- My wife is right once again, this should be on my list. I am thankful for my new $20 heat gun. I was buying auto parts for maintenance and over the counter my eyes settled on a two speed high temp heat gun on sale. This is like a hair dryer but packed with enough testosterone and Tim the Tool Man Taylor AruuuuGGHH to fry the hair off your head in a matter of minutes. Made for drying paint, curing epoxy, drying out upholstery and other auto applications, on sight of this baby I fell in love for an entirely different reason. I use the wide flattie tip on high temp to speed the drying of my watercolor paintings as I work, no more standing around waiting for the water to dry so I can destroy the painting further, I can get to immediate destruction right away! My wife loves having her wimpy hair dryer back. :-D
"Alas! it is not the child but the boy that generally survives in the man." - I am thankful for the most basic implement of destruction, the common graphite tipped pencil, sharpened to a needle point, ready to build dreams and fantasies with the proper inspiration and guidance. Computers tell you how to dream, pencils let you drive them where you will. I'm also thankful for erasers, in case I'm wrong.
"A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere." - I am thankful for **trivial** forgetfulness, inspired by a stack of CD's I forgot I had. There's nothing like seeing a forgotten picture and remembering the moment or a long forgotten friend, hearing a song you'd forgotten and rediscovering how it moves you or how you used to strum it out on your old guitar, discovering an old tool or gadget at the bottom corner of a drawer and remembering exactly why you kept it. As the years roll on, trivial memories take a back seat to the now, and it opens the door to rediscovery.
"The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time." - I am thankful for the way math, the basis on which nearly all science is built, demonstrates there will always be unsolvable equations in both life and existence. Pi, unsolvable, bound to the symbol of eternity, the circle. Equations that lead to infinity, unsolvable because if it were, it wouldn't be infinity, would it? Prime numbers, irrational numbers so named for a reason, Euler's equation, 1089 * 9 = 9801, 21978 * 4 = 87921 (both reversed,) 1 x 9 + 1 + 9 = 19, 2 x 9 + 2 + 9 = 29, there are thousands of them. I often wonder if irrational beliefs are built on some prehistoric mathematician's discovery of unsolvable equations and odd number play (pun intended,) for at the heart of all science is faith in that without proof.
"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." - I am thankful for our postal service. I don't have to be happy with the way it's mismanaged, claiming they lose in the neighborhood of 25 million dollars daily (and who knows how many parcels,) or that most of my participation is in the form of bills, but every day parcels keep moving around the world, delivering letters, greeting cards, car parts, widgets and gadgets, enabling commerce where it was previously impossible, connecting us in ways electronic and voice communication can't. Governments may crumble, but the postman (and postwoman) must ride.
"The Postal Service delivers mail six days a week to nearly 140 million addresses. Every year this number increases by 2 million." - I am thankful for really good steaks. We don't have them often, partly due to a budget but mostly because finding a good cut is rare (pun intended.) New York or Mignon cut, please, medium rare. X 1000 when barbecued.
"A bath and a tenderloin steak. Those are the high points of a man's life." - I am thankful that after all these years, all my experiences, all I've learned, I still have no clue where I'm going. This used to make me feel incomplete, like I was missing something, that there should be an ultimate goal to attain. You have to have goals, right? You have to stay after them, true? I finally realized this is a freedom many will never experience, when you let life play a part in where you're going it's like watercolor pigment finding it's way across a fresh sheet of paper, creating shapes and objects the artist didn't know were there; new possibilities appear when you least expect them. Where do I see myself in a year? I hope I never have an answer. Happy!
"A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night." - I am thankful for a really deep, hard, liberating sneeze. Especially one that scares the cats out of their slumber, dashing out of the room. Unless, of course, one is sitting in your lap, in which case I'm thankful for hydrogen peroxide and band-aids.
"Do you know how helpless you feel if you have a full cup of coffee in your hand and you start to sneeze?" - I am thankful for that feeling you always get from going somewhere: flying down the freeway to the beach or some other outing, pedaling a bike through the streets to work or on menial errands, the thrust of jet engines pitching you skyward on a long trip, the walk around the block for no other reason than to exercise. The feeling that comes from going is why the trip back always seems shorter, it isn't ripe with the anticipation that something magical can happen.
"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it." - I am thankful the greatest thing about art of any kind is that you don't have to intellectualize, over analyze, explain it, or justify your interest. All that really matters is how it makes you feel.
"Even if you don't feel appreciation, just look. Feel what you feel; take an interest and be curious." - I am thankful for that shower fresh feeling.
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - I am thankful that in our country, this generation has never lived in times of famine. We may want for more, complain about injustice and financial imbalance, but if you're reading this look around you. You have everything you need. It's time to share that with the rest of humanity.
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." - I am thankful for X-Acto knives. I have a pack of 100 blades over 20 years old that is just starting to empty, and the used blades have many stories: airbrush painting masks, removal of splinters with the help of their good friend the magnifying glass, woodcut print carvings, Halloween masks, trimming the wire bound perforations off a few hundred paintings, opening frustrating blister packs, new CD cases, and over taped packages, hundreds of precision-placed scratches where you need them, cleaning of fine cracks and crevices repairing electric motors, car parts, stalling house fans and other refurbishing, reaching that last bit of dirt under fingernails after a hard day of dirty work - I can't even remember all of them. When it's time to fix, create, fiddle or putter, my first go-to is an X-Acto knife, even before duct tape and Velcro. :-D
"I do not weep at the world. I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife." - I am thankful for the aches and pains that come from time to time. When I stub my toe, it means I have feet to walk; when my fingers are sore from working, I have hands that work; when my shoulders ache, I have strength to play.
