FINALLY! The fourth and final part to this small little compilation of quotes from John Green books. I'd have to say that of all books he has written, Looking For Alaska was the best by far. An Abundance of Katherines was good too, but more neither here nor there. Anyway- I'm not here to critique the books, but to give my favorite quotes. Here they are.
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Here is a quote I read this morning: "Reduce the supply of your words and the value of each word goes up." I think this is brilliant! Did you ever listen to a story where the person gave you too much information? This happened to me last night. As silly as this sounds, I actually told the person that the next time she tells me a story I want her to throw out and not tell me every third sentence. Although what I said sounds rude, I told that to a person I am very close to and I told it to her so she could improve her story telling abilities. She did not take it as an insult. In fact, she smiled and thought it was funny the way I put it!
Sometimes, we all need to be reminded not to ramble. For my work, I have approximately 56 lines to tell people why I would or would not buy a stock. Many times, sell-side analysts are writing 40-page reports to tell them the same thing! Oftentimes, after writing the first draft of my report, I will be a few lines over my allotted 56. This forces me to look closer at my analysis and get rid of everything that is not really necessary. Adjectives are usually the first things that go. Flowery sentences are then reworded to save on space. After I have made everything fit into place, I then like to read it out loud before I send it to the editor. This way, I am sure that the narrative flows and that my thoughts are clear and easy to understand. While this works well for written reports, It is harder to do if you are speaking. Over the years, I have oftentimes had to give talks in front of crowds. I have spoken to crowds of well over 100 people (I think 300 people was the largest crowd I have spoken to) and I have spoken to people one on one. The best way to keep everyone interested is to actually know your topic. All of my best talks I have given without prepared remarks. One time, I accidentally scared the hell out of one of my clients. His firm had flown me out to Buffalo to give a talk to their clients about gold stocks. When I got there, the auditorium was packed. My client asked me if I was ready and I said yes and handed him a thumb drive with my slides on it. He then asked me if he could see my prepared remarks and I told him that I didn't have any...just notes. He then asked if he could see my notes, so I handed him three index cards. His face turned pale. My index cards had six words on them, one on each side of a card. He looked at me and he said "You will be able to do this won't you?" I said "sure, I talk about gold stocks all the time, what I need to know is up here" I said as I pointed to my head. I then stepped out to the podium and gave a 35-minute presentation and answered questions for an additional 15 minutes. I was their most popular speaker of the day! To keep people interested in what you are saying, you need to keep focused on what is important. The minute you start to stray away from what is important the audience can tell, and they start to think you are full of shit. So, keep it brief, and keep it on target. Remember these rules for your personal interactions as well and you will never be at a loss for words, and your words will carry more weight with others. Dad wrote a post about me earlier today, and I just wanted to write a follow-up post to it. First and fore-most, thank you... you gave me good advice, even if I scorned it at first and left you without an answer to it. You always give me good advice, to be honest! I feel bad sometimes- I will on occasion ignore your advice when I'm in a bad mood, and regret it later. You have been around longer than I have, and know a LOT more about socializing and maintaining a good social life than I do... usually. You don't understand the norms of being social ONLINE (starting a YouTube channel? Bad idea XD) but that's okay... I can and will teach you. I appreciate that you are always there for me if I have a problem. I know I can always come and talk to you, no matter what time it is. Even if you're working, you will set it aside most times to help me out with whatever senseless issue I may be having- whether it has to do with homework, friends, or just life in general. I know that you have a difficult schedule, even working for home, but I love that you still take the time for not only me but my sister as well. It means so much more than you think it does... I hear too often from my friends and they have absolutely NO relationship with their parents whatsoever or say they completely hate their parents. I can't see how anyone could hate the person who gave them life, or the person who has raised them or cared for them since the day they were born. I know that some situations can be really shitty, but your parents SHOULD always be there for you. I emphasize on the word "should" because I do know that most parents simply don't take the time to get to know their children, or to sit and talk to them about their problems... which leads to the kids constantly relying on their friends to help them or relieve their stress. Not necessarily a bad thing, but kids should be able to go to their