Thankful Thursday, In the beginning

Wow, that week went by fast. It has been a great week and I have a lot to be thankful for. Lots of things are going well for me. I labeled this post as In the beginning because I have started reading the Bible again from cover to cover. As you recall, the last time I did this was about three years ago. That was the first time that I read the entire Bible from cover to cover. This time I am reading it slower and trying to understand more. So far, I have more questions than answers. And for that I am thankful. Have a great day, Greg

Thankful Thursday, Still Green

Well it’s been a good month for me to say the least. Things finally seem to be going well. I got the car fixed and painted. I got the truck painted and got a new bedliner for it. I got the pool set up and the pool filter working. (I had trouble because someone switched the hoses when they set up the filter…someone like me) My plants are all looking great and I have veggies growing in the garden. Right now I have lettuce that is ready and some tomatoes that are almost ready. I have little tiny peppers on the plants but it will be a while before they are ready. All is well in my little world and I have a lot to be thankful for.

I finished two books this week; “The yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, and “Green Like God”. Both were good books but the first required more thought and will require further study. The Yoga Sutras, not to be confused with the coma sutra’s is basically a guide book for Yogi’s and it outlines how you should live your life if you truly want to be happy. In a nutshell, it says to do everything for the good of others and to live for the moment and be content with what you have. You could paraphrase it as do unto others and Don’t covet what your neighbor has. I believe I read that somewhere else. (The Bible)

The second book was more basic and it was about taking care of our planet because it is a gift from God. I actually started reading it once before but I didn’t finish it. I was already on board with this idea so it came as no big surprise to me. It outlined various passages where God told us to take care of the planet like in Genesis 2:15. It amazes me that there are some “religious” people out there that say that we should just use up the resources that we have and let the planet go to waste because there is no saving it. To these people I say, hey you can’t take your money with you so why not give it all to me since there is no saving it. J

So this week, I am thankful for a lot of little things like projects that are out of the way, my Green thumb and the fact that my youngest has a 98 in Spanish class. 98? That is big. When I was his age, my biggest fear was that I would get picked last when we chose teams for sports. Most kids wanted to be on a certain team or to be picked first but I just didn’t want to be picked last. Usually I didn’t get my wish though and when all other choices were gone, the remaining captain would finally say; come on Greg, you are on our team. Oh well I guess I still have a lot of scars but they are slowing fading. And I did learn to survive alone so I can fix or do just about anything I put my mind to.

Have a great day,

Greg

Thankful Thursday, Just what the "Doctor" ordered.

I have been complaining a lot lately about my allergies. They flair up every year at this time and to tell the truth mine are worse than anyone I know. So that makes me complain even though I am normally not a complainer. And since complaining is against my nature, the fact that I am complaining puts me on edge and I tend to be a bit snappy with people. And since I am normally not snappy with people, that makes me even more upset and the whole thing snowballs out of control.

So I asked God for some relief so that I could quit feeling bad, complaining and being snappy. Yes I pray for relief every year at this time. And He answered my prayers, just not in the manner that I expected. That happens with me a lot. And I think it happens to others as well but some people just don’t see it because they are looking for a specific result. God doesn’t always work that way. In my case, I prayed for some relief from these nagging allergies and that is what I got. No I am not cured. My eyes are still red and itchy and my nose is raw from sneezing and blowing it. My throat is scratchy and I am very tired from taking the allergy medication. So how did God answer my prayers you might ask?

Well...

Monday night, even though I wasn’t feeling up to it, I was compelled to go to my yoga class. For some reason I just felt like I should go. Now some people think that Yoga is anti-Christian but I am here to tell you that it is not. In the studio where I go, there are quotes from Buddha, Gandhi, the Dahlia Lama and Jesus. They all speak about peace and love. Last night while I was waiting for my class to start I was reading a wall hanging with a verse from 1 Corinthians about the meaning of love. You know the passage: Love is patient, love is kind…. Anyway,I was one of the first people to arrive, so I had my choice of spots. Naturally I took my regular spot. Habits are hard to break.

People began filing in and soon the room was almost full. A woman that I have never met set up beside me but after we introduced ourselves she decided to move down by her friend. I made the comment: “was it something I said Nancy?” and we both laughed. That left the position beside me open. Just before the class started another woman that I have never met before came in. She was a tall woman, dressed in black and bald. Well she was almost bald and only had little tufts of hair on her head. Our instructor approached her and asked how she was doing and she answered; “as well as can be expected (pause) I guess” I realized that this woman most likely had been going through Chemo which is why her hair was gone. She took the spot right beside me.

As we went through our poses, I was forced to look in the direction of this woman over and over again. I could tell that she was having difficulty holding some of the poses and she had to pause from time to time to catch her breath. But she stuck with it and completed the class without complaining. It made me realize just how lucky I am to only be suffering from allergies (and a few minor aches and pains). I believe that God was sending me a message to stop complaining. I got the message. Thank you God.

So this week, I am Thankful that God is my Doctor and that He keeps "seeing" me even though like my other doctor, I don't always make regular appointments.

