Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Giving

Tags

family, Friends, Gifts, Giving, Good memories, Good times, Togetherness

As we give of ourselves, of our patience and love, to someone else who needs it more, something changes inside us. Something flows in, a flow of good feeling. A spiritual upliftment occurs both in us and in the person receiving the love.

—Harold Klemp
The Language of Soul

Have you ever thought about your favorite moments in life? I do from time-to time, and none of them involve money, an award, or anything else material. My best memories are with family.

I remember playing Scrabble with the family when I was a kid. I remember learning how to play card games. I remember my grandfather teaching how to play chess. The best memories I have are those where I spent time with someone else.

When we give of ourselves, we open ourselves up. It is an expanding practice. It makes us feel good and the person receiving the gift to feel good. Sometimes, just giving someone the time of day on the phone is enough. Maybe they’re having a rough time of it and need to vent. Maybe they just did something terrific and don’t have anyone else to tell. These little moments are the most precious to most people.

There is one circumstance when I was thrilled when I received something. It was when my late grandmother sent me a gift in the mail, while I was in the Army. What meant a lot to me is she never missed a birthday–ever. I also knew she didn’t make a lot of money from Social Security and other things, and it meant so much that she would still take the time to get me something. Toward the end of her life, she used to send homemade chocolate peanut butter cups. Sometimes they would show up all melted, but it was truly the thought that mattered.

My mother is the same way. She never, ever, misses a birthday. Even when I was deployed in the Middle East, she got me birthday and Christmas presents. Another time, my wife and I decided to put together a cheese and meat plate and sit behind our home next to the pool and listen to jazz. We didn’t say anything to one another. We just sat there, enjoyed the music, nibbled on cheese, meat, and crackers, and enjoyed our moment together in complete silence.

I hope each of you has a terrific Saturday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge

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Friends, Good times, Reconnect, Spread Your Wings, Sunday, Weekly Challenge

There’s only one challenge this week. It is brought to you by The 5-Minute Journal

Challenge: An old friend you’ve been meaning to connect with is (there name). Call this person today.

Have a great Sunday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Ah, Holidays!

Tags

Christmas, Coffee, family, Friends, Good Conversation, Good Food, Good times, Grateful, Holidays, Movies, Snow, Thankful, TV

Today, I’m thankful for the holiday season. I don’t really care about the gifts and such, but I enjoy relatives visiting, the Christmas lights, the tree, the snow, and all the food that comes this time of year.

This year my brother and sister are coming to town and it’ll be great. We’ll watch movies, talk as a family in the living room, eat out a few times, and maybe even catch a movie at our local movie theater. Then there’s the Christmas dinner, which will be Mom’s recipe for roasted duck! Yummy!!

Obviously, the gifts are fun, but I get a kick out of people opening my gifts, not so much the gifts I get. It’s nice to get people something you think they’ll like. It’s also fun to just enjoy the vibe of the family being together, reminiscing about times past.

I realize we should all be giving to one another all-year long, but because this time only comes once a year, it is special; you know?

I realize for some this is a traumatic time of year. It brings back memories of family members who have passed and the gaping hole they have left in the family. This is just tough and my heart goes out to all of you who are experiencing this. That being said, I would recommend throwing yourself into a charity or volunteering. I’ve always found that when I give of myself, my problems fade a bit. I know this is probably a simplistic solution to your problem, but I wanted to throw that out there, in case you have never tried it. It works. At least it does for me.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Thanksgiving Dinner

Tags

Creamed Peas, family, Friends, Good times, Holiday, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Here’s a shot of my Dad (left), Mom, Sister, and her boyfriend. In the picture on the right is yours truly on the far left. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, creamed sweet peas, stuffing, and mom’s homemade cranberry sauce, which goes really well with breast meat.

Later we’ll dive into pumpkin pie.

For those of you that celebrate, I wish you and yours a great Thanksgiving!

Until next time..

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Family

Tags

family, Good Food, Good times, Grateful, Nephew, Netflix, Sister, Thankful, Wife

Our nephew visited this last week for a few days. It was great having him here. We went out to some restaurants, hung out on our deck, watched some shows on Netflix, and got in a little Xbox gaming. He got plenty of face time with Mom and Dad and we all enjoyed his stay. He headed back yesterday to get ready for his senior year at ASU, which started today. My sister also came up for a few days. While she was here we binge-watched Mindhunter Season 2 on Netflix. If you haven’t watched the Mindhunter series, it is worth your while.

I have been working with my wife to help her get ready for her teacher’s certification. We have been burning the midnight oil every day for the last few weeks for a few hours each night. It’s nice to help her get ready.

I am thankful for all the opportunities to spend time with family. I am blessed that I could be in the situation to spend time with my folks during their senior years. It was great seeing the nephew this week. It is also nice to spend time with my wife, while she pursues her career in Arizona. I am so proud of her.

I am also grateful for the new followers this week. Daily Ramblings is slowly creeping toward the goal of 1000 followers this year. It is nice to see new followers when I check into the Daily Ramblings blog site on WordPress. Thank you to all who have opted to follow my blog.

Over the next few days, I’ll be on a religious retreat, so Friday and Saturday postings will not happen. I’ll be too busy with the retreat and will not have time to get something up on the site. I’ll see you all on Monday!

