opinions...everybody's got one

Same with bellybuttons and butt cracks.  It's time to bring back the lost art of knowing when and when not to keep your opinion to yourself.  If someone asks what you think or if you are encouraging and lifting someone's countenance, go for it!  I'm all about that!  But if you are waxing nostalgic on the great depth of your knowledge + your right-ness, you can save that garbage for the trash can.  Nobody wants to hear anything from a know it all.  So let's go ahead and shut that down--like--forever.  

My mode for sharing my opinion goes something like this: Is it true?  Is it necessary?  Is it kind?  <--That last one trips me up sometimes, so I have asked close friends, "What is the kind way to say ____?" whenever it is lost on me.  Also, having a relationship (a significant amount of time together, intimate conversation + connection, love, kinship, friendship, respect... some sort of SOLID foundation) is KEY.  Do NOT try lecturing or opining when you ain't got no in-road, ain't nobody asked, and what you're saying is not marinated in utter compassion + conviction.    

On Twitter the other day I saw the most hilarious tweet by @majani_: "A detailed list of people who asked for your opinion: _______  _______  _______  _______  _______  _______  _______" It LITERALLY made me laugh out loud.  What a poignant reminder to mind ya bidness!  xoxoxo

pieces of me

This is my Grandaddy.  My Mom's Dad.  A picture (that I snagged from My Granny's album) taken in October 1966.  I remember him tilling the ground, planting seeds, watering and harvesting crops.  I remember corn stalks that seemed bent on kissing the sky.  I remember shucking corn.  All those doggone fine hairs!  I remember playing in the yard which seemed to go on and on forever and ever.  The joy of playing with my child in this same yard... of watching my child play with his cousins (just like I did once upon a time) in this same yard... The joy is inexplicable.  Same girl.  Same yard.  Different perspective.  

Today would have been his 81st birthday.  He's been in Heaven for 9 years now.  He was a preacher and hardworking father of nine (yeah, you read that right!) who taught me about God, the bible and hard work.  He taught me about avoiding foolywank, standing firm in my beliefs and telling the truth (first) to myself and others.  He taught me by example.  Grandaddy wasn't so much about talk as he was action.  Although this picture was taken many years ago, this is the way I remember him today.  Wearing his denim "overhauls" while tending to the garden after a long day at work.  When he took sick, I had been gone away from home for several years doing the college-working-married thing.  After a series of unsuccessful (botched) surgeries, he became weak and frail when he was supposed to be healing and recovering.  My family who took care of him during this time witnessed his decline firsthand.  I still have mixed feelings about living so far away during that time.  Not guilt but a deep and tender space for those who gave so much.  Gosh, I love my family.  We are not perfect, that's for sure, but we love each other unconditionally and as I grow older, I realize unconditional love is a gift that is rare, precious and full of immeasurable value.  

Happy Birthday, Grandaddy!  Say hello to Josh for me!  Thank you for pouring yourself into me.  Your influence in my life is still present every day.  Every single day.  From my faith and convictions to character and family values, your life is so much a part of mine.  I even find myself yawning in the same loud and obnoxious way that you did and after I'm done yawning, I always laugh and then smile.  

gems from andy rooney

"Computers make it easier to do a lot of things but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done."

"I didn't get old on purpose. It just happened. If you're lucky, it could happen to you."

"It would be a better world if everyone in it knew all the truth about everything."

"Most of us end up with five or six people who remember us.  Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives."

"Death is a distant rumor to the young." 

"If you wonder what anyone thinks of you, consider what you think of them."

"Being broke is a terrible feeling but it’s probably an experience everyone ought to have once in a lifetime."

"One question in my mind, which I hardly dare mention in public, is whether patriotism has, overall, been a force for good or evil in the world. Patriotism is rampant in war and there are some good things about it. Just as self-respect and pride bring out the best in an individual, pride in family, pride in teammates, pride in hometown bring out the best in groups of people. War brings out the kind of pride in country that encourages its citizens in the direction of excellence and it encourages them to be ready to die for it. At no time do people work so well together to achieve the same goal as they do in wartime. Maybe that's enough to make patriotism eligible to be considered a virtue. If only I could get out of my mind the most patriotic people who ever lived, the Nazi Germans."

"It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."

"Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it."

Andy Rooney reminds me of the times when news reports provided facts and nothing else.  A time when common sense was valued and respected by most, if not all.  

That desk, those books and all that paper... 

This is how I will forever remember him:

image credit

Andy Rooney 

1919-2011 

Your wisdom and wit will be missed.  

Word with the Wise Wednesday: My Hubster

1. What important life lessons have you learned so far?
Be content with what you have.
Let love be your motivating force.  
Base actions and decisions on the word (scripture) and what God is leading you to do.


2. How is the world today different or similar to what it was like when you were a child?
Today the world moves at a faster pace.  There is an overwhelming amount of communication in the form of calls, emails and texts.  It is also much easier to access information, which is a good thing.  If you need something (from a store), you can get it almost immediately.  Stores used to be closed on Sundays and late at night, but now you can shop anytime online or at stores that are open 24 hours.


3. What has been your hardest lesson to date?
Standing firm in my convictions and not taking on guilt or shame (from others).  


4. What is the one thing you want people to remember about you?
That I was a passionate believer and follower of Christ who operated in truth and love.