2024 into 2025

So...
How was it?
How was your 2024?

I'm going with a solid -- meh.
It's okay to have just survived 2024, or December, or yesterday, for that matter.

I don't know that 2024 is something worth celebrating, but it really wasn't a bad year. I don't care for living in the past, but recognize the value of retrospect. I would say that my greatest lesson or most valued improvement of the year is learning to practice gratitude better. Living in the moment has really helped with being grateful for where I am in life. 

This morning I am having my coffee and blogging from a local coffee shop in south Springfield. It's cool out and a two week blast of cold weather is on its way. I'm going to need coffee for home in a couple of days and I just decided that a coffee shop Americano and breakfast sandwich would be good today. I'll pick up my usual Ethiopian bulk beans from a local shop before I head home. I'll manage a meditative quiet time later today as Traveller's House coffee shop is quite busy and there is a significant level of conversational chatter.
The different groups of people are interesting to watch. The overall energy is good -- after all, it is a coffee shop! 

I recognize the privilege I have to be able to be retired and have the means to splurge on a coffee shop breakfast and coffee. I've just started reading about the history of coffee and coffee shops in a book that Hannah got me for Christmas.

I'm going to enjoy the history, the cultural aspects, and the recipes covered in this book.
Maybe 2025 will include regular blogging from coffee shops. 
Or maybe I'll be able to meet up with a few others for regular coffee shop meetings and conversations. That might be a thing I could do. 
Hmmm...

Thanks for stopping by Out of My Hat in 2024. I hope to have better content and more encouraging posts in 2025.

John

Moving Meditation

Not all meditation happens at rest. Runners, cyclists, walkers, and others can effectively meditate while the body is active. Labyrinth walking is a well known and widely practiced moving meditation. Yoga, though not usually thought of as meditation, is another common mindful practice. 

I mention this because yesterday I decided not to wait until Wednesday (Jan 1) to begin trying to establish the habit of daily exercise. I started out on a short walk (2 miles, 3.2 km) with the idea of listening to music as I walked, but soon decided against that and opted for listening to the sounds around me.  Music is a good choice when you need to block out distracting noises, but rural walking is pretty peaceful. I was wishing that I would have brought my mala to help me focus on mindful meditation. I'll need to remember that in the future. 

The coming bout of cold weather in the Midwest isn't going to be the best time to start walking, but I can either dress for it or I can utilize the exercise cycle or treadmill in the basement to get my daily exercise. Mid-January to mid-February will not be a problem as I will be in the tropics and getting plenty of walking time. In fact, I probably need the next two weeks to prepare for the amount of walking I'll be doing there. 
Today will be warm enough to be walking outside. Tomorrow we begin colder temps. I think many of the days will be cool, but okay to be out in. Most of the nights are going to be cold. It's just January in the Ozarks.

Enjoy the final days of 2024.

John

Daily habits

Do you have many daily habits?
I think my only regular habits are my morning coffee and a regular quiet time.
Quiet time isn't really as much of a habit as it is a way of life. Being retired and living in a semi-rural setting kind of makes it a natural daily happening.

Before retiring and for the early years of my retirement daily walking was a habit. It's funny how walking a mile in town goes by much quicker than walking a mile of rural streets. I really haven't had a daily walking habit since we've moved to our country home. I need to make some type of daily exercise a habit. Walking would probably be the easiest. 

I suppose I could say that reading is a daily habit, since I do read nearly every day. I don't have a time set aside for reading; I just have a lot of time. 
I could say the same thing for social media. The one social media habit is to check my Facebook memories daily. I have reduced my social media time quite a bit recently and will likely continue to do so in 2025. I only have Facebook and Instagram now. I have dropped my X (Twitter account). I did set up a BlueSky account, but rarely check it and will probably drop it, too.

I have no interest in going backwards to the days of no cell phones, no internet, and less technology. However, I think that I will lean into making more of an effort toward personal contacts (at least locally) in the coming year. We'll see how well that goes.

I should make an effort to make writing a daily habit -- even if it is never published here nor seen by anyone else. Writing helps me to think things through and often brings an understanding in the same way that talking through things helps people that actually have someone to talk to. It's cathartic. 

