For all the strong people in the world and we are many, I say sometimes we need to be “propped up”. Think of all that we manage in our day-to-day lives and being strong makes us take on the problems of others too. Sometimes I just need someone to hold my hand, and not me holding theirs. I love being in control or thinking I am in control of most everything, but sometimes I need to give up control and be the vulnerable person I am. I carry the weight of the world, but sometimes I would like to be carried. This is why I have faith. I think this is where all our strength comes from, way deep down in our faith. I have been taught to believe in God my entire life… Christianity… and I have faith in my heart of a higher power helping me through. I have always landed on my feet no matter the situation. I attribute it to my faith in a higher power. So when I say hold my hand , he does! When I say I give up, he doesn’t! When I need to be carried, he does! Haven’t you always heard “we are strong in numbers”… well this is why, I never walk alone! Stephen Spurling
Those Dang Squirrels!
This is a priceless story about a woman’s love for her birds and her hatred for squirrels… This woman is real, but because she had to stoop to such drastic measures to protect her bird seed from the squirrels, I won’t use her real name. For the sake of telling this true story, I will name her Helen. Helen is a true prim and proper southern belle, standing all of 5′ 2′ with a 90 pound frame. She has impeccable taste in the way she dresses and alway has the best shoes and purses money could buy. Even in her 90’s her lipstick is perfectly blotted around her tiny lips. ( you must be able to envision this woman)
Helen loves her yard and her birds. She had many bird feeders, her yard was a bird sanctuary, or at least it was to her. Well… we all know that if you have a bird feeder, you are really feeding the squirrels! Helen fought off squirrels for years. The humane way with the “have a heart” traps, and when she would catch them, she would carry them 5 miles away and release them in the park. She had always been told at that distance they wouldn’t be able to find their way back. Helen swore they were making their way back to her property. Helen decided to get a bb gun and she tried that for a while, but then everyone became concerned with a 92-year-old woman shooting a gun, so her family took the gun away. Well now she would have to go back to the traps. Knowing in her mind the squirrels were coming back to her yard… that wasn’t a solution.
I must tell you how we found out her new way of getting rid of the dang squirrels. One day her daughter-in-law, Julie stopped by to visit. Helen was out in the yard doing her usual thing. Julie noticed the wheel barrel was full of water, and said mama ,” why do you have the wheel barrel full of water?” Helen immediately chimed up… don’t go over there! Julie’s curiosity was peaked as anyones would be. Julie is now staring at the wheel barrel full of water and notices bubbles coming up from the water… Julie inches closer and now sees the true essence of what was happening. Helen has caught a squirrel in her trap and has put the squirrel in the wheel barrel full of water with a brick on top! Helen is drowning the squirrel!
Julie sprung into action, immediately pulling the caged squirrel out of the wheel barrel and throwing it to the ground in both fear and disgust! Julie was so upset she told Helen how disappointed she was in her actions … Helen simple explained that she was using the resources she had to eliminate the pesky squirrels.
This story has always fascinated me because it shows the determination of a woman to successfully protect what is hers. All women have this innate ability to rise to any level of being that is required to solve the problem at hand. Every woman has a little “Scarlett O’ Hara” in her. So when I say…”to meet Helen you would think, she wouldn’t harm a fly”, and by all rights I would be correct in saying so. But she is a women who had a problem that needed resolve, and she resolved it!
Just so you know the squirrel did survive. Julie made sure of that. I even heard later that they had taken away Helen’s ” have a heart” trap. I am sure as long as Helen has a breath in her body, she will be fighting those dang squirrels! Stephen Spurling
My Favorite Quote
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say ” I used everything you gave me” Erma Bombeck
Getting Old Is A State Of Mind…NOT!
