Author: energywriter

I giggle at the least provocation and love to pass my warped sense of humor to anyone who will listen or read. My favorite activities are my individual play dates with my five great-grandsons. No, I'm not THAT old. My family just has a tradition of marrying at five years old. Seriously, I am retired from the State of Wisconsin where my favorite job was as an outreach coordinator for aviation/space education. I've been a reporter for two newspapers, a copy editor for an international agricultural program, and been published in several regional magazines. My degree is in Professional Communication from Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wis. While they didn't promote humor writing, the instructors fostered an atmosphere of looking at the world through a lens that would allow us to explore what was being said beneath the obvious.

Happy New Year – or is it?

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

This is not a rant about all the troubling events throughout the world. Aren’t you glad?

Rather, this is a short blog about time and our experiences. Perhaps it contains thoughts that are new and strange to you. I ask you to read with your mind open and feel free to contact me to discuss your thoughts.

Einstein and other prominent scientists, as well as many spiritual leaders, have explained that all time is simultaneous. If time is simultaneous we have no new year to celebrate. I have no wish to “harsh your mellow.” If you wish to celebrate the new year, go for it. Parties are fun and what better excuse than a perceived new year?

I’m not sure I understand this time concept, but I know it changed my thoughts about things like new years. I enjoy every moment of preparing for and celebrating birthdays and holidays. I wonder how time can be simultaneous when I can see my great-grandsons growing seemingly minute by minute, or I look in the mirror and see wrinkles and gray hair that wasn’t there 20-30-40 years ago. This seems to be proof that time is continuous. If time was simultaneous I wouldn’t age. Or would I?

Then I recall the simultaneous thing and realize that I was here when the Earth was formed. I was here when pyramids were built. I was here when the United States became an independent nation. And I was present at my high school graduation. I’ve always been here – and so have you. What an empowering thought.

We’ve earned our wrinkles and gray hair. I often wish I’d remember what I learned during those long ago years. However, I also know that I don’t want to recall the catastrophic events.

Don’t giggle, you beautiful young men and women. You’ll arrive here someday and wonder where the years have gone. How did your babies become grandparents? Where did your bikini body go?

Time is simultaneous but our lives have beginnings and ends, then begin and end again and again. We never really die, but move to a different dimension to learn what we need to know for our next human lifetime. There is a reason we don’t recall who we were here before. It might affect how we respond to certain events. Our goal is to react according to what we know at the moment, not what we knew 1,000 years ago.

Now, let’s get back to the pending New Year’s Eve that leads into a new year, 2015. Enjoy it to the fullest no matter your circumstances. If you happen to be alone, do something that will make you happy. Watch a silly movie, or a football game. Read a book that has been on your to-do list for many years. Eat some popcorn and drink a soda, or be classy and enjoy cheese and wine. Play Monopoly by yourself. You’re sure to win. You’ll take that win with you the rest of your days.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Peace, love and joy will be with you every moment of 2015.

Meditation

Creator Spirit,

Thank you for giving us knowledge and the willingness to live in peace, love and joy each day, no matter what those days bring. Just knowing that You have always been here to guide us and teach us what we need to know to live each day to the fullest is the greatest gift you have given us.

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

Please feel free to share this blog, giving credit where credit is due.

Thoughts to Ponder

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

“Your individuality is the most valuable thing you have.”

Martha Beck

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”

Buddha

 Message

Life takes many twists and turns. It leads us up and down hills, eventually to the beach. Often we slog through a few swamps or deserts on our way to the beach.

As children and young adults we are taught:

  • You were born to be poor. So accept it.
  • This family has been farmers since 1607, so that is your destiny.
  • College is for people who are too lazy to work for a living

Somehow, we know deep inside that we belong on the beach. We can be rich, city people or well-educated. We don’t know how we know, but we do. So we nurture those thoughts in secret until one day they burst into bloom. Then we know that we have to move forward or die inside. We were not meant to be the person that we were told we should be. It is time to move forward.

This applies to our personalities as well as our outside lives. We may have grown up in a dour family, but our natural inclination is a sunny personality. We, like Ebenezer Scrooge, can through off life’s hard lessons and become the person we really are. We can be the person who “is the result of what we have thought.” When we reach that point we realize we no longer have to “fit in” but that our “individuality is the most valuable thing” we have.

