As I walked home from church today, a familiar urge filled my heart. The words of one of the hymns sparked my desire to pray for the world again.
It is titled O God of Every Nation (713 in the ELCA hymnal).
“O God of every nation, of every race and land, redeem your creation with your almighty hand; where hate and fear divide us and bitter threats are hurled, in love and mercy guide us and heal our strife torn world.
From search for wealth and power and scorn of truth and right, from trust in bombs that shower destruction through the night, from pride of race and station and blindness to your way, deliver every nation, eternal God, we pray.”
I think these two verses describes us and our world so well. When the pandemic began and the Ukraine war began, I felt this need to pray for our world. Yet, I struggle to even know what to ask for. Peace from war and hatred? Healing from illness? A reprieve for those who are suffering due to illness, wars, poverty and natural disasters? Guidance for the leaders of each and every nation?
I cry out for easy answers and easy fixes. Yet, God seems to listen intently with no response.
Here is a short quote from another song titled God of Grace and God of Glory (705)
“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour…Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the living of these days.”
We, as a world, need Your guidance and courage to live in these chaotic times. Please grant this to us.
I have now finished reading Outlive: the Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, MD and Bill Gifford.
The quote that best summarizes his book is as follows. “Our tactics in Medicine 3.0 fall into five broad domains: exercise, nutrition, sleep, emotional health, and exogenous molecules, meaning drugs, hormones or supplements.” (Page 47) He covered each of the domains except for the “exogenous molecules.”
I found the exercise section to be overwhelming in information. Yet, it is encouraging me to get in more steps. The other section that caught my attention and interest was the section on emotional health. Dr. Attia shared his own experience with seeking and receiving treatment for emotional/anger issues.
One concept that he mentioned is the idea of “resume values” vs “eulogy values.” Our society tends to value our work accomplishments more than our relationships with family, friends and one’s self, I will listen to the book that he referenced at a later date.
I was looking for a new image for my rocks. I decided to see if I can find a YouTube video on drawing a rose. I found an easy one that starts with a heart.
I added the words, “enjoy the Small things in life” to the rose painting. I hope it will remind someone that there are small good moments even in the worst of times. Taking the time to search for the good moments may help someone to keep trying and trying.
I am reading a book titled Outlive: the Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, MD. I had never thought that I would grow old. I just figured that I would die young. Since my parents are in their seventies and I am fifty, I can now imagine myself growing old.
Dr. Attia used the phrase “centenarian decathlon” as a way for his patients to work out goals for when they get old. The idea is that you list ten things that you want to still be able to do when you hit 80, 90 or 100. Here is my list.
1. I want to be able to walk around my city and parks for at least a mile. I love to walk by the Fox River and take pictures of the ducks, water and trees. I also enjoy walking around our historic downtown area especially during Friday Night Live and art crawls.
Ducks at Frame Park in Waukesha
2. I hope to continue to write blogs here and paint rocks. So, I want to be able to stoop down and pick up a rock. I find most of my rocks around the down town area. Shaking hands will probably make typing and painting harder as time goes on. The hiding of my rocks makes me feel like I am encouraging someone.
3. I want to delay diabetes as much as I can. I am prediabetic and can’t imagine avoiding diabetes. But, I might be able delay it. Since I love chocolate, I am unsure if I can even delay it. So, this one is a battle with the two sides of my desire for yummy sweets and staying healthy.
4. I hope to retire from paid work when I turn seventy. Social security offers full benefits for my age group at sixty-seven years of age. But, the benefits will be better if I can stretch it to seventy. I am saving money but it is not a large nest egg.
5. I want to keep reading lots of books, magazines and online articles. I want to always be curious about the world. I have always loved learning new things. I want to be allowed to learn new things even in heaven. I don’t want to know all things in an instant which would take the aha moments away from me.
6. I want to go on more mission trips with my church. We stopped doing them due to the pandemic. I asked my pastor if we are going to resume doing yearly trips. We used to go to places in the US that have been devastated by terrible weather and help re-build homes (most of the time). Some of our members are skilled in home repair and can lead us in the work.
I have been to New Orleans (Katrina), Texas and Kentucky on mission trips.
7. I want to continue working as a poll worker. The work is kind of boring but I can’t volunteer much in my community. I hope to increase my volunteering in my community and church after I retire.
8. I want to have a plant, cat, dog or some pet to live with me and keep me company. My cat died in February of this year. Then, I got a rash while cat sitting for my neighbor. So, I now wonder if I am allergic to cats. So, I will keep my mind open on how to do this one. I am starting to focus on my petunia. My friend has offered me some other plants too.
9. I want to attend Bible studies at my church more. I get a lot of my socializing needs from work. When I retire, I want to get my socializing needs mets through volunteering, walks, groups and Bible studies.
10. I have been thinking about traveling more. I have no sense of direction and little face recognition abilities. So, I am too nervous to travel alone. I have been thinking that group travel is probably better for me even if I can’t get away from the touristy spots. I am curious how people in other countries live.
What is you ten? I will share some of his suggestions in a later post.
“Be kind to yourself!” and “self compassion” are phrases that we all have heard. I think we all know that we need to do this.
My former therapist told me “love myself as I love others” or something like that. Many of us treat ourselves with less compassion than we ever would a friend or loved one. Hence one trick is to talk to yourself in the way that you would with a friend. I modified this trick and started doing “fake therapy.” I start out as the client and write my thoughts out. Then, I shift over to being the therapist and write out how I’d respond to the client. I find that this activity helps me to shift from inside myself to what I’d be more likely to say to a friend or client.
