I came across this song, and I like it because it helps me feel a tad bit better when I get to stressing (which happens way too often). Go ahead. Give it a listen. You'll feel better.
I am in the process of making a delicious corned beef dinner for St. Patrick's Day as I write this. I have many fond memories of having this dinner for the holiday, but the truth is, I don't know the true reason for St. Patrick's Day. I'm guessing Patrick was some sort of Saint who did something special. I could look it up on the internet, but I'm feeling kind of lazy, and I doubt the holiday will have much more meaning to me even if I know what it's all about.
I wish I could go back to when I was a kid and holidays didn't have to have a meaning. St. Patrick's day was just the day that everyone wore green and pretended to be Irish and ate corned beef and cabbage. I still enjoy the holiday somewhat, but I have a harder time accepting that people do all these silly things without knowing why. Oh what the heck, might as well enjoy it!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Animal Kindness
I know of several occurrences where people have abandoned their pets when they moved out of their home. I don't mean abandoned as in they let their pets go free or dropped them off at the animal shelter. I mean abandoned as in they LOCKED THEIR PETS INSIDE THE HOUSE AND LEFT THEM THERE TO STARVE TO DEATH. Who does that?! How is this behavior acceptable in any normal person's mind? How can someone totally ignore the fact that the animal you left behind will suffer and die a horrible death? I just can't wrap my mind around it.
Animal cruelty goes beyond pet abandonment. Many, many animals suffer from lack of food, water, shelter, or medical care, all because their owners just don't care enough. If you were starving to death, wouldn't you hope someone would care enough to feed you? Even though it is a fact of life that animals die in the wild all the time or are killed for food every day, it doesn't justify animal cruelty. Domestic animals don't know how to survive in the wild, and even if they did, many are locked up and not given a fighting chance. They are not used for food, yet they are being tortured and killed because of lack of human empathy. What does this say about the human race? That we torture and kill defenseless creatures out of pure laziness? If this attitude spreads, I am certain it will mean the destruction of our race, because animals are only a shot step away from people.
Animal cruelty goes beyond pet abandonment. Many, many animals suffer from lack of food, water, shelter, or medical care, all because their owners just don't care enough. If you were starving to death, wouldn't you hope someone would care enough to feed you? Even though it is a fact of life that animals die in the wild all the time or are killed for food every day, it doesn't justify animal cruelty. Domestic animals don't know how to survive in the wild, and even if they did, many are locked up and not given a fighting chance. They are not used for food, yet they are being tortured and killed because of lack of human empathy. What does this say about the human race? That we torture and kill defenseless creatures out of pure laziness? If this attitude spreads, I am certain it will mean the destruction of our race, because animals are only a shot step away from people.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Decisions, Decisions
One thing that really annoys me.
This thing -
Yeah, it looks all nice and pretty, but once it opens its mouth, it's all over. This microwave is probably the most annoying noise-maker I have ever owned. It beeps every time you open the door. It beeps at least four times when it is finished cooking. It beeps when you plug it in. It beeps when you push a button. If you don't get your food out of it immediately when it is done, it beeps every minute or so. ENOUGH WITH THE BEEPING! I can't handle it anymore! I already know when I am putting a plug in or when my food is done! I don't need a beep every five seconds to remind me! If there was a way to silence it while still keeping the cooking function, I would be all over that.
I'm not saying I don't appreciate the microwave. It was given to Mike and I by friends, and I am thankful for their generosity. I am thankful to be able to cook something in a few seconds. However, I still have my old microwave, and there are times I seriously think about bringing it back just to get a break from all the beeping. The problem with the old microwave? It sounds like a very vocal whale while it is cooking. So is it whale or beeping? I haven't decided.
This thing -
Yeah, it looks all nice and pretty, but once it opens its mouth, it's all over. This microwave is probably the most annoying noise-maker I have ever owned. It beeps every time you open the door. It beeps at least four times when it is finished cooking. It beeps when you plug it in. It beeps when you push a button. If you don't get your food out of it immediately when it is done, it beeps every minute or so. ENOUGH WITH THE BEEPING! I can't handle it anymore! I already know when I am putting a plug in or when my food is done! I don't need a beep every five seconds to remind me! If there was a way to silence it while still keeping the cooking function, I would be all over that.
I'm not saying I don't appreciate the microwave. It was given to Mike and I by friends, and I am thankful for their generosity. I am thankful to be able to cook something in a few seconds. However, I still have my old microwave, and there are times I seriously think about bringing it back just to get a break from all the beeping. The problem with the old microwave? It sounds like a very vocal whale while it is cooking. So is it whale or beeping? I haven't decided.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Simple Pleasures
Look at my beautiful bed -
I washed the sheets yesterday, just because sometimes it feels so good to sleep on fresh, clean sheets. My bed is my pride and joy, because it is the most expensive piece of furniture that I own, and it has almost everything I could want in a bed. It has the down comforter, the memory foam pad, and the beautiful red sheets. At the end of a long day, this bed is heaven on earth.
