Saturday, May 30, 2015

Serving Dinner

Dinner , that most important meal of the day! Do you have plans for dinner? Whats for dinner? When will dinner be ready?  These are commonly asked questions as well as frequently asked on a daily basis. This is the meal of the day that is usually given more forethought and planning than any other meal. We want it to have the most flavor, appeal and to be the most satisfying. To be attractive as possible. We even want to spend it with the most important people. Dinner has never been fun eating alone. We want to make sure that our dinner companions enjoy it as much as we do.  We go out of our way to try to make sure that what ever is being offered will be welcomed and accepted. And generally as a rule, none of us want to miss or skip dinner.  It's to be the most anticipated and looked forward to meal of the day.  Now you may ask, what does dinner have to do with being over fifty and extraordinary? Well today in my blog, I decided to use dinner as an analogy to life.  Yes, comparing dinner to our lives. How will you serve it, hot or cold? What will be our main course ? How we will live it. What we will offer others? How good we will be?  How attractive or appealing we will be?  How  will people  receive us? Will they think we are good and come back for more?  A lot to be considered whether you are serving dinner or just living your life. You can say that once we are over fifty and extraordinary, we are kinda like in the dinner of our lives. We want to make this the best portion ever.  This is the main course. Our decisive actions will determine how good it will be. We have learned a lot. Enough to make ourselves appealing and desirable in society to others. And daily, how we live, choices we make if we are gonna truly benefit from them must be well thought out. In this way we could live well.  On a continued basis planning is vital. Our dinner guest are not the only ones who benefit or enjoy the good meal. We ourselves enjoy it just as much sometimes better. The things we add to it are likened to deserts.  It's all good. When dinner is well served every person who shares in that meal appreciates it. So as extraordinary people who are now in the dinner of our lives,(figuratively speaking) make it five stars and let's serve up something good.  Dinner Anyone?  Lets make it a dinner party say yes and  thank you to the best  one ever!

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Lighter Side of Things!

Are we taking ourselves too serious? Sometimes I think we have the natural tendency to do so. I'd like to share some amusing things just to make sure we don't. I got an email from a friend of mine the other day. In it were several quotes shared.  The lighter side of getting older I thought. Sometimes we just need to laugh at ourselves. We can be funny in our thoughts  too. It made me laugh as well as made my day. I hope it has the same effect on you, my extraordinary friends. Some of them were and I quote: "Random Thoughts As We Age":

1.  Biggest lie- I don't need to write that down, I'll remember it!

2. I don't need anger management, I need people to stop making me mad!

3. I don't have gray hair, I have wisdom highlights. I'm just very wise!

4. I'm gonna retire and live off my savings. Not sure what I'll do that second week!

5. Of course I talk to myself, sometimes I need expert (extraordinary) advice!

6.  If God wanted me to touch my toes, He would have put them on my knees!

7. At my age getting lucky means walking into a room and remembering what I came in there for!

And of course there were many more, I hope these few bought a smile to your face, and always remember that no matter how gloomy a situation looks, there is always a lighter side to it. We need to learn how to find a silver lining on every cloud. Not just a few.  If we look for the good in everything we WILL find it!

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Is Older Better?

Is older really better? What makes older better? If we could go back in our life to a certain age, what age would that be? And why do you pick that age? I'm willing to wager  not one person would say take me back to infancy or the first day of my life. Most everyone would want to go back to an age where the knowledge they have now would be useful in knowing and could save them at that point and time from something necessary. Have you ever heard others say and I quote:" I would not want to be twenty again for nothing"?.Why, because they know due to inexperience,how they may suffer.  Individually our do overs would be different due to  the different experiences that have been fed into our life.  But the one thing we would have in common is that most would like to start over at some point beyond the age of awareness. The age old saying goes, "If I knew then what I know now". So is it  out with the old and in with the new? I'm  not sure that's what really is wanted. What's the answer to what makes older better?  I think  if it is an object and this is only my opinion that it's the way something has been cared for or maintained. Look at an antique for instance. It's only considered to be an antique if it's been around for at least one hundred years. It also commands the top price in business sales.  It's always worth more than any new piece around. But that value depends on how well it has been maintained, who previously owned it and cared for it. It's all relative. So if we are talking about humans.  Everyone knows the older we get the wiser we are. In spite of the fact that in old age we have the tendency  to lose our strength  our might  and thinking ability. We suffer from C.R.S. (Cant Remember Stuff). But wisdom for the most part remains.  Wisdom is the ability to use the knowledge that we have learned. Wisdom is not something  that we get the first few years of life. So relatively speaking , we do get better with time. People that is. If you agree, share this.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Don't Stress!