How do you treat yourself as a friend?
Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better.    Flannery O’Connor
“A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” Donna Roberts
I tried to Google Donna Roberts but I found a variety of different people. I have no idea who this Roberts is. This reminded me of when I visited my great aunt at a nursing home with my dad. I doubt that she could remember who we were due to scar tissue from strokes. Yet, she still sang with us. I can’t even remember what the song was. I just remember feeling re-connected with her for just a few moments.
“One who knows how to show and accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession.” Sophocles
Sophocles, a Greek play writer, showed an understanding of the importance of kindness. A former co-worker has told me that she can’t accept a gift from me if she can’t reciprocate. Since I have been learning about the blessing of allowing others to help me at times, I can understand her position. However, I must say being a friend involves giving and receiving acts of kindness.
“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.” Douglas Pagels
“Good friends are like shock absorbers. They help you take the lumps and bumps on the road of life.” Frank Tyger
I will be moving to a new apartment later this month. While I am excited to live there, I am dreading the move. My dad and some of my church friends will be helping me. Friends are the people that we can count on to help us when we need a ride, help moving, someone to care for our pet in our absence or some other need.
Relationships are based on four principles: respect, understanding, acceptance and appreciation.” Mahatma Gandhi (10/02/1869 – 01/30/1948).
As you know, I love to paint rocks and put them around downtown Waukesha for people to find and enjoy. I have placed four rocks today.
I put this rock by a tree near the picture that gave me the idea for this rock. Of course the mural is MUCH better than my rock.
I found the idea for this rock on Pinterest. It makes me think of how we humans need to be loved and cared for. I placed this one on a bridge called love bridge.
This is the message that I want to tell all of the people who are struggling in this world and community. Don’t give up. Sure take a break for a while but come back and keep studying and practicing. I hide this one at Cutler park by the library since learning new knowledge or skills can be done at the library.
This rock was smeared when I put the protective coating on it. I put this one at Youman’s park near the nursing home.
These didn’t come out as good. So, I picked some random places to put them.
Please feel free to look for them today (7/15, Saturday).
I have always struggled with an aversion to taking risks. I talked to my boss about a pay raise for the first time in my 50 year life this year. I mistakenly focused on my financial desires rather than how my work benefits my employer. But, I am proud that I even had the guts to broach the subject. So, these quotes are mostly for me. Yet, I know that what I struggle with is similar to the struggle of others.
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” Muhammad Ali
Ali (1942-2016) is an American boxer who took a stand against the Vietnam War. I suspect I will regret not having tried to live my dreams when I die if I don’t take risks once and a while.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out just how far one can go.” TS Eliot (1888-1965)
This quote reminds me of a conversation when I was in university. He pointed out that I could try out acting more confident without actually going to the point of yelling it from a roof top. For those of us who get scared anytime that we request something from an authority figure, it is unlikely for us to go too far.
“Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinions of others.” Roy Bennett
Roy T Bennett is an American author and speaker. All of us can fall into the trap of trying to please others such as our parents, spouses or role models. Then, we can lose what we want to do with our lives and time. I think a balance between a person’s dreams and his/her responsibilities is hard to find.
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” Michelangelo
“My favorite animal is the turtle. The reason is that in order for the turtle to move, it has to stick its neck out. There are going to be times in your life when you’re going to have to stick your neck out. There will be challenges and instead of hiding in a shell, you have to go out and meet them.”    Ruth Westheimer
Sometimes the news makes me want to stay in bed all day. No reading about another mass shooting. No listening to politicians arguing or lying. Just peaceful solitude. But, I have to come out of my tiny apartment and go to work.
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky
I finished listening to a book titled Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness . It reminded me that just as an athlete builds muscle by pushing themselves and resting, a person learns in a similar way. I read some of my old writing from 2010 and 2011.
The two Lenten devotionals that I wrote for my church.
I was disappointed to see that my writing hasn’t improved that much in a little over ten years. So, I have decided to find ways to stretch myself. Here is some of those attempts.
On my rock painting, I found some new ideas on Pinterest. If you want creative ideas, Pinterest is a great place to get them. My two completed works are not as beautiful as the ideas but they are my first attempt.
As you can see, the top rock got smudged when I sprayed it with the protective spray. They are both a rock painting idea that I will try again.
I will continue to study Spanish using Duolingo and reading/listening to books that are interesting and challenging for me.
As for my writing, I have not thought of any ideas to stretch myself. Do you have anything that you want to see on this blog?
I re-listened to Quiet by Susan Cain while at work today. It reminded me of a concept that I had never heard of before this book. It states that the idea of a culture of character being replaced by a culture of personality in the 1900s is from Warren Susman. Cain wrote,”In the Culture of Character, the ideal self was serious, disciplined, and honorable. What counted was not so much the impression one made in public as how one behaved in private. The word personality didn’t exist in English until the eighteenth century, and the idea of ‘having a good personality’ was not widespread until the twentieth. But when they embraced the Culture of Personality, Americans started to focus on how others perceived them.” (Pg. 21)
This part made me wonder if I live in the wrong time except that I like being able to vote. So, I can’t live in a time before women got the right to vote and other rights.
Ms. Cain shared that the industrial revolution encouraged this shift. I have a book titled Getting on in the World that I am curious to read in order to see if it focuses on character more than personality or charisma.