parents without any fear and knowing that their parents will help them through whatever they're going through. If you're a kid and you are reading this- your parents do love you and care for you, even if it seems that they don't at times. Try talking to them and opening up to them more, and be sympathetic to their problems too- it's a matter of understanding each other, because just like anything else, it can't be a one-way street. You both have to make an effort to get to know each other. Try seeing things the way they do, and just remember that they were your age once too- I know that everyone says this, but they probably faced the same social and stressful situations you are currently facing. Chin up! As for parents reading this... all I can say is take the time to get to know your kids and form a strong and unbreakable bond with them. It is the best thing you can and ever will do. It means so much to us... yes, be a parent and be strict at times, but also be the best friend and the person we know we can always go to for comfort, support, and honest advice. Don't get fed up with us... remember, you had these problems at one time or another. Maybe not the same exact one, but similar enough where you should know what it feels like. As I said above- be sympathetic to our problems. Try to see things how we see them. Our issues may seem unimportant to you, but they mean the world to us. With that, I will end this blog with a quote and be off to play Call of Duty with my Dad. "We're all in the same game; just different levels. All in the same hell; just different devils." Well, here is a statement that should be obvious to everyone. If you are bored, do something else! I'll say it again: DO SOMETHING ELSE!!!
The above rant is targeted to one of my lovely daughters, who came into my office earlier and complained she had nothing to do. Today was day two of MAPS testing for home schooled children. To be nice, I cut her school work down to just writing her blogs. Well, it seems that may have been a bad idea. She came in complaining of nothing to do...Even though her grandmother had kindly offered to take her to the mall. When I pointed this out to her, she said, she knew, but she wanted to be able to talk with her friends. Her friends mainly live in New Ipswich, and it seems that none of their families have cars. Thus, they sit around and text all day. Well, my daughter wanted to communicate with them, but she was bored with it as well. Thank God she decided to go to the mall with Grandma. She came home energized and happy because she had found a new outfit. Sometimes, you need to step out and do things on your own and not wait for confirmation from your friends. I can tell you from experience, they are not waiting around all day in front of their computer for you. If you are on great...if you are not, well not the end of the world, there is always someone else to chat with or other things to do! Life is for living...not for waiting around for others to validate your choices. If you find you are getting bored sitting around waiting for someone else to do something, then you are destined to live a very boring life! Seize the opportunities that are thrown your way. Talk about your experiences. You'll soon find that others will want to join you on your adventures. Looking ahead, talk to your friends about the future, not the past. Make plans for the future, then move on and do something else. If you set plans with someone every time you get on your messaging device, you will soon find you have lots to do with lots of different people. Set things up for at least one week in advance. That way everyone has time to make plans for rides etc. Do this now, and you will find that within a week, you'll always have stuff to do. Oh, and keep your texting sessions short. Make people look forward to talking to you. If you are always on and talk to them for hours, they have no incentive to meet up with you. One final thought. When you do meet up with someone, always find something glowing to talk about about them with your other friends. Never talk negatively about the person. After all, they did take the time to meet up with you! The more nice things people hear you say about others that do hang out with you, the more they will want to hang out with you as well to hear what you will have to say about them. Remember, no one likes a gossip! They like to hear positive things about themselves! In turn, they will look forward to hanging with you and see what good you see in them! Got that Munchkin? Give it a try and see if you find you are less bored in the future. I bet you'll find your life will become more exciting because of it. Of course, if you are still bored, I can always find more school work for you to do. Happy Day! Lilac is a pretty color. It is one of my favorite colors. Nema gave me a pillow that is lilac.
It is very comfortable! Ashleigh Today, I had my yearly MAP testing at the school... and like every year, I was a nervous wreck. I don't know what it is about tests that gets me worked up... Every year, I've blown the tests I am given off the charts with scores that are often at high school and college levels (I'm in 8th grade). Yet I still fret that I will somehow mess up, or I will fail, and so I work myself up and get all stressed out for nothing. When I get stressed, I sometimes get overly upset or depressed, or lose my confidence altogether, so days like this are usually not good for me.
