As I approach yet another birthday and prepare to sing a sad song of a year of unnecessary hardships and COVID fear, my conclusion is that not everyone admits being attracted to sugar, spice, and everything nice. Some folks prefer wine, and sarcasm, in order to survive so it is suffice.
Now I understand my attraction to a logical state of mind of the late and great Jack Benny, who insisted he was 39-years old until his time on earth was over and out as the people say. Jack Benny claimed on one of the radio programs that he was 36. It got a laugh, so he continued using it. Later he turned 37, then 38, and finally 39. There were plans to have a big production for Jack’s 40th birthday show, but people started contacting him that he shouldn’t turn 40, as it was too big of a milestone. He died at 80 after a long career that spanned radio and television. He was best known for a trifecta of being 39, his musical skills or lack of thereof, and his stinginess that led to many jokes. And so it goes.
As I write this blog and watch the analytics show growth, I am thankful for my network of loving family members and friends.
City Images offers a wonderful opportunity to appreciate my blessings and keep me current.
It helps evoke mindfulness, it clears my mind of all the clutter, it can help me reach goals, solve problems, stimulate creativity, and improves my ever-expanding communication skills.
It’s also a great tool to deepen self-knowledge when asking mindful questions that may not have been consciously considered before. The following are topics that I may wish to develop next as this journal nears ten years, times two, or maybe three, which is really my number identity. Please, allow me to answer the first and the last question now.
1. Something I thought about as a child was… that a man must keep his composure while the whole world falls apart.
2. One thing I’ve always wished for is…
3. If I received CA$H that I HAD to spend on myself, I would…
4. One thing I know I need to work on is…
5. I’m most proud that I…
6. In the next year, I really want to…
7. If I could ask any person just one thing, it would be ____ and I would ask…
8. A silver lining in a not so good situation that happened recently is…
9. The skill I’ve always wanted to have is…
10. A sentence that stopped me in my tracks and changed my outlook was…
11. The ways I’ve grown over the past 5 years are…
12. Something I’d like to achieve one day is…
13. The best bit of advice I could give to a younger me is…
14. A book that I always re-read is _____, because…
15. One thing I’ll never regret is ______, because…
16. The quality I admire most in others is…
17. If I could be a go-to person for anything, it would be…
18. If I could go to any point in the past or future, I would…
19. The thing that I’m almost afraid to tell people is…
20. The thing that I’m most thankful for... My family, friends, and YOU.
I realized how truly blessed I am after receiving a call from my daughters and grandkids, who live on the West coast and are enjoying sunny beach weather. There is one feeling that measures up to this. If you are able to reach out to your parents, consider yourself extremely fortunate. I loved and will always miss MoM and DaD.