So what if you want to be an artist or an actor. We must follow our inside path, no matter what our age. Grandma Moses became a famous artist in her 80s. Others have blossomed late as well.

One example is Abraham Lincoln. He was born to be a poor farmer, yet he sought to learn whenever and wherever he could. I doubt he ever thought he’d be a United States President during our nation’s most serious crisis. But he knew he didn’t belong on the farm and he followed that path. His life story doesn’t indicate that he was happy, but he knew he was doing what he was put on Earth to do.

No matter our age or station in life, we can look inside and know who we are supposed to be. We can recognize those thoughts we’ve nurtured and begin to live by their wisdom. What others think no longer matters. We become what we think we are.

 

Meditation

Creator Spirit,

Thank you for planting a seed inside us that guides us to our real selves. Thank you for nurturing it while we face challenges and must keep the seed hidden. We are grateful when the day comes that we can let the seed grow and we finally become who we really are.

And so it is.

© by Sharon Dillon, December 12, 2014

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

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

Author of 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

Contents may be forwarded, but please give credit where credit is due and erase all email addresses on original message.

Thoughts to Ponder – November 30, 2014

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

“Losses are only devastating when you think they’re permanent.

They never are.”

Mike Dooley*

Grieving the loss of a loved one can be a short or long process, depending on how you look at the situation. I lost five family members before I allowed myself to grieve and learned the process wasn’t scary. This admittedly strange situation occurred because of the circumstances around their passing. The first four passed when they were suffering severe pain from their illnesses and longing to be free. Each time I celebrated their freedom from pain and misery.

The fifth was my son who had a massive heart attack. Nita, a dear friend, came to my rescue and told me to pull myself together. I had to tell his sisters and prepare for the trip to Minnesota to claim his ashes and close his house. In the meantime she stayed with me, made phone calls, ran errands and encouraged me to keep moving forward.

Everything was accomplished and early the next morning my daughter and I began our three day drive to Minnesota. Because so much had to be done, I pushed grief out of my consciousness. I also knew that people only transition when they are ready, no matter what the circumstances.

The main thing I remember about that day was when the woman from Life Source called to obtain information about harvesting his organs. I answered the questions to the best of my ability, until she came to this question. “When your son travelled to Africa, did he have sex with a black man while there?” After catching my breath, I responded. “That’s not something a man tells his mother.”

Last December the grief of all five losses came to the forefront. I went to work and did what needed to be done, otherwise I allowed myself to feel my loss, but not wallow in it. About four months later life called me back to the present. All these words are an introduction to my story.

Recently I received yet another invitation to travel to Minnesota to a gathering of organ/tissue donor families. I talked it over with my daughters. They said, “Mom, the purpose of this trip is not to relive the loss but to reconnect with Linda (Dan’s partner). You’ve been friends for many years and have not seen her since that awful trip to Minnesota three years ago.”

I flew to Madison, WI where Linda picked me up and hosted me at her home. The next day we celebrated Kathleen’s birthday – a wonderful reunion. We drove around Watertown, where she lived, so I could reacquaint myself with my old stomping grounds and see how that sleepy little town had grown into a small metropolis.

We drove to Chaska, Minnesota and explored that beautiful city. The people were friendly and the food delicious. All the while I was freezing my “you know what” in the near zero temperatures, snow and wind. I had just left 50-60 degree weather.

The reunion was held in the University of Minnesota Arboretum. The keynote speaker, a beautiful young woman, played “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes as she entered. She then told us that she was a double lung recipient; Amazing Grace, indeed.

Four hundred people participated. Several shared their stories. I was struck by how many spoke of their family members as being “dead.” A brave little girl (I estimate sixth grade) talked about finding her unresponsive father on the floor only six weeks before. A young woman talked about losing her baby at 11 weeks. She ended by saying, “This shows you can help another whether you are 11 weeks old or 66.” I gasped. Does this mean I’m too old to donate?

We lit candles in memory of our loved ones and took our donor’s candle home. We also received hand-blown glass hearts. Life Source had collected photos of the donors and presented a slide show. By watching the donor faces I learned that I’m not too old to donate any useable parts.

