A Sense of Urgency
The difference between a productive day and a non-productive day is a sense of urgency. Today was a good day.
I am struck by the word “metabolism.” It’s such a great word. It denotes a process in which an organic system transforms inputs and raw materials into energy. Our bodies take proteins, carbohydrates, and fats and transform them into tissue and stored energy. An “increased metabolism” is one in which this transformation process is occurring…
Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these.
— Susan B. Anthony
I have never been very big on holidays like birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas. They seem like such artificial constructs to me. Years ago I reached a peaceful truce with my family and friends to not exchange gifts at such times. We have all been enjoying stress-free holidays ever since.
I don’t mean to demean the important moments in life.
If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill,
Be a shrub in the valley – but be
The best little shrub by the side of the hill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a bush, be a bit of grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass,
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can’t all be captains, some have to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here;
There’s work to be done, and we all have to do
Our part in the way that’s sincere.
If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun, be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail,
Be the best of whatever you are.
— Douglas Mallock
We went to our first HOA meeting this week for our new home in Carillon Forest. It was great to meet some of our new neighbors and we learned a lot. Mostly we learned that there are still lots of requests pending with the original developer who built all the houses in the neighborhood a few years back. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be responding to our requests.
It occurred to me that buying a house from DR Horton is like buying a band instrument from Professor Harold Hill. The Music Man comes to town, sells you a shiny new band instrument, and then moves on. Once he’s gone, he’s gone!
When it comes to land mass, Canada is slightly larger than the US — 3.9 million square miles in Canada vs 3.8 million for the US..
But when it comes to population and the economy, the is US much bigger. Consider this:
In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg’s classic collection of meditations on finding the writer within, she has an essay on talking and listening with friends as a means of bringing stories to life. She says, …