Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Grateful for my Teachers

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Books, Colleagues, Friends, leaders, Life, mentors, Parents, Professors, Teachers

All of us have had teachers in one shape or form that contributed to who we are today. I’ve had some great ones. I had great teachers in grade school. I had terrific professors in my undergraduate and graduate studies. The best teachers I’ve had were my parents, my leaders in the military, and life itself.

My parents taught me how to treat family, how to be a man, and how to treat a woman. My teachers gave me insights into the topics I was studying that you could not get from a book. They demonstrated how the book knowledge could be applied to the “real world”.

My military leaders taught me what service was about. They taught me how to take care of my equipment, learn my job, and lead others. They also taught me things that couldn’t be measured—things like honor, discipline, keeping your word, and being honest, even when things get screwed up.

One group I didn’t mention are the group of teachers I have not met. These are the authors of all the books I’ve read to date. Teachers like Covey, Allen, Guise, Twain, Einstein, Hawking, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Tolkien, and so many others.

All of us have had great teachers in our lives. Life is the final one. Life tends to blindside us. We learn from the cuts and bruises life dishes out. We learn things like being thrifty, planning, always striving for something better, but the most important lesson of all—we learn to treat other people with decency and respect.

I love learning. I love learning from the greats. Whether it is a book, a quote, a video, or in-person advice, our teachers have helped us achieve what we are achieving today. Today, I am grateful for every one of my teachers. I would not be where I am today without them.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Live Your Life Fully

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Dream, Dreams, God, Life, Live, Purpose, Serve

All of us have dreams. Our dreams are unique to each of us. How do you figure what they are? Some of them are a given. We have to uncover the others.

Sometimes we put off our dreams because we don’t think we’re good enough. Perhaps we lack the training or knowledge we need. Whatever it is, I think many of us give up too quickly.

So how do we overcome something like that? Well, we need to use the same tools we use to create the blocks we put in front of ourselves to begin with. Ignore the blocks for now. Instead, imagine what you would do if you couldn’t fail. Think about that for a moment. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

If you conducted this little thought experiment you probably felt a huge rush of freedom and the same wonder, you had as a child. This happened when I did it. It exhilarated me.

So now you have the capability of pursuing something that has real meaning for you. This is living. This is what will wake you up in the morning. This is what will cause you to work in your spare time to achieve something you really want.

How do you think anyone else got started? J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, anyone you recognize as someone who has achieved great things. If you look at everyone’s history, you see that they all started out the same way. They were all kids at one point. They all had their struggles. Yet, here they are decorating our history with an amazing collection of feats. Sure, in hindsight we could say they had gifts. But, imagine if they chickened out? We wouldn’t have Harry Potter, The Shining, The Theory of Relativity, or a greater knowledge of black holes.

I am a firm believer that each of us is here to learn something, do something. I don’t know what your “thing” is. Figuring this out is up to you. Do you want to live your life pushing the envelope, pursuing your life’s dream or do you want to sit on the sidelines, cowering in fear, afraid to fail at something you haven’t even attempted? I hope you pursue the former.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be a great writer or write a helpful computer program that people will pay for. I don’t know if any of my books will sell. I know that I want to try to, realizing a long time ago that none of us can fail if we keep trying. It may take us longer than we like. It may be harder than we thought, but we can’t fail if we keep pushing forward.

I believe we are all here for a purpose. We’re here to learn. We’re here to serve others. We’re here live our lives fully, experiencing all that life has to offer. Get out there. Make something happen. You have nothing to lose and who knows? You might just get what you want.

Have a great Saturday folks.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Life is a Celebration

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Blessings, God, Grateful, Happy Halloween, Harold Klemp, Life, Thankful

“So few know what a love for living means. They’ve put a web around themselves and called it spiritual. Life is a celebration. Some will read that as wanton living, but true celebration is loving God and Its own.” – Harold Klemp – The Language of Soul

This quote struck me today as appropriate for today, because we are celebrating another Halloween. If you do not celebrate today, cool. We celebrate by passing out goodies to the kids that come around to the house. I enjoy watching scary movies and we enjoy the many costumed kids that come to the door.

Halloween marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. When Halloween hits, there’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day and then we’re off to a new adventure. It’s also nice because my wife’s birthday and our wedding anniversary is in December too.

I love life. I really do. I enjoy what I do every day; I feel great physically and mentally, and it is a true gift to spend time with my folks in their senior years. Yeah, as a family we have our days, but for the most part, it’s great fun. My Dad likes telling stories about his childhood and my Mom does too. We eat most of our meals as a family and we are all readers, spending most of the “bad weather” days inside combing through our books.

My love of life is spurred by my gratitude. I try to find gratitude for all I do and receive. I am grateful for my family, friends, colleagues, siblings, and God. It is a wonderful feeling to wake up every day knowing that God loves me and every moment I am here is a blessing God has given me to gain experience and learn how to love and serve others. This is simplicity itself.

