4. Character 5. Common sense 6. Trust 7. Patience 8. Class 9. Integrity 10. Love 11. Good health.

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful.  I’m almost a full nugget.

Brenduhh came over for tea, again.  She was telling me about circle of friends….there weren’t many.  As she babbled on, all I could think was, “Your circle of friends is so small, you talk to yourself.”

I enjoy watching people, so I go to the mall and sit in an inconspicuous place.  Some are rather puzzling.  I’ve often wondered how they ever found their way out of the birth canal.  Some make me wonder, “Who ties your shoes?” and some just make me want to go up to them and say, “You need to be on a leash.”

If you ever get cold, just go stand in a corner of a room.  They’re usually 90 degrees.

“When your actions contradict your words, your words don’t mean anything.”  Quentin McCall  Does this go along with, “Do as I say not as I do.”?

I was listening to a person I know well who thinks they’re popular because so many seem to listen to the gossip and lies she tells about others.  I kept thinking of what Daddy told me, “The more lies you tell about another person, the more lies you hide of yourself.”

My 8 year old granddaughter sold me some delicious dark chocolate candy for her Girl Scout project.  As I unwrapped the box, I saw the “Use by” date printed.  “Use by Sept. 23, 2015”, it said.  I thought, “Hmmm, I’d better get started before they expire.”--- it was Nov. 30, 2014.  “Waste not, want not”, Mother always said.    

  

           LESSON OF TIME---KARMA

When a bird is alive…it eats ants.  When the bird is dead….ants eat the bird.  Time and circumstances can change at any time.  Don’t devalue or hurt anyone in life.  You may be powerful today, but remember, time is more powerful than you!  One tree makes a million match sticks.  Only one match stick needed to burn a million trees.  SO, be good and do good.

I have a friend who wanted a bidet installed in the master bathroom.  Her husband, being a practical fellow told her, “How about I run a garden hose through the window?”

            Blessings and smiles…..Trudy J