Home On the Range*

"And the skies are not cloudy all day."

I love that song.  Not sure how I feel about buffalos, but the idea of blue sky and antelope and deer playing is pretty cool. The most important is "where seldom is heard a discouraging word." The opposite--talking about ones troubles-- is what I think of as "trash talk."    (Today's blog is going "deep and philosophical."  Hit "delete" at any time you can't hold on for the full ride. Just wanted to warn you.)




From where I see it, we are the designers of our own stuff.  "Stuff" is created in this order:  thought, word, deed.  So these words we are throwing around everyday all day are already two-thirds of the way there.  By the time it gets out of our mouth, this recipe is ready for the oven, all but cooked, nearly a done deal.

So check yourself.  What are you "cooking" in that mouth of yours so far today? If you spent any time describing what is normally going on around you, likely it's full of misery and despair.  Talk about "discouraging words!"  By giving it breath and sound, we've helped create more of the same.  We do not need to describe what we see or have been through with such detail.

Though more effort and certainly not habit, if we could spend our words creating images of what we want to have happening in our lives, the results would amaze us.  Blissful Things I get to do today (and you, too, if you like) are look for, find, and focus on everything that is going right and find the courage and the words to speak only that.  Dr. Higley didn't go for trash talk!   And I bet I could get used to buffalos.

*Lyrics by Dr. Brewster Higley (1876)

Create the Day

If you live in my town, I hope you saw how the day began.  

 My east blinds were closed.  The house was still dark.

I glanced from the kitchen toward the chicken coop.  A new habit.

The coop and surrounding area were radiant.  I knew they were only reflecting.

As I stood on the front porch, drinking in the rich elixir of dawn, I made my first choice.  This was my day.  Everything that would occur from this moment until I closed my eyes tonight would be colored by this light.  Of the Things I get to do today, this is the only one that is ever really important.  Choose to see everything in its brilliant, blazing best.  And look at the sky.  Often.