Happy Thanksgiving (Or To One and To All, Thank You for Being Yourself)

Ahem.

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Good night.

I want to take a moment to say something.

I have said it before, but I want to say it in a way that allows it to truly sink in.

I want to tell you something that you will never forget.

But first, let me tell you a story: a story about a boy and a girl.

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A little boy once stood on the bank of a creek and listened to the water rushing through the rocks. He marveled at the way the water turned and rippled and twisted among the woods and imagined how that little creek led out to a larger stream, then to a larger river, and eventually to the largest of oceans. He liked to imagine how small things can grow into large things, this little boy. He liked to picture himself as an insignificant little dot in the middle of the universe.

The little boy closed his eyes and listened to the water.

The water was telling him something.

So he listened.

---

A little girl once stood by the ocean and listened to the waves crashing on the shore. She wondered at the way something so light, so refreshing, so calm, could come crashing down so hard onto the sand. She marveled at how large the ocean was. For all the staring and looking that she did toward the horizon, she could not see the end of the water. But she thought about the beginning of it. Starting as snow or rain in the mountains, the small creeks turning into larger streams, and ever larger rivers and building in size and strength and tumbling and boiling their way into the mighty ocean that stood before her. She liked to understand the beginnings and the endings of things, this little girl. She liked to picture herself as an insignificant little dot in the middle of the universe.

The little girl closed her eyes and listened to the water.

The water was telling her something.

So she listened.

---

Be yourself.

Thank you.

Thank you for being you.

---

Yes, I'm talking to you.

Thank you.

Not for what you have done for me, in the past or lately, but just for being you.

Every time I wonder how I can go on, you make me laugh.

The way you express yourself in the simplest of moments makes me smile, inside and out.

Sometimes things get you down. Sometimes things come up that bring down your energy and your happiness. But you know how to move on. You know how to deal with the situation effectively, and move on.

So thank you for being yourself.

I want to see more of who you are, all the time, whenever I can.

I want to stare into your soul and have you stare back into mine, and once we truly see each other, maybe we can find a way to join together.

Maybe we can find a way to become one, and flow like water.

Like the creek.

Like the streams.

Like the rivers.

Roiling and rolling and twisting and winding our way to the ocean.

Thank you for being you.

Thank you for being the person that you are.

Thank you for your laughter. 

Thank you for smiling.

Thank you for the beauty that you contain, both inside and out.

Be you, my love.

Let yourself flow.

And together we will make it, hand in hand, to the ocean.

Happy Thanksgiving.

"I've Looked at Life from Both Sides Now"

Recommended Listening:

Please play the song above (or with this link).

---

A few words come to mind when I think of looking at things in different ways.

Perspective.

View point.

Perception.

Understanding.

Empathy.

These things make up how I assemble my reality.

And like Joni Mitchell and so many others, I have looked at life from both sides now.

I have seen the world through my own eyes, and I have tried to see the world through others'.

With empathy and imagination we are able to try to understand what life is like for someone else.

But we don't ever really walk in their shoes.

We will never know the consciousness of another person.

We can only empathize with the signs and symptoms of living.

But sometimes that, along with listening intently and understanding, is enough.

Just to listen and empathize does not mean to agree. Empathy and understanding do not imply agreement. But at the same time, these things bring us together, despite our differences.

Just as there is an asymptote toward perfection, there is also one toward understanding and learning.

We can go deeper and farther, but we will never. ever. reach the bottom.

"I really don't know life at all." - Joni Mitchell

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

What I Want Out of Life

I started this post a while ago, and it didn't quite seem like the time to post it just yet. Now is the time, I suppose.

This post states what I want out of life. 

First though, let me say that I already have a lot. 

I have a loving family, amazing kids, a wonderful wife, an amazing extended family, and generally speaking a whole lot of love. I have a great job, a career I can grow into, money to pay the bills, a wonderful home, and two cars that run like champs. 

I have more than I could ever ask for, to be honest. 

Maybe I don't need to write this post after all...

It's the season of Thanksgiving. I have a whole hell of a lot to be thankful for. 

Some of those things I am thankful for are listed above. Others are larger. Like the opportunity to wake up today. Others are smaller. Like the feeling I have when I take a deep breath of fresh air. And then there are all the things in between all the highlights and the low-lights of living life on this planet.

I am truly grateful for each moment I have the opportunity to be alive.

---

So, I am truly grateful for everything.

Being grateful doesn't mean I cannot strive for more.

I have decided a few things lately. I have started to define what it is that I want from my life, that I don't already have.

