America Needs Our Help – Let’s Go!
The latest from Gaylon For Congress.
Friends, you and me – we the people – are the only change on the ballot. If Republicans and Democrats were going to change anything, they would have already done so.
Go! Watch, enjoy and share. – Gaylon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9LIP08XF1M
The Thought for the Day – J.R.R. Tolkien
Do not trouble your hearts with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them. – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Personally, we don’t think our lives are pre-determined. There are simply too many billions of people leading too many billions of random lives for this to be the case. It doesn’t make sense. Besides, why would whomever is in charge of pre-determining our lives give some people charmed lives, some people routine lives while some get brain tumors when they’re a few months old? This doesn’t make any sense, either.
Still, though, that what is meant to happen in our lives usually does, if we are acting in concert with the abilities we were all issued at birth.
We can all do something well. This is one of the earliest lessons we can remember learning, both at school and where we played sports. Some are good at math, some at science and some can write, just like some can play baseball while others can pole vault. An annoying few seem to be able to do everything well.
However, if we are going to allow what is meant to happen in our life to happen, we have to make use of those talents. If we ignore them, we risk stumbling through our days and wasting our time on this planet.
We must have a plan for our life. The plan must be doable and challenging and must be in step with our talents.
And, as we’ve talk about ad nauseum here at The Thought for the Day, it really doesn’t matter what that plan is. The only requirement is it comes from inside, that it is a result of following our hearts and trusting our instincts.
Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them…
When us humans do follow our hearts and trust our instincts, what is meant to happen in our lives usually does, and what we accomplish might astound us. We will find that the fates will guide our fortunes better than we ever could. All we have to do is let them.
The Thought for the Day – J.R.R Tolkien
The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present…they were content with each good day as it came. – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
We’ve been writing down quotes that we’ve liked since 1988. We can still remember writing down our first one, in a spiral notebook in a motel room in Berkeley, California. We were in our early 20’s and can still remember hemming and hawing about whether or not to do it.
Deep down, we knew we should, so we did. Eventually, the notebook gave way to saving it by putting a floppy disk in our word processor and storage improved as technology increased to the point where if you know where to look you can find it online, though good luck with that.
We’ve quoted The Lord of the Rings before here, including recently, and we will probably do it many times in the future. We didn’t bother to count the exact number of quotes it yielded, but it is certainly the most by a book not written by Gore Vidal.
Today’s Thought comes from a portion of the book where Frodo and the gang were enjoying a respite from their labors. There perilous journey to deliver the ring would continue, but not immediately. They chose not to worry about the grim prospects of their upcoming journey, which they knew would be fraught with peril. They chose to enjoy each good day as it came.
We should do the same thing. We cannot let our goals for the future obstruct our enjoyment of the present. Of course, there is a lot to accomplish in this life. Regardless of our goals, we all have a purpose for our time on this planet and we have an obligation to find out what that is and to go and do it. If we don’t, all we are doing is stringing together a mindless procession of aimless days.
…they were content with each good day as it came.
We can’t let our plans for the future so dominate our present that we forget to enjoy the good days life regularly rewards us with. We can’t spend so much time planning for old age that we forget to enjoy middle age.
The Thought for the Day – George Bernard Shaw
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. – George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish playwright and critic. A complete detailing of his life and work are beyond the scope of the Thought for the Day, but his influence on Western thought has been profound. Though commonly known by all three of his names, Shaw himself only used his middle and last names.
We must get up every morning with a purpose. If we do not, our days will be a mindless procession of wayward days culminating in an unsatisfying life. When the time comes to take stock of our time on this planet, we will look back and wonder what if, two of the saddest words the English language can muster.
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want…
What is interesting is the circumstances do not necessarily have to be Earth-shattering. Sure, there are some who live down the ages or transcend their time. These are people who have looked for and found the circumstances they wanted and those circumstances happened to get them in the history books. Good for them.
Not all of us are meant to live down the ages, however. That’s all right. It may not seem like it’s all right, because every day we have images of the famous and rich shoved in our faces, with some, perhaps many, ending up believing that being rich and famous is the only life worth living.
Nothing is further from the truth.
The only requirement for a good life is that the circumstances we want come from inside us. The circumstances won’t be too hard to find, either, because to find them all we have to do is follow our heart and trust our instincts. Both will lead us to the life we were meant to lead.
and, if they can’t find them, make them
The hard part is not actually going out and looking for the life we want. The hard part is having the focus to do it every day. Regardless of whether you live down the ages or pass an average life, the happiest lives are spent by those who relentlessly go out and put nature and circumstance to work for them.