I've tried to not think about testing, or just put it out of my mind altogether, but it never works. The cycle goes something like this:
And that just makes me feel like complete and utter horse crap. I lose all happiness and don't regain it until my testing is over and I can see and be re-assured by my score. It's so funny how a small little number can change my mood... how I view life in general. Awhile ago, my Dad wrote a post about living life in black and white... and I feel as if when I stress out before testing, I'm draining the color from my life because I refuse to be optimistic about my results until I get them. I really hope that this is just some stupid complex I have right now that will pass me by soon... I hate being so pessimistic. And yes, I know it is my choice- but at the same time, it isn't because I still feel forced into these feelings of ominous worry. Needless to say? I took my reading test today and blew it away, with my score being high enough for college level reading. Maddie The other day on Facebook a friend of mine posted the above snippet. While I understand the sentiments behind the post, I felt it unfairly cast teenagers as troublemakers and irresponsible. I thought this was odd since the teenagers I know are not troublemakers and are for the most part, fairly intelligent young people. In fact, I normally find that it is the adults who are the main troublemakers in most communities. Still, I thought the advice to "Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons and then, when you are done, to read a book" was pretty good advice anyway... Not just for the teenagers, but for people in general. So many people seem to want to blame teenagers for their town's troubles. While some teens do turn into bad apples, oftentimes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Rather than blame teens and feel self righteous by positing the above snippet without context, I thought it would be better to aim it at all people. In some sense, I was defending my daughter and her friends also, since I find many of them to be good eggs and hard and industrious workers.Thus, I wrote a comment to that effect. Here is what I said: "This should be called Words For Everybody and in the text change the word "teenager" to people. It should then be posted in every bar and coffee house and played on TV once every fifteen minutes. Could this be good advice for some teenagers? Sure. But I think its even better advice for many adults." Well, I think my remark must have hit close to home for at least one person. Here is what the very next person who left a comment had to say: " It's REALLY good advice for all of the adults who, as teenagers, believed the lied from adults who told them that if they just work hard in school, go to college, get a degree, and work hard in life, they would be successful and financially secure with happy families and bright futures. Then, after decades of hard work and life-crippling school loan debt, now in their mid-forties, those teenager come adults realized that all of those adults lied to them. Oops. Yeah. GREAT advice. Wish someone had given it to me." I hit a bulls-eye! This was exactly the type of person I was thinking about when I defended the teens! Here is a person who doesn't want to take responsibility for their own life. It is so much easier to blame others. "I am lazy, unsuccessful and unhappy because I was lied to! It's the adults who came before me that are at fault for my failures!" There are so many things inherently wrong with the person's reply that I will just try to hit a couple of key points.
