Clear vision, shaky lens
You can't teach wisdom. You just can't. Wisdom is just something you gain through experience. The more you live life, the more you get out of it. Sure longevity helps but it doesn't automatically make you wiser. What you know now, today, in this moment, is more than you did yesterday, last week or last... Continue Reading →
Everyone has a first love. Perhaps it was at first sight or maybe it emerged after hanging out a few times but then, suddenly, you were hooked. You'd go to bed and couldn't get that love out of your head. Your dreams were completely hijacked by it and, upon waking, you still were unable to... Continue Reading →
Love is a drug. No there is no other way around it. The more you have of it, the more you want it. You can feel it through every fiber of your being and there is no substitute for it. You have to have it or you feel utterly destroyed in a way that you... Continue Reading →
Well, are you attractive? Before you answer, the obvious question that begs asking is how do you know? More specifically, how can you know? Looking in the mirror to determine your own level of attractiveness is impossible. Same goes for looking at pictures of yourself. What you see is not what anyone else sees. Your... Continue Reading →
"If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance." George Bernard Shaw
When you the hear the word 'family,' what is the first word that comes to your mind? Do you think sweet, happy thoughts that are caught up in a whirlwind of love, compassion, giving, trust, connection and general warmth OR, sadly, do you instantly cringe and spiral downward in a sea of regret, sadness, shame, loss, and the like...?
Having a family, especially one that loves and cares for you, is one of the biggest blessings anyone could ever AND you can get it by virtue of being born. Sure you can create your own family, physically, or you can create family atmospheres through friends, facebook, co-workers, church members etc. but you never choose your parents, siblings, cousins....unless you count marrying into a great family but that is cheating. To have a good family is to be lucky, plain and simple.
And yet, as Spiderman knows, "with great family, comes great responsibility." As with any type of love, how much you receive is how much you should return. Parents raise and care for you while family members check in on you, send birthday cards, help you get jobs....but do you return the favor? Will you build an attachment on your house and care for your parents? Will you use vacation days on reunions, weddings, funerals? Not always......
....which leads us to the regret and shame, the hiding from requests and questions, the "I'm too busy right now." For better or worse, family is a part of you and, of equal importance, you are part of family til death do you part. If you are lucky enough to be part good family, I implore you to fully participate and truly enjoy the blessing you have because you, and and anyone like you, don't know how fortunate you are 🙂
Exercise log:
7am - 5.1 mile run with the Rutts
Yesterday - SAVSL soccer game (lost 3-1, semis)
"My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet." Edith Wharton
Everyone has that friend that owns a dog and swears that they are the cutest, most well-behaved creature that loves meeting new people and is just a bundle of joy. I have such a friend and let me tell you, that friend is wrong. The key word in all of this, as Edith Wharton says in the title quote, is 'my.' My dog, my heartbeat, my bundle....of lies!
A dog owner lives with and loves the dog and the dog reciprocates thereby preventing the from inner demon being observed. So called 'demon dogs' attack visitors, harass strangers, annoy neighbors and generally discourage friends from coming over to just hang out and relax. The biggest problem is that the bigger the inner demon, the bigger the love goggles worn by the owners. Trying to explain how much the dog seems to hate you is pointless. Owners always side with the dogs so they always win.Â
I should not that not every dog is a true demon dog. In the past I might have said such a thing but many of my dog-owning friends have changed proven otherwise so I'm not making a claim that all dogs are demons. I don't have kids so I can't make a great comparison here but I've been told that loving your own kids is very different than loving other kids - love apparently does conquer all....
Anyway, if you own a dog simply be aware that you might be ignorant in all of this so just be aware or be warned that you might have less visitors and it's not about you, it's about your demon. Sure you might think that your dog is not in this category, since many are not, but if you only see rainbows and kisses when you think about your dog, you are not seeing clearly and thus need to strong reevaluate...
Exercise log:
Rest day
Â
Mikethatmiller 