We are going to sing so that they will remember this for the rest of their lives. There is no other reason to do it, folks, none. Garrison Keillor, Love Me

Garrison Keillor is an American humorist, perhaps best known as the host of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion. He is also an accomplished writer, both critically and commercially. Like all humorists, he’s smart and has a point to make.

Today’s Thought comes from a character who directs a college choir. They are on tour and are about to take the stage.

This resonated with us for a couple of reasons. One, we got kicked out of the choir at the Lutheran school we attended in sixth grade…We had been in choir for the previous five grades, but sixth grade, apparently, was when you needed to actually be able to sing.  Actually, I wasn’t kicked out. I was told to mouth the words. At the time, I thought it was an honor, though eventually I got the message and left choir in good spirits.

Two, it is applicable to anything us humans choose to do: we can do our very best, or we can choose to submit a lesser effort.

We are going to sing so that they will remember this for the rest of their lives…

Sing, write, build a chair, it doesn’t matter, everything we do must be our very best. Sometimes when we sit down to write the first thing we do is type today’s Thought at the top of the page. Because if we are not aiming to write something you will never forget, then why bother? We should probably be doing something else. Now, we may or may not hit that mark, but we must try because if we don’t aim high, we certainly aren’t going to write anything worthwhile, much less memorable.

There is no other reason to do it, folks, none.

We all have a purpose for our time on this planet and the most satisfying lives are spent by those who make the most out of the talents and ambitions they are issued. Whatever they choose to do, they do it so well that no one who experiences it will ever forget it. They don’t fight the natural order, they take what they were given and get the most out of it. When their time comes to die, they are looking back on a life well spent.

Share Gaylon! Go!

(Government) will continue to be about as good as concerned and conscientious citizens make it. – Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford was the 38^th president of the United States, assuming office after the resignation of Richard Nixon. Ford certainly was not the first to be both vice president and president, but he was the first who wasn’t elected to either position. He died in 2006.

We’ve always thought Ford was a good and decent man. Considering the circumstances, he probably did not have much of a chance of getting elected to a full term. History, I think, looks favorably at his presidency, the centerpiece of which was, of course, his pardoning of former President Nixon.

Ford hits the nail squarely on the head with today’s Thought: our government will always be as good as we care to make it. Right now, our federal government, even by the most charitable standards, is a partisan, fractured and bickering mess. Nothing of substance is getting done.

Whom to blame? It’s common to blame the media, or incumbents or lobbyists, but let’s be honest, were any of those at our kitchen table or voting booth when we filled out our ballot? No, of course they weren’t. We filled out our own ballot. We elected everyone there. We have nobody to blame but ourselves.

The good news is if we caused this mess, we can also solve it. The government we want is never farther away than the next election.

The biggest battle we are facing is human nature. It is human nature to stick with what is familiar even if it’s not serving us well. Nothing illustrates this better than the 2014 elections where America reelected 96 percent of incumbents to a Congress that had an eleven percent approval rating.

Eleven percent! Loan sharks have higher ratings than that. America’s message was clear: we are not happy with our government. We are unwilling to do anything about it.

(Government) will continue to be about as good as concerned and conscientious citizens make it…

Unwilling, but not unable. If we are not happy with our government, it’s in our hands to change it. If we don’t, we only have ourselves to blame. To find the solution, all concerned and conscientious citizens need to do is look in the mirror. The government we want is as close as the next election.

Share Gaylon! Go!

…change and growth is not in all things and places alike…the passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream. – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

It’s said that change is mandatory, but growth is optional.

Very true.

…change and growth is not in all things and places alike

Change varies, of course. It can be planned or it can be random. It can come quickly, even instantly, or it may give plenty of notice. It can be tragic or splendid. No matter its aspect, we can either accept or reject the lessons change offers us.

Growth in the eye of life’s changes is not guaranteed. If we’re smart, we accept the lessons and put them to work for us, because anyone who accomplishes anything of substance in this life is not the same person they were when they were younger. They’ve grown, putting nature and circumstance to work for them, accepting the changes in themselves and putting to use what works and discarding what doesn’t.

We must put the benefit of the years to work for us.

We must utilize life’s changes to evaluate ourselves and learn what will put us in the best position to construct the life we want. We must be relentless in being on our path. We must realize that what interests us now may not be what interested us when we were younger, and vice versa. We may accomplish a goal only to find we’ve come to the end of our interest in that matter and are liberated to move on to something else. We cannot stubbornly hold on to the dreams of the past when we’ve outgrown them or when the fates show us they are no longer attainable.

the passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream

Like the seasons, our lives are merely passing ripples in the long long stream. For some, this is hopeless, a sign that what we do really doesn’t matter, so why bother? And in some ways it doesn’t matter. A hundred years from now – except for some old Japanese women – there will be all new people on this planet and we will be long forgotten.

But for those open to change and to putting nature and circumstance to work for them, merely being a passing ripple is OK. It means we have a finite amount of time on this planet and we had best get busy and make that time serve us.

Every day it’s our call. We can while away the passing seasons with a mindless procession of wasted days, or we can make each one ring with our purpose.

Share Gaylon! Go!

Fortune had betrayed him for the moment, and the world had turned against him. Victory was slipping from his grasp even as he stretched out his hand to seize it. But his arm was long. – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

We’ve had a rash of Lord of the Rings quotes recently, during which we noted our introduction to the book. It was at work years ago, probably circa 1999 or so, and we picked up the book out of boredom certain we would quickly put it back down because – we thought – books of this sort wouldn’t be to our taste. We noted the writing drew us in.

Today’s Thought was the first line we read from a page chosen at random. We’ve always felt it represents life in a nutshell. Not everything goes our way every single time. Sometimes fate seems to conspire against us even when what we want seemed to have been there for the taking.

We are currently reading a book about George Washington, who presents a perfect example of this. Few Americans are as revered as Washington. A complete review of his exploits is beyond the scope of The Thought for the Day, but his position in American history is, of course, as secure as it is well-earned.

However, even when Washington was at his pinnacle, commanding the Continental Army and serving as the first president of the United States, things didn’t go his way. In fact, many things didn’t go his way. Washington, however, never swerved from the path he felt his life should take, especially when it seemed the fates had turned against. Perseverance was allowed to finish its work.

But his arm was long.

Our arms must be long, too. Nobody is going to give us anything in this life. Or, at least, anything of value. If we want something, we must want it bad enough to go and get it. What we want must come from something deep inside us. When it does, our instincts will tell us how to get there. When we follow our hearts and trust our instincts, we should not be surprised when the time comes to reach out our hand and seize what we went after.

Share Gaylon! Go!