Crack In My Windshield

Picture yourself driving along the interstate minding your own business, keeping an eye out for careless drivers, speeders, and tailgaters. You’re buckled in, not texting, and not on the cell phone. The tractor trailer in front of you kicked up some small gravel and it hits your windshield. It didn’t break it, but the sound got your attention. In fact, you heard it hit but don’t know where it. You soon forget about it and don’t think anymore about it. A couple of weeks later, while cleaning your car and windows, you notice a small crack on the passenger side in the lower right hand corner. You remembered when it happened and hope that the crack won’t get any larger. Since we don’t have car inspections in this state, you continue to drive regardless how big that crack isbecoming. It’s now unsafe to drive but you’re willing to take the risk. Hopefully, you don’t hurt yourself or any of your passengers if the windshield breaks.

When we’re hurt emotionally by someone or ourselves, we let the cracks grow until it’s unsafe for us. We know that it will have a negative effect on us but we continue. We just pack it up and carry it with us to the next person. Either we get it fixed, face the facts that something is very wrong, or find somebody we can talk to who knows how to care of the "cracks in our windshields."

The Two Wolves

One evening a wise, old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his Grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The wise, old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

This email is circulating the internet. I thought it was appropriate to our discussion. Which wolf do we feed? One will grow in size and strength to overpower the other. I hope you make the right choice. Either one will affect the outcome of a relationship.

The Onion Test

Let’s do the onion test. You must be honest, truthful and candid with yourself. This is a test that only you and you only need to know. I believe we all are all like the onion with its many layers. We have many personalities, idiosyncrasies, moods, and characters. Unfortunately, a lot of us have some pains inside of us that make us unhappy. We refuse to accept these weaknesses or simply ignore them. So we hide them and concentrate on other people’s weaknesses. We do our best to make others unhappy, too. Are you starting to cut through your layers? Don’t dwell on the negatives, confront them, work on them, and change them. This will take time and should exercise a great deal of patience, tolerance, and understanding towards others. We are not perfect, but there is always room for improvement. Before we start finding the wrongs in others, let’s look at our own personal challenges. Take a real good look at yourself. How would you like to be treated? Do you treat others with respect and dignity? Or do you judge by first impressions? By how the person looks? What they say? Material gains? Maybe, their attitude? Could there be something else associated with it, like jealousy? Are you selfish? Self-centered? Moody? Quick-tempered? Insecure? Afraid? Arrogant? Tempermental? Doubtful? Only you will know when you cut through the layers and face yourself. Now when you recognized your faults and start to work on them, see if others will notice a difference in you. Don’t give up on yourself, even if others already have. Trudge through this journey we call life. We all have something to contribute. Don’t measure by the quantity, but the quality! Remember, the widow's mite? You may not have much but you still got a lot to give!

Celebrate!!!

Today another miracle happened! We woke up! Be thankful!

Issues

We all have issues and problems of some kind. Look around you! Your co-workers that are laughing and joking with you might be having some type of problem(s) that are going on in their lives. Some serious, some not so serious but enough for concern. Look at your family members. Are we doing all that we can to be happy with each other? Are we treating them like we want to be treated? Can our friends really trust us enough to keep confidential information? Can we trust them? We all have got to learn how to be more patient and understanding towards each other.

I had a long talk with a fellow co-worker, who I consider one of the most compassionate and honest person I met on this life’s journey. I'm not excluding my other co-workers, I work with some great-loving people! In our discussion, she expressed deep concerns over the state of the world’s social consciousness. She just can’t understand why some people have a problem discussing their differences peacefully and civilly. And why would some of us hate each other so much that we would rather destroy each other than help each other. We all want a better world for our children, grandchildren and ourselves to live in. Change is like faith, it starts small but grows to a size we can not fathom! Who knows? Keep the faith, baby!

Dominoes

If the economy is trying to stabilize, it’s hard to tell when you have so many people unemployed and businesses closing. So, the administration is trying to offer various stimulus plans to jumpstart the economy. I always heard that it takes money to make money. As some business folks do, they’ll spend money on advertisements, gags, offers, etc., to bring you into their stores. Yes, the ads and materials cost, but if the prices are right, we’re hooked. We’ll spend to get what we want if the price is right! The more we spend, the more we save! The more people spending, more people are needed to sell. More items sold, more produced. We all get the picture. The Domino effect. “Cash for Clunkers” seem to do pretty well for the auto industry. It’s helping dealers, the manufacturers, etc. I don’t know how long this will last. Where am I going with this? No matter what is done, you will not satisfy everybody! If it’s a great plan, they are still unhappy. They’ll find fault! But, notice that these negative folks don’t have a better plan, not even a plan at all. But, they have plenty of negative opinions. Is this what our society has become? Just an ungrateful bunch of unhappy people? Folks are worried about bills left for their grandchildren and legacy!? Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed! We can have one of the worse wars, epidemics, catastrophes the world has ever seen and we are worried about the future? But the voices speaking against the spending programs now didn’t seem to worry about it in the past. Is the real question government spending or too much government involvement?

Cream-Colored Pantyhose

Cream-colored thigh high pantyhose
with shiny, satiny sheen,
wrapped around long, big pretty
brown legs that were
molded by Nature’s Queen.

Red high heels on your feet,
emphasizing the arch of the
calves and back. Making
many a man and some women
moan,
just thinking of wanting
some of that.

Look at those gifts,
so full, so smooth and oh so soft.
Pointing, pouting, mocking,
waiting
for the kiss from my lips.

Cream-colored thigh high pantyhose
with a shiny, satiny sheen.
Thank you for giving yourself,
all of yourself, to me!

Excerpt from “A Part of Things”