I end with this plea. Please enroll with a donor registry service and carry the card in your wallet. I’m registered with U.S. Living Will Registry. The paperwork was handled by my local hospital.

 Spirit,

 Thank you for this beautiful experience. Each loss gave the gift of life to a suffering person. I thank you for the opportunity to connect with three dear friends. These events reminded me to be more grateful for my family and friends who are still with me. Even the cold and snow reminded me to be grateful for the mild temperatures where I live.

And so it is.

 *This quote is taken from Dooley’s book, The top ten things dead people want to tell YOU, 2014, Hay House USA.

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

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

Author of 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

Thoughts to Ponder

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

“The future our hearts have already have mapped for us
gains the energy and momentum to
break through the shell of fear and into our material lives.”
Martha Beck

Message

Some of us are fortunate and know from the time we are small children what our goals are and spend our time and energy working toward those goals. Many of us, though, tend to wander through life not knowing what we want to be when we grow up, even into our 60s or even later. Some of us are told that our dreams are unreasonable and we should stick to what is before us; working hard at a job that we hate but pays the bills and raising another generation without dreams and ending our lives bitter and tired.

Most of us know that there is a seed of a dream within us. No matter what that dream is, we nurture it, sometimes in secret, sometimes sighing to our friends, “I wish I could . . . .” Obligations or naysayers may delay our dreams. Even so, the tiny seed remains, perhaps not growing, but still alive.

Then a day comes when we are free to let the seed grow. We take a class, try doing something new, or take a short trip. That was fun! We do it again and again and again, each time bigger and better. Each time we repeat the activity our seed grows a little more. One day it comes to full flower and our friends can see it in our eyes and our energy. They know we are changed. We aren’t the “old” us. We are “new and improved.” Our energy is higher. Our enthusiasm is contagious.

We have finally become who we really are.

Meditation

Creator Spirit,
Thank you for planting a seed inside us that guides us to our real selves. Thank you for nurturing it while we face challenges and must keep the seed hidden. We are grateful when the day comes that we can let the seed grow and we finally become who we really are.
And so it is.

© by Sharon Dillon, October 25, 2014

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net and Laugh your way to peace, love and joy at http://energywriter.me
Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists
Author of 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

Contents may be forwarded, but please give credit where credit is due and erase all email addresses on original message.

I must be a squirrel

by energywriter, posted in Humor

Before those of you who know me fall down laughing – I admit it. I am also squirrelly. I say odd things at odd times and forget if I’m going forward or backward. I’m out of underwear. That’s okay, the laundry will wait until tomorrow. Having proved my credentials, on to proving my assertion.

I’ve decided I must be a squirrel because it is October and I’m acting like a squirrel. I’m throwing out old nesting materials and bringing in new. Each month local charities collect clothes and other items to sell in their resale stores. Many months go by with nary a donation. But in September, October and November their donation bags are overflowing, sometimes with extra bags and boxes alongside.

The past two winters I was not well and did not do my annual file exchange. Usually, I remove the ending year’s files into my “keep just in case I get audited” box. Then I shred documents more than three years old and recycle them. Since I had a work break recently that project is finished. The shreds filled six paper grocery bags.

Other evidence of my squirrel genes lies in my freezer and cupboard. Outdated food is out and new is in. This often involves something I avoid in warmer months – cooking.

A few weeks ago my daughter gave me a bag of yams, I think. I never could tell yams from sweet potatoes. These had reddish skin with yellowish-greenish insides. During the first week I baked three. Even though the color was yucky, they were yummy with butter and salt and pepper.

Realizing I’d never eat them all before they turned to mush with a rash of white spots, I decided to bake them all at once. I piled them all on a baking sheet and stuck them in the oven. After they baked and cooled I peeled and mashed them without toppings. They filled four 2.5 cup freezer containers.

A couple weeks ago the same daughter suggested we stop at the grocery after my doctor had just given me caffeine, alcohol and driving restrictions for my vertigo. I walked into the grocery store holding on to my daughter’s arm looking like she had just rescued me from the local watering hole. Spying the fall veggies I had a brilliant idea. I’d make my first winter pot of root soup.

My daughter agreed. Why? If I could barely walk alone, why would she trust me with sharp objects? Thinking somewhat sanely I bought the smallest rutabaga and turnips I could find. I staggered my way out of the store feeling proud of purchasing good, healthy food. I’ll not mention the frozen fruit bars that were also in the bags.

