Secrets of Life #2

The second Secret of Life (that actually isn't a secret at all) that I learned the hard way, is this: Put Things Away.

What is the result of leaving things out till you get around to putting them away? Maybe your house looks like this after a while.


I cant say our place was ever that bad, but I have to admit that I just never jumped at the chance to carry an item to where it belongs.

I used to blame it on the kids...since kids, you know, will be kids...leaving messes after themselves. After 30 years of that I guess I just came to accept that things are never quite where you put them. So I would just put my item on the steps and wait till I was going that way...after all who's going to notice?

The truth is, I like to think of myself as kind of an efficiency expert, always looking for the most streamlined way of doing something. If I can take a few less steps I usually go for it, expecting that I'll pass that way again, and when I do I'll carry that item to the proper destination.

But a lot of bad things happen when you make a habit of not putting things in their place...For one, you don't really know where or if you will find them when you need them. Like a pair of glasses, or a screwdriver, or maybe it's your to-do list (if you actually have one, that is). Just think of the number of times you had to look for your car keys...if you put them where you really should know to look for them every time, they would...well, be there.



Then there is the cumulative clutter that comes from many such items...the keys and a roll of tape on the kitchen counter, a box that is headed for your car in the hallway, I leave my vitamins on the counter so I won't forget to take them before I go to bed. This is to say nothing for all the electronic gadgets we each own (cell phone, iPod, laptop). If each of these goodies is left in some 'convenient" spot, the end result is chaos.

So recently I have come to appreciate a picked-up house, an organized workspace, a clear floor. Things like that never seemed in reach before, but now I have a chance to see everything that I leave out someplace, since no one else could have left it there!


Well, there is a better way....just bring the item to it's proper destination NOW...don't wait till you have the time, or when you go that way later. The end result of this will be a neat house, and all things in their proper place!

Seems so simple, right? Well it turns out to be very profound, and makes a big difference in your quality of life. No, it's not up there with world peace, but is it a good example of what I call a "cumulative dissatisfier".

My mother always said, "a place for everything and everything in its place". And I thought, well, she is just OCD, I'll find a better way. Unfortunately for me, she was right! The unfortunate part is that it took me so long to learn this simple, yet elegant truth. hope you find out it is true for you!





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Location:S Cardinal St,Gilbert,United States

Secrets of Life

There are some secrets that I have learned over the years of my life that have made life better. A lot better. It would be an understatement to call these nice-to-haves, because they actually bring joy to the everyday journey we all face. Yet they really aren't taught in school, and if my parents taught them to me I never listened...I certainly didn't pass them on intentionally to my kids. But it's not too late. Maybe some might be transferrable without all the hard knocks it took for me to get them through my thick skull.

Here's the funny part...they really aren't secrets at all. We all know them. Just like the farmer told the city slicker salesman when he gave him advice, "I already know how to farm twice as good as I do!", we actually know and understand these things already...understand them intellectually that is. I think the majority of us are like that farmer, with common sense enough to understand smart things, but not enough to actually do them on a regular basis. Thats why confessionals and counselors are filled to the brim with all the customers they can handle. But perhaps some will listen...and apply...what it took me years, no, decades, to make progress in.

So here is the first - Contentment. It's the practice of being satisfied with what you have or with who you are.


Seems obvious, right? Well, try doing it. Rather, try being it. Here is the real story. Most of us spend our days trying to get more stuff, eat too much of what we shouldn't or achieve some new level, all in the interest of satisfying our desires. There's no end to the lists of things we don't have today that become what we "need" for tomorrow. Even those of us who think we are generally content buy into the social norms that tell us we should not be satisfied, because satisfied is just plain lazy, right? That's the reason I, for one, set so many New Years resolutions that I just blew past without keeping the before February rolled around.

If you are content you will know it by just looking in the mirror. If you are genuinely satisfied with the person you are, and your appearance, that's a very good first step. Then take a walk around. If you like the place you live in, you are on the right track. If, on the other hand, your rooms look too small (or large), or messy, or you don't like the color, texture, clutter or emptiness, then you've got some work to do in the contentment category. Then try watching TV for 15 minutes. Modern marketing tells us that life simply cannot be lived without, the thing that is being advertised, or at a minimum it will make your life so much better you really should go out and get one.

