October 2015 – Laugh your way to peace, love and joy

Missing – beautiful vixen

October 30, 2015October 30, 2015 by energywriter, posted in Humor

As Joe sat reading the newspaper he opened it to the classified section. There in large print was a concisely written notice.

“Missing – beautiful vixen with long, silky red hair.
Likes to disguise her sly personality with a come-hither smile.
Call 555-1212 if you see her.”

Joe was in shock. The ad must be talking about Susan, his new girlfriend. She had appeared out of nowhere. She had beautiful, long red, wavy tresses that flowed nearly to her waist. Her dazzling smile made men fall instantly in love with her. She was tall with an athletic build and ran five miles every morning, returning to their apartment glistening with perspiration, but breathing evenly and easily. She loved to eat steak, but sadly did not know how to cook. That left Joe picking up the tab for frequent meals at high-cost steak houses. He didn’t mind that, but sadly, Joe was learning the hard way that beneath her lovely exterior lurked a prickly personality that quickly shifted to explosive anger. Joe had been thinking, trying to find a way to break-up with Susan that wouldn’t make her anger flare in a frightening way.

Here was the answer! She was missing. Perhaps she had a form of amnesia. That would explain her reluctance to talk about her family. It would also account for her underlying anger. Fear and loss can do that to a person. Joe could return Susan to her family, knowing she would be safe. This kind act would also give him some breathing room from her mercurial personality. If she recovered they could resume their relationship in a calmer manner. Those thoughts filled Joe with hope.

Confidently, Joe walked to the counter, picked up his phone and dialed 555-1212. Imagine his surprise when the voice at the other end said, “County Zoo. May I help you?”

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy”

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Author of “Twins! Oh no!,” one of 14 stories in The Book of Mom: Reflections of Motherhood with Love, Hope and Faith, published by booksyoucantrust.com. Available in print and e-format at Amazon.com.

Just what we are

October 22, 2015October 22, 2015 by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder – October 22, 2015

“What should I be but just what I am?”

Edna St. Vincent Millay*

This quote says everything about us. Yet we don’t believe it. Most of us spend too much time finding fault with what we were given or have accumulated. We think:

I weigh too much.
I don’t earn enough money.
I should be _____.
And on and on and on.

On one level, I believe that I am just what I am supposed to be. Yet I find it hard to undo many years of people, especially me, telling me that I’m not enough, physically, mentally and spiritually. I’m learning and moving forward with what often seems amazing speed. At other times I feel like I’m still living in poor-me land.

So here I am, a work in progress. One day I was complaining that I wasn’t “there” yet. A friend told me that we never get “there” as long as we are on this planet. We only get “there” once we’ve transitioned to a higher realm, whatever you choose to call it. She was right.

We’re all a work in progress. We think we fall short, and often we do, because we think we are not enough. We regret that we aren’t what we “should, could, would be, if only….” What we need to remember that “if only” is already inside us. We are all we need to be. If we can accept that premise, we will move forward steadily into what we are meant to be. Our hopes and dreams can come true – if we allow it to happen.

This seems impossible, and may be. Even those we call saints found fault with themselves. However, we can accept ourselves where we are, today, this minute, shortcomings and all. If we do this as often as we notice a negative thought floating through our minds, we will see ourselves making progress. Each bit of progress we see, will show us that we are okay, being just what we are.

Spirit,

Please remind us each day that we are the highest and best we that we can be.

And, so it is.

* “The Singing-Woman from the Woods”, pg.38, O the Oprah Magazine, September 2014

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy”

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Listen to your heart

October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder – October 21, 2015

“Listen to your heart. It knows all things,

because it came from the Soul of the World,

and it will one day return there.”

The Alchemist*

Listening to our hearts is often difficult. Some people do it instinctively. Regrettably, most of us tend to listen to outside voices, rather than our hearts and bodies.

Just watch a newborn and you will see that he knows what he needs. She cries when she is hungry and automatically turns to her mother’s breast. He cries when he is wet and we respond by changing his diaper. Of course, we’ve all experienced times when neither the bottle nor the diaper meet the baby’s needs and we pace the floor for hours trying to soothe her. The baby knows what he needs, but we are thinking in adult mode, so are unable to provide it.

As we grow we are taught to conform to expected norms. We sit still in school, do our homework, then sit in front of the television because our parents fear what lies outside. I’m not saying that the fear is unreasonable. It just doesn’t fit what our bodies and hearts need.

We continue to grow along those patterns and follow anticipated social norms. Then one day we are adults who don’t know what we want to do, just that what we are doing doesn’t feel right. We are unhappy and make those around us unhappy. Too many souls return to the Universe with sad hearts.

Some of us rebel and are considered learning disabled or socially unacceptable. Many people who contribute scientific discoveries or beauty to our world are slotted into that category.

Some of us don’t comprehend our path until we are older and have to dig down into our souls to find the courage to follow our hearts. The change can be difficult, but rewarding with old worries, heavy hearts and body pains fading away as we begin follow our new, but original paths.

A few of us are fortunate to understand our calling while still children and are encouraged by those around us to follow our hearts. What a joy to live that life!

If we as adults can learn to follow our hearts we will raise a whole generation of children who live according to their hearts. Can you imagine how wonderful that will be?

Spirit,

Please open our souls to hear to our hearts calling. We know they never stopped calling. We stopped listening. We choose to live according to our heart knowledge, realizing that we and everyone around us will be happier. We choose to return to the Universe with happy hearts.

And, so it is.

* The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo, pg. 132, HarperCollins Publishers

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy”

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Grandma’s Clothes

October 17, 2015October 17, 2015 by energywriter, posted in Humor

Grandmothers nowadays don’t dress the way they did when I was a child. Thank goodness. If they did I’d be a fashion disaster. We’re not going to mention that I’m barely above crisis intervention.