First, how does the advice "Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons and then, when you are done, read a book" turn into "lied (typo is on purpose...it is actually what they wrote) from adults who told them that if they just work hard in school, go to college, get a degree, etc. etc etc?" It takes a gigantic leap to get from one set of advice to the other. Secondly, if the comment writer did receive that advice, and it didn't work out, it certainly doesn't mean that the adults lied to him in the first place! It could have just been advice that didn't work out. Times change! Good advice from one era doesn't necessarily work in the next. There was a massive shift in the economy over the past sixty years. Many jobs have become obsolete, and new technology has also made many jobs redundant. The advice this person got could have been really good advice at the time it was given, but in the end did not work out as planned. Given the bitterness in their reply, I suspect there is more going on there than just that anyway. The bottom line is, it doesn't matter what advice this person received or didn't receive. It doesn't really matter if they were lied to or not. As adults (and yes, even as teenagers) it is our own decisions that define us. I am responsible for everything that I do or have done since graduating high school. To be honest, I am responsible for many thing from even before I graduated. Regardless of how my life turned out, I am responsible. Secondly, every day you wake up with a new start! If you don't like the way your life is going, change it! Hate your job? Find a new one! Better yet, start your own business! The problem is, people don't want to hear that. It is so much easier to blame someone else. Then go sit in front of the tube or get another beer. The "Judge" was absolutely right to give that advice to young troublemakers. He would even be more justified to give it to older troublemakers as well! One final thought. Not every one who went to college saw no benefit from it. I saw tremendous benefit from mine. I also worked my ass off after college though too. You get out of life what you put into it. If your view on life is that I got a degree, now pay me a lot while I do little. Then I believe you will end up sorely disappointed...similar to the person who wrote the response to my comment. Take responsibility for your decisions in life. If you make a mistake, correct it as soon as possible. No one needs to remain unhappy. Take action, and change your outlook. No one is going to give it to you. You need to do it for yourself. I like to learn new things. I practice reading and writing every day. I also practice Karate
and math.I am five years old. My favorite subject is Karate. Ashleigh The third part in this four-part series of blog posts! These are my favorite quotes from the book Paper Towns by John Green, who seems to be full of good quotes in every piece of literature he writes. The fourth and last part, which will be my favorite quotes from the book An Abundance of Katherines, will be published on Monday. For now, here are my favorite quotes from Paper Towns (which is coming out as a movie sometime this summer, for those who don't know.)
Well, those were my favorite quotes... Now I have to go grocery shopping, so I will end this post here. This book was a great read, and I recommend it to everyone. If you do read it, leave me your opinion in the comments!
Maddie This morning I drove into Concord to visit my orthopedic doctor for my knee. In general, not much has changed. My PCL is still torn, and there is not much they can do about it. The PCL is a fan-shaped ligament and it is not as easy to repair as the ACL is. Thus, doctors usually won't operate on a PCL...There are just too many small segments that would be nearly impossible to repair without making things worse.
The doctor offered me a cortisone shot, which I turned down. I have had them before, and they really don't do much for my knee. Uflexa shots were also a disappointment, Neither treatment really targets the PCL, thus they are a bit of a waste. The pain in my knee isn't what really bothers me. I have grown used to it. What bothers me is the lack of stability I have when I am doing karate. Good balance and side to side movement is very important in karate. Certain movements now lead me to lose my balance and in extreme cases, throws my knee out for a moment (essentially, this is when the bones hit a nerve and I lose strength in the knee for a time). I usually hit the ground when this happens unless I have something I can grab a hold of quickly. Continuing on with my physical therapy to strengthen the muscles around my knee was his only recommendation. For a long time, I have felt that my knee brace was essentially useless. It doesn't give me a lot of support when I turn my knee and it basically sits like a dead weight on my leg. It turns out I was right! At the end of my visit, I told the doctor I wanted to put on the brace and show it to him because I thought it really did little to help me. After putting it on he agreed with me, and called in their brace specialist to look at my brace. The specialist took one look and said that the brace was bent out of shape and that the hinges were essentially locked into a position where I couldn't get full movement with my leg. Instead of helping me, it was actually cutting my range of motion. She also felt that a different model, better designed for the type of sport I do would help me to have better balance. They would also add padding to the exterior to lessen the chance that someone else will get hurt if they accidentally kick my brace, which happens from time to time. All said, while my knee isn't getting "fixed" my use of the knee should improve with the new brace. The new brace, coupled with my physical therapy exercises should allow me to eventually get back some of my side to side movement as well as some of my balance. The old brace was so bent that it did not support the knee when I bent it during a pivot movement. The new brace will! All said, I will be very happy with this outcome if it works as advertised. Last night, after writing my post I hopped onto Facebook and looked up an old friend. A mutual friend of ours had told me that he had a Facebook page and had recently friended him. So I looked him up, and sure enough, there he was. I sent him a friend request and then looked through his friends list to see if there was anyone else I knew there to friend. Sure enough, I saw another old friend who was married to another friend of mine on the list and I quickly sent her a friend request as well. (Note, I will not mention names here. I do not know how people would feel if their names show up on a blog, so I will try and keep them anonymous)