I hope all of you have a great weekend!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday

Tags

Bad times, experiences, Good times, Grateful, Happiness, Learning, Life, Sorrow, Thankful

“I believe that if you don’t derive a deep sense of purpose from what you do, if you don’t come radiantly alive several times a day, if you don’t feel deeply grateful at the tremendous good fortune that has been bestowed on you, then you are wasting your life. And life is too short to waste.” – Srikumar Rao

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/srikumar_rao_563863?src=t_thankful

This life is such a blessing. The ups and downs, the happy times and the sad, and the times of loneliness and joy of being with family. All our experiences combined comprise our life.

When the bad times come, we are in the thick of it. We are at the edge of the abyss and highly creative, solving the problem right in front of us. During these times we aren’t so happy. We are stressed out, we are overcome with emotions, and we are struggling to survive. Interestingly, when these times pass and we recollect the experience we view it as a source of triumph, sometimes even laughing to ourselves. We laugh because we see the comedy in some of the things that go wrong in our lives. These bad times are the areas in our lives where we really do learn and grow. I am thankful for all of the bad times. They taught me so much about myself.

When the good times come, we are ecstatic. We are so happy and joyful. Everything is bright and colorful. We enjoy these times so much that we hope they never end, knowing that something can go wrong at any minute without notice. These are the memories we store away for later. These experiences slip in and out of psyches over and over again. They remind us how precious life is.

Then there are the times that reside in the middle of these two extremes. They are the workdays. They are our habitual experiences. Getting up, going to the gym, getting our kids off to school, our morning commute. These are the days that we rarely notice. Nothing good or bad, exciting or boring, just time passing by.

Our lives are all of these things woven together into a quilt, with the myriad pictures we capture and remember. Pictures of friends, holidays, and graduations. Pictures of marriages, reunions, and anniversaries. Pictures of dinners, vacations, and birthdays. This is the life we lead.  I am grateful for all of the pictures in my quilt. The good pictures, the bad pictures, and the opportunity to share my quilt with others.

New Followers

I also wanted to thank all of the new followers this week. We are getting really close to the goal of 500. Daily Ramblings is at 488 followers. I only need 12 more to hit the goal of 500. If you know of anyone that may be interested in my content, send them my way.

I hope each of you has a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Phoenix – Day 11

Tags

Amazon, Brother, Friends, Good times, Great weather, Nephew, Netflix, Phoenix Trip, Xbox

Today is just a hangout day with my brother at his home. We’re watching a new show on Amazon, called Fortitude. It is really good so far. We have to run some errands today so my brother can get some last-minute things for his trip tomorrow with his son to Barbados.

I’ll be here at his house until the 13th, just hanging out and relaxing for the last three days I’m here, before heading back to Michigan. This was a really good trip. I got to hang out with some of my friends who I used to work with out here. I got caught up with some folks I haven’t seen in a while.

It was also really nice to hang out with my brother and see my niece get married. My brother’s son will be coming over today to hang out and sleep the night here so they can get to their flight early in the morning. While they’re gone I’ll be knocking out some reading and get caught up on some Netflix and Amazon shows I’ve been wanting to watch.

That’s it for today, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Rambling – Time with the Family

Tags

Christmas, family, Friends, Good Food, Good times, New Year's Day

Today, I wanted to digress from a daily quote and talk about time with the family. I love the holiday season. It’s a time when employers offer very loose PTO schedules. It is also a time when most companies are slowing down a bit to begin preparing for the first quarter of the new year.

Today we went Christmas shopping and had a great time. We went to a few places and had some pizza for a snack mid-way through our many stops. I really enjoy the time I get with the family and hope you get some time with your families as well.

My sister and her boyfriend are swinging by on Christmas Eve and will stay through until the day after Christmas. I can’t wait! It will be a time of great food, a lot of laughing, and even playing some ancient board games that we all love.

I hope each of you has an opportunity to really enjoy your loved ones, share some gifts with one another, and eat some great food together. I’ll be offering some more things on this topic later in the month as we approach Christmas.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

Tags

Experience, Good times, Life, Quote, trouble, Victoria Holt

Happy Saturday Readers!

Today’s quote:

“Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.” – Victoria Holt

I really like this quote because it speaks to life. Our life is a series of experiences. Our attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs are what dictate whether an experience is good or bad. Imagine taking a stance where all experience was good because of its contribution to our learning.

We learn when we mess up right? We really do not learn anything when we get things right. We really do not learn anything when we are having an easy time of it. When things are easy we tend to sit back and enjoy it. It’s the hard times that truly benefit us, even though we wished they didn’t happen. Who likes to get hurt, sick, lose a loved one, or run into financial troubles? How do we react to these situations?

At first, we’re in shock. No one ever expects a loved one to die or leave us for another. No one ever expects to lose their job without notice. No one ever expects to be told they have a new condition or disease to worry about and no one purposely goes out of their way to sprain an ankle or break an arm.

What do we do? We deal with these things. We learn to compensate, we learn to be happy without someone being around, and we learn how to pick up the pieces and find a new job. All of this takes time, mind you, but we all adapt to our misfortunes and climb our way out of the hole we’ve dug. Interestingly, if we pay attention, our situations, after we’ve overcome hardships, tend to get better.

We end up with someone that is better for us. We end up with a new job that is better tailored to our circumstances. We end up compensating physically to an illness, disease, or condition, and learn new skills or find new alternatives. Ultimately, we become stronger, better, and more resilient, only to be hit by another challenge in the future.

Pay attention.

Learn.

Experience.

After a while, the ebbs and flows of life won’t matter. You’ll be strong enough to handle anything and take it in stride. You’ll enjoy the good times more deeply and you’ll deal with future problems with grace and love. After all, what are we here to do in this life? We are here to learn how to give and receive love.

I hope you have a terrific Saturday!

See you tomorrow…