Goodbye stones hello peace and joy a new age

 Morning this is a long post there’ll probably be some errors but take your time enjoy

APPROACHING THE “PEACE AND JOY’ AGE

Well I woke  up this morning randomly reaching for electronics to recharge and get ready for another “productive” day.  As I plugged  in one of my two sets of bluetooth headphones I noticed that I had forgotten  to plug them in  last night and that  irritated me.   Why? umm because I’m a spoiled brat and  I let things like that rob my peace and joy.  Well… of course I said I have  more than one  set of these so I  unlinked them  to my phone and  connected to my desktop and here we go.  

But the  title of this post  is not “things I whine about inside”  (although maybe it should be lol).   The title refers to  “the age” of Peace and Joy and so let the discussion move that way.

Before I started  writing I took two of the sharpest objects in my house and rubbed them across my face for a bit  because that’s always the smartest  thing to do when you  just wake up and  are not really thinking about the technology and the idea behind such a task.  However, in  this case an inspiration  came to pass.   Let’s climb  into the “wayback machine Sherman”  (if you don’t know the reference—let’s  set the flux capacitor back several thousand  years Marty—If you don’t  knowt hat  reference either  just keep reading.

Long ago there  was  this “age”  known as the  stone age.  From what our  investigation  tells us  there was a period when  human beings  said or  grunted to each   other  “hey Bill if we  are going to  kill this buffalo that outweighs us by about 1500 pounds sneaking up on it and  slyly giving it a left jab to the ribs isn’t  going to cut it—how  about we  use  some  of these  rocks here and  maybe  knock  it out and then  crack it over the head with a rock or a club?”  So the stone  age was born.  

Then of course  we wanted different things  and had to try to find  different tools.  Nature and  the good Lord  led  folks to discover thatsome of the stuff in these rocks  could be somehow extracted and we then had this stuff  called  metal.  I know we went through  like the bronze  age and I don’t  know if we officially  ever called  it the “iron age’ but  we started building tools and weapons and  things out  or that  and we could do more things  like  build  bridges and  swords and stuff.  As a side note if you a  are  a bit of a prude don’t read the  next paragraph.

Somewhere in this “iron Age we started  using some of these tools for “modern medicine.”  Speak most  specifically of circumcisions.  This couldn’t have  happened in the stone age.  Also  it couldn’t have  happened in the pre-alcohol stage and ifI could  go back in history I would love to hear the  conversation  that led to the decision to perform it.  “Well Isac—just hold  it right  there and we’ll just take a little  of this skin off the top…trust us”  I also want to hire the people who convinced  the first “patient” to do this.  They had to be the greatest  marketing agents ever to wander the face of the earth.

Okay that observation being made let’s  return  to our  main theme —the Peace and Joy Age.

Well we went from  this iron age to  the industrial revolution where we started  using  our  new  materials to build machines  to do tasks.  Some might argue and i would agree we had to have  the “enlightenment”  before  this industrial revolution waso possiblewhat’s that mean?  We had to  have a great period of ideas on  how to do things differently and show that these things would  fit into our real world.  So we  had this enlightenment and  the beginnings  of the industrial  age kick in.  Which brings  us  to almost  today.

We have been hearing for some time that we are no longer in the industrial age—we are in the “information age.”  Information sour new  tool set and information machines  are the new rulers  of the human  tool pyramid.  Well I disagree.

We have already  zipped through  that age.  Oh sure we are still building machines that other information and  can store it.  We already are producing  new  information at mind-numbing speeds…

So if not the information age where  are we?  Well we are certainly  capable of merging  industrial age products  like refrigerators with  our smart  devices  so that the cameras in the can se somebody left two bites of  Jello instead of throwing it out.  Our printers can order  ink for us and our  phone can serve as a pizza delivery  beacon.  We are  at least in the “connection age.”  Who  has Facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, have I”snapchat?”  Oh and I almost forgot  YouTube and did forget “myspace” because so did everyone else.  