My great-grandmother would probably approve of my wardrobe, though she might look askance at my neon green running shoe laces. She might possibly be puzzled by what is currently fashionable. Of course, no one ever accused me of being fashionable. Even more scandalous, I don’t wear a full apron, most of the time I don’t wear any apron.

Some of you reading this are lost in a fog. You say, “She’s a young woman. What is she talking about?” Well, I hope that’s what you’re saying.

Grandma was born in 1866 and lived to see men orbiting the Earth. She was quite the dare-devil as a girl and young woman. One time, against their mother’s rules, she and her sister pierced each other’s ears with a darning needle and heavy thread to keep the holes open until they could get to town to buy earrings. Their mother was angry at this disobedience, but said, “What’s done is done.”

As a young woman she was horse-back riding with her finance, my great-grandfather, when he made a derogatory remark about women riding side-saddle and not being real riders. Grandma threw her leg over the saddle and whipped her horse into a gallop. As the two raced into town, witnesses were scandalized at her unladylike behavior.

Grandma’s everyday wardrobe was a dark floral print cotton dress (tiny flowers, of course) that fell to mid-calf . Her sleeves reached to the middle of her lower arms, no matter what the weather. She kept her dress clean with a flour sack apron that covered her from her neck to nearly the bottom of her dress and most of the way around back. Her legs were modestly covered in cotton stockings, affixed just below her knees with a firm twist and tuck.

Those stockings came in handy one day many years later. My neighbor was working at an assisted living facility and one of her clients needed her stockings fixed. She tried to follow the woman’s instructions but couldn’t get the stockings to stay up. When she told me her problem, I hauled out a pair of knee socks and showed her how to twist and tuck.

For church or going visiting Grandma wore a black dress of a softer material, with a broach and her, once forbidden, earrings. On those days she wore opaque silk stockings. This was proper attire when she became a widow in the early 1930s. She saw no reason to change.

All this description and I haven’t come to her shoes yet. You may be interested to know that they are currently stylish. Grandma wore black leather lace-up shoes with chunky heels about 1½ inches high.

Grandma disapproved of my summer wardrobe of shorts and what was similar to what we now call crop tops. She fussed at Mom on a regular basis, telling her to protect my skin so I wouldn’t pop out with more unsightly freckles. However, Grandma’s big to-do was over a sun bonnet. Grandma insisted I wear one, but I flat out refused. It was the only time I ever got away with saying “no” to an adult. Mom had hated wearing one as a child so did not force me to submit.

Little did anyone know that many years later I would sit in a dermatologist’s office and kick my own butt for not listening to Grandma. If I had listened to her I would not be having these mini-surgeries and UV-Blue treatments now. But if I had listened . . . .

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy”

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Nine minutes a day

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder – October 2, 2015

“Procrastination always delivers stress and disappointment…

so what are you waiting for…

do it now.”

Window of Wisdom*

Life goes in cycles. Sometimes I’m focused on writing, then on housework and other times on yard work. Right now my focus is on the many inches of rain saturating this area, creating flood zones and leaving our trees and homes vulnerable to the forces of Hurricane Joaquin that will be arriving in the next couple days. My question is how do we keep up with all our activities at once?

Some people seem to be able to juggle many balls at once. I struggle to keep one in the air at any given time. I have a million excuses for procrastinating. I’m —

tired after working all day,

choosing to spend time with the great-grandsons,

wanting to write or finish a project,

and so on.

The list is endless. As a result I tend to feel like I’m not accomplishing anything important, like blogging on a regular basis.

Last year I had some health issues, nothing terrible, mostly annoying, but I just didn’t feel up to home tasks. Work took all my energy. Now my health is good again, yet I was feeling overwhelmed by all that needed done. Recently I traveled to Niagara Falls and surrounding area with Road Scholar. The trip was fantastic. When I arrived home with a huge pile of paperwork, souvenirs and dirty laundry to add to the rest of the piles, my mind switched gears. I must organize. Now.

I spent part of one day just getting the vacation mess in order. The next day I spent several hours sorting my writing cabinet by “Things I’ve written,” “Quotes and ideas,” and “How to.” I had been tossing everything into any drawer just to get it off my work table. After that I was able to slow down a bit. Now I’m focusing on one small task at a time.

A few years ago a wise woman told me to tackle tasks in nine minute increments. She said nine minutes is enough to sort one drawer. Nine minutes each day would get my house organized in no time. That works for most things, but not my writing cabinet. But, once I managed that task, I’ve been able to tackle one small task at a time. Yesterday, I picked up a small pile that had been hiding in a corner and found it to be last year’s Christmas cards. Less than nine minutes took care of sorting them into cards to toss and cards from loved ones to keep.

Much of my time yesterday was spent moving plants and other items into my house and shed to protect them from the weather, shopping for nylon cord, water and batteries and tying down large items. Even with that huge task and working a short shift, I was able to sort the Christmas cards. My friend was right. Nine minutes was enough to take another step toward my end goal of having an organized home and to feel good that I accomplished something useful.

I still have a lot of small piles. Most of what’s in them can probably be filed in the recycling bin. Now I know they are manageable. Nine minutes a day really does save the stress level.

Spirit,

Thank you for showing me that I can accomplish more than I thought in just a few minutes a day. I still have much to sort and other tasks to tackle, yet it now seems manageable. Also, I ask that you protect all areas potentially affected by this storm. I know that fear draws disaster, so I ask that you ease the fears of all who are located in the storm’s path. Please show everyone what steps to take to prepare or evacuate as needed.

And, so it is.

* “A Window of Wisdom, #907, September 27, 2015

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy”

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists