Today many thoughts go tumble and rumble in my brain, the old and the new. So I’ve decided to gather them up (as quickly as I can remember them) and put them together in this piece.

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PREJUDICE

“You can’t judge a person by what the rest of his race has done. Every country or race has its darkness. But I want to go out to the world and not be judged for darkness which doesn’t concern me as a person. If some may have been called ‘thieves’--- I must say that doesn’t make me a thief too just because my color or religion is the same as theirs. Is their family the same as mine? Were they raised in the values my parents brought me up with? Do they read the same books I read? Do they think the way I do? Or feel my feelings? Do they like pizza with sardines and mushrooms and loaded with fresh tomatoes and green peppers on it with tons of mozzarella cheese? I don’t think they do or risk a stomach ache! So even if we were of the same color, they certainly positively definitely are -- not me or I them.” ----- I wrote this in freshman high school and this left my old withered ultra-conservative teacher dumbstruck with horror. She thought it too strong. Is it?

EXPECTATIONS

I start out with a set of expectations for every new experience coming my way. But almost always these expectations get dumped or brushed aside because something else is being formed or brought forth holding its own distinct wonder and flavor. So if I so stubbornly held on to my expectations, it would have come out in a far different way. It would then be something that was according to ‘my’ wants, ‘my’ set of parameters or conditions, and ‘my’ desired results. Where is the thrill in that? ‘Expectations’ rob the thrill off a new experience. Yes, they do. And if you’re going to say that one can’t detach himself from having expectations on anything new, I’ll say yes to that, but…..let those expectations be tempered with knowing that things will happen when they happen without any help from you. So don’t try to color it with setting down expectations, yours, for it to arrive at ‘your’ desired results. Let the new experience ride. Let it reveal to you its wonder, beauty, joy, magic, adventure, delight, wisdom, truth in its own distinct way. Let it perhaps squeeze out of you feelings which you may have forgotten or have chosen to ignore. Let it alter some old preconceived notions about things and people and make you see that perhaps you have been wrong about them after all? Expectations are good but don’t let it stand in the way of wonder and learning.

IN LIFE THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES

A big yes to that one. You can’t really be too sure that your job would last you forever (can you?), that nothing will go wrong, that it won’t rain on your parade, or that your fortunes will stay strong, or that your health will not fail one day, or that no one will oppose your plans, or that your daughters will marry good men (ugh! Wish I knew). There is no guarantee that it won’t. So if that is the case, why continue with this business of living? Well, for the simple reason that because of its uncertainties, we are thus pushed to enjoy what we have ---do what we can with what we have now. There is wisdom in that. That means then to do whatever it is you do now with everything you’ve got. Be the best. Give it your best shot. Value the people you are with and treasure every precious moment that goes by. Relish beauty where you find it. Learn well whatever there is to learn. Love well when love finds you. So if and when one day things do go wrong cause there’s no guarantee that it won’t, you can look back with a smile and say ‘I did my best’…. And best is always good.

LIFE IS A POT OF STEW

Do you know what goes in a pot of stew? I’m not a cook but I can see that bits and pieces of all sorts go into it. You’ve got meat, vegetables, spices, water, etc. And it all gets mixed up together and the fire cooks it up to just right. So is life. We too get all bits and pieces of all sorts of things and experiences which get intertwined in our lives each day. We get knocked up and down and around in that mix which then makes us lose our bearing or hold in life. Easily we can lose ourselves in it. But wait! It doesn’t happen for no good reason. Look hard, think hard. Every bit of what may seem ‘scrap’ to you – bits here and there – are actually lending interest to the whole of things. Get it? Those odds and ends are just the spice that livens up your life. Every different thing in that odd mix makes its own contribution to the whole effort --- life! And what creates it into a delicious whole? Attitude – it’s the fire that cooks it up to just right. It helps us appreciate hidden beauty and truths, makes us see where true value lies, and teaches us to delight in the way it all blends up to create a delicious sumptuous pot of stew. Yes, life is a pot of stew .. a scrumptious one.

Okay, my pen rests at this point. :-)  Bye for a bit! Blessings!