Now… finally to the point I  am trying to make…. we have almost all the tools  needed  to  build things and connect people… and  yet are we all happy and feeling good about the future?  Well oddly I say  “yes we can!” if we  now turn our attention to the”Peace and Joy” age.  We have worked  on the “external” problems/challenges that ace  our human being… and have done well.  We  now  for the first time in  human history have eliminated most  of the barriers that keep us from working on  human to human connections, the connection between  the outside world and our real creative talent, and so we are ready for  the peace and joy enlightenment.  I say bring it on…let’sget to work on discovering our best selves instead of our best external substances.  We are  ready as a being  on this planet to do so…. and thus have a real  shot of finding the peace of  knowing  oneself and each other the the joy of  maximizing  the  balance between  acquiring wisdom and celebrating our growth and the ability to assist others in  also walking that path…..

Okay… it’s time to stop writing and find a new razor blade…andtime to  accept that peace and  joy is the age peaking around the corner and asking  us to move into it.

Gratitude for a Different Perspective (whys are not always wise)

Balance.....

For  as long as I can remember and that's a long, long, long time, I have  almost without  exception looked at most the world with a slightly  different perspective than  others (or at least what others would admit to).  I once wrote a paper from the perspective of a glass Pepsi bottle and a political farce using the names of Hostess products  for the code names of government  officials.  Mostly, however,  the different  perspective came from ALWAYS  asking why?  No not  just about somethings--about almost everything.  


I mean let  me ask you  why..... why don't we retire until we are 40 or so so we can learn something about who we are and the world  before  our bodies fall apart and then work for about  35 years ?  I think a lot more things would get invented and a lot  more exploring would happen.  

Okay that's just one example and it is I suppose good to have a  different  mind that asks these questions sometimes and I am  glad to have  enjoyed asking the why question because  I have learned a good deal from  digging around in literature and  now on the web.  

Unfortunately--life presents situations where asking the  question is  not all that WISE....

For there are some answers that cannot  bring you peace or joy.  There some questions  that come before us to  help  up find a lesson and asking why did this happen is  not  at all helpful.  Finally, I  am learning that "whys" are not always "wise" simply because that question keeps  me (and others) from  moving  from "what  happened and why?"  to what if  I could help  this happen?"  Further, the question I need to use my energy on is "how?"  How can I make the next positive thing  possible?  What possible gifts do I have that can make positive things  possible for others while I am  on my path?  

Can you spend some valuable time asking why?--yes...but it is  time spent standing on the tracks wondering how far away the train is and  how fast it is coming.  

Eventually we will construct a narrative or one  will be revealed  to us where  "why" becomes evident and  acceptance  is understanding that  might not be  just because we want the universe to be under our control.  

Okay... this  is a pretty  serious  post right... so I should  end it with a little  lighter  note.  

Does anyone reading this  have  30 or so  tooth brushes?  If  not why don't we call it a teeth brush?  

Have  a beautiful day full of  peace and joy.

Top 10 ideas for healthy peace and joy breakfast

So... I don’t know if there ten ideas here— it is the ideas you get from reading or listening that count.$

Top 10 Healthy Breakfast Choices for gaining Peace and Joy

This morning as I took the sixth bite of my “Homey Crunches of Oats” — 

I use the quotation marks  because I am not sue if they are the originals or my particular local store’s generic (which is the same stuff(, I started to notice that I wasn’t even really tasting it anymore.  Instead, as I probably always do, I was calculating how many bites I had left in comparison to how much milk was in the bowl and how many spoonfuls I would need to eat before the big choice.  Oh some of you know what I’m talking about.  Do you try to spoon the rest out or wait until no one is looking and tilt the bowl and drink it down?  

anyway, back to my topic about “healthy peace and joy choices.”  I am lucky in that we often have many choices when it comes to cereal.  

  

Ok here is my research  which is why some of you came here.—what’s  good for you?

cheerios are by far the most popular  “healthy” option.  They  might not be that healthy but they have the best reputation for being so and if the internet says it in three places then it is true according to  three places that  it says that on the internet.  Why?  Whole grain is the “reason” they will give you.  I’m not buying that.  Look at the facts.  this stuff is not  healthy for its ingredients  at all—it is the workout kids get eating the stuff.  For little kids Cheerios roll around on the table or the mat on the floor and the little tots have to develop  hand-eye coordination to grast the little wheels.  Speaking of that, this ereal is the shape of tires and rings and ear rings.  they promote gender equality right?  Socially responsible and healthy right  there!  also, they are about the same with or without milk and they stay “crisp” in in milk for about  an hour.  Then they don’t get soggier after that at all.   Thousands of years from now when some archeologists unearth a bowl of half-eaten Cheerios, they are going to say “look at these….how did they stay so preserved”  Anyway,  Cheerios are good and they have enough  sort of modified varieties now like “honey nut” and some others.  I am seeing this term “honey-nut” a lot lately.  Now I’m a fan of the parts- but not the term.  If there is “honey in something and it is  not over processed that is cool.   I like nuts or most kinds too, however, they can  really mess up some folks so  let’s be creful not  to automatically put them in the healthy camp. 

