Time

Time is such a fleeting thing.  Now I know I’m getting old.  Today is my daughter’s 42d birthday.  When my dad was passing away I asked him if he ever thought he would have four boys in their 40’s.  His response was, “I never thought I’d make it to 40 myself.”  When I was young I used to think I would be 50 in the year 2000.  I wasn’t even sure how to say two thousand because the common way to say the year was “19” and then the year following.  Would we say “20” oh one, or 20 oh two or would it be two thousand and one, etc.  But, the year 2000 seemed so far away and here it is already 2013.

In 1999 people thought the world would come to an end in 2000.  Remember that?  Remember New Year’s Eve of 1999 when everyone was afraid a world war would break out because all the computers would go crazy?  Well, as we know nothing like that happened and the same with December 21^st of 2012.  The Aztec calendar was ending so there was the fear of the world coming to an end.  What followed was a beautiful day and here we are, we’re all still here.   Well, most of us anyway.

My recent columns have been my paying respects for friends who have recently passed away.  Seeing friends and loved ones pass away around my age is a bit unnerving.  I see the baby boomers out there with their graying and thinning hair.  They for the most part are staying in shape far more so than our parent’s generation ever even thought about, but you see the lines in their faces.  Heck I see them every morning when I’m brushing my teeth.  Time stops for no one so we may as well make the best of it.  I mentioned in my last column that I am writing a book.  It’s basically done and now I’m trying to figure out the best way to get it published and am learning that there are a lot of “publishers” out there that are willing to fleece you for all they can get because they know they are dealing with an author’s ego.  The author surely wants his or her book published so I can see how someone can go a little nuts and overboard just to get a book cover around their words.

Nevertheless, I am writing a spiritual book.  Because my daughter can channel the other side I have learned a lot about who we are and what this wonderful life is all about.  I’ve learned that time is a moving object here on earth but not so in heaven.  There is no time there so eternity is just a word.  We live in this little speck of time and the time we are given is a gift.  It is a gift that we stood in line for on the other side.  We are spirit and we planned our lives before becoming human.  We set out our plan, in conjunction with powers much greater than ourselves, to accomplish goals in this life.  Unfortunately we came to earth with amnesia.  We don’t remember that we are spirit.  Many think this is just all there is and that when this life is over we go in a box and that’s the end of the experiment.  That thought is so far from reality that I can’t even give it credence.

We were born into this time to do good.  We came to learn to love our neighbor as yourself and to eventually learn to find the light of God that lives inside each of us.  We have angels that surround us and try to keep us on our path while we are like little kindergarteners using our mind and egos to make some really goofy decisions, decisions that are not always in our soul’s best interest.  Nonetheless, we stumble through this life trying to figure out what it is all about. What I can tell you so far about what life is about is Love.  Not the kind of love we thought was cool in the 60’s and 70’s when it meant “love the one you’re with” (Crosby, Stills & Nash).  Love means recognizing the light that lives in every person but having the wisdom to turn away from those who may want to bring you harm, those that haven’t found the light within and would prefer to take advantage of your passivity and good graces.

Yes, time continues to march on and Spring is just around the corner.  Spring is always a time of rebirth.  We are given but one day.  Not a single one of us knows when our last day will come.  So with this beautiful earth all around us and all the wonderful people in your life, tell them you love them and go out and play today like it is your last day and do it in peace and love.

Writing a Book

I’m sure some of you out there have made the bold attempt to write a book.  It seems like everyone I meet wants to write a book.  Then I walk into the Dollar Store and see all these books for $1 and I feel so bad for all the authors.

I think we all feel like our lives could be a story someone else would want to read about.  Even in fiction you know that one of the characters in the novel is the author.  Life is just so chocked full of stuff in our lives.  Go to a party some time.  What you are hearing are stories.  There are lots of good ones.  But I’m digressing. 

So, I’m trying to write a book with my daughter.  She’s a spiritual intuitive.  The first draft resembled War and Peace.  I feel so bad too for my close friends willing to look at it.  Actually, I’m still waiting to hear back from them again.  Just kidding, I heard from one.  So, I’ll run with that advice and now it’s going to be one of those little pocket books that can be read on a short airline flight or drive to Los Angeles.  It’s fun attempting to do it.  I’ll bet most all of you out there could actually write a book if you wanted to.  You just start out with an outline.  After that it should all just flow.  Even if no one read it but your family, well, that book will be around for a long time in your family and maybe a great grandchild will one day try to publish it.  Wouldn’t that be great?  My pastor Rick Myatt brought up a point in last week’s sermon.  He was trying to explain how important each day is.  He asked if anyone ever heard of Uta Hagen. She’s usually a question in a crossword puzzle.  She was the most famous actress in the world in the 1890’s.  Point is, by the great grandchild, no one will know who you are.  Point is, live this life to its fullest and move on.

Bob Richards is a friend and a co-real estate broker from La Costa who has primarily retired into writing now.  He’s living his baby boomer dream.  He planned wisely to live doing what he loves and that is writing.  He too simplified his life so that his life became quality time.    Bob can wander into the past for stories and immerse himself in another world with peace.  Then the grandkids come running in and he pops back into reality for a while.  See, to me, that’s life.  Being at peace and doing what you want to do and having loved ones near.

The recession really kicked my rear end.  I was inside the bubble that burst.  I really didn’t think I’d ever see the day that I could retire or semi-retire.  I thought that if I did it would be under a bridge somewhere or high up in a mountain with critters.  But, I was 60 and said to myself, get debt free in two years.  It was a reasonable goal and I set out on a path to not only do that but to also buy a great place in Mexico on the water.  It wasn’t that hard once you put your mind to it.  You have to be positive though, even when you hit some speed bumps.

It’s a new Chinese New Year.  It’s the year of the Snake.  Snake people are great.  My daughter is one.  They seem to be the prettiest sign in the bunch so maybe this will be a very pretty year.  Who knows?  I’m an ox.  Go figure, but it fits, darn it.  Obama is an ox.  So were Hitler, Hussein and Stalin.  And I want to write a book about spirituality? Really?  Por supuesto que si! 

My friend Patty Clark is determined to be a writer.  She joined one of those writer blogs on the internet and she got picked up by a paper in Kansas City of all places.  Hats off to Patty!!  Patty didn’t give up hope either and she’s simplified her life too.  It’s a new year.  You can keep kicking it at work if that’s what brings you peace, but if it’s on a beach, mountainside, ship or cycling through France that is lingering in your head, find a way to do it and be a writer or a painter or a cabinet maker.  Just do it, you don’t know when God is going to give you the last day so live it in peace(with a little love from family too).