I play some puzzle type games pretty regularly. I enjoy the mental challenge. I typically do those on my phone, but I haven't been able to work out a process for Sudoku on digital platforms. That's a puzzle that I need to do on paper.

So maybe I have more daily habits than coffee and quiet time.
What about you?

John

Who Am I?

There are times when the person we think we are differs from the person other people perceive us to be. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes we might want to work on changing one or the other so they match. I obviously spend too much time portraying myself as an introverted, cigar smoking, bourbon drinking guy. 
While that is not an inaccurate description of me, I've not really considered it to be a part of my identity.

However, after receiving these two sweatshirts and a t-shirt as gifts from friends, I may have to do a little image work.

I say I may need some image work because I have apparently neglected to emphasize that I also enjoy tequila! In fact, the best gift of Christmas is this expensive bottle of extra anejo tequila!

Chris paired the tequila with a nice H Upmann cigar that is resting in my humidor until I have an appropriate time to enjoy it with a neat pour of this super mellow Mexican spirit.

For the wardrobe additions, thank you (from left to right) Mike and Dena, Lenny and Libby, and Kathi.
And thank you to Chris for the great bottle of tequila and fine cigar.

After receiving these wonderful gifts,I'm not sure if I should work on changing my image or just embrace that this is who I am -- a cigar smoking, bourbon (and tequila) drinking introvert.
Hmmm...

John

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning isn't really any different than any other morning at our house. Somehow the morning coffee and quiet time seems a little more solemn than usual, but the habits and usual practices are the same.
Maybe it would be better if I reversed that perspective and could say that every other morning is no different from Christmas morning; that I somehow manage to find the holiness and solemnity of each day while enjoying my morning coffee and quiet time. In practice, I think I normally do. Perhaps that's why today doesn't feel much different. 

This morning I am reflecting on my Advent challenge of being purposefully kind. I think maybe I am getting better at it, but seeking people out is still a challenge (probably always will be). I really am perfectly comfortable with very few people interactions. 
I will continue to work on it.  

It's Wednesday and past practice dictates that I should have some pearl of wisdom to share. 
I don't know -- maybe we should each worry about taking care of our own toxic traits and shortcomings rather than trying to get other people to take care of theirs. For me, working on John is a full-time gig. I have neither the time nor inclination to try to change anyone else. I honestly need to worry more about fixing me. Eating less, eating better, being more active, getting good mental stimulation -- all of those things leave little time to criticize others.
You are going to have to take care of yourselves. I have plenty of work to do on my own.

Be well, my friends.
Merry Christmas

John

Christmas Eve

Christmases have been much different in these past few years. With one kid living in a tropical beach town in Mexico and another living above 8500' (2600m) in the mountains west of Denver we don't see them very often. We did something tonight that we haven't done in quite a few years -- we went to a pretty traditional Christmas Eve service at a local Springfield church. 

Traditional Christmas hymns, an unusual Christmas reading from the beginning of The Gospel According to John with a matching message, communion, and candle light finish with candles being lit from the Christmas candle at the center of the Advent wreath and then being shared throughout the church while we sang Silent Night. The service closed with all of us singing Joy to the World.

It was cool.

We drove through the lights in the Ozark park on the way home and Chris is planning on going to a late Christmas Eve Mass with a friend.

It's not really much in the way of a celebration; it's more like a solemn observance. 
I liked it. 
I think the thing I miss most about more traditional church is the worship. I haven't really experienced that kind of communal worship in a long time.
I also miss learning lessons from the stories of Jesus and applying them to our lives rather than figuring out how the way we live life is affirmed by what Jesus taught. It's good stuff and worthwhile, but it sometimes feels a little off.

Tonight was good for me. I probably need to get back to some regular Bible reading. I'm okay with personal worship time. I don't raise hands and sing hymns from the deck, but I do recognize the majesty of God's creation and feel a connection to God through that creation. I know it's not everybody's thing, but it works for me. In fact, it works better than actually going to church in most cases.