"Your body hears everything your mind says." - Today I am thankful for applications like Keepass, a simple program for securely storing encrypted passwords, the gateways for the livelihoods of hundreds of individuals and customers, safely packed on a USB stick I carry with me most days. If it's ever lost or stolen, their data is safe, and this is a great relief on my responsibilities. Keepass is completely free, portable, anyone can use it, and for me signifies one of the Great Things people are doing in the world that enable others to do right and do well.
"With great power comes great responsibility." - I am thankful for the presence of mind to respect and recognize where it is due. No act of generosity or kindness should go unnoticed.
"When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others." - I am thankful for difficult challenges. Often I don't know them until I see them, and some I can do nothing about, but there is always something I can do to make cuddly kittens out of the dragons.
"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." - I am thankful for the people with which I've bonded, even though I may never see some of them ever again. They all still hold a place in my thoughts, and I'm thankful they are there. This one came to me from last night's dream.
I was with a friend I've never met, some combination of friends in real life, on a camping trip somewhere beautiful. There were tents and a boat, ultra light fishing rods (that got tangled and untangled,) fish and smiles, laughter and brotherhood, pickups and trailers, and at one point I looked through the tent door to see a stack of Penthouse magazines on a small table. I've no idea where that came from, I haven't seen one of those since I was a curious boy of 16 or so. I remember sitting in the boat, lines bobbing gently in the lake, and he told me about a new job somewhere Up North. I could sense his joy over this new path. Go man, you should go! The next morning he had gone, I didn't know he meant right now, from this camping trip. I felt the loss, but it was overpowered with the knowledge that he was on his way to a new tomorrow. I do remember the surprise I felt when I realized he even took all the beer. Then I woke and it was time to surf. :-D
"Some people stay in our lives awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same." - I am thankful for my fire, my inner light, that enables me to see the light in others. Often it dims and I have to fan it, at times blinks out and requires the clashing of the flint of hope to rekindle it, most of the time it lives as a great bonfire of inspiration, roaring skyward in a voice that knows only one incantation: I am because we are.
"We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." - This number prevents me from being thankful for anything but Bill Cosby's 200 miles per hour album, which had me in tears laughing at the age of 10 or so. I didn't understand it at the time, but the greatest punchline was that the Shelby Cobra Super Snake CSX 3303 was too powerful for normal human beings to drive and he returned the car with a request to give it to the segregationist George Wallace. :-)
"My scarf . . . went limp. My hair was straight up over my head. My Italian racing shoes had turned into sneakers. The fire extinguisher emptied itself all over me. Ladies and gentlemen, I was idling . . . I had not put my foot on the pedal, and it was killing people." - People usually speak of karma in the negative sense that people who do bad things will receive their punishment. I am thankful for the understanding that karma knows no good or evil. It is not an energy of punishment and reward, it is a power of consequence; for every act there are consequences, and positive acts create positive consequences. Karma is indifferent to our interpretation; it just is, and it's energy flows both ways. Invest in the positive, be grateful for your abundance, celebrate your gifts, and karma will work for you in ways you could never dream of.
"The law is simple. Every experience is repeated or suffered till you experience it properly and fully the first time." - I am thankful I don't need to control everything in my life. I'm okay with just jumping on board and letting the universe take me where I need to go. Though I used to question it - a LOT - it knows what it's doing.
"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." - I am thankful mostly for for my ability but also my willingness to help others, to share my experiences, dig a shoulder in to lift, extend the hand to pull someone into the light. Service to those in my life has brought more abundance than I could ever imagine.
"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." - I am thankful for cotton. Clothing, sheets, towels and washcloths, tapestry prints my wife hangs under our canopy, adornments of out bodies grown from the Earth. Cotton fabrics feel right.
"Half the world does not know the joys of wearing cotton underwear." - I am thankful I've been able to invert my attitude on life by just deciding to do so, and recognizing what a powerful force it is, one that is available to all of us. Twenty years ago I used to ask "why me?" when shit went sideways; life was an endless battle of despair and hopelessness. These days I look at how fortunate I am, how abundant my life appears, how I can see the beauty in all the madness, and ask "why me?" What did I do to deserve such good fortune?
"Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune." - Part of liberation from the past is letting go, and sometimes that means saying "good enough." I am thankful for those times when "good enough" really **feels** good enough, and every now and then, it's the best it can be.
"Good enough is the new perfect." - I am thankful that traffic and concern over other drivers are really unimportant. I used to be like most people: use your turn signal, get out of the fast lane, hey he cut me off, where's the fire Andretti? So many wasted thoughts and frustration, there are too many **really** important things to fill my head with. The people on cell phones still worry me though. :-\
"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" - It was a busy day at the supermarket, and I had to park at the far end of the lot. As I approached the store, a large SUV with a handicapped card on the rear view mirror pulled into the first handicapped space rather urgently. A guy about my age jumped out and literally jogged to the store. My initial judgmental thoughts set in - this is what we do as humans, and it's hard to turn off - how could you, you're as healthy as I am, that space is for people who need it. Then I realized (again,) I only have control over myself, and was thankful I don't need to make excuses to gain advantages over the rest of the world. The walk from the far end of the lot does me good.
"Victim - The moment you tell everyone you have a mental disorder, in order to excuse your behavior." - Today I am thankful for contact lenses. The idea of sticking something in my eye always creeped me out, but once I tried it, I barely know they are in and can see the advantages - and computer screens, small type, the end of my paintbrush, and some things I'd rather not see, like how dusty my desk is. :-)
"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." - Sometimes I worry about my bad habits, I only have a few. Today I'm thankful for all my really good habits: eating well, an active life that involves a lot of exercise, cleanliness, attention to myself and the world around me, they're an inspiration to cut those other bad boys out of my life. :-D
"You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, 'I release the need for this in my life'."
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