FRIENDS AND FAMILY

 

I am grateful for my friends and family

my children, my grandchildren,

My great-granddaughter…and my wife…

just a few of the many reasons I enjoy

every moment of my life

FIRST AND LAST

 

May we be blessed to enjoy every moment of our day…

before that moment’s passed…

Every moment as if was our first moment of the day

and as if it was our last.

EVERY FIRST TIME

 

They say there’s no better feeling in the world 

It’s the reason for so many love songs…so many rhymes

than when we have the pleasure of experience something…

for the very first time…

Think of all the feelings and emotions you unpack…

remembering the first time you said ‘I love you to someone’

and they said, ‘I love you back’.

The first time you saw a sunrise, the mountains, the ocean

a flower or a tree.

The first time you saw a dolphin, a bird, a butterfly, a bee..

 

The first time you heard your baby cry or laugh…

heard music soft…or loud.

The first time you smelled cookies in the oven.

The first time you touched a cloud.

They also say once you’ve experienced something for the first time…

no matter how or where or when…

You can never experience that same feeling…that same emotion

that same excitement…ever again.

But I beg to differ with whoever ‘they’ are…

because every new day offers a new how or where or when

to experience…the feeling, the emotion, the excitement

for the first time once again.

When you wake up and say I love you for the first time that day

to the person you adore…

you realize you’ve never said ‘I love you’ to her or him on this day before.

Every new day offers a new sunrise, a new look at that mountain

that ocean, that flower or that tree

that dolphin, that bird…that butterfly or bee…

Each new day offers a new first time to hear our baby cry or laugh…

to hear music soft or loud

a new first time to smell cookies in the oven…to reach up and touch a cloud.

Every day is meant to be a new day…it’s the way our creators designed them

filled with a host of first times out there…waiting for us to find them.

Which means as each new day arises…it’s up to us to find a way…

to discover and enjoy everything we can…for the first time…every day

LOVE. MAYA ANGELOU STYLE

 

These times when there is so much hatred in the world 

I am grateful for the words of Maya Angelou

which always help me cope:

Love recognizes no barriers.

It jumps hurdles, leaps fences,

penetrates walls to arrive at its destination

full of destination…

full of hope.

WHY WE ARE HERE

 

Now more than ever we need to be reminded  

In a world where evil is competing every day with joy:

We are here to heal, not to harm.

We are here to love, not to hate.

We are here to create, not to destroy

TWO VOICES

 

It is my goal to write in a soft voice of love and friendship and peace…

of acceptance and family

of honesty kindness and courage…of compassion and empathy…

This is my intention…when my fingers rest upon my computer keys…

but some days I find this difficult to do

when distracted by all the evil in the world I see.

I find my mind is filled with sadness, hopelessness and doubt…

which is the opposite of all the things I want to write about.

So every now and then my writings on love and kindness

and compassion I suspend…

to share my thoughts and protests on these evils 

hoping in some small way it will help…to make these evils end.

Adding one more voice…one more protest

one more comment…one more critique…

to the other voices already out there…

who are already courageous enough to speak…

Knowing now is not the time to remain silent…

if this battle is to be won…

now is not the time for our united voice…

to be reduced even by one.

When the voices of evil are strongest (and I believe they are!)

the voices for good must be stronger yet…

because in order to defeat these evils

we need all the voices we can get.

So I will do my best to continue write in a soft voice for love…

for compassion, for friendship and family…

While at the same time raising my voice loudly in protest…

to cruelty, oppression, abuse and tyranny.

I’ll keep looking for love, acceptance, generosity friendship and family

In the world…which, happily, is still widespread

While unafraid to face the evils of prejudice and hatred

every time they rear their ugly head

DAILY GRATITUDE COURAGE TO BE KIND

 

When surrounded by the horrors of our hatred

I am grateful for those who have the ability to find…

In the midst of the most difficult of situations….

the courage to be kind.