I hope this season brings you peace.
I don't know if you recognize Jesus as being divine and celebrate Christmas as the birth of Our Savior or not. I don't know if you believe in a Creator or a Divine Being. I don't know if you feel any kind of spiritual connection to God or others or if you feel alone and hopeless or somewhere in between. 
But still, I hope the season brings you peace.

Merry Christmas

John

2024

There is still a week left in the year 2024.
Is it too soon to make an assessment of the past year?  
Is it too late to make some changes?

Checking back to where we were, assessing where we are, and making adjustments to get where we want to be should probably be something we do more than once per year. Nevertheless, the end of one year or the beginning of the next is as good a time as any to do just that. 

I'm not certain if my self assessment is easy or difficult. There really isn't much to it. 
I don't really have any life goals other than to enjoy each moment as it comes and I seem to do that pretty well. 

Our flowers looked great this past summer and I am looking forward to the coming spring/summer for the beauty of the many flowers. I've been adding flower beds each year and it is beginning to be a lot of work. That's not really a bad thing. It's not like I have loads of pressing things to do other than tend to the gardens. I have some gardening books and there is an abundance of gardening information on the interwebs, plus I am slowly storing away some knowledge in my head. So far, I have sucked at vegetable gardening, but will probably give it a go again this year.

Our small neighborhood is built on what used to be a pasture so there are no trees anywhere near the house. On one hand, I am happy not having to rake leaves in the fall. On the other hand, there is no shade in the summer and there are fewer birds and squirrels around. I've planted a few seedling trees, but those will be for the next homeowner to enjoy.
I'm still hoping to convert some of the field into native meadow grasses and wildflowers, but that appears to be a much larger project than I thought it would be. I have a plan, or at least the concepts of a plan, on how I might do that. I need to do a bit more research on it.

Looking ahead to 2025 I only have a couple goals. The first is to get rid of this extra weight that I've put on and get off the high blood pressure meds. If I'm completely honest with myself, I'm not that concerned with being athletically fit; more just being kind of active fit and healthy.
The second thing is to become conversationally fluent in Spanish. That might be a little bit tougher. I'm going to need to find a fluent Spanish speaking friend that is willing to converse with me on a regular basis (or spend more time in Mexico). It's one thing to learn it online or through an app. It's very different to actually carry on a conversation in another language. 

As you can see,my life is not filled with great ambition. Other than those two things, I plan to read a few books (maybe 50 or so), smoke a few cigars, sip a little tequila and a little bourbon, and just enjoy life. 
Check out my coffee mug in the pic below.

How was your year?
Any plans for '25?

John

 

Untitled Christmas Rant

Is Christmas really worth celebrating?

Perhaps this is one of those posts that you should just scroll past. It's just a John rant and will likely be misunderstood and taken out of context. It's not my intent to go all "Bah, humbug" on the celebrations of the season, but I'm sure that I'll share some judgmental observances that seem that way.

For the curious that don't really want to read my entire rant -- Yes, I still consider myself to be a Christian (as in a follower of Jesus), but no longer feel very religious nor am I tied to a particular religion.

For those that are sticking around -- well, here goes:
I view the Christian celebration of Christmas much the way I view Christianity's pro-life movement -- It's all about the birth of the child and nobody really cares about the life that follows.
In a way, I guess that kind of makes sense and I really shouldn't be surprised by it. Overall, Christians really don't give much time nor effort into observing the sanctity or holiness of the season when compared to the time and effort put into decorating, shopping, planning and partying for the non-religious elements of the season. 
Long before we pack away the decoration for next year, we'll have already boxed up Baby Jesus and returned to ignoring his future teachings or using them to control others and justify our misguided behaviors.

Having said that -- 
I do enjoy the gift giving and receiving. I like that families and friends get together and celebrate friendships and relationships. I like the lights and decorations of the season and am perfectly fine with the more secular Christmas celebrations. At least for a few moments it seems that Christians and non-Christians alike agree that a little peace on earth is a good thing.
The only thing wrong with that is that it only lasts for a short period of time.
 
Would it be a bad thing if we, as Christians, removed Christ and religion from Christmas and let the ancient winter celebrations and festivities return to what they were before the birth of Jesus? 
Is there really anything in life that is made better by adding religion to it?