They are simple but large things, and there are only four.

1. I want to make a living from my creative activity.

2. I want to be physically fit and healthy. 

3. I want to be completely debt free.

4. I want to own a beach house.

Those are the four things that I want out of life, that I don't already have. If I never accomplished any of them, I would still lead a good and satisfying life. But why not go for the gold? Why not try and get that which I may be able to attain? Why not set goals and work toward them?

In coming up with reasons for why I should improve myself, I still have only one: because I can. 

The only reason that I want to improve myself is because I can.

Eventually, I will need to have a more passionate and energetic reason behind self-improvement. But for now, just that one reason will suffice.

What are the things that you are grateful for?

What are the things that you are striving for?

A Few Words of Encouragement (Or Lies I Should Have Convinced Myself Were True When I Started)

Save for future reference.

There is no one in the world like you. No one can make what you make. Though you may struggle and want to give up, you shouldn't. The only way past a hurdle is over it. Get up and jump.

You make your own way. The world does its own thing. Don't worry about it. What I mean is, don't pay any attention to what the world does. It doesn't concern you. You concern you. What you do all the time is what is important.

You are capable of anything, except what you won't try, or what you give up on. Try everything. Don't give up. Forge ahead as far as you can, then go a little further. You will be amazed at your ability to sustain and strengthen your resolve.

When its getting dark, light a torch. If you don't have a torch, light a candle. If you don't have a candle light a match. The light will guide you, but you have to shine the light. You have to be the one reaching out your arm with the light at the end of your fingertips, searching in the darkness for the path.

The road will rise up to meet you. You are on your own journey. You can't make a wrong turn. Just as it is impossible to get lost anymore, it is impossible to get lost anymore.

You already know the way to go. You already know where you want to be heading. Head in that direction. Become the person that you want to be.

There are no better ways to do what you are doing, because no one else is doing what you are doing. Don't search for a better way, just keep doing what you are doing. Just keeping making stuff and putting it out there.

There are no wrong answers, because there are no questions.

The only question that you have to ask yourself is... nothing. Don't ask questions of yourself, provide statements of fact. Get lost in the obvious.

Your audience is too big. Don't write for everyone. Write for one person. Write for one person, all the time. You can change the person you write for at any given time, but don't try to write for more than one person at a time. The audience is only ever one person at a time anyway.

There is no great time to blow up on the scene and infiltrate the world. There is only now. There will only ever be now. Allow now to be,  and be yourself now.

This is too cryptic, too vague. What I mean to say is, be yourself. You try so hard to be the person you think you should be, the person you think other people will like and react to. Just be yourself. Hang the rest out to dry.

What does it mean to be true to yourself? I feel like I want to say that, that you should be true to yourself, "to thine own self be true", but I think what I really want to say is.... Be yourself. Be who you are, foibles and problems and nonsense and all. Just let yourself be.

And when you let yourself be, share yourself. Others want to see people who are themselves, because that is who we all want to be. We don't want to be another person, we want to be most truly and fully ourselves. We want to be free to be ourselves all the time.

Keep creating. You may never ever get it right, but you need to keep doing it. What is right anyway? The rightest thing you can ever do at any time is to make something that is reflective of where you are in life.

Follow your dreams.

"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
Henry David Thoreau

More than follow your dreams, live your dreams. Don't be like, "I can't live my dreams." Yes you fucking can. Just do it. Make your greatest dreams come true every minute of every day.

What do you want from life? Create it.

You can make anything. So make it already.

The best thing you can do is do.

You will give up before you even start. Know this about yourself, and then refuse to give up. Learn from your mistakes. Your mistakes are not the end. Learn from them and grow.

You are a beautiful person. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Stop comparing yourself to others. Others don't matter. You do. You matter.

And because you matter, what you make matters, so keep making it, through the hard times and the good.

Don't create for others, create for yourself. You are why you got into this business in the first place. Make yourself happy, not others. Lead by following your own example.


Stop thinking about everyone else.

Stop thinking about everyone else.

You are creating because you can connect yourself to another person through writing, but you can't connect yourself to everyone at the same time. There is no mind meld when it comes to reading and writing. Everyone is affected uniquely as they experience writing and what is written. Leave your baggage out of it.

If you derail, don't worry.

You'll get back on track.

Keep making somethings. Keep trying. Stay with it. Stick to it. Make it happen. If you don't, no one else will.

You don't have time to stop making things. You don't have time to second guess yourself.

