August 7--Travel--What's the Motivation?

We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls. 
--Anais Nin

    One path this quote can take is the "geographic cure." I sought those in my earlier days, thinking that if I moved there, and had that job, life would be perfectly hunky-dory. Alas, I realized fairly quickly that I was the "common denominator" in all the different places, and maybe I should look at myself relative to my ongoing issues. 

    Some folks are life-long wanderers. They are used to moving frequently, and even thrive on it. Baseball players, military personnel and ministers come to mind. They get plenty of "other states, other lives, other souls." It makes for a life of many rich experiences and relationships. 

    Lastly, folks like me simply love to travel. I love to explore other places on our fabulous planet and experience how other cultures live. I also treasure the occasional beach vacation with 24/7 lazing. Why is it that we can't relax at home the way we can on vacation? Yes, there's always some chore to do at home. Travel provides a break in routine that enables us to be present and relax. 

    From the backroads of Kansas to the Taj Mahal, there are infinite "other states, other lives, other souls" to enjoy!

    Onward,

        Leta

Oh, to be in one of those hammocks! 😉😉

August 6--AMEN!!!!!!!!!

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.  --Katharine Hepburn

    Truer words were never spoken! My husband is a first-born, and I am essentially an only child (my brothers were well into their teenage years when I came along), so we were trained to be rule-followers. There's nothing wrong with being a rule-follower unless you are missing out on fun. 

    I'm not suggesting willy-nilly, dangerous or criminal breaking of rules. One rule I have broken is "don't jump out of a perfectly good airplane." Another example--on group tours, my travel bud and I are told to rotate bus seats so that we get to meet all the others. However, we like the seats at the back of the bus. So we stay put back there, and everyone else follows the rotating rule, so we still get to meet everyone. We are known as "they are the ones who stay at the back of the bus." Rule-breakers! 

    Rule-breaking requires awareness of choices. Oftentimes we don't even recognize other possibilities. Ask! Question! Be curious! "What if...?" There's more fun to be had...

        Leta

August 5--Here and Now

The real happiness of life is to enjoy the present, without any anxious dependence upon the future.  --Lucius Annaeus Seneca

    I have several big events coming up--another week of fun in Colorado, a son's wedding in October, and a trip to Jamaica in December. After more than a year of pandemic shut-in/lock-down time, it is tough to stay in the present. I'm hoping all these events go as planned, but the future could also hold more pandemic woes that shut us down again. It's easy to be anxious about the future, since we've learned that life can change very dramatically in a very short time. 

    Back to now, today... the real happiness of life today includes morning coffee and writing, with my sweet Barney at my side. There will be a W-A-L-K. I may do some errands. I will likely have lunch with my wonderful husband. I most definitely will take a nap, as napping is one of my favorite hobbies. Then there's evening golf. Reading this, sticking with today, makes me happy. "Regular" life is good!

        Leta

August 4--Make a Joyful Noise

You can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre--but who shall command the skylark not to sing?  --Kahlil Gibran

    We humans like to maintain the illusion that we are in control, but we have no ability to prevent the birds from singing, the bees from buzzing, the squirrels from chattering. I'm thinking that people developed musical instruments to be able to make music like nature makes music--in birdsong, critter calls, rushing waters, rolling thunder. We remember, too, that silence is just as profound in music as it is in nature. The ability to express one's unique self is the freedom we seek in incarnation.

    Grateful for birdsong,

        Leta

Skylark and babies

August 3--Humans Choose

It is the ability to choose which makes us human.  --Madeleine L'Engle

    Although I had been making choices all my life, I didn't really come to understand that I had choices until I entered (and stayed with) a 12-Step program. I believe my earlier choices were based on "what was expected of me," and so they didn't really feel like my choices. I grew up with the understanding that if one's "drug of choice" was within reach, and it usually was, that one must partake. Learning that I actually had a choice in the matter was truly revolutionary--the foundation of recovery from addiction.

    I am grateful every day for the freedom to choose. It is what our human life on earth is based upon. Even if I am faced with an unpleasant but necessary task, I have the choice of a good attitude or a bad attitude. I am blessed to have a wide range of choices in how I spend my time and use my skills. 

    Golf is this morning's choice.

        Leta

MacDonald Golf Course, Wichita

August 2--Perfect Freedom

If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.  --Lin Yutang

    Gee, I think I have this one nailed. I spend a lot of time watching baseball and basketball, which is, in the grand scheme of things, perfectly useless. I simply enjoy it. I know from the pandemic shut-in that I can survive without sports, but I enjoy spending a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner. As I ponder this quote, I realize that what is "perfectly useless" is a personal decision. I also note that the nagging voice in my head that says "you should do more" attempts to get louder when I contemplate a "perfectly useless" break. Our society is so goal and productivity oriented, and our children so pressured to perform, that folks don't even learn the value of "perfectly useless" time. It is a bold choice to spend one's time in a self-only pleasing manner without worrying what others may think or say about it. That is living. 

    Pondering whether my daily nap is "perfectly useless," 😉😉

        Leta

August 1--Let Freedom Ring

Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.  --Albert Camus

    The theme in "Daily Joy" for August is freedom. Despite the wide variety of political, governmental and incarceration systems, everyone is free, because every one of us has the ability to choose his or her thoughts. Choosing better thoughts is the means of "a chance to be better." We can't act, feel or achieve better until we first choose and hold the thoughts that lead to the desired betterment. Having free will is everything--our entire life system on planet Earth is based on it. It's a useful reminder that no one likes anyone else messing with their free will. I guess that is a fairly "Captain Obvious" statement, given our current state of affairs (think of mask-wearing). 

    Let's choose for the better,

        Leta