If you are a Christian -- by all means, celebrate the birth of the Savior!
But for Christ's sake (literally) -- learn what the man Jesus taught and strive to live that kind of life.
And for everybody -- Christian and non-Christian -- celebrate the season with gusto and joy!
Buy your presents, decorate your homes, wear your ugly sweaters!
Yes! Christmas is worth celebrating!

Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays
Enjoy the season, no matter the reason!

John

Paul Harvey ~ A Christmas Story: The Man And The Birds

200

This is post #200 for 2024!
It is only the third time in my 18 years of publishing Out of My Hat that I've reached 200 posts in a year.
Because there really is no theme that ties my posts together, my following is limited to family, friends, and those curious enough to wonder what I might be thinking about on any given day. 
I've tried a couple of themed blogs along the way -- one on healthy living, one on cigars (such is my contradictory lifestyle) -- but mostly I just come back to rambling out thoughts here at Out of My Hat. 

I still look for clicks and comments, but not like I did in the early days. Today, I mostly write as a way of organizing thoughts and it seems to be a therapeutic way of grounding my spirit. I don't expect many views, comments, nor shares, and often think I should just write and publish articles without sharing them on my Facebook or BlueSky accounts (I've dropped X). A lot of my regular readers disappeared (see what I did there?) when I moved away from evangelicalism and my Facebook friends list went from nearly 1000 to fewer than 300 (some I dropped, others dropped me), so I know that most readers come from links to social media and only a few are regular followers of the blog itself.

No matter.
It is said that it is better to write for oneself and have no readers than to write for your readers and have no self -- or something like that.

If you came here for a Wednesday Wisdom post, try this:
Do something for yourself.
Write, walk, run, read, paint, craft, whatever. Do it for you and don't worry about what other people think or say. The hippie mantra of the 60s was -- If it feels good, do it! 
Perhaps, as with most things, moderation is the key.

John

A Poor Practice

It's a rare kind of Monday morning for me.
First of all, I slept much later than I usually do. I'm not sure why, but I did.
And secondly, it is warm enough to have my morning coffee out on the deck today!

Sitting out here, especially on a Monday morning, I am aware of how poor my meditation practice has become. Contemplative time and meditative time can be very different practices. Quiet time and meditative time are different things. 
A purposeful quiet time, a time for contemplation, a practice of meditation -- all are beneficial, but all are quite different. Heck, even relaxing with a good cigar is good for the spirit!

But I have gotten out of the meditation habit since I've moved my morning coffee and quiet time indoors for the cooler season. I'm going to have to find a way to move my practice inside. It's weird how the cawing crows, crowing roosters, and sounds of the outside have become such a part of my meditation that I stopped doing it without them. 

For this week's Monday Meditation post I am going to work on restarting my regular practice of meditating. Maybe you should, too.

John

Third Sunday of Advent

Hmmm...
Well, I have been more thoughtful about being kind and Christ-like this Advent season.
Isn't it the thought that counts?

Actually, having this little exercise in purposeful kindness has been good for me. I have noticed that there are opportunities that I don't really have to look for. I just need to be more aware of others and what they might need or how I might help. I have done better at being more proactive, but that is still unnatural for me. I may need to set up some kind of regular prompt to keep me focused beyond the Christmas season. It does kind of suck to realize that I really am not a naturally nice person.
Is it just me or do others also struggle with being nice? I don't think I'm a mean person. I just rarely think about people or things outside of my relatively small world. I have never really considered the downsides of living in the moment, but perhaps this is one of them.
Hmmm...

In any case, Christmas is getting closer -- fewer than 10 days to go!
I don't feel very Christmassy, but I am okay with that. Culturally, I think celebrating birthdays is a little weird. Picking a made up date to celebrate somebody's birth is even weirder -- even if it is for Jesus! I doubt that Jesus had birthday celebrations as a kid, and I imagine that he would much rather we actually work towards the whole "peace on earth" thing than just sing songs about it once a year.
If we're honest -- Christmas is more for us and satisfying our need to be good, holy, smug about ourselves than it ever was about recognizing the birth of a Savior.