Once home, sanity prevailed and I let the veggies sit in the refrigerator until I could walk without holding on to the walls and even walk the ¼ mile round trip to my mailbox.

Two days ago, I decided I could handle a knife safely and began chopping vegetables. Potatoes, carrots, celery, onions all went smoothly. I peeled the rutabaga and turnips with no more trouble than any other year. Chopping now, that’s another story.

I started with the same knife I had been using for the other vegetables. It went in just far enough to get stuck. After I tried wiggling the knife and cursing, the rutabaga finally released the knife. Solution – get a larger chopping knife. Oops, same results. Trying to release it was more scary knowing what this knife would do to my fingers and other body parts if it slipped. Finally, the rutabaga took pity on me and released that knife too.

What to do? I went to my arsenal, er, cutlery drawer and pulled out the heaviest weapon. “Okay, rutabaga, you are only three inches wide and this blade is eight inches long. It is time for you to surrender.” I gently placed the middle of the blade on the rutabaga, one palm on the back of the blade’s pointed end and the other on the handle. Using my substantial body weight, I pressed down. “Take that, rutabaga!”

Soon it and the turnips joined the other vegetables in the pot. I filled the pot with water and all sorts of seasonings and set it on my largest burner. Soon I had delicious soup that warmed my insides. I ate a good size bowl that day and the next. Then I filled four more freezer containers and added them to the yam stockpile.

If this doesn’t prove that I’m a squirrel, let me add one more fact. I eat nuts every day and peanut butter several times a week.

© by Sharon Dillon, October 17, 2014

Thoughts to Ponder

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

“I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become.”

Carl Jung

Message

Sometimes life can be rough, or even down-right mean. That doesn’t mean we have to reflect those events in our daily life. Seemingly, that is the easy road to travel. This thing has happened to me, so I can never smile/love/trust again. All, or most, of us start down that road when something horrible happens to us.

Luckily, we realize sooner or later that we don’t have to travel that bumpy, pot-hole filled road. We can decide whether we want to keep blowing out our tires or whether we’d rather drive on a road that is smooth with beautiful scenery on both sides. The change is usually slow because we tend to slip off the highway and back onto the bumpy road. Then we have to decide if we want to stay there or focus on getting back on the highway again.

Let me give you an example. Back in the late 1970s I worked in Unemployment Compensation. One day I was assigned to the in-take desk. An angry young man came to apply for benefits. We went through the usual format: name, address, etc., then we arrived at the big question: What are your job skills?

“I know how to kill people.”

Where did you last work. What was your job specialty?

“Artillery The Army didn’t teach me any job skills. They taught me how to kill people.”

So you learned mechanics and physics to figure out your trajectory.

“No, I learned to kill people.”

And so the conversation went for a few minutes. Finally, I wrote on his form, “U.S. Army Artillery, mechanics and math.”

I never saw him again. But even after all these years I think of him often and hope that he was one of the lucky ones who found their way back to “normal” after a horrendous experience. Normal is probably the wrong word to use here. Often normal means beaten up by life and holding on to sanity by a shoestring.

After years of grasping the shoestring, now I try to be grateful for all that happens to me and my loved ones. Sometimes it takes a little while to get back on the gratitude highway, often straddling the two roads for a time, but eventually I get there. I’ve learned that I can change nothing if I’m stuck in a rut. I have to get back to the highway if I want to make changes in my life or help someone else.

Today Martha Beck wrote in her message that it is time to change from paranoia to pronoia, or thinking that all is fine, no matter what life is throwing our way..

Meditation

Creator Spirit,

Thank you for the people who bring sage advice that can make our road a smoother ride. Thank you for giving us the ability to think through all the advice we receive and decide which path will lead us the to the gratitude road. Thank you for giving us the options to travel the bumpy or the smooth road. Thank you that we are alive today, no matter what pot-holes we are facing. Thank you for hope.

And so it is.

© by Sharon Dillon, October 13, 2014

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

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

Author of 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

Contents may be forwarded, but please give credit where credit is due and erase all email addresses on original message.

