Just wait....

Haven't we all heard it numerous times?  Almost to the point where we want to cover our ears and shout..."No!  Don't tell me that again!"  That old saw that goes In Missouri, if you don't like the weather, just wait a few hours.  I should know better, but I still get tricked every time.

The latest wild ride of temperature and accompanying precipitation is a good example.  First thing in the morning I check my outdoor thermometer.  Does it say 17 degrees?  Better pile on the sweatshirt and heavy socks.  Does it say 40...guess I can count on wearing my lighter coat later in the day.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.  And again I say wrong.

Case in point.  One morning this week I could see it was going to be one of those balmy January days that we have every so often.  I dressed in my lighter clothes and put on my jacket.  After the first half mile of my walk, I pulled off  my sweatshirt and walked in my shirt sleeves.  That felt so good.  In fact, I could almost imagine I was on a beach somewhere walking in the sand.  Okay.  That is an exaggeration, but you get my point.

Fast forward to that night.  We went to a basketball game in town.  I thought that my lighter coat and a short sleeved top would do.  The wind was blowing but I didn't think too much about it.  When I got out of the car I noticed a nippiness in the air.  That sharp little edge to the breeze should have warned me.  By the time I got out of the gym the temperature had dropped several degrees.  The wind was out of the north and angry. I scurried to the car, head down and arms hugging my sides.  Turning on the heater full blast, I could hear that old refrain...if you don't like the weather, just wait.....  

Satisfied

No, I didn't win the lottery.

But I did win a lottery of sorts.  

Life has a lot of choices.  Sometimes we win.  Sometimes we lose.  And all of the time we have to live with our choices...good and bad.  Sometimes life deals us a few wild cards that we really didn't expect.  Trite.  But true.

I am satisfied.  Not so much because I have had an easy life compared to many.  No.  Mostly because I make a choice each day when I wake up.  I can be joyful.  I can make the best of my situation.  I can add something of benefit to my world just for today.  Or I can mope around and make myself and others miserable.  Yes, that is an option I have chosen several..too be truthful...many times.

I put my energy into building up my world.  I am a work in progress.  And the older I get...the more it seems I need to improve.  But that is fine.

I put my wealth toward a goal that will reap me benefits long after I have left this world.

And that is why I am satisfied.

Open the door

A new year.  When I was young...and maybe sometime after I was truly young...I made New Year's resolutions.  I didn't actually write them down.  Or publish them abroad.  But I did make a vow to change some habits.  Or learn something new.  Or tackle a task that I had been putting off for too long.

But now that I am older...and hopefully...wiser, I have stopped making any promises to myself.  It is just too disappointing to make a goal for oneself...and then realize in the days following that it is either too hard to reach....or not realistic.

So here is my hope for 2016.  I want to open the door.

Every day I want to wake up and look out my window and feel alive.  Ready for what that day has in store.  It might not be what I expected.  I may find some sorrow.  I might find some happiness.  But I will take each hour and meet it as it comes.

Every day I will be aware of the joy that life brings.  Joy is different from happiness.  Joy is a constant.  And it can be found in many circumstances.  It is there to be found.  I will look for it.

Every day I will reach out to someone and hold them in prayer.  I have found that my mind often drifts to a person or situation that needs Divine help.  I firmly believe that this is part of my life now.  When I was working and busy I didn't feel this calling to me.  But I have changed.  And it is a good change.

Every day I will try to say words that uplift and bring good to others and myself. I will try not to let negative people or circumstances draw me down.

Every day I will open the door and see what life has in store for me.

And my wish for you?   May this New Year bring you peace and joy.  

Just open the door.