What Stuff Do You Carry?

“Shall we never never get rid of this Past? ... It lies upon the Present like a giant's dead body.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne

Our life can become a cluttered existence. What I mean is that we complicate things by gathering so many things. I'm not speaking simply of material things, but of gathering emotions. We collect the hurts and pains of being wronged along with the memories of what we may have done to others.

This "stuff" wears us down and impacts our ability to have a better life.

We carry those hurts and pains on our heart which limits our ability to have a truly great relationship with the rest of the world. It also limits our ability to have a great relationship with our belief; God, Buddha, Muhammad or any other forms.

I could go on about the "weight" of keeping all of this stuff we carry on our lives.

But I believe George Carlin said it best in his routine called All My Stuff. I believe he came out with this in August of 1981. My view is that even though it rails against materialism in life, it can easily draw a parallel to how we carry "emotional baggage" in life.

So without further adieu; George Carlin and "All My Stuff" for your reading pleasure.

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Actually this is just a place for my stuff, ya know?

That's all, a little place for my stuff. That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know?

I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there.

That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff.

That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time.

A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff.

And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff.

That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff!

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Stop and think about all of that "stuff" you carry in your life. Empty some of those stones you carry in the wagon being pulled behind you. Lighten your load and get on with a greater life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Are You Hungry

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” ― Herman Melville

As I go through my third day of a three day food fast, there are certainly obvious physical effects being encountered. You are starting to place the body under tremendous stress. Within the first 24-48 hours of denying calories, our bodies will have used up deprivation, the body depletes its glycogen stores from both our muscles and the liver; this is the stuff which helps provide us with quick energy.

More things begin to break down such as the protein within those same muscles and fat in order to produce energy. You've used up the glycogen, so the body starts using it's other hidden stores. And while all of this is going on, your metabolism will slow down in order to conserve energy. Your hormonal reactions board an unanticipated roller-coaster ride.

In jest we become "hangry" as we fight these hormonal fluctuations.

In seriousness, persistent hunger has serious consequences to health.

My three-day fast is a tiny portion of the lack of portion hunger many live with everyday.

There are many sources containing information and statistics to choose from. In general what I have read is, in America nearly 50 million struggle in one way or another to put food on the table. You can interpret this many different ways and assign your own cause or reason as to why this is so.

It could be poverty, bad choices of how we spend our money, food waste (40% of food is thrown out in the US every year, or roughly $165 billion worth; all of this uneaten food could potentially feed 25 million Americans) to name just a few.

Of course everyone will have their opinion of these causes, but whatever the cause, hunger has an impact on society.

Everything is connected

Are we singularly going through life, trying to remain disconnected from all of the world? Can we really do that and still live a live fulfilled? Is that really the life you think we as humans should live?

I doubt the vast majority of you reading this would think that way. In fact the vast majority of people in this world have some level of compassion for other people. We help each other in ways that are small, big; some of it reported in a news shaking way and most in a quiet undertaking.

My question then, is if you are hungry one day, can your hunger for food turn into hunger for greater connection?

Stay inspired my friends!

Can We Choose Happiness

“Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.” - Daphne Du Maurier

Can we choose to be happy in life or does it just happen?

There are people who believe happiness is something which only gets bestowed upon the lucky people in life. If you were not given the gift of happiness you are simply one of the unlucky people.

Happiness is what you want it to be.

You can choose to be happy or not within the circumstances surrounding your life. Finding and understanding those things which are good in your life, a path to happiness begins.

There are lives of people we could never imagine them finding happiness. Children and adults finding the littlest of things to create their happiness from. Each day people from all different backgrounds, economics and health find their happiness. They build upon the happiness found, that glimmer of sunshine.

It is not simply making the choice to be happy, but is a group of action in total which add up to creating a happier life. You see, we can never change what happens to us in any given moment. But with awareness, we can choose how to respond to it. As we make different choices, positive choices, in response will begin to create a life lived with more content, opening the way for happiness to enter more often.

Choose to be happy.

Stop expending energy in complaint and unhappiness. Your stress will be lower. You will have the ability to direct your energy towards change if required or towards enjoying even more happiness.

And stay inspired my friends.

AUTHORS NOTE: Happy Birthday Mom. Miss you but I'm still laughing in life.

Through the Front Window

"See life through the front window, not through the rear window." - Brett Favre

Life has a tendency to rush past in a seemingly endless stream of blurred images.

We crane our necks, always looking behind to see what we missed.

Always trying to capture what has already gone by.

This happens many times due to the busy lives we create. We are always working hard in order to earn a promotion at work. Always trying to improve all that we do consumes much of the time. The days and people in our lives simply disappear into the rear view mirror.

If you simply slow down just a bit, this one small action will allow you to see life coming at you; through the front window.

It will provide you with more time to appreciate those around you.

It will give you more time to enjoy your life.

Stay inspired my friends!