Speaking of  nuts… I’m not sure there  are grapes or  nuts in “Grape Nuts cereal and Raisin Bran  has a lot of sugar content  even  before  you put the three extra scoops of sugar  in it. 

Back to my list.  Total is good.  Special K is Special ….and if you like the taste of any of these…eat them.  You will feel better than if you go hungry in the morning.

Now What  Not To Eat (physical health-wise which I’m not sure is a word spelling-wise)All the Cap’n Crunches are not the same as doing “crunches” the exercise.  They taste good and have plenty of sugar just in case your kids need to be all hopped up for st something in the morning first  thing.  Will they fall asleep during  math  or reading in second period?  Well sure but we have  Siri and “hey Google” for that kind of stuff now.   So maybe  for the sake of  our  schools and the other students save that for the weekend.  

Now let’s not get too  picky about Lucky Charms. I don’t  want to get  criticized  here but I’ve been to my share of graduation ceremonies.  I  have never seen a leleprachon with a cap  and  gown in any of the health professions.  They do have little balls of sugar shaped like the symbols  on playing cards. That could  be a  good choice if training your kids to hang out in Vegas.

To wrap up…. First….be thankful that you have anything to eat  for breakfast any day you have it.  Second, remember that no matter what you eat you are likely to eat again today and you can adjust accordingly.  If not, there’s tomorrow.  If you need to use your cereal choice to get you healthy go to your local super store and start at one end of the cereal boxes and walk  to the other end—turn around and walk back ten times.  That is  about  as healthy as cereal  can help you be.

By the way my favorite is Frosted Flakes….because a cartoon tiger that also sang  “Mr. Grinch”  in the original version can’t be wrong.  Of course they”re Great!!!

The moral of this whole story is …. you should  pay some attention to what  you put into  your body and what comes out of it… but  pay more attention to how you  use it.  No tiger, tropical bird, silly rabbit, or sugar bear can put  a valuable spirit into  your life for you to  share with others…but you can.  Eat a little  of what makes you smile and go share it today.  

Warning —  Long post plus long video but it’s the weekend so enjoy 

From "what now? To “what if?”

Wow there are a lot of ways people and their companies, organization s, etc are asked  (forced)to face change these days...
so often peace and joy get replaced with fear.    


Fortunately there are some people working hard to help people away from what happened through  what now and all the way to what If?”

https://youtu.be/jJEMpaWpsTU

This guy is one is one of them.    Change to us  and because   Of us  it seems like “what if” increases theeoddd in  peace And’s joy

Swimming in the Stream

Swimming In the  X stream

In recent years I have caught myself swimming in the  X stream a lot…do I mean extreme?  Yes.  When I walk into the store I see  a hundred types of pop and  breakfast stuff  and processed chicken products and don’t  get all jacked up about that.  Yet  from time to time I find  myself  thinking “that (insert a political party, religion, etc) is ALL WRONG  about government or God or other  human beings.  Is it important to have values and take responsibility for  that?  Yes…and is it important  that you make them  understood  from time to time…absolutely.  Is it  then necessary to sort out people accordant to the single  determining factor?  I just  can’t see the value in that so much anymore  and have been  doing it way too much lately.  So what I am saying is I think peace and  joy means finding  some  other stream to swim in from  time to time instead of the  EX  or X (crossing out  all others— stream  I will give it a shot.  

Oh  and  I have a little song  verse about this  too…. take a listen and share if you want…

Yep

By the way regular  Cap”n Crunch was good enough for me…but if you like the crunch berries or peanut butter crunch go for it!

The days that matter?

 Most of us as parents remember referring to our children as three months old or 3 1/2 months old or 18 months old and then it became two years old or three years old and our children would refer to themselves as foreign a half years old or maybe even 5 1/2 years old




 Well if my calculations are correct and they usually are fairly close and close enough for this for certain day today I am 714 months old .


 The mathematicians among you can already figure out how many years and a half that is.

