Getting Up

Hope is a waking dream.

Aristotle
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Hello Barbara
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Wake up. Yawn. Stretch. Get out of that bed. Stand up. Wash your face. Brush your teeth. Make your coffee. Eat your breakfast. Get dressed. Open the door.

Wait a minute, you forgot something. Where;s that dream you were having? It's still back in the bed. Well, that's probably a good place for it. It was an improbable dream anyway. And maybe there were things about it you didn't like. So leave it there.

It's another day, a chance to make a mole hill out of that mountain you left yesterday, a chance to make one more step towards the plans you made last week, a chance to check up on the things you planted in your life last month, a chance to observe and appreciate how much you've grown in the last year as an indication of how much you are going to grow this year. If you don't have things to look forward to you might make the mistake of looking back.

So you've your plans, your ideas, your desires all tucked neatly (or maybe not so neatly) into your agenda, each with its own color. These are the hopes that got you out of bed this morning and every morning whether you know it or not. Each one has its demands on you, demands which you gave them. And those demands involve dreaming up the thing and dreaming up the way to do the thing. It's time. It's also time, armed with desire, courage and hope, to do battle with the bad dream of worry, the nightmare of failure.

What you do is to start at the end, visualizing exactly what you plan to do or be and where. Then holding that dream in mind at all times you go back to the beginning or where you left off, take the next step, take advantage of the things that occur as a result of that step and the previous steps and then accept and rejoice over your accomplishments. Don't be surprised when unexpected benefits arise, for as Shakespeare said "the mightiest space in nature fortune brings to join like likes, and kiss like native things."

Designs are made for unique constructions. Tools get invented to do things there are no tools for. Surfaces are prepared to launch great ideas. Hope becomes gratitude in advance as the dream slowly becomes a reality and life is better.

Then on to the next one. There is always another day to dream.

Dana - The Vagabond
Never give up.
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Live It Up

We die daily. Happy those who come to life as well.


George MacDonald
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Hello Ally
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Every day is a disaster, to one degree or another. Things explode, or they implode. Things break down and refuse to get fixed. Other things don't work right. Things don't go the way you want them to or expect them to. You tried, you failed. So what's the solution? The solution is: it's another day, another chance, a reawakening.

I used to have an early morning radio program in New York City. I went on the air before most of my listeners were awake. As they came to they relied on me to tell them what day it was, what time it was, what the weather forecast was for the day, to be cheerful and entertaining, to welcome them into a new day, etc. I would also remind them frequently that they had another chance to do great things. I would pepper my announcements by saying "Thank heaven we have another day on our hands." Then, since I was in a big city with a lot of commerce going on, I would say things like "Make that sale!" "Win that case!" "Pass that test!" "Sign that contract!"

People would often write and tell me how much they appreciated those gentle boots in the rear as they were getting ready to leave the home and head out into the roaring jungle.

When you finally get going this morning or tomorrow, or any time remember that you have another day on your hands, and make a mole hill out of that mountain you made last time.
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I am still waiting for that magnetic force that moves your fingers toward your keyboard to start making clicking noises that mean you are creating the fascinating piece of writing that will make you the next Guest Author.

DB - The Vagabond
Never Give Up
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Look here. I have 10 Guest Author entries since I started offering this invitation. Now I want yours. If you haven't posted one here yet, please do so.

This is an invitation for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.

The end of the year holidays are upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I know that people have things to say.

Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own celebrations is why I invite you to write for mine.

I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain.

Tell me your thoughts on Chanukah, Christmas, Ashura, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, New Years Eve. or any subject you wish or associate with this holiday season.

There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.

Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.

I have 10 Guest Authors so far. Check them out. Can I hear from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America? All are welcome. Admission is free.

DB
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On The Field

You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day.

Bob Feller
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Robert William Andrew Feller (1918 - 2010) was a major league baseball pitcher. He joined the Cleveland Indians at the age of 17 without ever having played in the Minor Leagues. He played for the Indians his entire career, and retired in 1956. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Bob Feller was famous for his fast ball which once was clocked at 113 miles per hour.

"A new game every day." Past successes may get your name in the paper or an autograph seeker and past failures may earn you some remorse, but they are both unimportant. Taking a lesson from everything we do is what's important and looking forward to more lessons learned as we approach another day.

In the theatre everyone wants to repeat what they did the night before if it was a good performance. But it isn't possible, nor should it be. Every new day is a chance to do better, to throw the ball faster than it's ever been thrown, to perform the role better than it has ever been performed, to do whatever it is your lot to do better than you even expect from yourself before you start. Life gives us the experiences as we trudge along and it is our chance and our great opportunity to not only make the most of them but to turn them into successes that light up the reason for life and our place in it.

"There's place and means for every man alive" wrote Shakespeare. You can find your greatness on a baseball field or anywhere life puts you by looking at the new day, eager for the game.
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Never give up.
DB - The Vagabond
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WEEKEND CONTEST

Well, last weekend several of you had some fun substituting a different word for "noodles" in "Love with noodles is batter." So here's a variation. Take a song and change one of the important words. Such as:

Somewhere over the ________.
Or:
I can't give you anything but ______, baby.
Etc.

Enter as often as you like, the decision of the mentally stalled judge is final.

Good luck
DB
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SUMMER QUESTION

It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.

Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

9 answers so far.

You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.

DB
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