God is the Greatest Doctor


Have a great day,

Greg

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying....

These days, like most people I have a lot to complain about. Things haven’t been going well for me in a lot of areas for the past few years. I take the blame for some of the negative things that have happened in my life but many of the events were caused by external sources beyond my control. Still through it all, I have, for the most part been able to keep my head high and keep a smile on my face. Notice I said for the most part. There were a number of times in there where I lost my temper, gotten angry and even in one case shouted obscenities. Yes I totally lost it one time. I also still have a lot to be thankful for so I won’t complain too much. But there are a few things I need to get off my chest:

Is anyone else sick and tired of the media bias? I know I am. They take a story that would be just passing news, put labels on people and then make it out to be good VS evil and get everyone all riled up. Then they come out with; “we were the first one to report this”. The problem is that the media isn’t required to tell “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. In fact they sometimes publish or report out and out lies with lead-ins like: Could it be that…. Or Some people are saying…. Or follow up their lie with “Fact or fiction?” The media is run by a Middle Eastern Extremist group…, or at least this writer thinks so. Enough about that.

So where have I been? Well I have had a lot to write about but to tell the truth, my computer hasn’t been working very well. In fact it hasn’t worked that great since I got it. So a friend told me that maybe I had a memory problem. I forget his name. Anywhoo, the memory problem was with my computer. So I did a google search to find some new memory. When I typed in the name of my computer and the word Memory a page came up saying that my computer had been recalled for of all things, bad memory cards. Well it would cost me 20 dollars to send my computer in to have it fixed for free or I could just buy some new memory and upgrade it for about 10 dollars more so that is what I did. If you are reading this then It solved the problem.

Health care…I am not for it but if they would just make it equal across the board then I might be persuaded to go for it. I mean if I am in the emergency room trying to get seen and Michelle Obama comes in, she should have to wait her turn just like the rest of us. And everyone should have to take a drug test to get healthcare. If you fail the drug test (for anything that you don’t have a prescription for) then no health care….EVER. And speaking of Michelle, or should I say Mrs. President, did you know that she has more friends on Facebook than the President? What’s up with that?

Wadmalaw Island has become a dumping ground for dead bodies. For some reason this has become trendy to drive into the country and drop off dead bodies. May I make a suggestion? Try Johns Island. I mean it is closer and will save you gas if you stop there. Johns Island should come up with a slogan, something like: no roadside dumping…except bodies. I may put up a sign on the road leading to Wadmalaw Island that says; No body dumping. Anyway stop it people.

The obscenity story: I ordered some parts and they came by German Sheppard Express. (not the real name, I don’t like mentioning names) I called when they were supposed to arrive and asked if they had my package but the man, who was from a country that rhymes with Mindia (again I don’t like mentioning names)said my package wasn’t there. However he kept repeating my name wrong even after I spelled it. He was having a problem with a little thing called English. Anyway this went on for days. I called, dropped in and called again. Finally about a week later, someone else answered the phone when I called and said that my part was there. When I went to pick it up, he said that I had a storage fee because I didn’t pick it up in time. Apparently, the package had gotten there about a week earlier but the man who didn’t speak English very well couldn’t find it since he couldn’t spell. They also had the wrong phone number to call even though I verified it with the company that I ordered the parts from. So now I have to pay the storage fee or not get my package. And If I waited to clear it up, my storage fee would keep growing. Grrr. An argument ensued in which I lost my temper and said some bad things. So here is my gripe; You wouldn’t put an American that couldn’t understand English or couldn’t spell in the customer service department so why is it ok to put a foreigner doing that job? I’m over it now.

Did you know that I have been making bird houses? Yes, it’s true. Not only that, but bat houses and owl houses as well. I make birdhouses because I love birds. Someone asked me to make owl houses and they said they didn’t want them. Same thing with the bat houses. But here is the funny thing about the guy that wanted the bat houses. He asked me to make them and I did and they he started asking questions about them. Like was I sure they were big enough? How do you hang them? What kinds of bats do they attract? Then he came back with; You know you can buy them on ebay for less than what you charge. So I said, sorry, that is what I charge so he said no thanks. Well about three weeks later, I realized that I had bat houses just sitting around so I lowered the price just to get rid of them. So I get a response from the same guy (he didn’t know it was my post) saying that he wanted some. I never responded to him because I had other people who wanted them.



Well that’s about enough for my first post back. I hope someone is reading it.

Wait, wait, I almost forgot....It's Thankful Thursday and I am so Thankful to be back blogging again. More on Thankful Thursday next week.



Have a great day,

Greg

Please stand by......

This blog has been having technical difficulties. Please stand by and I will be with you shortly. The truth is I have been having computer problems for about a year now but I have parts on the way and hopefully everything will be fixed soon. In the mean time, tune into your local radio station and listen to some music.

Have a great day,
Greg

Forgiveness; Easier said than done.

People who know me and know me well would have a hard time believing it but I have a problem with forgiveness. Yes it's true. These days, when someone does something that bothers me I let them know right away and go on with my life. So I am not adding people to “the list” these days even though one of my favorite sayings is; “You just made the list.” (a line from the movie "Stripes") And truth be known, that list is my hate list. Yes I have one and I have always had one even though it is no longer growing.