How to make a Turducken of yourself – and get your dishwasher fixed

by energywriter, posted in Humor

Ever since I bought my dishwasher many years ago, it has made a thunking noise and required an extra push to get the door to seal. Assuming it was made that way, I pushed and listened to the thunk. Events conspired to get it fixed last week, and I only had to make a turducken of myself.

My writing group was scheduled to meet at my house the next day and I needed to do a little bit of touch up cleaning. I pulled out my handy-dandy Swiffer© duster and began to dust. I poked that long handled gift from the cleaning fairies under, between and over dusty surfaces. I was so inspired that I even dusted things that had not been touched since the first Bush administration. The remaining dust appears to be from before the Stone Age, so I decided it should continue its progress toward making a new planet.

I had worked my way through the whole house and was finishing with the refrigerator top. I took a step back to better reach what was left. Wham! I was sitting on the dishwasher door and bottom rack. Colorful metaphors ensued. I just knew the appliance would need to be replaced.

Shifting my weight to stand and inspect the damage, I noticed a dinner fork was dangling from my left thumb. I pulled out the three embedded tines and headed for the bathroom to slap on a Band Aid©. There was a bright red trail along the way, looking like I had left melted, cherry popsicle drippings instead of bread crumbs to find my way back home.

Washing off the mess, I applied standard First Aid© and after taking a queasy break, I texted my daughter asking her to stop over when she had a chance to make sure I had bandaged it properly. She agreed to come a few hours later since she was currently babysitting her grandchildren.

I needed a shower badly. I could wash my body one-handed but not my messy hair, just dirt, not red stuff. I worked and worked to get a finger protector on my thumb. By the time I finally rolled it down to the thumb’s base, I was again leaking vital fluids. I cut off the original bandage and the protector.

After taking another queasy break, I rebandaged the turduken thumb. This time I added a vinyl glove and headed to the shower. Somehow I cleaned my body, but let me ask you this. Have you ever tried to shampoo and condition with one hand? I lathered here, then there, then another place, hoping all the hair was clean. Rinse and repeat the procedure with the wash-out conditioner. Toweling myself dry with one hand was another interesting experience. Then – how to apply leave-in conditioner? How much hair was actually covered is another good question.

A few hours later my daughter arrived, inspected the turducken thumb and drove to the closest drugstore and bought me some waterproof Band Aids©. She redressed the wound and prepared to leave. I asked her to check my dishwasher for damage because it was making new thunks and clunks. Inspecting the machine she found that a screw was missing. She replaced it and now the dishwasher closes properly with just a click.

© by Sharon Dillon, September 16, 2014
energywriter@cox.net; http://energywriter.me
Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, one of 14 stories published in The Book of Mom, booksyoucantrust.com, 20+ years experience writing for several newspapers and magazines.

Who am I?

by energywriter, posted in Home

At my age I don’t know how to make this story short and sweet but I’ll try.

I grew up in Ohio and recently attended my 50th high school reunion. I learned that old competitions and attitudes have melted away. In 1993 I graduated from Alverno College in Milwaukee. 2001 brought an early retirement from the State of Wisconsin and a move to Virginia’s Historic Triangle.

That was the wisest decision I’ve ever made. At the time my grandchildren were in middle school and this was my opportunity to get to know them before they became adults. Now my children, grandchildren and four great-grandsons are the light of my life. Of course, by now my children are mothering me, and I love it.

I’ve written for several newspapers and magazines in both Wisconsin and Virginia; great learning experiences and opportunities to meet many wonderful people. Now I blog for myself and hope to hone my skills to write a book or two before I crumble into a pile of ashes.

Additionally I am a Reiki Master Teacher and am now studying Science of Mind, a brain and soul expanding experience.

I welcome comments, whether they are suggestions for improvement or praise for a job well done.

Namaste

Thoughts to Ponder

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

“Today you are You,
That is truer than true.
There is no one alive
Who is Youer than You”
Dr. Seuss

Message

Dr. Seuss was the philosopher king of the 20th century. We raised our children with his silly verse and drawings, teaching them good behavior.

The only problem is that when we read Dr. Seuss to our children, we didn’t listen to what we were reading. Dr. Seuss spoke to adults as well as children. Please reread his quote and ask yourselves if you believe “there is no one alive who is Youer than You?”