If I told you twenty years ago you would be where you are now, you wouldn't believe me, that's why you don't know where you'll be twenty years from now, because you wouldn't believe it anyway.

It's okay to not know the answer.

Make something of your life. No one else will.

Might as well live the dreams you have already.

No matter your best intentions, things don't turn out like you expect. That's not positive or negative, it's just a fact, Jack. So roll with it. Expect the unexpected: you'll be surprised anyway.

If you give yourself enough time, you'll talk yourself out of everything. Don't talk yourself out of this.

Save yourself a little time at the end to polish. Not a lot of time, like 2% of the making time is all you need. It won't be perfect, but that's what makes it perfect.

And this is the most important lesson of the day: stay grateful. You can't be anything without thanksgiving. Thanks to those who came before you, thanks to those who inspire you, thanks to those who formed your dreams, thanks to those whose dreams rest upon you, thanks to those who love you the most, but mostly, and most sincerely, thanks to the source of it all.

Thank you.

Nostalgia (or Zen and the Art of Time Travel)

There was a time when...

we were born 

we were young 

all we did was enjoy ourselves

all that mattered was the joy we felt around us

we were at one with the world

the world was at one with us

the most interesting thing in life was the moment we breathed and noticed

the least of our worries was worrying

all that was good was just good

the world did not revolve around us

the morning dew was wet and new

the Shamrock Shake had the greatest taste

our slippers were the only thing we put on out of bed all day

our dreams were greater than our worries

our thoughts were more often than not on others

we did not think twice about holding hands

our minds were not made up

thoughts did not control our lives

time flew by

we felt creative

we let ourselves shine

we pursued our passion

life was a joy to be lived

memories were not forgotten

we all shared something with someone somewhere

our greatest goals seemed achievable

we owed no one anything

we owed everyone everything

we burned with energy

we slept like babies

we learned to read

we learned to write

we did not think anything of learning something new

we were not afraid

we were not sick

we did not get tired

we burned brighter than the sun

we lived life on our own terms

we spent as much time outside as possible

we watched the sun go down

we watched the sun come up

we learned how to share

we did not know what a fake smile was

we went with the flow

We cannot go back in time, but we can repeat the past. Harvest your memories. Share yourself. Shine your light. By embracing yesterday, make tomorrow brighter than today.

Time and Energy

One foot in front of the other. Bit by bit, I work and move forward. I press onward, and step by step, I am able to push ahead.

It can be slow going, and lack of visible movement can seem like no movement at all. But in the end I am going somewhere. In fact, I am hurtling through space and time, and moving ahead and beyond farther and faster than I can comprehend. It takes time and energy to move and respond. It takes time and energy to be a part of the working of the world.

If that is all it takes, time and energy, why am I not a part of more in the world and in life? I think because my time and energy are limited. But only self-limited. I limit my own time and energy. I limit the amount of time I spend on writing and expressing myself, and I deplete my energy by doing other things, some worthwhile, and others not.

Time is a finite and infinite concept. Clock time is finite. We don't get any back. Once the date and time are past, they cannot be reclaimed or brought back again. However, there are an infinite number of dates and times. I can experience new things all the time. All the time. All of the time there is something new. All of the time there is something new and worthy for me to get involved in.

It takes me time to create something new. It takes me a while to come up with a concept and to start typing and to turn it into reality. But really, it doesn't take that long at all. In fact, all I have to do is sit down and start typing.

Lo and behold, after that small amount of time and energy invested, there is a something on the other side. A blog post. A bit of energy and time, contained in words, spat out onto the other shore. And then there is the time and energy to be spent on honing what was written, so that there are no sharp edges, so that everything makes sense, so that the time I took to write it is as worthwhile as possible.

It is always worthwhile to create something new. It is always worthwhile to use time and energy to create something new.

And, as always, there is time to take a time out and check Facebook. That comes with the territory. There is always time for that ubiquitous reason for being online in the first place. To share. To be social. To be a part of what is going on in the lives of others.

It doesn't take long to understand that we are all together.

We are all one. We are all the same and all together in time and space. And when we realize we are all together and all the same and all one, then we can be different too.

What is happening here is that we are meeting. We are taking the time to meet and be a part of belonging to one another. And when we are a part of belonging to one another we take time and energy to share.

Time and energy are all the world is made up of: the two elements of all events and actions. Time and energy.

Energy is an accumulation of action and it's potential for being released. It takes a bit of time to create energy. It takes a bit of time to release energy. And when energy is created and released, it is always a special occasion.

