It's All In The Attitude

Getting older is beyond our control. No matter how much we'd like to, we can't stop time from marching on. However, growing old is something we can control. That's where attitude enters in.

When we look in the mirror, we can either see a life that's half over or a life that's half begun. We can spend all our time dwelling on the mistakes of our past or we can spend it focused on the hope of the future. We can count our wrinkles or count our blessings. The choice is ours.

It's been said that we live the first half of our life for success and the second half for significance. I agree. In our twenties and thirties, most of us were consumed with our careers, attaining financial stability, and perhaps raising a family.

By the time we reach the second half of our life, our priorities change--or at least they should. Many of us have had to watch our parents' health decline or fail. At this juncture, we are forced to face the cruel reality that our time on this earth is limited. When we fully realize this, the reports and meetings that seemed so important and pressing suddenly lose their urgency. We spend less time thinking about the mortgage on our home and more about the people in it.

The second half of life is a chance to get our priorities straight. It's a time to realize that having the last word isn't as important as having a conversation. It's time to quit trying so hard to get ahead of the Joneses and to try a little harder to walk beside them and be their friends. It's time to realize that it's not going to matter how much money you leave your family when you die. What is important is how much of yourself you leave with them.


By the time you're eighty years old, you've learned everything. You only have to remember it!
--------George Burns

THE BLESSING OF COURAGE

Right now I'm feeling scared. I have been fighting this feeling for days and today I finally exploded. But I exploded to the only one who I can truly rely on. Some of you know that I am going to have surgery next week and I have prayed daily for strength to get through this and the faith to sustain whatever will happen. On one hand I feel foolish for feeling the lack of faith my mouth is expressing and on the other hand I am grateful that this feeling is happening to me because it only brings me closer to the one that I know will never forsake me. I feel weary and overwhelmed by these emotions and as a woman of faith I must remember Jesus' words: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" (Luke 12:48).

Many blessings have been given to me. I know God didn't bless me with these gifts so I could sit back in the recliner and keep them all to myself. I think about my granddaughter Aimee and how empty she feels sometimes and yet she doesn't know why or my daughter Lisa who is in a constant struggle with decisions in her life. Sometimes life becomes so complicated we feel as if we've gone as far as we can down this stressful highway. We imagine ourselves smashed up against a brick wall, unable to answer one more call, hear one more complaint, and take one more breath. When that's the image that fills your mind, change the brick wall to God. Imagine yourself pressed tightly against His heart, wrapped in His everlasting arms, soothed by His life-giving breath. Picture yourself encircled in God's love, soaked in His strength. Then step out onto the highway once more. If I can just keep this in mind I know I will get through this surgery a stronger woman. Praise God!

Brokeback Mountain - The Movie

I must admit after listening to all of the award shows and controversy surrounding this movie I decided not to go see it. First I would be too embarassed to purchase a ticket and second I wouldn't want anyone to think I was "abnormal".

OK, I went to see Brokeback Mountain. Although I didn't start out to see this movie nor did I even buy a ticket. I purchased a ticket to see The New World, about John Smith and Pocahontas. As I rounded the corner of the theater with fresh buttered popcorn and a tall freeze coke in my hand I noticed that right across from my movie was Brokeback and coincidently it started at the same time. I had to convince myself that I wasn't stealing but I thought, "I didn't have to embarrass myself by purchasing a ticket and I am curious as to why this has been nominated for an Academy Award, and I did buy a ticket. I mean after all this was a workweek and in the middle of the day and there probably would not be too many people in the theater so I quietly slithered into the movie. When I got inside I noticed the sparsely filled theater and there were only "women" in the theater and most of them were alone! I felt better. I sat through the long 15 minutes of previews and the movie finally starts. I sit back, eat my popcorn and settle into what I think is going to be an embarrassing time. The movie started slow with beautiful scenery setting the mood. It's about two men, one a rancher and the other rides the rodeo circuit. Every season they herd sheep up into the mountains. Well after a couple of months up there I guess they had to experiment. The scene allowed the viewer to be set up for a very passionate "male" type sex scene. Oh my gosh, after that scene I didn't think I was going to be able to watch the rest of this movie. Anyway, no one was walking out of the movie at this point and I didn't want to make a scene and get up, so I stayed put. I got very involved in this movie and came around to understanding the emotions that flowed between two originally heterosexual men. I won't go into anymore detail on the movie just in case you venture out to see it, but I found this a very moving and emotional movie. These two men eventually married women and had children. Their relationship though spaced out sometimes years at a time ranged over a 20 year period. This is not a date movie, but I liked it and more than likely it will get an Academy Award. I rate this movie a B+.

See you at the movies,