Today, both of them contacted me and we had a pleasant chat on the message board. Its amazing how quickly the years pass! One had moved to Florida with his wife since the last time I spoke with him and the other two had had two children since the last time I spoke with them The oldest is nearly twelve years old now, so that tells you how long its been since I have spoken to them. I remember going to their wedding with Sharon when we had first started dating! It's odd how the years can change things. At one point, I had hung out with these friends on a weekly, if not nearly daily basis. We had great times! Then life intervened, new jobs, new relationships, new places to live...It was no one's fault. We all just pursued our own lives and slowly drifted to new areas. Distance, Life. The time we spent today catching up was beautiful to me. The friendship is still there. All of the chatting was about what we were doing now and since the last time I saw them. Not about what we used to do or old "glory days" stories. I am so happy it was like that! True friendships survive in the present, not the past. I am looking forward to talking to my friends again in the future. Will I ever see them again? It's hard to say. Distance still separates us. Our lives have taken different paths, but our friendships remain. Three separate points: Florida, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. At my door, my friends are always welcome. If I am heading to New Jersey or Florida, I will contact them and let them know my schedule. Although the past remains a distant memory, the friendships endure and the future can always hold new memories. God bless, friends. I look forward to keeping up with you more often than once a decade now. Three points on a map, but one unbroken line of friendship. Just yesterday, my friend and I were having a discussion about a first-person game that came out recently called The Static Speaks My Name. We've both played it, and while the game starts out rather normally, by the end it has painted a very dark tale. You start the game in outer space, and have to make your way over to a cloudy orb. Upon entering it, you begin the game by waking up and rolling out of bed at 3:22 AM. You're given the objective to go to the bathroom. Normal, right? You are then told to go to the kitchen and get breakfast. Another easy task.
However, upon exiting the bedroom, it is clear automatically that something is very, very wrong. The windows and doors are all boarded shut, there is a wall of static TV's along one wall, and multiple copies of the same pictured are plastered all over the walls. There is a room with notes that are obsessing over the origin of the picture, and every single inch of wallspace in that room is covered by the picture. Upon looking in the fridge, there is nothing, and you are forced to eat live shrimp from a tank in your room. Your next prompt is to clean the microwave. After wiping up a red stain in the microwave, leaving it spotless; you are given another command to talk to people online. You can go to the computer and talk with a chat bot, but if you're observant you will notice a note that is lying on the desk next to the monitor. If you read it, you can see that it is clearly a suicide note, addressed to the character you are playing as' mother. Your next goal is a strange one: "Decide what to do with the man in the cage." If you've been following the small clues left throughout the game, you know that in your town, a painter has been missing. You also know that your character has been obsessively trying to figure out the meaning behind a painting. ALSO, you know there is a hidden room behind a bookshelf that was made to conceal the room from everyone but yourself. Taking keys from a peg by the door, you go down the hallway, behind the bookcase-door, and into a vault-like room where there is a man in a cage with a bowl of shrimp sitting in front of him. There is also an easel with a copy of the painting on it and artist's supplies littering the floor. At this point, your only option is to unlock the cage. When you do so, you are given a final objective- go to your room and let your body rest. I initially assumed this meant to go back to bed and sleep, but upon trying to interact, I couldn't. After stumbling aimlessly around the house for 25 minutes trying to find the solution, I finally opened the door to the close in the bedroom- a door that had previously been un-openable. Inside there was a noose and chair- and yes... the only option was to use the noose. You couldn't save the character. You had no other choice. After this, you are brought back into space and must choose another dust cloud, but instead of continuing into another level, you are left with a "Thanks for playing" text and the ending credits. So what was the point of this post? Well, my friend and I were talking and she said she had overheard two 5th graders on her bus talking about the game, oblivious to what it actually meant. This led to us discussing how influential video games can be to younger children- especially if they don't realize what they are actually doing in the game. What would happen if a child actually tried this, not knowing the outcome? Just because they saw it in a game? The game is meant to bring light to suicide and help prevent it, but if you have big YouTubers (who appeal to a mainly younger audience) playing these games and then making jokes about it... how are you helping the problem? Children look up to these people and are so easily influenced... if you're going to make a YouTube video about the game, at LEAST make a disclaimer at the end of the video saying what it is actually about... for those who do not know. Maddie Today I baked cookies with Nema. We baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. They
were very good. Here is a picture of my cookies! Ashleigh One thing we say in my house that we all know is true is that words have power. And they do! I thought of this quote this morning when an old memory came to me. It was a small inconsequential thing that someone once said to me. She said it to me after spending fifteen minutes telling me how she sometimes just knew things about people.