Notice I said my bed has "almost" everything I could want. That's because the only thing I would change about my bed is the height. I always thought I wanted a tall bed because then I could feel like I was on top of the world in some sort of kingdom that was all my own. That didn't happen. Instead, I found out it is very difficult to come down from the top of the world. When you first wake up in the morning and you are still groggy from sleep, the last thing you want to do is jump from the top of the world and hope that you land on your feet. With this bed, you don't so much get out of bed as you fall out of bed. If I'm sitting on the edge of my bed, my feet don't come anywhere near the floor. So, once you manage to get into this bed, it is a big deal. You are in it for the long haul, because getting out again takes much strategic planning.
I tried to get Mike to let me cut off the the legs of the bed, but that was a no-go. I guess he thought I wouldn't do it right and then we would be sleeping at a slant. He paid for the bed, so I suppose it is understandable that he wouldn't want me hacking away at it. But I still think I would do a good job. Humph!
Anyway, I still love my bed, despite it being height-challenged. It is one of the simple pleasures I enjoy in life, and you know what they say. Life's greatest treasures are life's simple pleasures.
I washed the sheets yesterday, just because sometimes it feels so good to sleep on fresh, clean sheets. My bed is my pride and joy, because it is the most expensive piece of furniture that I own, and it has almost everything I could want in a bed. It has the down comforter, the memory foam pad, and the beautiful red sheets. At the end of a long day, this bed is heaven on earth.
Notice I said my bed has "almost" everything I could want. That's because the only thing I would change about my bed is the height. I always thought I wanted a tall bed because then I could feel like I was on top of the world in some sort of kingdom that was all my own. That didn't happen. Instead, I found out it is very difficult to come down from the top of the world. When you first wake up in the morning and you are still groggy from sleep, the last thing you want to do is jump from the top of the world and hope that you land on your feet. With this bed, you don't so much get out of bed as you fall out of bed. If I'm sitting on the edge of my bed, my feet don't come anywhere near the floor. So, once you manage to get into this bed, it is a big deal. You are in it for the long haul, because getting out again takes much strategic planning.
I tried to get Mike to let me cut off the the legs of the bed, but that was a no-go. I guess he thought I wouldn't do it right and then we would be sleeping at a slant. He paid for the bed, so I suppose it is understandable that he wouldn't want me hacking away at it. But I still think I would do a good job. Humph!
Anyway, I still love my bed, despite it being height-challenged. It is one of the simple pleasures I enjoy in life, and you know what they say. Life's greatest treasures are life's simple pleasures.
Monday, March 7, 2011
A New Outlook
Last Saturday I listened to my first podcast from psychic Margaret Ruth, and I have to say I really liked it. I'm not a person who regularly takes advice from psychics just because they are psychics. I do, however, take advice that seems to be good advice, and Margaret Ruth seems to give pretty sound advice.
The podcast is called Leave Your Fear Behind. I highly recommend that you listen to it if you are interested, because I can't really do it justice with my incoherent ramblings. The basic gist of it is Margaret Ruth responding to a letter from a woman who has a lot of fear about bad things that might happen to her. She wants to enjoy life, and does enjoy it sometimes, but her fear is almost paralyzing at other times. She wanted Margaret Ruth to tell her, basically, that everything would be alright in her future.
I can really relate to this woman (as I think many people can) because we all have at least some fears about the future. Will I or a loved one become terminally ill? Will I be able to pay the bills? Will I get to where a want to be in life? Will someone close to me die? Margaret Ruth had a surprising answer to all this fear, because the answer really had nothing to do with being psychic. First, she recommended that the woman get checked by a medical doctor, just to make sure there was was nothing physically or psychologically wrong, like depression. Next, she said that when you have fear about the future, you have to overcome it little by little by telling yourself that you will be able to handle whatever comes your way. She said a lot of people fear the future because they don't think they will be able to handle what life throws at them. Overcoming that fear means learning to trust that you will be OK no matter what happens in your life. For me, this was profound advice.
As for the woman's question about whether or not everything would be alright for her in the future, Margaret Ruth said it really doesn't matter what happens to her. If she finds a way to trust herself to handle what comes along, she can be happy even if bad things happen to her. In other words, happy people don't always have easy lives, they just know how to be happy no matter what happens to them.
There was much more good advice in the podcast, and since this post is already getting long-winded, you should just listen to it. I'm really glad that I did, because now I have a new outlook on the bad things in life.
The podcast is called Leave Your Fear Behind. I highly recommend that you listen to it if you are interested, because I can't really do it justice with my incoherent ramblings. The basic gist of it is Margaret Ruth responding to a letter from a woman who has a lot of fear about bad things that might happen to her. She wants to enjoy life, and does enjoy it sometimes, but her fear is almost paralyzing at other times. She wanted Margaret Ruth to tell her, basically, that everything would be alright in her future.
