well, I I threw caution to the wind and bought a Powerball ticket this evening. Woth only an hour and a half to spare. The grocery store I usually shop at had posted in "out of order" sign on the machine. Seems that it had been overwhelmed I guess. So I went to the nearby drugstore, and it also had an out-of-order sign. I began to think this was a sign from above. Don't waste your money. You shouldn't be gambling anyway.
But I couldn't resist. One of the store clerks came over and helped me buy a ticket. She said the machine has been acting up but the worst that would happen would be that they would have to refund my money. So I gave her my $2 and I bought a quick pick. Now I have my numbers. I promised the clerk i would share of I win. The thing about the lottery is it is like buying a dream. It is giving yourself a chance to fantasize what it would be like if I have all the money I ever needed. I doubt that I would win but you never know! So at least for the next hour until the actual drawing, I will be dreaming about what life would be like with more money than I can even imagine having. I like to think I will be benevolent and generous. I'm not sure exactly what I would do but I'm sure a lot of people would have some very good ideas. Anyway the deed is done and I wait. Fantasies are flowing through my head. I have to think that I probably would keep it under wraps for a while. It would be is wickedly fun to be fantastically wealthy and have no one know it. So here we go. Shouldn't be long. And in the meantime happy dreaming! Got your numbers?
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1/8/2016 2 Comments TGIF: A Friday State of MindI woke up in the middle of the night last night and realized it was Friday. Friday. I don't care what your do, Friday is always Friday. It is always the end of the week. This is true even if you are retired or would, say, Wednesday through Sunday with Monday and Tuesday off. Your "Friday" may be on Sunday, but still, Friday is always Friday. Simply because the world has said it is so. Today at Costco, because it seemed particularly hectic with long lines, I asked her if she was gonna make it. She smiled and said, "Yes, because my shift is almost over and today is my Friday." I don't think she realized how ironic what she had said was. On Fridays I tend to realize, as I'm sure many people do, another week is about to end. Like the year just ended, it is going into the history books. This one happens to be the first week of the new year, but it is just like all the others. Today, Friday, is a marker....a marker of time. It is a marker of just how much time has passed. And, if you are paying attention, it brings into focus just how much you may or may not have accomplished. Now I understand that is putting an awful load of pressure on a day of the week, but, truly, that is what Friday is about....at least for me. So today I spent the day working on a project I have been long avoiding. I began the clearing out and reorganizing of my office/studio. OMG. I filled an 18 gallon bag with old papers and shredded documents that had been accumulating on my desk for quite some time. I sorted papers to keep and items that need to be donated or sold. Even though I barely made a dent and the room looks worse than when I started, I made progress. It was something. It was a Friday of moderate progress. Now, when I look back on the day, and then the week, I am realizing the week as a whole was a week of moderate progress. I did a blog every day. I wrote morning pages every day. I began a short story that I think has potential. I had some quality time with some quality people. I enjoyed some time to myself to just read and veg and watch a few of my favorite shows. In other words, it was a fairly successful week...and week of moderate progress. Sometimes moderate progress is just the right amount for a body. And what better day than Friday to sit back and reflect on that? Sudden insights, known as epiphanies, are personal in nature. "Aha!" we say to ourselves. "Now I see! Now I understand!" And then, if you're like most people, you move on. I do. But there are those rare times that it actually changes your life. You act on that insight and you are never quite the same. You grow. Your life changes course. The river shifts to a new flow. Your eyes see things differently. I find epiphanies are fleeting and don't matter much if you don't act on them. If the Magi had not reported what they saw, the course of history might have been very different. As I write this, I am actually having an epiphany. Imagine. I started out thinking epiphanies don't matter much. In this country, most of us do much about this day when everything changed in the Bible. Just another day for most of us. Then I thought, wow, it's all about being mindful. Its about remembering who we are and why we are here. Its all about living the life we were meant to live and figuring out what that life might look like. Moving forward. Getting through. There's more to life than that. As this day of sudden insight unfolds, I am reminding myself to pay attention. Remember to look for those revelations that are everywhere. We just have to be open to seeing them. Epiphany. It's not just the twelfth day after Christmas. It can be everyday. Just look for the signs. They are everywhere. ---- Note: This is the day in the Bible when Christ manifested to the Gentiles via the Magi (the three kings). In Christendom, it is the day of festival of commemoration of when Christ revealed himself as the divine son of God. It is also defined as a moment of sudden revelation or insight. the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12).
1/5/2016 1 Comment Something to Think AboutJust going on day to day, not thinking, not pondering, not even worrying, just is not the way it was meant to be. Think. That is why we were given a brain: to use it. And if you don't believe in God as your creator, you have to admit you still have a brain. You have a brain, whether you want it or not. So you might as well use it. You will find yourself using your brain whether you want to or not. You can't avoid it. The brain just kicks in and automatically. It makes decisions for you if you don't pay attention. Its pretty basic. You have a brain to think with, a heart to feel with. You have eyes to see, ears to hear, a tongue to taste and a nose to smell with. You who uses these things to make sense of the world around you. You use these things to understand and make judgements...to stave off your hunger for food, comfort and affection. It is survival pure and simple. It is up to you to master these wonderful tools at your disposal. As they say, the brain is a terrible thing to waste. It is where your mind dwells. When used properly, it can do wonderful, beautiful things. I've often thought (Note: with my brain) that maybe we should be licensed to use what we have. Some training wouldn't hurt. We are responsible for our own thoughts and feelings. How we use them is up to us. Something to think about. Updated from 10/11/11 from http://qwerki1.blogspot.com/ This morning I was out walking my dogs. I went up Elizabeth Street to Magnolia. Lately I have been avoiding this area because of all the transients and crazy drivers. Today I just thought it would be nice to see what was in the windows of the second-hand stores and GoodWill that line Elizabeth. As I walked, I saw a man headed toward me. He apparently had just left where a woman was busily packing up her bedding from the night. I crossed the street to avoid them. It was then he called out, "Good morning, sir! Happy New Year!" Nothing more.
I hadn't seen these particular folks before. In fact, it seemed the usuals I was normally encountered there were not present. I wondered if something had changed. Had there been a changing of the guard? Was there a ushering out of the usuals and these were the new street people? I didn't give it much more thought than that before I returned the man's friendly smile, and said, "Happy New Year to you too," before continuing on my walk. As I walked on I though about how this was the first Monday of the new year. Although the year was going on four days old, people everywhere were still greeting each other with "Happy New Year." When I worked in an office, for most of the 30 years I was there, it was an annual ritual to wish everyone you encountered good luck and happiness after the calendar turned. It always seemed so on the first Monday of the year. Perhaps it is because the first Monday is the first day of the first week. The pages of the new calendar are blank and waiting for appointments, dates and to-do's to be written in. There is optimism in the air. On television, the winter series of all the programs begin. The holidays are sweet and sometimes bittersweet memories. The cycle begins again. And we are hopeful that this year it will be different. First Mondays like most firsts are bright and laden with expectations and inspirations. People are still nice to each other. It is a time of the year I like very much. |
Rob McMurray,
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