A lot easier said then done as most things are. But nothing else as nearly as deadly or unhealthy as stress is.  Stress, that word, if we let it, that one single word will hunt us for the rest of our life. It will never go away. It will never bring us any real benefit. It will always be there. It's like the moon, it's coming out tonight and you can count on it.  That's why we have to take affirmative action to combat it when and wherever present. Negative stress that is, because actually it's been said that some stress is good. That's a stress I'm gonna have to do more research into. Naturally I'm speaking of the kind of stress that don't go well with us. We are greatly affected by our thinking. And the thing about worrying or stressing on anything is it doesn't change absolutely one thing.  Just imagine if it did. If we could tell our self that if I worry about this a week or two, then its gonna be resolved or work out in my behalf or even go away. It would amazing the problems that would disappear. There would be I imagine talk shows, books, seminars on how to stress more. Unfortunately that's not the case. Rather it creates more problems. Like we previously said before, misery loves company. We need to laugh more as in a previous blog stated and to get our mind off of the upsetting thing IF possible.  Now we as extraordinary people need to consider what accompanies stress? Let's see and be reminded of  what we have been told that stress brings on. Heart a attacks, strokes, ulcers, anxiety disorder's, headaches, insomnia, nausea and even more severe diseases like cancers. What miserable company stress keeps.  Who of us needs it? None of us. We have to learn to make the best of a situation while we are in it. No matter what the situation is. This is because we cant change a thing. I have a problem with this personally and it is something I try to work on constantly and has proven to be a real challenge, but I do manage.  Not giving in to stress is very difficult. But it is a challenge we can overcome. How? By making your mind over. Yes, it's a mind thing and we need to decide how we are gonna deal with things from a personally beneficial standpoint and then do it. Once our mind is set to do or not to do a certain thing, it makes all the difference. You can too if you MAKE YOUR MIND OVER. We must talk to our self and say: I would not choose to be in this situation, but being that I am in it, what good could I do for me or other's till it passes? Another quote that is worth repeating but certainly not mine is" When life serves you lemons, make lemonade!" We must decide by making our mind over to make the best of the worst or most negative situation since we cannot do a single thing to change it should that be the case. And by stressing over it, it has the potential to get even worse. By bringing on more problems.  A very wise person told me that this is the only way we can deal successfully or cope with the problems we will encounter in life from time to time because that's life. So my dear extraordinary friends, Make your mind over, But by all means "DON'T STRESS!"

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Laughter, Truly The Best Medicine

Laughter emotionally speaking means happy. Why is laughter so important? Not only in life now but always. Laughter is like an inner massage. Yes it massages our insides the same way  a masseuse does the  outside of our bodies and oh how good that feels!  Those who remember a while back  the  magazine Reader's Digest used to publish a section called laughter is the best medicine.  I remember how I looked forward to reading that section.  It was filled with many short amusing and humorous stories, another magazine has a section published monthly called strictly for laughs. Laughter does so much for the mind and the spirit, it actually heals the ailing inside. Studies have shown that when people are healing or recuperating from a sickness or setback back, that laughter is good therapy it actually aides in the healing process.  The thing about having a good laugh is that, when you are laughing, you are not thinking about absolutely anything else, no stress, no worry, no problem. Only the thing that is causing your laughter. For a moment, very temporary you kinda let things go  and afterward you feel good. It actually lifts your spirits.  It's very therapeutic. When was the last time you really laughed?  Was it at movie or a person ? Some people are so funny, just the thought of their name will bring a smile and we love to be entertained by them. I think laughter is a gift. It's natures way of saying at the moment that everything is good. I think that everybody should do more of it especially us over 50 and extraordinary people.  So my friends if we find ourselves feeling down for any reason, take a walk on the funny side. Yeah pull out your favorite comedy, or book or your favorite show and just indulge yourself in laughter.  This should be done on a daily basis if not very regular basis.  They say misery loves company. Don't give it the company it loves. Instead invite laughter. Do away with the misery as quickly as possible, don't allow it to linger around. We may then find it difficult to get rid of. Laughter is universal. Watch this video to see what I mean. I hope this video in this blog made you laugh as it was intended to do.  Everybody feels good, so go on  have a good laugh. It's truly the best medicine!!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Before Extraordinary

I think often when I write my blogs if  I have people out there who are not yet over fifty and extraordinary in my viewing audience. There are so many things to learn in life. And the sooner we learn something in life the longer we can benefit from it as we live.  But as the saying goes better late than never.  I do wish I had extraordinary thinking at least twenty five years ago.  It had been instilled in me, the thinking that is, but I didn't take hold of it as well as I should have. I have no regrets tho. I have seen and learned a lot.  But I would encourage others to listen to the advice that comes from people who have lived longer than they have, (the extraordinary one's) in spite of the mistakes some have made in their life. Truly an extraordinary person who could take mistakes from their own life experience and turn them around to putting others on a positive  path and a much straighter one. The thinking should not be, you didn't do it yourself so why are you telling me? That's the kind of thinking that needs adjustments. So many things we were not mindful of in our twenties. I tell my young and I quote:" Don't be smart, because smart people learn from their own mistakes, but instead be brilliant, because brilliant people learn from the mistakes of others(end)". Wouldn't it be amazing to teach our young brilliance and they actually learn it? Of course it would.  What is it that you could think of now that you wish you were aware of in your twenties? I know I could think of a lot, because hindsight is 20/20 but the future remains a mystery. But the most important thing is the lessons we have learned and benefited from. Also to share of them with others. Listening one of the hardest things for people in general to do. It's human nature not to. My best advice to any who have not yet reached over fifty and extraordinary or before extraordinary would be to listen and learn. Live an extraordinary life long before you reach it. Even extraordinary people have setbacks. Adjustments have to be made and we have to begin again. We do have the advantage of having the knowledge that has been fed into us over the last few decades. So may we both extraordinary and before extraordinary folks continue to make smart choices.  It's the choices we make that results in  the way our life will turn out to be.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Re-Thinking Motivation

