Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – The First Thanksgiving

Tags

Call of Duty, Contentment, Grateful, Gratitude, History, Holiday, Thanksgiving, Warzone

I found this video on YouTube liked it. I always try to pick short videos to respect your time. There were others that were an hour + if viewing. I like watching videos like this and so many others, depicting the first Thanksgiving. Obviously, there are a lot of perspectives on Thanksgiving nowadays.

I choose the perspective of giving thanks for what we have. Cherishing what we have is a terrific way to look at our lives. Think about the access to information, music, entertainment, and so many other things. In most cases these are free or inexpensively priced. I’m grateful for my health, my family, and for all the good in my life.

I am grateful for the ability to make friends with people all over the world. I have a friend who is an author in Australia. I have a blogger friend in South Carolina and another in Colorado. I met all of these people online and they are just terrific people that add value to my life, by exposing me to their stories, their point of view, and their talent.

So, as we get closer to Thanksgiving, take a few moments and count your blessings. Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be about what is described in the above video. It simply is a time to take account of what you have in your life that is good. When you concentrate on these things, you naturally feel better.

Well, that’s it for today, folks.

Here’s a shameless plug for Call of Duty MW2. The new Warzone 2 will be coming out tomorrow and it looks absolutely sick. Water mechanics are in, new vehicles, a huge map, and all kinds of new game play, including DMZ, which should be really cool to play. They’ve also added proximity chat, so that means you can communicate with opposing teams and even join them! HUGE!!

Well, now I’m done.

Have a great Tuesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Thanksgiving

Tags

Bombeck, Conant, Grateful, Gratitude, Thanksgiving, Thoreau, Van Dyke, Ward

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.

William Arthur Ward

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.

Erma Bombeck

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.

Henry David Thoreau

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.

Henry Van Dyke

My most memorable meal is every Thanksgiving. I love the food: the turkey and stuffing; the sweet potatoes and rice, which come from my mother’s Southern heritage; the mashed potatoes, which come from my wife’s Midwestern roots; the Campbell’s green-bean casserole; and of course, pumpkin pie.

Douglas Conant

You probably noticed that I’m deviating from my normal one author them. I’ll be collecting quotes from everywhere that are related to Thanksgiving this month. I hope you enjoy them!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Sunday – The Power of Gratitude

Tags

comfortable, Content, Contentment, Eckankar, Grateful, Gratitude, Happy, spirituality, Sunday

Happy Sunday!

Gratitude is one of the acts that can bring us huge rewards. Gratitude brings us to a place of contentment where we realize we have enough. We’re okay. We have enough clothes. We have enough food. We have a comfortable living space. We have a reliable way to get around.

Here’s another free e-booklet from ECKANKAR that discusses the spiritual aspects of Gratitude. Enjoy!

Click to access The-Power-of-Gratitude_ebooklet.pdf

#Free booklet

I hope you enjoy this one.

Have a great Sunday, everyone.

May the blessings be!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Counting Our Blessings

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Blessings, Eric Hoffer, Grateful, Gratitude, Monday, Mood, motivation, Simple Things

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

Eric Hoffer

I have touched on this topic before, but thought it was appropriate to attend to it again. The topic: Gratitude Journaling. We all know that much of our motivation is tied to our attitudes and moods. What better way to cheer ourselves up than to write down all the things we are grateful for. The really important ones are those things we take for granted.

Expressing gratitude for a warm bed, a roof over your head, plenty of food, and good health are good ones to start with. Another thing to think about are the people in your life and how they bring you joy. When was the last time you wrote down how grateful you were for your significant other? It’s so easy to get mired in the day-to-day doldrums and monotonous schedules we gravitate to just to make a living.

Starting a gratitude journal is pretty easy. You write down a date and write down 2 or 3 things you are grateful for. Try to think of different things each day. If you have to repeat, no problem. The key is to just spend a few moments thinking about how good life really is, when you think about it.

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Blogging

Tags

Blackbirch, Blogging, Friends, Good News, Grateful, Quilting, Thankful

Today, I’m grateful for blogging. I started this blog in 2016, when I returned home from Arizona to help out my folks in Michigan. I’ve always wanted to write and have a blog, but never had the time before retiring to really put in the time to build a readership, put together written content, or any of that.

One of the unknown benefits of blogging that I discovered is the ability to make friends. I’m pretty isolated here in Michigan with my folks. My Dad’s immune system is pretty compromised. My Mom and I have to be very careful, particularly now with COVID and all of its different strains. My state is one of those states experiencing another surge, due to the Delta variant. Now that the omicron has hit, who knows what will happen. So, getting out is risky, other than making short trips to the gas station, doctor and dental appointments, or a run to the grocery store.

I have made some really great friends here. At least I consider them friends. When you think about the intimate conversations we have with one another, it is more than most friends who see each other all the time have. Friends sharing stories about losing their husband, other friends talking about the writing life they have, and still other friends who focus on passing the good news around, rather than the bad news, which is so rampant.

