Happy New Year – A Message by George Carlin
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much or too little, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.
We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.
Remember to say, ’I love you’ to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Warning – When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
I read this poem many, many years ago when I was at school, and it stayed with me. I decided that when I was approaching a certain age, that I would adopt this very policy. As I am now in my forties and fifty is imminent I think it is now time to cultivate my batty and eccentric persona. I believe I now qualify to join the Red Hat Society. I have a red hat, but yet no purple. This shall of course be remedied.
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with a red hat that doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and satin candles, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
and learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or only bread and pickles for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
and pay our rent and not swear in the street
and set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
By Jenny Joseph
#38/52 Weeks: The Face
See that face there. That’s him. The man who drives me mad, finds it impossible to be tidy, can’t find things he needs when they are under his nose, never seems to be able to say the right thing and argues with me all the time. But, he is my best friend, my biggest supporter in his own quiet understated way, and in truth, the star that guides my ship.
Week 36/52: Message from Orla
I found this on my keyboard from Orla. Says it all really…
Counting ones blessings…
We really should, more often, all of us.
In what is sadly an ever darker and darker world, as a friend of mine once said, ‘we need to light more candles’. But, it also pays to remember what we have to be thankful for.
Just over ten years ago, a friend and colleague died very suddenly on the eve of his fiftieth birthday. He was fit, active and healthy. He died of heart failure, and we could not have been more shocked. He left behind a wife and a 17 year old daughter. I cried for weeks, and just could not accept how someone so vital could be there one minute and gone the next. However, at his funeral when listening to all the eulogies, the one thing that impressed me the most, was how much this man had managed to accomplish in his life. He had written countless papers, travelled, climbed mountains, played the trumpet, ran marathons etc. He had not wasted a moment, and in truth, really had ‘lived for the day’. It was a wake up call, and I made a promise to myself that I would no longer indulge in useless and pathetic wallowing and self pity, and get on with the business of living. If at times I felt myself slip, I would remind myself of Fred.
Today, this morning, I had another of those moments of epiphany when I read a piece of prose written by a friend, a fairly young friend, in his mid twenties in fact. The piece was detailing the news that he had only months left to live and how he and his partner are dealing with this terrible event. Now, this wasn’t a shock or a surprise as my friend has been battling illness for a long time, he has AIDS. A few months ago he survived an epic seizure and a coma. When he regained consciousness and began to retrieve his memory, he was still positive and determined, and voiced not one note of complaint, utterly believing that no matter what, he would go on and achieve great things, that he had a purpose in life. Sadly, it will not be…
I cried when I read it. Cried with pity, loss and anger. It was poignant, touching, brave and wonderful. It also woke me up. Again, this was a person who had no regrets, and despite his illnesses, has striven to make the most of his life. Not angry, or bitter, or railing against his lot. But determined, positive and striving to be ‘more than the sum of his parts’. It made me feel very humble and ashamed. Ashamed at my complaints about getting older, being middle aged, not being pretty or thin, not having time to do this or that. It reminded me that every day we live is a gift and a blessing that should not be wasted.
It is a dark and grim world, and one in which terrible deeds and horrors are visited upon the weak and the vulnerable. But, one mustn’t live in the dark, but try and remember that the evil we live with is counter balanced by the good. It is hard to remember this, particularly when faced with the onslaught of media sensationalism that would have us hiding behind closed doors and never leave our homes for fear of murderers, rapists, muggers, brigands, warmongers, and the perpetrators of evil that lurk in every shadow!
It’s not that bad.
We need to look up at the sky, the stars, look out at the ocean, gaze at the trees, witness and appreciate the beauty around us. Cherish those we love, try and protect and help those who cannot help themselves. Be better than we are, try harder, live life, fulfil our potential, and more more more…
So, today is a marking point for me. I cannot change the world, but I can change and affect the small things around me, and my own world. It’s a drop in a bucket I know, but lots of drops make up a sea of change.
Lorrie Whittington
Visual Artist and Designer
Chichester, UK