I have a strong opinion on this subject. I think that getting older is not a state of mind, but a state of the body! My mind is great and I love the way it works… thinking I am still 21…. I mean; I think the same as when I was younger except for my well-earned wisdom. However I don’t feel young when it comes to the changes that I see and feel with my body. I see all the gray hair and the wrinkles. I feel the aches and pains of my joints. Plain and simple my body is aging faster than my mind. I think this can be cause for great frustration, as I can embrace my gray hair and wrinkles ,but my body must continue to work! This is why I think it is important to keep moving, trudging through the aches and pains of our bodies. I remember my grandmother saying ” I have a “hitch in my get along” (meaning to her , that her body was failing). She still made breakfast every morning, did her daily chores and spent every afternoon rocking on the front porch. She always said; ” a strong body is the best medicine for a strong mind” I now understand. Let me put it this way; if the body slows down and it will before the mind does, don’t give in to your physical aches and pains. After all, being able to get up and go is a powerful stimulant for the mind. So when you get that “hitch in your get along” keep going… your mind will be all the better for it. Stephen Spurling
Feeling “non-plus”and sharing the negative energy…
Why can some people hide their “bad mood” (what I term as feeling “non-plus”) better than others. For people who can’t hide their less than stellar mood, does this mean their character is flawed? I believe not. They are hurting inside and feel the need to express these feelings outward.(getting attention is a need we all have) Although I must admit that we all can’t feel a 100% everyday, I do believe that we all can spare sharing the negative energy! Think about it… do you want to be around someone who is “woe is me“…NO! So remember the next time you are feeling what I call “non-plus” try hard not to share your pain as you will only be remembered for “sucking the air out of the room.” It may seem totally impossible to smile when you feel there is nothing to smile about, but we all want to be remembered for our positive energy, don’t we?. Try it, as we all know that we get back from others what we give off. And I will tell you this… if you share your negative energy with others you will get nothing in return. This will only make your day more miserable and lonely. I have alway said,” I had rather be around someone’s dog that just had eight puppies than someone’s dog that just died”. I am not being insensitive to people’s problems, but generally when someone asks “how are you doing” they are just being polite. Sharing negative energy… is not something to be shared period! As Dr Jill Bolte Taylor said ” please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space” Stephen Spurling
We can have anything we want….
We can have anything we want , we just can’t have everything we want. When we get something we want, we give up something else. This is true for even the richest of men, for if they didn’t give up something in exchange for something else… they too would eventually run out of money! Once we realize this… the rewards are sweeter and the disappointments are manageable! Stephen Spurling
The “Soul” of our being…
Have you ever wondered why we are all uniquely different, but our physical bodies are the same? We can interchange parts… I can give you a kidney and it will work! The differences in each one of us is our soul. Wondering what makes a person laugh and another not? The Soul of our being is what makes us different. I often think of my childhood years when my mother would feed me and my brother the same food and teach us the same rules, yet we turned out to be total opposites…. Well… the Soul of our being was different. No one can teach a soul how to act one way or another, but the mind that carries that soul can. Always adjust your thinking to preserve your inner being…I say be a “kind” soul, as I believe that when our physical bodies give out, our soul is eternally ours. Stephen Spurling
It is up to us, Americans…and we can do it!
We can bring jobs back to this country, and we cannot rely on Washington to do it for us! ( they have their own political agenda) We can rebuild the American dream if each one of us make the effort to buy products that are made in the USA. It will be difficult and most of all time-consuming, but our country ( everyday people) are in need of jobs and we all are in need of believing in the American dream again. “The land of opportunity” This economic situation has held each and every one of us hostage, in one way or another( mentally or financially) … you can’t move forward or up…. we are all treading water and it has got to stop! I seriously want you to research just ONE product that we all use that is made in America, and pass it on to me and your friends. If each one of us just do one product… we can make a difference. It was an epiphany for me to see the story on an average man who decided to build a house out of all American made products…Let the politicians have their elections, and we will do this ourseleves. IT CAN BE DONE…. Stephen Spurling
Nervous wreck… Get a rocking chair!
I have often encountered nervous people, and I grew up with a father that as he himself would admit and say…” I am so nervous, I could thread a sewing machine with it running!” (pretty scary thought, but funny) I have discovered that a rocking chair, as simple as it sounds, can help expel some of that nervous energy. Think about sitting in a rocking chair, your whole body is still,(except for a little head and neck motion) rocking back and forth as hard as one wants! You may start out rocking really hard (fast) at first, but in a short period of time, you will find the rocking will become softer and easier. The peacefulness of rocking can put ones mind at ease. So the next time your nerves are getting the best of you, go to your rocking chair. I bet you will feel so much better after a “good rock”. I don’t imagine this to be proven scientifically. I do know that growing up in the south most families had rocking chairs and we did calm our nerves by just rocking. Slowing life down and taking stock in that present moment is good… As for my father, well he can still thread a sewing machine with it running, but I will say, he’s 81 years old and still going strong. So rock and rest your mind… we all need a moment!
Bite your tongue!!!
Well, here’s a loaded request! I imagine for most this isn’t possible, but I will share with you what my thoughts are on the subject. I believe that some people do what I term as mis-speaking (not really knowing what they are talking about, or they’re just plain RUDE) And is it really our place to correct them just because we possess the intellect to…I say no! I’m not asking anyone to compromise their convictions or beliefs, but ” biting your tongue” is simply a means of not participating in what generally turns into an argument or hurt feelings. I believe that the power to “bite your tongue” is a great quality in one’s character, not having to be right all the time, or getting the last word. We are all individuals with feelings that matter… so think about it the next time you want to “lay in” to someone, is it really worth it? Look at it this way… if you are right, does it really matter if they are wrong? EXAMPLE: My father has said many times ” I was wrong ONCE, but then I found out later that I was really right”… now you see where I learned to BITE MY TONGUE!!!
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