We all have assumptions in life don’t we? I know I do!
One way to walk with an attitude of positivity is to assume that TODAY IS GOING TO BE A WONDERFUL DAY!
Yeah, I know, it doesn’t always work out that way, ahhh, y’all can deal with that later . . . but this assumption is a good way to begin, eh?
Enjoying the Adventure,
Dr. Dink
Image by Pexel
I love musical memory, except for when it comes to the Purple Dinosaur with his tail swinging as he sings the, “I love you, you love me” song, or the “Noah” song that I learned in Vacation Bible School years ago, I want to scream and listen to head-banging music just to get it out of repeat mode in my brain. But for the most part, musical memory is wonderful.
The other day, I received a text asking for a verse that would be appropriate for comfort for someone who had a death in the family. It would be great if it had to do with the setting sun. Immediately I had a song in my mind that I knew came from the Psalms. “From the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, the Name of the Lord shall be praised!” (Psalm 113:3) — and I’ve been silently hearing and enjoying it since.
Musical memory is an amazing thing, it can bring us back to places we have long forgotten, our first kiss, that fun trip with a girlfriend, good times, bad times, sad times and times of love, joy and wonder. I love listening to what are considered “oldies” now for that very reason. (Hold on, how can songs I grew up with be considered old? OK, I’ll call them classic rock, that sounds much better!).
I’ve sang songs with people in nursing homes, and watched those who have basically no memory left at all, sing along with songs or hymns with huge smiles on their faces. These have been beautiful moments of the power of music.
What songs “bring you back?” What songs give you pleasant memories, you know, the ones you know all the words to and can’t help but sing along? The songs that you really don’t mind if it bounces around in your head for an hour, or a day. Yes, that one!
Please don’t say the purple dinosaur song, because if you do I’ll start hearing it over and over and over. Which is now, Oh no! Why did I do this to myself? PLEASE REPLACE WITH A NEW SONG! Let’s have some fun with this one . . . it doesn’t matter if it was last year, a decade or five decades ago . . . what song brings you back to a good place and time?
Enjoying the adventure,
Dr. Dink
My song for today, you ask? Mambo No. 5, of course!
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Please visit my other Blog: Brown Bag Letter
I encourage you to visit other bloggers. You’ll find almost everything imaginable that can be written, in every form, from all over the world!
Have you ever been challenged to describe yourself? What would be the word or phrase that “describes” who you are, or what you do? I’ve been thinking through this one, but honestly, it is very difficult to pick one word or phrase. THEN when you do, you realize that word, or collection of words can be interpreted 86 different ways. However, it doesn’t hurt to do a little self-reflection.
Back in my “leadership days”, I used a phrase quite often, “Live Into”. When I was working with a group of people, my job was generally to help them define who they were personally, or as a group. We would do many exercises to help define, for instance, the purpose of a particular group and the direction that group would take. When the essence of that project was named, I would say, “Now, Live into it!” Meaning, if you have a goal, or hope for the future, you live NOW as if it has already begun to occur.
This is a both fun and frustrating exercise. Helpful, as it brings clarity. Frustrating, as it usually needs interpretation. The end result though is worth the frustration. One of my favorite tools for thinking is called bubbling. You begin with a word or phrase, then simply write words that come to mind. There may be many layers, (thus secondary levels of bubbles). This is done as a brain-dump, in other words, don’t put too much thought into it, just write down what comes to mind. You can return later to refine.
This example is the result of the word GARDEN to give you an idea of how it works:
As you can see, a lot comes up, for instance, Plant leads to tomato, which lead to types of tomatoes, then I would have to add another category called blight because we deal with it here on our land.
Now imagine that you put your name in the center . . . what descriptive words would be in those first bubbles? What else would be added to those first words. Which ones do you really want to describe you? What ones do you want or need to cross off the list? Yes, it’s fun and frustrating! Now, which ones will you “live into”?
Living into is acting as if it already is, therefore becomes reality. Thus one of the reasons I always close with Enjoying the Adventure!
Enjoying the Adventure!
Dr. Dink
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Please visit my other Blog: Brown Bag Letter
I encourage you to visit other bloggers. You’ll find almost everything imaginable that can be written, in every form, from all over the world!
Want something to live by? We’re All Gonna Die! Let’s face it, ALL of us are heading to death. Now, that is unavoidable and can be scary.
Wasn’t that nice of me to remind you that are going to die? You know, just in case someone hasn’t shared this nasty truth with you yet. Your welcome! I’m not so concerned with death, as much as it is an unwelcome part of life. Rather, I am more concerned with life. How will you choose to live your life? Will it be one of ultimate doom, “I’m dying, so why bother?” rather than, “I’m going to do my best to take each and every day for what it’s worth and look forward to the next.”
I think that every human being has his or her place in history. Some are known more than others. Some acquire super-stardom. Others end up working at a dead-end job, going through the daily routine, just biding time. Most of us are somewhere in the middle. Then others just stop living. On the other hand, there are people of every race, gender, creed and economic strata that LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!
I am convinced that life is what we make it. I will be the absolute first one to admit that life can be pretty freakin’ shitty sometimes. Ask me, I’ve been there on more than a few occasions. You name it, I’ve either lived through it myself, or have walked with others in the middle of horrible life circumstances. Because of this, I have adopted an attitude of “making the best of today”. I think that might be the answer to not getting stuck in a pile of shit. After officiating more funerals than I can count or remember in 22 years of ministry, I realize that I may live to 104, or die in a tragic accident today. So, what does that leave me? Today, simply today. That doesn’t change the fact that there is a future to plan for and things to look forward to, but they are not guaranteed. Only now is guaranteed.
Over the years of officiating funerals, I’ve celebrated the lives of young children to, yes, 104! They represent community leaders and heroes, people from big families, little families & just normal everyday people. However, there are two that really stand out because it was so difficult to do their eulogies. The first was a guy, I’ll call him Tim. When I met with his family, I asked many questions about his life. All I could remember was them telling me, “He was a no-good-rotten-son-of-a-bitch!” Literally, the only positive thing they could tell me was that he donated his organs. On the opposite end of the spectrum was a woman, let’s call her Mom. She had no accomplishments, no group memberships, few interests other than weaving plastic canvas & she made the best potato salad ever. Hers was a very short eulogy. She was simply the “best mom ever!” Two opposite lives. Both influenced the lives of others. At the end of the day, the important thing is knowing that our effect upon others results in knowing they were loved. It doesn’t matter what titles we have, what awards we’ve received, or the amount of money we’ve made. It is what we do in our everyday lives with the people we encounter along the way that is appreciated now and remembered later.
So, what will you do with today? What dreams need to come out from your thoughts? What project do you want to accomplish? What beautiful things are there to see right beside you, in your yard, 20 miles away or across the world? What recipe have you been wanting to try? What words will you chose to use? Most importantly, how will you express to those that you love how much you truly do love them?
Enjoying the Adventure!
Dr. Dink
This is what I asked people as they passed by: What’s a good word for today? Here they are in the order I heard them, they speak for themselves!
Starbucks
I don’t know
Hope
Jesus
Beautiful
Sunshine
Joy
Education
Kindness
This question resulted in people smiling back at me and four great conversations about:
So, it’s your turn . . . What’s a good word for the day?
Enjoying the Adventure!
Dr. Dink
downtoearthpositive 