Happy Halloween! (for those that celebrate)

Have a great Thursday, the last day of October, and get ready to attack November.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Life

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Adventure, Blessing, Grateful, Gratitude, Life, Thankful, Thanks, wonderful

Every day, I like to wake up and remind myself to be grateful of the simple things.

Miranda Kerr

The life you live is a blessing. I am grateful for every moment I am here, to live, to love, to laugh, to learn. Each experience we have builds on the next and the next and the next.

Looking back there are plenty of examples when life was tough. I wouldn’t trade any of them away. All these experiences got me to where I am today. I am grateful for every hurt, every betrayal, every lapse in health, every disappointment, and every failure. They all contribute to my life.

As time passes by,  the bad things fade and the good things remain. Things always get better. That’s the nature of life.

Enjoy the beauty of simple things and simple moments. A warm cup of coffee while you look at the snow outside your window. A shared moment with a loved one knowing exactly what each other is thinking. A good meal with family and friends. Laughing so hard you can’t breathe. Enjoying a book with a cup of tea and spending your day in pajamas. I could go on and on.

 

You have your own memories and moments that bless your life. Be grateful for every moment you have been alive. Life’s adventure continues for all of us.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Thank You New Followers

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Comments, family, followers, Friends, God, Gratitude, Life, Thank you

This week I thank all of my followers. I am grateful for the new followers this week and I am grateful for the comments left by a few of you (These make my day!).

I am grateful for all the great writing on WordPress. Some stories are heart-breaking, but show how strong you are and how you are dealing with the adversities that life hands us from time-to-time. Thank you for the stories you tell.

I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for God. I am grateful for my friends. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for my life. It has been and continues to be rich.

I hope each of you can see how wonderful this life is and the blessings you receive every moment.

Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Gifts

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Blessings, Gifts, God, Grateful, Gratitude, Life, Reverence, Unique

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. – Leo Buscaglia

We all have talents. We are all good at something. Today, I am grateful for the natural gifts I have been blessed with.

One of my greatest gifts is my affinity for learning. I have always enjoyed school and learning new things. Now that I am done with formal schooling, the freedom to learn new things is important. I enjoy learning about everything. Obviously, I am focused on learning more about computer programming, writing, and continuous self-improvement, but I am always interested in finding courses on topics ranging from history to philosophy. I consider this ability to learn and my curiosity to be great gifts.

What gifts do you have? What God-given gifts do you have that you are grateful for?

If you are unaware of them, take a moment and do a personal inventory. What do you do for a living? What hobbies do you have? What do you enjoy doing? Your gift is in there somewhere. Maybe you have an affinity for exploring and adventure? Maybe you enjoy the gift of great motor skills and video games are your forte? Maybe you like a good story and you love to read and watch movies and television shows. Maybe you are a great organizer and a master at raising your kids. Or maybe your gift is an endless well of patience and love that you give to everyone around you.

You see, the gifts you receive are going to be unique to you and your life circumstances. They may not be as concrete as mine, but you will have them. You just have to look at what you do, where you are, and what you naturally gravitated towards. These gifts are priceless. They are what make us unique. They allow us to participate in life, adding to the quilt of our reality, where each of us plays a part.

Take some time to think about this today. You may have never thought about it before. I think you’ll be amazed at the gifts you have been given and how you use them in your everyday life. Still having difficulty? Check out this article: Self-Worth: 5 Ways to Identify Your Unique Gifts, provided by Tris Thorp from the Chopra Center. I think you’ll be surprised and you will get a huge A-ha when you begin thinking about this.

Once you know what your strengths are, take some time to see if there is anything you could do with this gift that you are not currently doing. This may provide you some direction that is lacking in your life, or you may just get a confirmation that you are doing exactly what you should be doing.

There are so many things to be grateful for in this life. Life is precious and a gift. Take full advantage of what you have. I wish all of you a terrific Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Happiness

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God's gift, Gratitude, Happiness, Life, Needs, Unhappiness, Wants

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” – Earl Nightingale

Quote Credit: BrainyQuotes

I use quotes to spur my writing. They are terrific writing prompts because they require us to think about what they are saying. I like writing about happiness because so many people are unhappy. Why? Part of the reason is people associate happiness with something outside themselves.

Their whole life is based on things, people, and events outside of themselves. Why let anything outside of you drive your happiness, when all you have to do is decide to be happy. Yeah, life happens. We get sick. We lose our job. We lose a loved one. We lose a pet. Anyone would be bummed out if these things happen, but you can still maintain your happiness in and around these events. All of these events are normal and inevitable.

How do I maintain my happiness? I cultivate it within. I maintain a sincere gratitude for life. I no longer focus on what I want, but what I need. We all need food, water, air, a place to sleep and have shelter. We need something to wear, to keep our bodies covered. Besides these things what else do we really need?

