Originally posted on Facebook HERE
I will never get tired of this view from the back window of our house. This is the 311th week I’ve done a “looking out my back window” post. Next week will mark six years of weekly posts. Insane. Really appreciate all the support over the years, and love reading the comments as well. What a great life we have here. My wife and I will celebrate 25 years of marriage on July 11th. We’ve been in this house for 22 of them now. We love it. For several years now, we’ve been at a place in our lives where we really want for nothing. We can basically do what we want to do when we want to do it, within reason of course. And it wasn’t always that way for us. We both know what it’s like to be down and out. To be tight with money. I’m a recovering addict, there were days when I was using I wasn’t sure I even wanted to live anymore. She was raising three kids as a single mom for years. And we wouldn’t change any of it. Well, I guess I can’t speak for her, but I wouldn’t change any of it. Those tough times in life are there for a reason. You can’t really appreciate all the greatness in life without knowing a bit about darkness as well. And we’re all unique, too. What we have here is truly amazing to us, yet many people would hate it. I look at people living in big cities and wonder why would anyone want to live like that? Yet, millions of people do. I’d hate it. Many of those people wouldn’t like my situation. We’re all unique. We all have our own paths, and our own talents. Finding those talents - now that can be tricky. And I think we sometimes stop ourselves before we even get going, too. We tend to compare, and are often our own worst critics. With the internet you can see all the great artists, musicians, business people, writers, thinkers, actors - all with just a click. And there are seemingly thousands of them with all sorts of fantastic content, too. It can be intimidating. But what if it was just you on the planet? What would you do? You don’t have to worry about work, or schedules, or being inferior in any way. What would you do? We become what we think about, but when we think we’re no good at something, or focus on all the reasons why we can’t try anything new - you’ll become that, too. You’ll become the person who held all that unique beauty and talent inside and never shared it with the world. Every adversity we face holds the seeds of equal or greater successes in our lives if we see it and believe it to be so. And Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of Joy”. Life is short, so find your passions. What brings you joy? You are the writer, producer, director and actor in the production of your life. Don’t write a script that takes you down. You’ll see it when you believe it. Believe it. Believe you can do and be anything you put your mind to. No one else can do that for you. Joy is contagious. May all your moments be filled with joy today, and always. And if that happens, who could possibly want anything more?…