The word motivate comes from  a word that means motion or move and influence to action. Why is it so important  that we stay motivated or on the move?  One primary reason is  movement is life. It's no wonder then that we got to keep on moving.  But is motivation really the prime thing?  How is one to stay motivated when things around us stop?  The challenges we face and the set backs we experience in life  cause us to slow down in our motion. Mentally we can become so overwhelmed and we freeze so to speak. We all know that no one is motivated 100 percent of the time. The opposite of motivation is discouragement. This is what we fight against most of the time.  Our mind and heart is willing but we find our bodies not able to move. As extraordinary people we can never allow this. Because this is the thing that keeps us extraordinary. Have you ever thought about what it is that keeps us in our same routine day after day? Have you noticed how you find your self doing the same thing at the same time everyday or night?  I've done that all my life you'll say.  You probably have and probably without much effort. It's like second nature.  Life has taught me that we have to look at motivation from a different angle. You may say a different angle, how so? Almost anything can be looked at from different angles. And what is the end result?  Is it not the same thing?  Absolutely, just another way of viewing the same thing. It doesn't change what the situation or thing is. Same situation just viewing it differently. But now how do we relate this to motivation? Well getting back to the question I asked earlier what is it that keeps us doing our same routine day after day after day?  Is it not just simply habits?  Yes habits, the art of doing something over and over again until it becomes so ingrained in us that we cant discontinue. And there are some habits so deeply entrenched in us that we cant break them even if we wanted too. We can have both good habits and bad. So hopefully these are good habits or we may have a problem of another sort. If we can form good daily habits of doing the slightest thing to the most beneficial thing we wont have to worry about staying motivated. We will be doing things we really need to do on a daily routine basis because of it now becoming a habit. So what's better than motivation? A habit is. Having good habits is better than being motivated.  Can you agree with that? So actually motivation is slightly overrated.  Because again it's impossible for one to be motivated 100 percent of the time. We all lose motivation from time to time. But what about habits? When was the last time you lost your habit? They are so much  easier to maintain and continue doing, and that could be good or bad. But it's the truth. They take no motivation but rather take place naturally. So in a nutshell, one way we can all stay motivated is to form good life long habits. Our good habits will not let us down.  And the good things about habits is they can be acquired. It's been said that if you do something for 26 day's in a row, it becomes a new habit. They seem to be performed whether we want too or not. Most times we don't event think about them we just do them.  Habit's. So,look at motivation from the angle of it  being a habit and teach yourself new one's. They will keep us moving or if you will, motivated!

Friday, May 1, 2015

Gardening!

Have you ever stopped and really looked at a beautiful garden? I've found that some of the most beautiful photographs taken are up close pictures of beautiful flowers, perhaps with an insect, a dragonfly or butterfly sitting on the top of it. The variety of colors, and the arrangement of them can really leave you speechless. The smell of the scented flowers, say perhaps a rose garden, or one blooming jasmine.  Centuries ago the hanging  gardens of Babylon went down in history as the most magnificent gardens ever. I can only imagine the beauty of those gardens of babel. They must have been truly a sight to see. The people who work or build such tranquil places of beauty whether it be a private home or otherwise are to be commended for the artistry and hard work. The making and the cultivating of them takes perseverance  and determination, and a lot of hard dirty work on a routine daily basis. It cant be overlooked. If a gardener neglects his or her garden, weeds began to grow almost immediately. With them the beauty will fade. The return you get from gardening is rewarding. Not just the beauty of it. Something far more wonderful. What you ask? Longevity! Yes, gardening promotes longevity. Studies show that people who work diligently in their yards or gardens  are healthier happier and live longer. Gardening is good therapy for us extraordinary people. It's relaxing and relieves stress. It fills a void in our lives after the kids are grown and gone. That need of taking care of something on a daily basis makes us feel needed. A natural human desire. Without us the garden would not survive. It lowers blood pressure and gives a overall feeling of satisfaction. And the end result,  it yields beauty and perfection. I've always admired a beautiful garden that's fluttering with humming birds. A true gift of nature. The feeling can be compared to being at the ocean and listening to the sounds of the water. So peaceful and calming. I never thought about gardening before, but I'm seriously thinking about it now.  I remember my mother once told me, when I complained about not getting flower's. Then plant your own garden instead of waiting for someone to send you flower's. That was good advice, although not appreciated at the time, I  do now. The next time you see or pass a beautiful garden, stop and smell the rose's and think about the benefits you  could get personally from growing your own.