Many of us grew up with questions like,
Why don’t you dress like ___?
Why aren’t you smart, athletic, or talented like your older brother/sister?”
When will you grow up and live up to your father’s/mother’s reputation/success?
What would your mother say if she knew ____?

Often those questions lead us to rebel in many little ways, sometimes in big ways. We didn’t know that we were actually just trying to be us, but we didn’t know how to do that. Often we absorbed the knowledge that we were “less than,” so how could we become the “you” we were born to be?

We were born unique and our life experiences were designed to teach us what we needed to learn to be the best “you” we could be. Some of us turned these learning experiences into opportunities. Some of us decided that we would always be second best or the worst, because we could not live up to others’ expectations. Now we know better.

It is never too late to become “you,” just “you” and no one else. If we haven’t started already, we can start right now. Before we make decisions or take actions, even small ones, we can ask ourselves, “Would the best me do this?”

Meditation

Creator Spirit,
Thank you for reminding us that we are unique. We each have our own goals and personalities. The more we remember that we are unique, the more we know that no one can be better or worse than we are in any moment. That knowledge will lead us to better words and actions. Today I choose to be the best me I can be.

And so it is.

© by Sharon Dillon, September 9, 2014

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net and Laugh your way to peace, love and joy at http://energywriter.me
Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists
Author of 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

Contents may be forwarded, but please give credit where credit is due and erase all email addresses on original message.

Passion, compassion, humor and style

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder

“My mission in life is not merely to survive,
but to do so with some passion,
some compassion,
some humor,
and some style.”
Maya Angelou

Message

Maya Angelou had the ability to tell us the hard truths gently. We knew she was telling us how to live fully. This quote reminds us that we must be multi-dimensional, rather than too focused on one part of our life. In order to live fully we must not just survive, but live with passion, compassion, humor and style. That sounds like a tall order, but it isn’t. This is merely a repeat of lessons taught us through the generations.

We must work, play and rest with our whole being, our passion. Working at a job or participating in a recreational activity we don’t like quickly drains our enthusiasm. Rest is particularly important. Our bodies do not regenerate if we limit our sleeping hours or if we’re reviewing our to-do lists as we begin to drift into Sandman territory.

Not only do we look at those less fortunate than we with compassion, but we must also treat ourselves with kindness and love. Throw the shoulda, woulda, couldas into the trash can. We must accept ourselves for who we are before we can become the people we want to be. That sounds backward, but is not. If we constantly go through our day thinking and saying, “I’d be better off if I could only lose 50 pounds or run a marathon,” we will accomplish neither. We need to say, “This is the weight I am and these are the physical abilities I have today. I choose to use them to the best of my ability.” With that attitude, miracles happen.

Have you ever noticed that when you have a headache and feel like your head is going to explode then someone comes along and tells you a joke. You begin to laugh, and soon the headache is gone.

Humor also heals relationships. For example, one person will tell another, “You’re acting like a stupid a$$. “
The other one begins to bray.
“What are you doing? We’re trying to solve a difficult issue here.”
“You called me ‘a stupid a$$,’ so I thought I’d act like one.”
Now both are laughing and the problem is solved by the pair working together.

Everyone has his or her own style. Maya Angelou carried her great height with flair and wore clothes that enhanced her appearance, but most of all she had her own particular way of relating to those around her. Often we say, “I wish I had so-and-so’s way of walking, talking, wearing clothes.” We don’t need that person’s style. We have our own. If we don’t like our style we can change it, as long as it fits our personality and environment.

We create our own passion, compassion, humor and style. What we do and how we do it is unique to each of us. We have no need to copy another person. We are unique and can carry that individuality with panache or we can schlep through life being invisible. Which would you rather do?

Meditation

Creator Spirit,
Thank you for reminding us that we are unique, yet we each have passion, compassion, humor and style. The more we remember that we are unique, the less we have a desire to fit in, to be one of the crowd. Crowds don’t solve problems or heal someone’s aching heart. Individuals do. Today we chose to be the very best unique people we can be.
And so it is.

© by Sharon Dillon, August 26, 2014

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net and Laugh your way to peace, love and joy at http://energywriter.me
Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists
Author of 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

Contents may be forwarded, but please give credit where credit is due and erase all email addresses on original message.