 Today could be an important day for me — why?
L
 Well as I mentioned before I have stacked a bunch of days in my pile so far and most of them have been pretty good and so why shouldn’t I think today could be an important day for me?    I am certainly going to be thankful for today and while I am at it why don’t you join me and think today could be an important day for yoh too?

Or make it important for someone else
 I guess in the end it comes down to what days matter and today is one of those days because today is always one of those days have a great one piece enjoy

Rules to Live Through?

Rules For Peace and Joy

The other day I started reading this  book about the rules of life…..  well it included way too many things and it was  intended to be  funny in some ways, however, in some ways it highlighted things that  make  some of us anxious so I decided to write a little about these rules myself.

Okay “the shoes” rules—- If  a house  has  a door mat does that mean wipe your shoes and it will be okay?  What if there is also a  mat inside?  Do  you wipe again and then it is okay or  do you then look to see who else has shoes on and how are your socks today? 

Next there is the  complicated toilet paper rules.  Everything is okay if there is plenty  when you go in and you should check.  If there is not then the fun starts.  Do you simply estimate and hope?  Do you  interrupt  the social activities and ask  the host about the supply or do you  take a chance and then  what is your search limit?  Under the sink and in the nearest cupboard may be reasonable I would think.  Now comes  yet the  next  matter….oh you know what it is… over or under?  Or  do you  simply  place the roll  starkly  on the  back of the stool and hope the host  doesn’t get called out for  not having enough or what?

finally and this is getting worse every single  day there is the drinking water  issue.  Do you ask if it is okay to get a drink and  then is it okay to use the tap and  which one?  Some have filters and some do not.  Or perhaps  there is a pitcher in the fridge and of course there is bottled water and everyone in the   house may not drink the same kind  so who do you ask?  

Oh and for an encore…..where do you sit when you enter the room and how long do you want to wait for others to sit so you don’t  take someones ‘special place?”  

Well you see this is complicated and I suspect some rules  might be posted or we could  just be a little  more aware of others or we  should understand  that these are all just spaces we are in for a while so maybe these debates need to slow down……they will never  end—we are humans not angels.

I guess what I’m trying to say is please let me know your  rules because while I might not  believe in them  i  do not want to steal  your joy…..

By the  way….have a great Monday….no atter what day it is when  you are looking at this….

Peace & Joy 

Theme songs

So ... this music is pretty slow and quiet.   It’s the beginning or some part of thetheme song for this blog.   I  am pretty sure it will get  faster and. Happier. By the time I finish it... but. Here’s a sample


Lyrics?

Well  here’s  an approximation..


I’m not very. Patient. When it comes to. Many things

I like. To. Pick. My phone up. By the second time it rings

Waiting for appointments. That’s really. Not my style

Lately. I’ve been wondering what’s left. That makes me smile....


Lately. My old. Body said ghere’s things. You. Need to know

there’s lessons that you need to  learn and. You need to grow
You’re not gonna live forever so you. Better. Live today
And maybe that’s. How you find. Some peace and joy. Today

Yes. You aren’t gonna live. Forever. So. You should live  every day and
 Maybe. You will find. Some peace and joy that way..

Okay these are. Approximate as I a  recording this in one. Take. At  about  6 something in the morning.... more soon.

Maybe. By the end of next week you will all hear the. Whole. Real. Song?   I  hope?

Peace!

O

U

We start to see how things unfold

 Step - doors left & right.  Curiosity not fear   that is the path of peace today we shall see? -

Yep 

Gratitude and attitude

 So I have a lot of work to do with regard to gratitude I think mostly because I have a strong belief in fairness and fairness means you earn things instead of  simply being given things .  

 On the other hand did I really earn my mental capacity ?  I don’t think so.   I have grown it I have used it I have exercised it but is that the same? I don’t know one thing that I do feel grateful for is this language and words and how subtle and strong they can be and how choosing one word over another really makes a difference in how you can say  so much in so few words or so little in so many words and the sounds that you can make with words that you can sing that is something I am grateful for and so I included this song segment about that today and thank  you if you choose to listen and thank you for being here to read this have a great day ! Hey

Resolutiong

 For the coming year I have three resolutions first create more than I collect second forgive more than I judge and third  approach the world with curiosity more often than fear  I am not certain this will bring peace and or joy but it is a step down that path...