Life…in general

So…life is seldom without a great deal of complication and trauma. How you deal with, compartmentalize and learn from negativity will define your success or failure in the long game. As I have grown older, my appreciation for life is such that I can no longer watch programs that involve Predation; though Lions are beautiful animals that must eat, I have never enjoyed watching them survive. And though I love Bacon, I now seldom eat it because, in all cases, a pig had to sacrifice its life for that to happen. I am not a Vegan and, I used to shake my head at such nonsense; now, I respect it and I even try to minimize my intake of meat…even chicken. Fish do not appear to have much of a life worth living so my diet is slowly switching to more fish. This is a healthier option as we age so, fish it is. With the right preparation, Red Snapper is my favorite fish. With each passing year, more and more of my friends and family are ending their fight for life and it is painful to over and over again realize that we are all just very temporary. “No one gets out alive!” was my battle cry for years and yet, just recently do I finally recognize just what that means. The Earth could end its orbit tonight. We travel at 66,000 miles an hour around our Sun and yet, no one believes that the Earth could experience a glitch. The Earth has always exited for us and we assume that it always will. So, we conceive of dreams, we have hopes and we plan our future. Most of us do this minimally and life just happens to us. We get a job after High School and, for many people, it becomes their career. And, for many of those people it is not a career…it is simply life. But…YOU HAVE CHOICES. For those who are unhappy with your job, your life, and what you have done. You must recognize that YOU have the power to change it. YOU have the power to change YOURSELF. To do this involves thinking and that…this very basic and simple premise…is the stumbling block. Whether you have a drinking problem, a bad temper, a sexual addiction, or worse…you have always been in the driver’s seat. That may not have been the case in a Nazi Concentration Camp but here, in the United States you can manage your destiny to a great degree. IT IS UP TO YOU. How will your day go today? If you fail to garner a smile or a ‘Thank You’ from several people then, you need to make some adjustments in your priorities. Life is about people…and animals but, mostly people. They will die and their life will compose a story. What will your part have been? Tim Allen was incarcerated for a drug crime many years ago and he testifies that prison was not horrible for him because he made people laugh. A happy life includes a lot of laughter. My Austrian mother was one of sixteen children so, I had a large family in Austria that I have visited often. Only one Uncle survives today. In 1970 – as a nineteen year old kid – I took it upon myself to travel to Austria and meet my family. All these years later, I can make this true statement about my Austrian Uncles…THEY LOVED TO LAUGH! At nineteen years old, they would take me to a Pub – one of several – and we would drink beer and laugh. I would laugh until my face hurt. The next day, I would laugh until my face hurt. Now, all of that is gone. Those wonderful days, those wonderful people are all part of the great past…from which there is no coming back. Cherish what you have and cherish the people in your life. If you can make them laugh, do so. If you can’t, learn how. IT IS UP TO YOU TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE LITTLE TIME THAT YOU HAVE.