What do I mean when I say that all it takes is time and energy? Time to pass and to invest, energy to use and to invest.  Energy is a glorious reason for being. I tend to not have enough of it. I tend to want more energy than I generally have. I want to obtain more and more energy as I move through life.

It is acceptable to watch others and learn from their interactions and experiences.

What am I learning by watching others?

I am learning that there is a glorious trend toward interaction, and that there must be interaction for the world to work and to expand. The most basic interaction is person to person interaction. We are all to become one, one giant family, living in peace and harmony. All it takes is time and energy.

So what am I wasting my time and energy on? Where can I stop investing time and energy and start moving some of my wasted time and energy toward something more meaningful and helpful? Toward something more mindful? Toward something more aware and all inclusive?

I am wasting my time and energy on being lazy. I am wasting my time and energy on smoking cigarettes. I am wasting my time and energy on being fearful and anxious about things that have never happened, and are unlikely to happen at all. The things I am fearful of may indeed happen, but it is unlikely that they will, and so it is more important for me to spend my time and energy elsewhere.

Where else do I waste my time and energy? On non-value added activities. What is a non-value added activity? Worrying. Spacing out. Daydreaming. Being without focus or action. Non-learning.

What should I be spending my time and energy on? On creative self expression. Because through self expression I am learning about myself, I am creating a process of creativity, I am allowing others to witness the process of creativity, and I am allowing others to benefit from my process of creativity.

It takes time and energy to creatively express myself. But it isn't a waste of time or energy. And it isn't false. It isn't deceptive. It is straightforward and part of reality.

I am part of reality. I am part of the truth of living. I am part of the learning and the unlearning of the universe. The unraveling of the truth and the unraveling of the false both happen at the same time. The duality of nature cannot last, and will not stand the test of time. We will all one day realize that all is one, and we are all together with the same love for each other.

"One love! One heart! Let's get together and feel alright" - Bob Marley

What am I going to do now? I am going to appreciate the time I spent here. It was worthwhile. I am going to be thankful that I got out and spent three dollars on a cup of coffee at Starbucks and wrote for twenty minutes and grew to know myself and my fellow humans better, while expending time and energy, while renewing my time and energy. It is an exercise, and all exercise is beneficial.

It doesn't take long for the calendar to turn around any longer. It takes no time at all in fact. We go along in all of our days and ways, and the next thing we know it is tomorrow and the next day and the day after.

It is wise to spend some time focused on the here and the now, stopping time as it passes for just a few moments, to reflect on where we are and where we were, and why we have come and become who we are in the world and beyond.

We are experiencing time as never before. We can sense ourselves hurtling through and past it, we can almost move at the speed with which our lives are lived. It doesn't take long, and it doesn't seem that we will have much longer to worry about the time we take and spend here and there.

I thank you for the time and the energy to create this.

I thank you for the opportunity to create.

I thank you for the action of writing and exercising my true creatively expressive self.

It doesn't take much time.

It doesn't take much energy.

But it does take a little of both.

And that is how we fly.

Sprinkle ourselves with the stardust of time and energy and fly off into the sunset.

Where will we land for the night?

Where will all our time and energy take us?

Only you can know.

Only I can know.

Take us somewhere. Appreciate the journey. Note the time and the energy provided and used.

Thank You

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." - Henry Van Dyke

This past Thanksgiving I was inspired by the idea of giving thanks throughout the year, and not just the one day set aside for being grateful. So I started a new blog that was just about thankfulness, thanksgiving and being grateful in general. Then I realized that I want to be keeping all my thoughts here at nobushel.blogspot.com instead. So below are all the posts that I posted to that other blog, and a big thank you for the clarity to focus my efforts all in one place. Maybe some of these thoughts of thanksgiving will resonate with you. Thanks for reading.

Thank you for the new year.

Thank you for new beginnings, the start of something new.

Thank you for old things.

Thank you for the transition between old and new.

Thank you for time to be alone and reflect.

Thank you for the fruits of reflection.

Thank you for the opportunity to be happy.

Thank you for the choice to be happy.

Thank you for the miracle of life and living.

Thank you for including me in plans I don't understand or know yet. 

Thank you for the design of the universe, unknown, yet being discovered.

Thank you for science.

Thank you for art.

Thank you for being and the lightness of being alive.

Thank you for amazing sunsets.

Thank you for quiet sunrises.

Thank you for making the earth so large the sun so far away, and humans so small that it appears as if the sun rises and sets every day for only me. 

