2012 04 30 Open Your Eyes...

Here we go again!

Another rip roaring, incredible start to a wonderfully amazing day, and all I had to do was open my eyes!

You ever wonder how so many different types of days all start the same? You ever wonder what makes one day veer to the left so much farther than the day before? You ever wonder how quickly your frame of mind can change, as it pin balls it's way into, and through the day?

Well I don't know about you, but I wonder about it all the time.

I wonder how we can keep all of these different scenarios sorted out. I wonder how I am able to sift through all of the different people, different characteristics, different problems, different likes, and dislikes, and still find the pillow at night.

All of the days start the same. All of the days have similar possibilities. All of the days have the same number of clicks on the clock. All of the days start with the sun, and end with the sun. Sprinkle a few stars and a couple full moons in between there, and you have yourself one unpredictable stage show.

I usually start my days the same way, every morning. Over and over again. Open my eyes. Walk the dogs. Take my daily supplements. Start my pc. Check my email. Write a little bit. Read a little bit. Grab a yogurt and banana and join my wife in the living room to catch up on some news. Do my exercises. Notice how much my exercises don't seem to be doing any good. Take care of my business in the bathroom, then I head for the dish pan.

By the way, I have the cleanest, softest hands in Clinton. Ha! It's been two years since I rolled a tire, and I still have ground in dirt from back then. Can't get it out.

I would like to say that waking up every morning, knowing that I have so many wonderful choices in my life, well, it keeps me grounded and whole. It keeps me humbled and amazed. It keeps me faithful and blessed. It keeps me from lying in bed all day. It keeps me as I am.

My sister told me once of a phrase that really tells it all. It caused me to step back, and take a look at what was really around me. It helped me to realize that through it all, under, over, around, amidst it all, the only real thing we have is right now.

She told me the simplest thing that made the most sense of anything I had ever thought about.

She said,

Stop.

Breathe.

This is it.

That was it. That's all she told me. Simple, and oh so true.

Waking up every morning, knowing that I have the people in my life that I do, it gives me a sense of belonging. It helps me realize that I am just a small part of a much bigger picture. I am just one ingredient in a casserole dish extraordinaire. I am but just one spoke in a rolling Ferris wheel in the amusement park of the ages.

I am who I am, because of all of you. I am who I am because of the many faces and smiles that I have managed to collect along the way. I am who I am, and I thank you all for it.

Are you ready?

Set?

Ok then, open your eyes, and,

GO!