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Monthly Archives: December 2020

Daily Ramblings – Final Post Friday – 2020

18 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Bonus Content

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2020, 2021, Blogging, Bye for Now, final post, Friends, New Year, Thank you

Well, it’s been a helluva year. I hope all of you have been safe, healthy, and happy. This will be my last posting for 2020, as I’m taking off the last few weeks in December to celebrate my favorite part of the year.

With this final post, I’m grateful to have made a few friends, including author K.M. Allan. So many stories of your lives, pictures and places you’ve traveled, and all the rest each of us enjoys talking about are truly a tremendous gift for me. Despite our lockdowns, we have a medium to write down our thoughts and share them with the world.

I’d also like to thank all of you, personally, for following my blog. I try to capture a bunch of different topics, unlike many out there that stick to one topic or idea. This year, I’ll be dropping some of my daily topics for others. I don’t know which ones yet, but I’ll be thinking about that before the New Year begins. As this blog grows, so will my ideas.

In closing, I wish all of you peace, happiness, and love in 2021. See you there!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Christmas food

17 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Cakes, candy, Christmas, Cookies, duck, goose, ham, Mashed Potatoes, Pies, Turkey, yams

It’s that time of year for pies, cakes, and cookies! Today, I’m thankful for these sweet morsels and all the great food during the holidays. Whether it’s a turkey, ham, goose, duck, or Cornish hen, they are all scrumptious.

I’m also grateful for my Mom and Sister for all the cooking they’ll do. My sister makes some killer deviled eggs. Mom makes awesome sweet potatoes, and all of her pies, cakes, and cookies are phenomenal.

So today, I’m grateful for the Christmas food.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – 5 Quotes

16 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore, Dale Evans, Edna Ferber, Happines, Holidays, Love, Peace, Taylor Caldwell, Thomas S. Monson

Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values.

Thomas S. Monson

Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.

Edna Ferber

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.

Dale Evans

Don’t let the past steal your present. This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone.

Taylor Caldwell

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Clement Clarke Moore

This is the last 5 quotes post for 2020. In light of the Christmas season, I chose quotes that are about Christmas, rather than selecting a specific author’s 5 quotes. I hope you enjoy them. If this is the only post you follow on my blog, Happy Holidays to you and your family. Wherever you are, I wish you much love, peace, and happiness during this great time of year.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – The History of Tea

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Ted Talk

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Tags

Comfort food, Food, Holidays, Shunan Teng, tea, Ted Talk, Tuesday

I’m finding some interesting history videos of different foods. I figured these were apropos for the season. I hope you enjoy it!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Final Stretch

14 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Workout Routine

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Tags

breaks, family, Friends, health, Holidays, Home Workout, physical training, Relax, Video Games

This year has been a crazy year for exercise enthusiasts. My wife, who is a competitive bodybuilder, all of her competitions were cancelled, and all of her gyms were closed off and on. The one thing she kept consistent was her diet, which she rocks, by the way.

This week, I’ll be doing another alternative exercise program. For those of you who know me, you know I’m an avid video game player. My current game of choice is Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. Because the game was just released, most of my holiday month (December) I will be gaming, hanging out with the family, and eating all the great food this time of year brings.

One of my buddies who served with me in the military had a cool habit that I joined in with him on. It was called commercial physical training. This is how it worked: We watch a television show, and each time a commercial came on, we would do one exercise for the duration of the commercial. I’m going to adapt this technique to video game playing. The “matches” we play on Call of Duty, last about 5 minutes each. So each time a match ends, I’ll do an exercise with as many reps as I can during the intermission between matches, which lasts about 2 minutes. I’ll concentrate on each body part, starting with the larger ones as I play. Once I’ve hit the entire body, I’m done for the day, unless I’m motivated and will add some stair step exercise to get in some cardio (walking up and down stairs for a minute or so).

You will be amazed at how taxing these routines are. I remember watching The Bob Newhart show overseas in our barracks, and you’d be amazed how many commercials play during one comedy show. My buddy and I were smoked by the time the show ended.

This will be my last week of posting for 2020. I take the last couple of weeks off each year, to review, organize, and plan for 2021. For those of you who follow this scheduled post every week and none of my other pages, I wish all of you a terrific, fun, and relaxing holiday season.

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Final Stretch of 2020

14 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Motivation Monday

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2021, Covid, family, Friends, Goals, Holidays, Planning, Recharging, Relax

As we approach the end of the year, I take some time to myself and review the current year and begin thinking about all the things I want to accomplish in 2021. Some of my friends think things will return to normal next year. I’m a little more pessimistic. I think many companies, organizations, and people have realized that with nasty bugs like COVID hanging around out there, we will not be able to conduct our lives the same way again. Change is inevitable. We all have to adapt, whether we like it or not. So as you make your 2021 plans, set your goals, and get your calendars set up, keep in mind that you may face many more interruptions and lockdowns, should this virus take another weird turn.

This will be the last week of posts for the year, as I move into holiday mode and take some time off from blogging to get myself aligned with my new set of goals in 2021. So, this Thursday will be my last post of 2020.

This week, if you haven’t already, take a look at what you’ve done this year. What goals did you hit? What goals did you miss? Did you miss your goals because you set the bar too high, weren’t motivated enough to push through to the finish line, or did COVID get in the way? If you’re not motivated enough to hit a goal, rethink why you set the goal in the first place. Did you really want to achieve it, or did you set the goal because you thought it was what you should do?

When I set goals, I think about what it will take to accomplish them. Do I really have the time? Do I really enjoy doing what that goal requires. If either answer is no, don’t set the goal. Do something else. Use contingency planning when setting your goals for the year. What happens if we get locked down again? What happens if I get sick? What happens if the resources I need to accomplish this goal become unavailable?