A TED talk on the power of gratefulness.




Thank you for the lovely holiday decorations that light up the street and the night with their light.

Thank you for the opportunities I have had and continue to have.

Thank you for toothpaste that leaves my mouth feeling clean.

Thank you for lakes, teeming with water and life.

Thank you for the road that is smooth and paved and takes me where I need to go.

Thank you for family, and all the nuances of love contained therein.

Thank you for indoor plumbing.

Thank you for running water that is clean and safe to drink.

Thank you for the lovely holiday decorations that light up the street and the night with their light.

Thank you for the opportunities I have had and continue to have.

Thank you for toothpaste that leaves my mouth feeling clean.

Thank you for lakes, teeming with water and life.

Thank you for the road that is smooth and paved and takes me where I need to go.

Thank you for family, and all the nuances of love contained therein.

Thank you for indoor plumbing.

Thank you for running water that is clean and safe to drink.

Thank you for letting me know I need to be more grateful.

Thank you for allowing me to be more grateful.

Thank you for the time to accomplish and become what I want.

Thank you for the opportunity to accomplish and become what I want.

Thank you for the car I drive, for taking me where I want to go.

Thank you for the house I live in, the building I call home.

Thank you for the clothes I wear, that keep me warm.

Thank you for the wind that blows through the trees.

Thank you for the ocean and all its marvelous waves.

Thank you for the breeze that whispers nature's tune to me.

Thank you for letting me know I need to be more grateful.

Thank you for allowing me to be more grateful.

Thank you for the time to accomplish and become what I want.

Thank you for the opportunity to accomplish and become what I want.

Thank you for the car I drive, for taking me where I want to go.

Thank you for the house I live in, the building I call home.

Thank you for the clothes I wear, that keep me warm.

Thank you for the wind that blows through the trees.

Thank you for the ocean and all its marvelous waves.

Thank you for the breeze that whispers nature's tune to me.

Thank you for alarm clocks for waking me up on time.

Thank you for deep sleep that brings me dreams.

Thank you for dreams that take me to another world.

Thank you that the dream world is not really real.

Thank you for surrounding me with people I love.

Thank you for the opportunity to live my life as I see fit.

Thank you for fireworks that light up the night sky and my imagination.

Thank you to the men and women who serve our country and keep us safe.

Thank you for letting me be myself.

Thank you.

Thank you for the sun and all its radiant glory.

Thank you for the streams that whisper in the woods.

Thank you for the night that holds the moon in the sky.

Thank you for the wolves that howl to the moon in the night.

Thank you for the world, all the good and all the bad.

Thank you for the morning that rises every day.

Thank you for letting me rise every day as well.

Thank you for the power of love.

Thank you for the magic of gratitude.

Thank you for the wonder of the cosmos.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. Giving thanks.

Thank you to my family for unending love and support.

Thank you to my father for teaching me how to sing.

Thank you to my mother for teaching me how to learn.

Thank you to my brothers for teaching me the meaning of brotherly love.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for picking me up when I was at my lowest point.

Thank you to my wife for loving me and growing old with me.

Thank you to my children for allowing me to raise them the best I can.

Thank you to the air for letting me breathe you.

Thank you to the land for allowing me to walk and travel upon you.

Thank you to my company for employing me and allowing me to house, clothe and feed my family.

Thank you to the sun for shining on me.

Thank you to the birds for singing their songs.

Thank you to the sky for being so unendingly large.

Thank you to the moon for allowing me to gaze upon you in wonder.

Thank you to the stars for making the night sky sing.

Thank you to the water for allowing me to drink my fill of you.

Thank you to the squirrels who eat my pumpkins, entertain me and make me laugh.

Thank you to my house for keeping me safe and warm.

Thank you to the churches for feeding the hungry.

Thank you to the laborers for working hard into the night.

Thank you to the tradesmen and women for building and making the things and services I use without thought.

Thank you to nature for being so beautifully complex.

Thank you to the flowers for being so simply beautiful.

Thank you to the artists for leading the way.

Thank you to the internet for bringing so many of us together in one place.

Thank you to books for all your knowledge and adventures.

Thank you to America for giving me freedom.

Thank you to the world for giving me life.

Thank you to the night for all your dark and mysterious pleasures.

Thank you to the day for all that you have in store.

Thank you to the food I eat for nourishment and energy.

Thank you to the friends I have for growing and laughing along with me.

Thank you to the universe for all you have shown me.

Thank you to life for embracing me and letting me live.

Thank you for being yourself.

Thank you.