I can really relate to this woman (as I think many people can) because we all have at least some fears about the future. Will I or a loved one become terminally ill? Will I be able to pay the bills? Will I get to where a want to be in life? Will someone close to me die? Margaret Ruth had a surprising answer to all this fear, because the answer really had nothing to do with being psychic. First, she recommended that the woman get checked by a medical doctor, just to make sure there was was nothing physically or psychologically wrong, like depression. Next, she said that when you have fear about the future, you have to overcome it little by little by telling yourself that you will be able to handle whatever comes your way. She said a lot of people fear the future because they don't think they will be able to handle what life throws at them. Overcoming that fear means learning to trust that you will be OK no matter what happens in your life. For me, this was profound advice.
As for the woman's question about whether or not everything would be alright for her in the future, Margaret Ruth said it really doesn't matter what happens to her. If she finds a way to trust herself to handle what comes along, she can be happy even if bad things happen to her. In other words, happy people don't always have easy lives, they just know how to be happy no matter what happens to them.
There was much more good advice in the podcast, and since this post is already getting long-winded, you should just listen to it. I'm really glad that I did, because now I have a new outlook on the bad things in life.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Good For The Soul
The winter seems to be at that point where everyone is just DONE with cold and gloom and ready for summer to be upon us. I think that is funny because the winter in the area where I live has been extraordinarily mild this year. There hasn't been much snow or cold at all. However, the overall dreariness of winter is still there and it does seem to take a toll on the mind after a while. Everyone seems to want to escape on vacation to somewhere warm.
Vacations can be very therapeutic if you do them right. They take you away from the monotony of everyday life. They are full of new and exciting sights and experiences. They give you time to rest and relax and play. BUT, vacations are not a possibility for many people. A lot of people can't afford to be away from work for any amount of time, and even if they could, they can't save up the money needed to take a vacation.
I have heard that Americans take less vacation days from work than people from any other country. People might think that means that Americans are hard workers. While I believe that Americans are hard workers for the most part, I don't believe that is why they don't take vacations. I think they don't take vacations because it's expensive to be an American. Americans have to work constantly to keep up with the bills. Utility bills. Mortgage or rent bills. School loans. Transportation expenses. Insurance of every kind. Medical bills. Then, if there's anything left, you MIGHT get to do or buy something fun.
I'm not saying that Americans have it bad. Certainly all the things that we have come with a price. What I'm saying is, we have put ourselves in this situation of making life too expensive and complicated. Believe it or not, we can be happy without having every single luxury that we have come to expect. How do we get out of the situation? I don't really know. But I think we could start by eliminating a lot of unnecessary stuff from our lives. Maybe walk somewhere instead of driving. Maybe turn off the t.v. for a day. Maybe don't buy that extra thing that you don't really need. Maybe use your cell phone less. Then maybe, just maybe, you might be able to go on a small vacation now and then and actually enjoy the gift that is your life.
Vacations can be very therapeutic if you do them right. They take you away from the monotony of everyday life. They are full of new and exciting sights and experiences. They give you time to rest and relax and play. BUT, vacations are not a possibility for many people. A lot of people can't afford to be away from work for any amount of time, and even if they could, they can't save up the money needed to take a vacation.
I have heard that Americans take less vacation days from work than people from any other country. People might think that means that Americans are hard workers. While I believe that Americans are hard workers for the most part, I don't believe that is why they don't take vacations. I think they don't take vacations because it's expensive to be an American. Americans have to work constantly to keep up with the bills. Utility bills. Mortgage or rent bills. School loans. Transportation expenses. Insurance of every kind. Medical bills. Then, if there's anything left, you MIGHT get to do or buy something fun.
I'm not saying that Americans have it bad. Certainly all the things that we have come with a price. What I'm saying is, we have put ourselves in this situation of making life too expensive and complicated. Believe it or not, we can be happy without having every single luxury that we have come to expect. How do we get out of the situation? I don't really know. But I think we could start by eliminating a lot of unnecessary stuff from our lives. Maybe walk somewhere instead of driving. Maybe turn off the t.v. for a day. Maybe don't buy that extra thing that you don't really need. Maybe use your cell phone less. Then maybe, just maybe, you might be able to go on a small vacation now and then and actually enjoy the gift that is your life.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Changes
It's a cliche that "children always grow up too fast". Well when I was a kid, it certainly didn't feel that way. It felt like I would be a kid forever and everyone I knew would always stay the same. I think that's because, when you're a child, you don't have much of a past to look back on. Your past is almost the same as the present. When you get older, you have more of a past and you can look back and see how much things have changed. Kids grow up and get married and get jobs. Styles change. Prices go up. Technology becomes more advanced. Wars begin and end. The economy changes. People are born and people die.
I'm not saying it is a bad thing that the world is always changing. That's life, and it would get pretty boring if everything stayed the same. But once in a while you look back and you get a little pang because you miss something and you know it will never be like it was in the past.
Now that I'm grown, I realize that children do grow up too fast. But you don't have to let the time slip by without appreciating it. Enjoy every second of the present, because it becomes the past all too soon.
I'm not saying it is a bad thing that the world is always changing. That's life, and it would get pretty boring if everything stayed the same. But once in a while you look back and you get a little pang because you miss something and you know it will never be like it was in the past.
Now that I'm grown, I realize that children do grow up too fast. But you don't have to let the time slip by without appreciating it. Enjoy every second of the present, because it becomes the past all too soon.
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