Damn.
Now I've gone all bah, humbug.
I think I'll quit now and just leave you with a reminder to be purposefully kind to someone today.
...or tomorrow.
Whatever
Whenever

sigh
John

Fun Facts for your Friday

Maybe this is what's meant by not seeing the forest for the trees, but on a much grander scale...

At its closest, Uranus is 18.6 AU (Astronomical Unit, the approximate average distance from Earth to the sun) to the planet Earth. 1 AU is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) and we found this distant planet before finding an entire continent on our own planet!

     * * * * * 

Here's an interesting map that divides the Earth's population:

I find this truly amazing.
Even being aware of the crowded populations of India and China did not prepare me for this graphic. It's difficult to comprehend.

John

Thursday thoughts

It's Thursday morning and I am really not feeling like a theology/religious post today. I'm sure I could sort through some collected quotes or memes and find something worth posting, but how many times and in how many ways can you express that we need to love one another?

I'm still working on that - being purposefully kind for Advent - thing. As I mentioned earlier, the difficulty is that I just don't have the people encounters that most have. I have managed a few "touches" or contacts via the digital world's text messaging and social platforms, but even find that to be a bit of a stretch when it comes to comfort. I already knew that not being a jerk takes some thought and restraint, but actually being nice is hard work most of the time. 
Fortunately, there is now less than two weeks until Christmas and the end of the Advent season.
Unfortunately, I doubt that purposeful kindness will be a habit by then and I will continue to struggle in being Christ-like in my daily life.
Life would be so much easier if sarcastic assholery was considered a virtue.

Enough about me and my struggles!
Tell me about the nice things you do or nice attitudes you have during the holiday season that are mostly absent the rest of the year.
Are you nicer to people in December than you are in June?
Are you more tolerant of Christmas shoppers than you are of shoppers or crowds at other times?
Are you more generous during the holidays?
And if so ... Why?

It's probably good that we have a season when we are more focused on being nice, but why is it necessary? Are we still trying to make Santa's nice list and stay off the naughty list?

Just wondering...

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Did you know ... ?

We are just a scant 11 days away from this year's winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and I am settling into my morning routine of coffee by the fireplace. The living room couch is more comfortable than the deck furniture and the fireplace makes for a cozy atmosphere, but I would much prefer to be sitting outside, listening to the neighbor's roosters crowing and other of nature's morning sounds.

Speaking of crowing roosters, did you know...

According to Greek mythology -- A young soldier was assigned to be a lookout for Ares, the God of war, who was having an affair with the goddess Aphrodite. Unfortunately, the soldier fell asleep and Ares was caught by Helios, the sun god. For his failure, the soldier was turned into a rooster that always crows in the morning to warn of the coming sun!

Now you know.

John

Perspective

It's 50 (10c), cloudy, and between light rain showers in the Ozarks of SWMO. A couple of months ago I would have called it a cold and dreary afternoon. Today I am taking advantage of the warmer weather by sitting on the deck, smoking a cigar, and enjoying the sounds of the rural outdoors. 
Perspective matters.

Because I gravitate towards mindfulness, self-awareness, and the effects of self-talk, the algorithms that control my news feeds often point me to articles that cover the benefits and pitfalls of how we think and how we perceive the world around us. People can live in essentially the same conditions and environments. Some will be peaceful and thrive while others are anxious and struggle. 
At the shelter there are always people that are grateful for a warm, safe place to sleep, and there are always people that complain that it's too warm, too cold, we don't have the oatmeal they like, or something else.
Perspective matters.

So how do we control our perspective?
I guess that really is the key question. I wish I had the answer.
For me, it really is a matter of gratitude. 
However, I've also realized that it is not my place to tell you how you should see things in your world. My way of seeing the world doesn't diminish your way of seeing it from a different vantage point. And while I can try to understand your perspective; I cannot force you to try to understand mine, much less accept it as your own.

