A stranger in my house

The Stranger 

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town.  From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family.  The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.   

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family.  In my young mind, he had a special niche.  My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.  But the stranger...he was our storyteller.  He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with 

Adventures, mysteries and comedies.   

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future!  He took my family to the first major league ball game.  He made me laugh, and he made me cry.  The stranger never stopped   

Talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.   

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)   

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them.  Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors.  Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.  My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol.  But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular 

Basis.  He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished.   

He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex.  His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.   

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced   strongly by the stranger.  Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.   

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family.  He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.  Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. 

His name?...... .. .    

We just call him 'TV.' 

(Note: This should be required reading for every !)  

He has a wife now....We call her 'Computer.'

Dealing With The Burdens Of Life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Make A Difference

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing.  He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

 

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer.  He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

 

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all.  The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

 

He came closer still and called out "Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

 

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

 

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

 

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out.  If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

 

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile?  You can't possibly make a difference!"

 

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean.  As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

Laughter the best cure

Many years ago, Norman Cousins was diagnosed as terminally ill. He was given six months to live. His chance for recovery was one in 500.

He could see the worry, depression and anger in his life contributed to, and perhaps helped cause, his disease. He wondered, If illness can be caused by negativity, can wellness be created by positivity He decided to make an experiment of himself.

Laughing was one of the most positive activities he knew. He rented all the funny movies he could find - Keaton, Chaplin, Fields, the Marx Brothers. (This was before VCRs, so he had to rent the actual films.) He read funny stories. He asked his friends to call him whenever they said, heard or did something funny.

His pain was so great he could not sleep. Laughing for 10 solid minutes, he found, relieved the pain for several hours so he could sleep. He fully recovered from his illness and lived another 20 happy, healthy and productive years. (His journey is detailed in his book, Anatomy of an Illness.) He credits visualization, the love of his family and friends, and laughing for his recovery.

Some people think laughing is a waste of time. It is a luxury, they say, a frivolity, something to indulge in only every so often. Nothing could be further from the truth. Laughing is essential to our equilibrium, to our well-being, to our aliveness. If we're not well, laughing helps us get well; if we are well, laughing helps us stay that way.

Since Cousins' ground-breaking subjective work, scientific studies have shown that laughter has a curative effect on the body, the mind and the emotions. So, if you like laughing, consider it sound medical advice to indulge in it as often as you can. If you don't like laughter, then take your medicine - laugh anyway.

Use whatever makes you laugh - movies, sitcoms, Monty Python, records, books, New Yorker cartoons, jokes, friends.

Give yourself permission to laugh - long and loud and out loud - whenever anything strikes you as funny. The people around you may think you're strange, but sooner or later they'll join in even if they don't know what you're laughing about.

Some diseases may be contagious, but none is as contagious as the cure. . . laughter.

Begin Again

One of the best things we can do in our lives is this:

Begin again. 

Begin to see yourself as you were

When you were the happiest and strongest you've ever been. 

Begin to remember what worked for you

(and what worked against you),

And try to capture the magic again. 

Begin to remember how natural it was when you were a child --

To live a lifetime each day. 

Begin to forget the baggage you have carried with you

For years:

The problems that don't matter anymore,

The tears that cried themselves away,

And the worries that are going to wash away

On the shore of tomorrow's new beginnings. 

Tomorrow tells us it will be here every new day of our lives;

And if we will be wise,

We will turn away from the problems of the past

And give the future -- and ourselves -- a chance

To become the best of friends. 

Sometimes all it takes is a wish in the heart to let yourself ..

Begin again.

Ten Commandments of Life

FIRST -          Fully and unconditionally love yourself. Recognize your Divinity. Honor   yourself.

SECOND -    Unconditionally love and accept others. Recognize their Divinity and honor them.

THIRD -        Take responsibility for your actions. You always have a choice; how you feel, act or what you say. Act, don't react.

FOURTH -    Be a Master of Divine ex-pression. Live the Universal Laws of Love, Peace, Truth.

FIFTH -          You create your life (by your choices, feelings and actions). Live in joy.

SIXTH -         Let go and allow (let God). Listen to and follow, unconditionally, your small quiet voice; your spirit (God ).

SEVENTH - Be thankful and humble. Give thanks for what you have and receive. Be grateful.

EIGHT -         Your sustenance comes from inside you (God). Trust. You will always be provided for.

NINTH -        Your body is the temple of your soul. Nurture and care for  yourself.

TENTH -        Live in the present moment. Life can only be experienced now.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 

Yesterday's dead,

Tomorrow's unborn,

So there's nothing to fear

And nothing to mourn

For all that is past

And all that has been

can never return

To be lived once again —

And what lies ahead

Or the things that will be

Are still in God's Hands

So it is not up to me

To live in the future

That is God's great unknown,

For the past and the present

God claims for His own,

So all I need do

Is to live for Today

And trust God to show me

The Truth and the Way —

For it's only the memory

Of things that have been

And expecting Tomorrow

To bring trouble again

That fills my Today,

Which God wants to bless,

With uncertain fears

And borrowed distress —

For all I need live for

Is this one little minute,

For life's Here and Now

and Eternity's in it.

--- Helen Steiner Rice