I am not going to mention who said it to me. We were in high school back then and she had been dating a friend of mine. She and I were just friends. What she told me then must have had an impact on me, because I thought of her this morning and what she said, even though thirty-two years have past since she said it to me, and twenty-five years have passed since I last saw her or spoke to her. Time flies when you're not looking! What my friend said to me way back then was that in the future she saw me doing very well...better than all of our mutual friends (although, she said she didn't see things about everyone so she couldn't be sure if it would be better than all). She said, though that at one point I would lose almost everything, but that in the end, I would battle back and be happy again. She said, that she wasn't telling me this to scare me, or come off as a nut, but just so that I would know... and that everything would be ok. At the time, I didn't think too much of it. In fact, I kind of just brushed it off and forgot about it. I mean, we were in high school still. I wasn't looking forward to anything except the next good time! I thought the conversation was a little strange, but a lot of people I knew were a little strange back then. I hung out with an eclectic mix of people, drinkers, pot smokers and the occasional acid head included. Although I never counted her among those groups, I'd heard stranger things from other people so I didn't think too much about it. Until today. I thought about it just after I got off the phone with the secretary from my lawyer's office. I called her to tell her I got papers from the court about Sharon's probate. Just after I hung up, the memory of that talk in the car thirty plus years ago popped into my mind...and I realized that her prophecy had been fairly accurate. I almost did lose it all! On multiple occasions I was near the end of my finances, but something would come along to keep me out of destitution. At one point my family unit had fractured. I lost my wife, my business, my retirement money... almost my home! But I never lost it all. My daughters were always with me throughout. My sister, my Mom, my Dad, all stood by me and did what they could to help. And I turned it around...just like she had prophesied so long ago. Although most of my wealth has now dissipated, my daughters are both doing great and I own the house I live in free and clear. I am working for a corporation now, but on my own terms (I work from home). I home school both of my daughters and they are learning the main lessons I am trying to teach them. While life isn't perfect, I get to enjoy watching my daughters grow each and every day. I never expect to see my friend from so long ago ever again. On occasion, I have tried to google her name and look her up on Facebook. No luck. If I ever do get to see her, I am going to remind her what she said to me so long ago...and I am going to thank her. Thank her for caring enough back then to give me a warning...and to finish it with a reassurance that everything was going to be ok. Well, my friend, everything is ok. I hope the years have treated you kindly. And that you have lived the life that you wanted to live. Father,s Day is coming. I am going to get Daddy a surprise! He will be very happy.I will
give him a big hug and a smile too! I love my Daddy very much! Ashleigh Do you know what one of my huge pet peeves is? When someone asks you for advice, or asks you a question... wanting an honest answer... and then when you give it to them, they get annoyed at you. I'm honest to the point that it can be brutal sometimes... but I don't put it in a way where it's going to be hurtful. Rather, I try to put the harsh truth gently. But it never works- everyone gets annoyed because they can't take the truth of their situation. Sometimes, the truth isn't even that bad! But people still get annoyed. I honestly don't get it. Don't ask someone for an opinion if you aren't willing to accept THEIR opinion. People differ and they aren't always going to tell you what you want to hear.