In a previous life I was a pretty good salesperson, In the retail world I sold jewelry and building materials and was pretty successful at both. Even as an evangelist (really just a glorified salesperson if you'll pardon the pun) I was pretty good at convincing others to my way of thinking. 
I've found great peace in being able to share my thoughts without the expectation of trying to convince others that they need to convert to my way of thinking. It's unfortunate that I haven't always sold a good product. In fact, I regret that I may have convinced people to believe some things that I now see as loads of horse manure.

I think that "Live and let live" might be too simple of a motto to follow for life, but it's a good beginning.

You may disagree with me, and that's okay.
As for me --
It's 50 (10c), it's December, and it's raining.
And I am grateful that you don't have to shovel rain!

John

It's the Weekend! (or just another day in retirement)

It looks like we are going to get a break from the cold for a couple of days. It won't be a big deal, but I'm all for a little warmer weather. 

Today's kindness will be doing a little housework before Chris gets back home later tonight. It's really not too big of a deal since the house never really gets that messy with just the two of us, and it's only been me for the past few weeks. 
It might seem like a bit of a cop out, but being kind to your spouse or partner should be a pretty regular behavior, don't you think?

As a kindness to myself (self-care is also important), I recently deleted my X (Twitter) account. Since the BlueSky platform is still underdeveloped and I don't think it will be something I really use much, I am saving a lot of time that was once spent on social media platforms. I am now spending that time trying to learn Spanish on a learning platform.
I took advantage of a Black Friday promo to re-subscribe to The Great Courses plus. It has a vast library of educational and informational courses to take and costs less than the monthly ESPN+ subscription that I just cancelled. The only thing I really used the ESPN+ subscription for was to watch the UFC events and I'm sure I can find them elsewhere when I really want to watch them. A little education is a better use of both my time and money. 
With The Great Courses plus app on my phone, I can keep up with the classes on my phone, on my Chromebook, or on the TV via Roku. Maybe I'll end up being a Spanish speaking, ukulele playing, master gardening herbalist by the end of next year! There really is a plethora of courses available.
Chris might find something she wants to learn about, too.

I didn't leave the house yesterday (not even to get the mail!), but I need to run an errand for Chris today, so fair warning, public! John will be on the loose today!

With new stuff to learn, books to read, and cigars to smoke -- who has time to interact with people?
I hope you can understand how being nice to people can be such a challenge.

John

Fun Facts

 Did you know ... ?

John

Thursday Theology

A few years ago I came up with this thought that the further I got from religion, the closer I got to God. 
At that time, I never really considered that Jesus had become my religion, but I would now agree with this statement by Fr Richard Rohr:

By shifting my practice into following the teachings of Jesus and finding God in all things and in the people around me, I have also found the Christ in me. I don't know if it's because it is such a big shift in thinking or because I'm such a slow learner, but I still struggle with it on many days. 

I think I am more gracious than I used to be.
I think I am more compassionate than I used to be.
I think I am more patient than I used to be.
I might even be more loving than I used to be.

But then somebody says something or does something that pisses me off and I have to collect myself and remember that they are a part of God's creation and I am supposed to be gracious, compassionate, patient, and loving towards them, too.
The struggle is real.
The transformation is slow.

It's only December 5th and I'm already thinking this Advent challenge of mine is going to be too difficult to maintain until Christmas. Most of the difficulty comes from the fact that I just don't interact with people as often as most. I did have several good people interactions yesterday and am thinking I might give myself a pass today and just stay home. I have plenty to eat and drink and I really don't have anything important that needs to be done that requires me to venture out.
And I have library books that need to be read before their due date.

Maybe today will be one of those days when the kind thing that I do will be to stay away from people. 

How does your religion or life philosophy guide you to deal with people?
I really want to know.

John

Advent - Day 4

I was glad to make contact and check in on a couple of friends yesterday. For one of them the contact was just a text for coffee today before a couple of morning appointments. 

I am a little surprised at the number of people that want friends but don't feel like they have any -- especially people my age. Most of you know that I'm okay with not getting together with people often. Apparently getting together with others is an often unmet need for people. It would appear that a simple text or call is helpful in reminding people that they are not alone. A "howdy" and a hug can make somebody's day.