Some of the happiest people live in absolute poverty. Some of the richest people in the world are unhappy. Think about that for a moment. How does this even make sense? It makes sense because a person’s happiness has nothing to do with wealth. It is internal. Happiness is a choice.

I thank God every day for this life. It is a blessing to be alive. I am grateful for a great many things, but my gratitude for life is my source of happiness. Think about the grand adventure you’ve been on since you were born. Think about the richness of your experiences.

 

Life is God’s greatest gift.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Life

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experiences, Foreign Lands, Joy, Jury Duty, Learning, Life, Service, Travels

Thanks to all my new followers this week. I am always thankful for even one new person who follows Daily Ramblings. It is a real treat.

Today I am thankful for my life. I have had so many experiences that have contributed to who I am today. I was thinking about my 20 years in the Army and the opportunity to serve my country in multiple capacities. I was thankful for the places that service allowed me to see. I am grateful for all the people I met, and the friendships made.

I am grateful for the great times I had in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. I am grateful for the experience of living in these places and learning more about the people that lived there. I am grateful for these experiences and how they helped me grow as a human being.

When I look back over my life, I have a deep gratitude for everything that has happened. Each event added to who I am today. I would change nothing. Every single thing that I have gone through—be it good or bad—was necessary. My life has been one grand adventure that continues to bring new experiences every day.

This week, I had my first opportunity to experience jury duty. I have been selected before, but never actually picked to come into the courthouse. It was an interesting experience. The people I met were nice and the experience overall was great. I spent two days there because the previous day was interrupted quite a bit by a previous jury’s deliberations and the judge had to bring us back to finalize jury selection. It was nice hanging out with the people there and getting to know a few of them.

Well, that’s it for now, folks. Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Grateful for America

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4th of July, Founding Fathers, Freedom, Happiness, Independence Day, Liberty, Life

Image by Maklay62 from Pixabay 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence

Today, I am grateful for my country. Today is the 4th of July and it is the day designated to celebrate our independence. The day will be filled with parades, fireworks, and the barbeque grills will be fired up to cook the burgers, hotdogs, sausages, and steaks. Today is a special day for me because I played a part in maintaining our independence by defending this country for 20 of these 4th of July holidays. It was a privilege to serve and an experience I will never forget.

Happy 4th of July!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – It’s Great to Learn New Things

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Coursera, family, God, Learning, Life, Reading, Udemy, Writing

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Today I am grateful for the ability to read, write, and learn. Think about some people on the planet that are illiterate or have suffered from a traumatic brain injury or a learning disability that precludes them from learning the same way you and I learn. My wife is a special education teacher, and she works with these kids every day.

I am grateful for my interest in learning new things. I truly enjoy learning something I didn’t know yesterday. I enjoy taking a trip with an author and walking through the mental libraries they have created in their books. “Look here”, they say. “Look there. This is really important.” I am also grateful for the free repositories of books online and my local library. So many books to read and so little time.

Online learning is also a terrific thing. Think about it. You can learn a great deal by reading other people’s blogs, reading books, and attending classes and webinars, most of which are absolutely free. Why learn you ask? It adds to you. It provides you with skills that you can continue to earn a living with. It gives you a wide berth of experiences through other’s eyes that you may not have the ability to do on your own.

I recently read a book about finding out what you love to do. Think about how many people are in jobs they hate. Can you imagine going to a job that stressed you out and made you unhappy? We all have to make a living one way or another. People who are trapped in a job they hate is a really bad place to be in. Yet, many do not take advantage of the learning opportunities that are available to them. I am grateful that I am not one of these people.

I am always looking to improve. I want to improve my physical body; I want to improve my spiritual practice; I want to improve my skill set, and I want to build my knowledge. I am grateful I have that drive to do these things, day in and day out. Recently, I started listening to albums on Spotify, starting with various jazz artists. I also enjoy the classics, but wanted to start with Jazz. I listened to albums by Miles Davis and Bill Brubeck. Wow! What a treat. I am going to listen to Dizzy Gillespie next. It will be a nice treat. When I listen I put in my earphones, close my eyes, and picture myself in some speakeasy, listening and watching the band and the people there. It is terrific how music takes you places when it is really good.

I hope each of you can find things in your lives you are grateful for. It is a great feeling to sit back and think about all the things that contribute to your life and how nice it is to have them. Gratitude for God, for family, for your life, with all of its difficulties, and the rich experiences each of our lives contain, if we only look and appreciate them. Life is too short to be pissed off or afraid all the time. Take some time each day to express your gratitude for even the smallest thing. It will change the way you engage with the world and interestingly, when you have cultivated the gratitude habit, the world will give you more things to be grateful for.

Life is grand.

Until next time…

Dave