Recently I have come to a place where I see the importance of contentment since it so affects my attitude. When I look around these days I see things are truly wonderful. Not perfect, but really great. Now it may sound more like blind optimism, and you may be right, in part. Optimism tends to see a glass half full. It's the same glass, however, that the pessimist sees as half empty. That's the really important part....you actually can see things differently, if you live with contentment. Even Mick Jagger had a good perspective on this when he wrote "You can't always get what you want...but if you try sometimes, you get what you need". We could talk about wants and needs for quite a while, but that's not the point.

Before you say it, sure, we can alway make improvements...God knows I need them. When I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, for example. And plenty more places. These are pleasantly called "opportunities", and depending on how you view them, they can bring you down. I have simply learned to NOT let them bring me down.

So what about you...are you content? My guess is we all have a little unsettledness. Not that I have achieved this, but I'd say it is one of those secrets that needs to be passed on, don't you?

A Virtual Apple

Charlotte and I shared a special moment today...one made possible thanks to technology, and an apple.

Now before you jump to conclusions, this is not a post about a certain technology company that has sold many products to this family alone. This is a story about a real apple, actually two apples but it seemed like one.

I really enjoy spending time reading the blogs of all our kids...it tunes me into what is happening in their lives so much. I can't thank them enough for all the emails with pictures and especially the videos. I hate the distance from special people so much! But Skype/FaceTime is the closest to being there that it can get (next to actually being there, that is!).

Well we got on a FaceTime call today, Danielle, Charlotte and I, and Charlotte was sitting in her high chair eating a snack...an apple. It was fun watching her interacting as D asked her to talk, sometimes with her mouth full. So I asked for a bite, and of course she obliged. We pretended that it actually came through the computer. Then I looked over and we had an apple sitting in our fruit bowl, so I grabbed it and took a bite in front of the screen. Well, didn't her eyes light up...and she laughed and laughed...as I took another and another...so did she.

Who'd a thought a few years ago I'd be laughing at a distance of 2500 miles, sharing a piece of fruit with my grandchild? It's hard to believe technology makes all this possible...none of this would even be possible 10 years ago... Thanks to God for small miracles, and apples!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Social "Not"work

I'm embarking on a new journey, myself this year...one that I hope will fix a broken part of my life.

Before I describe this trip, let me tell you what is broken.  My social network!  I have started and failed at blogging a few times (the history of this blog tells that story without me saying it).  But that is just the beginning.  I have a LinkedIn "professional network" and Facebook "friends", Twitter "followers" (and I'm following others, too), at work we have Chatter and Yammer.  I'm getting dizzy with all these whacho names!  Thank goodness I dont do Pin-er-de-do-da or whatever you call it.

All of these are broken.  When I say broken, I mean useless!   Im connected with everyone I dont care about, and seeing so much junk I dont read, that I can't connect to anyone or read anything, or comment about anyone I really care for!  Hey, I get so much nonsense that I don't even go on these sites or bother at all...I'm just back to plain old Yahoo! email...from the 80's.  UGH!

So, its time for this ol' geeet to get into the correct decade.  I've been weeding out my contacts, getting rid of feeds from anyone I don't communicate with at all outside of these new mediums.  That is at least until I can start reading, AND responding to the people that i really DO care about.  (And in a timely manner too, I might add.)  I even signed up for a service called blogtrottr http://blogtrottr.com that will email me updates from blog updates from my grown kids, who write wonderfully and have such good insights, I might add!   

Now over the past week I've been better at communicating across most of these sites.  I feel more abreast of what's happening with my children and grandchildren, my nephews and nieces.  And I've even commented a few times (one small step for man...)

That's it.  That's my goal for this year as it relates to social networking.  Now you will notice that I did not say I would start blogging again.  I dont have aspirations anywhere near that high.  If it happens, great - if not this one will have to do.  For now I'll keep my stretch goal a bit lower - I'll tweet or FB status once in a while to become a player...If I suceed maybe next year I'll shoot for MVN (Most Valuable Networker! HAHA)