Raising the Bar

Raise Your Own Bar

I just attended a meeting

Of eager beavers today

I found them so inspiring

A virtual “focus” ballet!

When looking for ideas

To strut and to display

Just ask some eager beaver

It’s an inspirational buffet.

They’re often just busy people

Yet they find the time to grow

And before you even know it

You’ve an entire portfolio.

It really is good therapy

To relax after a grueling day

To create a neat arrangement

Your ingenuity to portray.

So don’t let yourself go stagnant

Or whither without a cause

It’s often great incentive

To work for such applause!

Helplessness

Strife in Ukraine

As a Ukrainian, I find it very hard to watch the news now.  Seeing the strife in the Ukraine and how many people are caught in the crossfire of the political struggles there is truly painful to see.  I am not now radically political nor have I ever been, so I do not profess to know who is right and who is wrong over there.  If I had a solution for them, I would certainly offer it, but as it is, all  I can do is watch helplessly from behind a television screen and empathize with their pain.  What I do know is that many innocent people are getting hurt, probably on  on both sides of the issue and that is where the tragedy lies.

I have never been to the Ukraine myself though I have traveled alot.  I had the good fortune to be born in Canada under peaceful conditions, but I am still Ukrainian and it hurts to know that Ukrainians are having to suffer  that way.  However, it really does not matter what race or what people or wherever in the world they live. Strife is strife and people are people regardless of the where they come from.  We all bleed red blood and pain is still pain.  Whether it is east, west or in between, it is the innocent that always suffer most.

Oh, for a world of perfect peace, where there is no evil and no pain! I wonder if God is looking down on this world and thinking He should just start from scratch again!!!!!

Lifestyle Options

Making Your Life Count

I was talking to a very cynical lady the other day and she was telling me how used to used to like to write poetry at one time but she quit writing because she found it too costly to submit poetry to magazines and contests. She did have some poetry published in a few anthologies but it did not yield any substantial financial rewards, so she just gave up writing poetry altogether.  She is retired and lives in a one-bedroom apartment so I asked her what she does for a hobby or for a pastime now and she said she spends her time "just watching TV".

Personally, I have nothing against TV, but I do think it is a waste of time if it keeps you from engaging in some activity that can give you pleasure - or if it prevents you from utilizing some talent - unique or simple. My belief is that you owe it to yourself to utilize all of your God-given talents. To me, wasting a talent is not an option, regardless of its unique or simple qualities. Submitting your work to magazines or contests should not be the only reason to write (or paint pictures, or do carvings or  exploit whatever other talent you may have). A compilation of your work, in whatever form, can still be appreciated - even if it is only by you and your family or friends. In the meantime you have indulged your very own  talents to  create something uniquely your own   (writing, painting, carving, sewing, knitting, etc. etc. etc.)   "Giving up" keeps you from filling a very basic human need - that of feeling worthy and validated! And that does not even include the pleasure you get from doing it!

Hobbies are the passions that add the spice to your meal and the icing on your cake!
 

Weather Worries???

Happy Valentines Day

Guess what!  We're into the the middle of February! The worst of winter should be over.  We should be on the downhill slide toward spring, and today, at least, we are above 30 below! So  we ARE making progress!  Nonetheless, in my opinion, it is not the cold that is the worst of our problems.  It is the ice on the roads and on the streets that is causing pain where we don't need it.

We were gloating in January when our temperatures soared high over various places throughout the southern United States and other places that regularly put one over on us with their  "reasonable" climate.  It was a genuine "AHA" moment.  But it just proved we should never gloat!

We are now paying a dear price for that unusually warm January.  That melt left us with skating rinks where we did not want them. We are paying dearly for our gloating. But I see on the news that the States are still not done with what almost seems like some kind of punishment or something.  We can truly empathize with Atlanta. Been there, done that, though I think we are somewhat more equipped to handle such storms, being on the receiving end of them rather more often.  So you do have our sympathy.

The only comfort I can offer you is the one that consoles me during difficult winters: "THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS!"  (In the meantime, we simply grin and bear it.)

Struggles

My Struggle With “The End”

I’m working on a major chore

I’ve been working for some time

It’s like a work of fiction

But the plot is more sublime.

I’m almost at the point now

Just the climax to conclude

I know just where I’m going

My problem's simply  attitude!

 I know that when I finish

A major struggle will begin

And that’s the part I’m dreading

For therein lies chagrin.

Final details bring vexation

Second guessing and inquiring

Could I have done much better?

And made it more inspiring?

I wish I had more confidence

More faith and self-assurance

It could have really served me well

It would have been insurance.

But I never really was that great

With decisions of magnitude

So I struggle with indecision

This anxiety and ineptitude! 

Stuck in Neutral

Stuck in Neutral

I fear I’m stuck in neutral

Can’t go forth and can’t go back

My brain just won’t cooperate

It’s gone all out of whack.

I think I hit a brain freeze

With those temperatures so darn low

I’m waiting for a muffler

To get that brain to glow.

 I tried to shift to overdrive

To get out of this rut

But getting out of neutral is

Not as easy as I thought.

So I struggle and I grapple

And I labor and contort

Still words just seem to fail me

All I get is a dismal snort.

So I must practice patience

Till I can switch those gears

I’ll thaw this frozen brain out

And make sure that it clears.

For I still need it working

To execute each task

I need to keep it honed and sharp

And to function when I ask.