June 14--Did We Have Fun?

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality. 
--Nikos Kazantzakis

    The June 12 photo of my weekend golf course didn't quite represent reality. The greens were in generally excellent shape, but the rest of the course was in dreadful shape. Several of the women's tee boxes were bare dirt, and others had just a few weeds here and there. The fairways were hard to pinpoint. There were foot tall weeds all over the fairways. It was a challenge to play for me--remember I said a few days ago that as a gardener, the first thing I see is weeds? Many balls were lost in the poorly-mowed territory. There was much disappointment expressed among the group, exacerbated by the extreme heat and humidity. No one played to their usual scores. 

    But did we have fun? Yes! While we couldn't change the reality of the course, I feel we all did a reasonably good job of focusing on the fun of being away, hanging with friends, enjoying meals out, imbibing adult beverages and rowdy card-playing. I believe a good time was had by all.

    Onward,

        Leta

June 13--How Does Life Strike You?

Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens. 
--Andy Rooney

    If I based my happiness on what happens on my golf scorecard, my happy-o-meter would be registering very low. However, it strikes me that even a rough day on the course is better than, say, being home cleaning toilets. I am grateful that I am able to play, both physically and financially. It keeps me in contact with friends and enables me to meet new folks, both supportive of my happiness. 

    If I based my happiness on the news I glance at now and then, my happy-o-meter would melt down into an ugly mess. Fortunately, so little of it is directly relevant to me in daily life that I am able to restore my happiness level fairly quickly. 

    I think we all know folks who maintain a positive disposition even under dreadful circumstances. We can all do it, at least now and then. Unpleasant stuff is going to happen. Remember the old bumper sticker, "Shit happens."? If our happiness depends on life being great all the time, we're screwed. Let's go with wise Abe Lincoln: “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” 

    Life strikes me as very good,

        Leta

    

June 12--New Eyes

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.  --Marcel Proust

    Today I get to play a new-to-me golf course. It is a new landscape, surely. The "new eyes" part is me forgetting all previous golf strokes, good or bad, and enthusiastically taking on the new venue. 

    Really seeing, with full attention, is a challenge for me. As a severely overweight youngster, I was teased a lot, and I think I developed a very strong desire not to be seen (which is obviously ridiculous given the size I was, but there you have it). It seems that led me into the practice of glancing over most everyone and everything. It is still a huge difficulty for me to remember faces and names. 

    Nature is a great place to practice seeing with "new eyes." Maybe flowers were given to us just for this purpose 😉😉 I walk Barney a fairly similar route most days, and it's easy to ignore my surroundings. Reminding myself to look closely at the passing gardens always brings me the beauty of flowers, assorted greenery, water features and other critters. 

    Actual new landscapes are generally more the exception in routine daily life, but each day can be new when we truly pay attention and see with new eyes. 

    I'm off to sink a few putts...

        Leta

    

June 11--Remembering

God gave us our memories that we might have roses in December.  --J. M. Barrie

    This immediately brings tears to my eyes. Having just lost a dear friend, lots of memories have been flowing through my mind. Life is so rich with experiences and relationships. Some we label "good" and some we label "bad." I guess the good ones are the rosebuds and the bad ones are the thorns. We choose which ones to focus on, and whatever the choice, we get more of those. I'll take the rosebuds, thanks. 

        Leta

June 10--Aspirations

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.  --Kahlil Gibran

    Do you want to continue learning? Are you OK being a beginner no matter what your age is? Are you willing to risk missteps, mistakes, failure, looking silly, being disappointed? Do you have an event or trip to look forward to with joyful anticipation? Do you have a quest? Is what gets you out of bed in the morning (besides coffee) meaningful to you? Do you look forward to each new day? Do you put forth daily effort to maintain a healthy body, mind and spirit?

    "What do you want to be when you grow up?" This is not a question solely for youngsters. I believe we should continue to ask ourselves this for our whole lifetime. If we are truly living, we are always in a state of "growing up" into our greater potential. 

    Leta

One of six stadiums remaining
on my MLB quest

June 9--Yes, We Do

We already have everything we need.  --Pema Chodron

    Amen! This is a very lofty and profound quote. Today I am using it in a very practical sense. Last night I attended the first of six watercolor classes. It was fun to reunite with the instructor from whom I've taken several art classes. The drawing workshop frustrated me totally. The acrylics classes were great fun and ultimately led me to the barn quilt painting. My artistic horizon has been expanded. It is important to me to keep learning.

    Back to the watercolor class... the first one was all about all the supplies we need to buy. The instructor talked about an exercise to begin exploring the different ways to use the paints and water. He knows me well enough to note in my direction that this medium is very different from acrylics, and I could be easily frustrated, having shown my love of straight lines with the barn quilts. When we were finished, he said, "Well, if I haven't scared you off, I'll see you next week." YIKES! I left there feeling like he had scared me off. Loud questions are racing through my mind:

• Do I really have fantasies of being able to make watercolor art? 
• Do I want to spend all that money on supplies for something that will only frustrate me? 
• Should I just quit now? 
• Or should I be bull-headed and stick with it and buy everything and torture myself? 

    Then a tiny voice speaks up, "It might be fun. You have the money. Why not try it? You can do it!" I know I'm having PTSD from high school art classes. This is stretching my self-knowledge and abilities, and that is always scary to me. 

    Writing this has been clarifying. I'm at least going to go shopping. Stay tuned...

        Leta

June 8--Fun? What's That!?!?!

I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun.  --Katharine Hepburn

    Losing a loved one really makes me appreciate "just being," alive and moving, with the great potential for fun in each day. Life can turn into a series of chores, "have to" things. That's no fun. 

    I am blessed to be at the stage of life wherein I don't have to do all that much. I'm perfectly happy just being and having fun. Fun for me is golfing (even though I suck at it), swimming, walking and playing with Barney, reading, watching baseball, hanging with family and friends, traveling, napping, seeing the kids in Colorado, swinging on my backyard swing. Writing this blog is "just being" and fun. I don't think anyone goes to their grave saying they had too much fun. 

    Heading to the golf course,

        Leta

Outside Tiger Stadium, Detroit, June 2019