I’m assuming we will see a few more lockdowns in the upcoming months, depending on how quickly the vaccine is distributed to the public. With that in mind, my goals are going to concentrate on the things I am in 100% control of, regardless of lockdowns or no lockdowns.

Folks, it’s that time of year to enjoy family, friends, and relax a bit. If you’re like me, you’ve been working your tail off this year, pursuing your dreams and desires. For me, it’s a well-deserved break.

With that, I bid you adieu.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Take a Break

13 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spread Your Wings

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Tags

Break, Drink some coffee, Drink some tea, Enjoy yourself, Have Fun, Relax, Tis the season, Watch a show

This week’s challenge is the easiest one I’ve ever offered on this weekly post: Take a break this week. Do what you want to do. Read a book. Play some games. Watch your favorite television show. Whatever tickles your fancy. I’m playing Call of Duty this weekend, just so you know!

Have a great Sunday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – The Law of Grace

12 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Discipline, earn, God, Grace, heaven, Jesus, Karma, realization, Work

Jesus said, “Come unto me and be lifted up.” Many assume God’s grace comes to us merely by asking for it. It does, but only when we make some effort to attain it. You only get what you earn. Nothing is given freely.

It is so easy to see really bad people doing bad things and wondering why they never have to pay the price. They do. Karma has no time limit when it comes to paying back our debts. Karma always wins. People think they are getting away with cheating on their taxes, cheating on their loved ones, or pretending they are doing something noble, but in the end, Karma always comes back to bite us–in this lifetime or the next or the next or the next.

“Soul exists because God loves it.” – Sri Harold Klemp. These words have changed meaning as I have matured on the spiritual path of ECKANKAR. Gods love is much different from the love you have for your pets or loved ones. It is an impersonal and powerful love. As I have mentioned earlier, the body Soul occupies (the one you exist in today), is meaningless to God. It is only a shell that Soul uses to learn while it is here.

God’s love is for Soul, which is imperishable. But Soul must work, discipline itself, and put effort into realizing the grace of God that is already there, ready for the taking. How do you realize it? You have to attain a state of consciousness that aligns with the ECK, or what many call the Holy Spirit. Imagine loving your enemy, as Jesus did and said. This is God’s love. God doesn’t care whether you are an evil person, a good person, a hard worker, or a sloth. God’s love comes to everyone equally. IT doesn’t play favorites. Some of the ignorant may think he chooses them over another, or favors them over another, but these are absolute falsehoods. God’s love is equally distributed to all.

God’s love comes like a wave. This wave goes out into creation and returns back to IT. Everyone gets God’s grace, but few recognize it, because they lack the ability to realize it. What does realization mean? It means that you believe in something and accept it wholeheartedly. You know. There are few in this plane of existence that have attained God realization, or the actual experience of God, but it is attainable. Those that have, have a different experience of life than the rest of us. They see the beauty in the simple things. They see God in everything.

Well, I’ll end this little talk here. I hope all of you have a terrific day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Gratitude

10 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Grateful, Gratitude, Melody Beattie, Ryan Holiday, stoicism, Stoics, Thankfulness

Photo Credit: The Encyclopedia Brittanica (picture of Seneca bust)

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

Melody Beattie

If you type “2020” into a Google search box, what will you get? You will see links to the pandemic, links to the Presidential election, and links to a lot of doom and gloom. Why? It is our natural tendency to be interested in the bad, rather than the good. Why is that?

The oldest part of our brain is always seeking danger. Call this part of you, the pessimistic part. It assumes things will go wrong, that you are in danger, and to be careful. It’s a good thing to have around, because it serves its purpose. How many people let that part of themselves run rampant?

Being grateful for what you have, being happy, and finding peace, are all internal activities. Do you find that external events impact your level of happiness? Of course. We are all affected by the things outside of us, even if only a little bit. Things like losing a loved one or a beloved pet is devastating, but it doesn’t have to destroy your life or well-being. Death, sickness, and other tragedies are all part of this life. There is no escaping them. So how do we cultivate internal happiness, gratitude, and peace? We simply choose to.

When we lost our two doggies last year (My sister’s dog Weezer, and our dog Goldie) it was sad, but it didn’t eat me up inside. I mourned their loss for a day and got on with my life. Being happy, grateful, and peaceful is a personal choice. You just have to decide.

You may be asking how I do this? Well, it began a while back, when I realized I was depending on outside circumstances for my happiness. As you can probably imagine, this is not an optimal way to live. So, I began looking around and found a philosophy called Stoicism. Here’s a link on Wikipedia if you want to check it out for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism. This is a lengthy article, so you’ll want to make a cup of your favorite beverage before you start it. But it is worth it, if you are in the same situation I was a few years back, when I began searching for a new way to engage life. The primary tenet of Stoicism is to avoid being influenced or affected by things outside of us. It is not easy, initially, but it will come as you begin to see the wisdom in controlling the only thing you can–yourself.

Oh, before I forget, if you want to read some great books on this topic, check out books by Ryan Holiday. These I recommend: The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and The Daily Stoic. I’ve read all of them and they will provide you with all you need to pursue a Stoic’s way of life. One last note: The Daily Stoic is read daily for an entire year. It has a quote followed by Ryan’s explanation of it in real-world terms.

Have a great Thursday, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – 5 Quotes – Harry Truman

09 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

5 Quotes, America, History, Korea, president, Truman, wisdom, WWII

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Harry S Truman

If you can’t convince them, confuse them.

Harry S Truman

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

Harry S Truman

You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.

Harry S Truman

The White House is the finest prison in the world.

Harry S Truman

Harry S. Truman was our 33rd President. He replaced Franklin D. Roosevelt after his passing. For more information, take a look at this Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman

Until next time…

Dave

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