I'm going to combine my Advent goal and my Wednesday Wisdom post with this simple encouragement:
Find someone that needs a "howdy" and a hug (and maybe a hamburger) and give it to them. Or maybe a handshake or first bump for those that are not huggers.
And if you are one of those people that wants friends but feels like you don't have any -- be the one to reach out and say "hi." Invite someone out for coffee or a meal. Be the friend you want.

Honestly, it's a bit of a stretch for me. When I'm sitting alone, reading a book, listening to music, or smoking a cigar -- it's never going to cross my mind to call somebody and see if they want to meet for a drink or something. This purposeful kindness stuff is an exercise in growth for me. I don't think that I am purposefully unkind, but neither am I typically the person that is naturally kind to others.
 
Personally, I do recognize a subtle difference between being polite and being kind. I think that having good manners and holding a door open for someone is being polite rather than an act of kindness. I do think that fewer and fewer people seem to have good manners, but I don't think that the civil act of being polite is the same as being kind.

That's too simple.
People say that being nice doesn't cost anything.
I don't know if that's true.
Not being mean doesn't cost anything, but that's not the same as being nice.
I think being nice takes effort, but maybe that's because I'm not a naturally nice person.
Ugly John is a pretty sarcastic, condescending asshole. It has taken a lot of time and a lot of effort to build a mental dungeon strong enough to keep him away from public view. I can occasionally hear the sarcastic shouts from the depths of my mind, but can usually ignore them. Sometimes, however, he manages a breakthrough. That's never a good thing. 

Be nice today.
Make the effort.
Make it cost you something -- time, energy, love.
Let's see if it's worth it.

John

Advent and being kind -- the challenge continues

Yesterday ended a 35 day posting streak. I was out of my usual morning routine and didn't really feel like writing anything later in the day. I didn't even have a set aside meditation time, although the day was a quiet and thoughtful kind of day. I also didn't have a set aside medication time and almost forgot to take my daily blood pressure pill (now a part of my morning routine).

In keeping with my 24 days of purposeful kindness for Advent -- I did get some volunteer time in and managed to thank and compliment the workers at Subway on their fine crafting of my sandwiches (for last night and for today) and friendly service. I don't know if today will hold any actual people interactions, so I'm definitely going to have to be purposeful about finding some way to be Christ-like while sitting alone at home. (Personally, I think keeping this sarcastic, condescending, grumpy old man at home is an act of kindness to the general public, but...that's just me.)

The gospels do tell us that Jesus got away to pray on a regular basis.
Matthew 17:17 tells of Jesus' frustration with people -- "How long must I endure you people?"
But I really don't see Jesus as an introvert. I'm not even certain that an introvert can read the gospels and think, "Jesus gets me." 

I mean I certainly believe that God understands us and loves us, but I also think that serving, helping, and loving others is a particularly big ask of some of us. I don't know, maybe it's a big ask for all of us. 
For now, I'm just going to enjoy my morning coffee and quiet time and share the fire with Groucho, the cat.

Be well, my friends
John

December 1st: Making kindness a habit

Today is Sunday, December 1st, 2024.
If you follow the Liturgical Calendar, it is the first day of Advent and Christians around the world begin preparing to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.

As a kid, I never really got the Advent season. I mean -- why would we prepare for something that happened 2000 years ago?
As a jaded adult, I still don't get it. Why celebrate the birth of a Savior whose teachings about caring for your fellow human beings you choose to ignore? 
Let's face it -- as a jaded adult, there isn't much about religion that I find valuable anymore. 

But I do value the teachings of Jesus, even as I sometimes struggle to value and care for the people around me.
I think I'm going to spend my Advent being purposeful about emulating a behavior or practice of Jesus daily. I'm not going to write about it daily. Although I may write to encourage others to do kind things in the coming days. I really haven't thought this out and I don't know what things I'll wind up doing. I do know that I am already dreading that I'll probably have to spend more time with people and am considering deleting this part and writing something else. 
I'm already on the schedule to work at the shelter tonight, so Day 1 is taken care of. Who knows what Days 2-24 might bring?

I welcome your suggestions and invite you to be purposefully kind and Christ-like in the days leading up to Christmas. The 3+ weeks might be enough to make daily kindness a habitual thing.

John