So today, I am grateful for blogging. Here’s to some great friends, I would have never met any other way. Your stories are terrific. Getting to know you over the years has been great! Here’s to many more years of friendship, more stories to share, and even more friends, from who knows where.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Grateful I Am Vaccinated

Tags

Consequences, Covid, family, Freedom, Friends, Grateful, Gratitude, vaccine

The folks got their COVID booster shots yesterday and today they are both sore. I’ll be getting mine when I am eligible. Friends of ours had an encounter with COVID recently. The husband was hospitalized and the wife tested positive as well. Both of them are vaccinated. Thank God they were vaccinated, or they may have joined many who have succumbed to this nasty thing.

My view on COVID is this: Each of us is an individual and we have the right to choose what is best for us. If we choose to get vaccinated, so be it. If we choose not to, that’s ok too.

The thing for me is that each individual has the freedom to do what is best for them, but whatever decision they make, they have to live with the consequences. My brother is the only one in our family that chose not to vaccinate. My sister’s boyfriend has also chosen not to get the vaccine. The consequences of these choices is that both have to get tested before they visit us. This is for our protection.

The point I am making here is that you cannot make a decision without consequences–good or bad. If you do not want to get vaccinated, then deal with the limitations on where you can work, where you can travel, and the risks associated with that decision.

Today, I am thankful I got vaccinated. I did not buy into all the conspiracy theories out there about being “chipped” and all the rest. I also continue to live the way we all lived in 2020. I realized during this time that going out to dinner or to a movie were nice, but not necessary. We can order in. We can stream most movies now online, even the ones that are in theaters, which are coming out more quickly than before. When I’m feeling particularly lazy, I even get my groceries delivered.

I hope all of you have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Far Cry 6

Tags

Adventure, Enjoyable, Exploration, Far Cry 6, Fun, Grateful, Thankful, Video Games

Well, I’ve found another great game to play. It’s called Far Cry 6. These games fall into the roll playing genre, as you are running with someone who is a guerrilla and trying to take down a dictator of a small island in the pacific. It has a main mission thread, which progresses you through the game to its finale, but more interesting are the side missions, which are all over the place. Couple that with the plundering you have to do to build better and better weapons, and boy, you have a game that will keep you busy for quite a while. I also like these types of games because they allow co-op play. My brother can play too. It is terrific!

So that’s what I am grateful for today. Far Cry 6! It is a great game, has some terrific things to do, and more importantly, will last probably for the next few months. Call of Duty Vanguard is coming out in November, so that’s another one I’ll be playing.

That’s it for today, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – My Wife Graduated!!

Tags

Grateful, Love, Masters Degree, Proud, Sociology, Thankful, Thursday, Wife

Today, I’m grateful again, for my wife. Yesterday, she graduated from Grand Canyon University with a Masters degree in Sociology. I am so proud of her. After two years of hard work, working a full-time job, and dealing with all of life’s surprises (Can you say menopause?), she got through it. I cried yesterday, when she walked the stage. I am just so damned proud of her.

So today, I’ll be short. Here’s to my wife. She has conquered every challenge life has thrown at her and she is still as genuine and generous as they come. I love you, dear.

Have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Tech Gear

Tags

Apple Arcade, Fun, Grateful, Gratitude, iPad, iPhone, Relaxation

Today, I’m thankful for some of my tech gear. I just started playing Call of Duty Mobile. It is the same as Call of Duty for the Xbox console, but this version can be played on the iPad. I am also grateful for my Nimbus+ game controller, which I use to play Call of Duty on my iPad. It is just like a controller for a console, but connects via bluetooth to the iPad or even the iPhone. I became interested in this because playing with my fingers just wasn’t working out. The controller brings a whole new feel to the game and mimics play on my Xbox. I have a lot of fun playing this game, because it is so much like the Xbox version, but with its own story line, weapons, and challenges.

Another nice thing about the Nimbus+ is that it is also compatible with a lot of the games in the Apple Arcade. These are terrific games that are free of commercials and are not pay to win, like so many iPad/iPhone games. They are like the traditional video games you may play on consoles or other devices.

I hope all of you have a terrific Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Gas-powered Generators.

Tags

Grateful, heat, iPad, iPhone, Laptop, permanent generator, Thankful

Today, I’m grateful for gas-powered generators. You see, Michigan is one of those states whose power grid is not that robust, particularly when we get hit with storms that are accompanied by high winds. High winds knock over trees. The trees take out the power lines. Downed power lines eliminate power. Currently my street and the streets on either side of us are out of power. Luckily, a few years back, my Mom and Dad ran into this same issue. My Dad ran around trying to find a gas-powered generator to get the power back on, but to no avail. Everyone had the same idea and there were no generators left in Southeast Michigan. After this experience Mom and Dad vowed to never again be without power and purchased a permanent generator which runs off of gas. We now never run out of power to our refrigerator and other key items in the house.

So, yes. We are “roughing” it, but not as bad as some are, who do not have a permanent generator attached to their gas lines, and are indeed suffering, when the power goes out, not to mention the potential loss of food in the fridge. So today, I am grateful for the permanent generator we have, that allows me access to the Internet, my phone and iPad, and this laptop, which I am using to post today.

I hope DTE gets the power back on quickly for folks who do not have one of these. It sucks to live by candle light, particularly if you are like me, and enjoy the access to the web and other devices I use each day.

This reminds me of a quote (I don’t know who created it). It’s about being mindful of the blessings in your life, even when things aren’t perfect. It also stresses the importance of taking nothing for granted. Be grateful for all the things you have. You never know when those things will change or go away forever.

Until next time…

Dave