As I matured, I was able to clear my list for the most part but there were a few people who have remained on it. These were people who over my life hurt me deeply, leaving scars that have stayed with me. But I recently realized that keeping this hatred, even tucked deeply away is robbing me of my ability to totally be happy. So I have decided to let it go, to forget and forgive. So let me clear the air and get some things off my chest and put this list behind me. Some of these may sound foolish or meaningless to you but for me they were huge.

First was that little red haired boy in grade school: You know who you are. You chased me around and hit me every chance you got. You took or smashed my lunches whenever you found where I hid them. Many times you didn’t find my lunch bag hidden deep in the bushes but it would be full of ants when I went to eat lunch. What you didn’t know was that we were poor. My parents had to scrape to make that jelly sandwich. I didn’t mind the punches but I needed that food and often went hungry. And to this day if I get an ant in my food I won’t eat it. I throw it away. But since you were probably a product of bad parents and doing it to get attention, I forgive you.

All you jocks that picked on me in Junior high and made fun of me by playing mean tricks on me, and all those “it” girls who laughed when I was the brunt of those jokes: You just don’t know how much you changed my life. You set the stage for my shyness and I crawled inside my shell and refused to reach out to anyone for over 25 years. It wasn’t until I was in my 40’s that I realized that people do like me and not all people are evil. So you took away a big part of my life but I still forgive you.

My baseball coach, I hated you in the worst way: You never gave me a chance to prove myself. You only let me play when the game was already won and you sat there quietly while the players played jokes on me in the dugout. But the biggest thing I ever hated you for was the time that you embarrassed me like I have never been embarrassed before or after that day. It was most likely nothing to you but those scars have stayed with me for over 40 years. All I wanted was a chance to prove myself.

So when the big game came and we were behind by one run in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and me up, I just knew it was going to be the day. But you told me just to stand there and not swing. You told me to lean into the plate and either get hit by the ball or take the walk. A walk means we tie you said, and the next guy may get a hit. You told me "if I swung I was off the team" and I wanted to belong to something so bad that I did as you told me even though they threw easy pitches over the plate that I knew I could hit. So I stood there while they called; strike one, strike two, strike three, you’re out, as my father watched from the bleachers and I listened to the sound of laughter. I couldn’t even look him in the eye on that ride home and I never played organized sports again. But I forgive you for putting that game above my feelings. It was wrong but I forgive you.

My ex-wife. Wow you sure messed up a lot of people’s lives. I won’t go into details but it was the lying that made me divorce you. To this day I still don’t know how you could put your hand on a Bible and swear to God that you didn’t do what you did. And then when the evidence came out that you were lying you couldn’t find the words to say; I’m sorry. But all that is behind me now so I forgive you too. But you better ask someone else for forgiveness.

My mother: What can I say? Most people would find it hard to imagine that you can love and hate the same person. Trust me though, it is possible. My mother’s favorite nursery rhyme was; “There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good she was very very good but when she was bad she was horrid. “ I think she was talking about herself. We had good times when I was young, lots of them. And not that many bad times either. But when they were bad they were very very bad. My mother was bi-polar back when bi-polar wasn’t cool. And that was back before they even knew what it was so there was nothing to take for it. Needless to say, I had to dodge a lot of thrown dishes. So for all the times you hurt me, I forgive you. Just because you are my mother.

Some would naturally assume that I hate my brothers. The ones that are hooked on drugs that is. But the truth is I don’t hate them. I pity them, pray for them and keep my distance but I don’t hate them. I do however hate the drugs, and I hate what they have become.

I saved the best for last. Or should I say the hardest to forgive for last. “Me”. Over my lifetime, I did a lot of things that I am not proud of and there were a few people that I hurt as I went along my path. It was never malicious or intentional but I hurt them just the same. And even though I said; I’m sorry, I never forgave myself. If you are one of those people, again, I am sorry. Would you please forgive me?

So today I am throwing away my hate list because it is just too heavy to carry around anymore. I am putting hatred behind me. And if you were one of the ones on my list I hope you forgive me for hating you in the first place. In reality, I am not sure if ever really hated you personally as much as I hated your actions. There, it's done and I feel better already.


And as always, have a great day,

Greg

Thankful Thursday, just being thankful

As are most people here in Charleston, we are very thankful that Irene is going to pass us by. Of course there is always a possibility that she will change directions and come our way. Most people are confident but only God knows for sure so I am keeping an eye out.

I am also thankful that I finally took the leap and went to a Yoga class. I was hesitant because I wasn't sure what to expect but I loved it. I have been talking and thinking lately about letting my inner light shine more and wouldn't you know it but that is what the instructor kept saying in the class. So I take it as a message to me and I will do just that.

I still have the daily trials and tribulations just like always but I am getting things under control. And yes I am thankful that my blood pressure is down. So what are you thankful for today? Won't you join me in saying thanks.

Have a great day,
Greg