What's even worse is when they ask you for advice OVER AND OVER again, even though they know you don't sugarcoat things and tend to have a different opinion from them. It's almost as if these people LOOK to start drama and fights with you- and that's when you know it's time to stop giving advice, and back out of not only their drama but possibly their life altogether. If someone decides that the only way to keep the friendship "interesting" is to cause drama and feuds, it's not a good friendship. In my opinion? If someone, especially your friend, asks you for an opinion or for advice on something... they deserve nothing less than the truth, and nothing more than it either. Don't sugarcoat things only to have them learn the truth on their own, because that can sometimes be more painful than hearing the truth upfront. If they can't handle your honesty? Well, then they know not to ask you for advice again. Don't be straight up mean to them, but don't miss out details either. Be kind, be gentle, but not dishonest. Give your full opinion on everything. So tell me... what is YOUR opinion on this? Leave me a comment. Maddie My Daddy does karate , He is a sensei. He helps teach my classes on Monday and
Thursday. I always enjoy my classes! Ashleigh Since I have done this type of post before with another of John Green's books, Looking For Alaska, I figured I would do it with The Fault In Our Stars as well. So, without further ado- here are some of my favorite quotes from the book and why I like them.
I am looking out my window right now and two colors hit me. Green and grey. The green really pops out at me today due to the absence of any other bright color. The trees and grass are bright green, whether it be a light or dark green and it is really beautiful.
The grey is also beautiful. The sky (It's a rainy day here), the rocks (I do live on a mountain in New Hampshire, you know) and the bark of the different trees all look grey today. It's alright, though.Sometimes you need the grey to see the other beauty in your life...like all the green. Sometimes, I think we live our lives in shades of grey. Think back on your day yesterday. What really stands out to you? For me, it's the times when I had a smile on my face. The rest of the day was like an old, black and white movie. The part that comes through with the most clarity and color was my ride to karate class with Ashleigh. My daughters have a way of putting a smile on my face. Yesterday was a perfect example. When I got in the car I was a bit uptight. I had a lot of work to do at home and I felt I was running late for getting to class on time (I wasn't...we actually got there 15 minutes early). In fact, I will go as far as to say I was grumpy. As we pulled out of the driveway, I started telling Ashleigh that I wanted her to focus in class and that I wanted to run her through her forms once we got to the dojo before class. Ashleigh turned to me and with a smile on her face said that she would and ok. Me, being grumpy, I got the distinct feeling that she was yessing me to death, and I asked her if she knew what focus meant. She said, "yes, to pay attention."" I then asked her to define pay attention. With her bottom lip quivering, she looked at me and said "I don't really know...does it mean focus?" The look on her face, and her answer just made my heart melt. I told her "Yes it does." and the smile she gave me just lifted my entire mood for the rest of the day! We both busted out laughing at that point, and my life was once again filled with color. For the rest of the trip, the world was colorful again. At one point, I tried to sing her a song (because I know she likes that), she stopped me and said, "Daddy I'd rather talk right now.", and for the rest of the trip she told me what she saw. She didn't see the factory we passed, the wet road or the other cars... But she did see the cows in the field, the birds flying overhead and the pretty flowers in front of a house that was well off the road. She did take note of the ice cream store, and a number of large puddles and a truck that went by that was her favorite color. As she described all these things that pleased her, my day went from black and white and shades of grey, to a colorful panorama of beauty. The feeling stayed with me throughout the rest of the day. Now, as I sit looking out of my office window, that one little memory brings back the beauty of those moments. The greens seem much brighter to me now than they did a few minutes ago when I started this post. Thank you Ashleigh, for teaching Daddy another lesson. The world is a very big place, but in any given moment you can choose what you want to see. My daughter chooses to see beauty and happiness. She keeps things simple and actively looks for the things that make her happy. What a wonderful way to be! Living life with color...and beating back the shades of grey. I like to look at the stars. Tonight is cloudy. So no star watching tonight! Stars are beautiful.
The sun is a star. Ashleigh |
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