You Got to Want it!!

 

August 31, 2011


I have been trying to publish a blog for a week now and for whatever reason the blog program I am using has been scrambling paragraphs.  Augh...  Think I will try again this morning after letting my computer rest for a couple days!
 

It's a beautiful Friday morning here in Central Texas.  The scent of Fall is in the air in the early morning hours.  I know that the season of harvest is just around the corner and that makes me smile.  Fall in Texas is lovely ... warm days, cool nights ... the sound of the bands on the football fields and high school football players chanting claims of victory.  The fruit and vegetable stands will soon be overflowing with goodies flanked by corn shocks and bales of hay ... pumpkins will be picked over by young and old alike.  Those who hibernated through the dog days of August will once again peek out their doors and the neighborhood will come alive with shouts of "Hi, how ya doin'!"

 

The Republican Convention wrapped up last night in Tampa, Florida with the speech given by Mitt Romney, their presidential candidate.  I listened carefully this week to speeches by Condoleezza Rice, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, and others.  I was touched more by the history of the personal stories told by people who have known the Romney family over the past years.  Our country is in dire need of a leader who has compassion yet can lead with firmness and decisiveness.  I listened carefully for content of how Mr. Romney has been groomed to prepare himself for the position of President of the United States.  You know what?  I think he has the know how and the chutzpah to get the job done.  For the first time in a long while i felt that little twinge of hope flow through my heart and mind. My daughter was at the convention this week representing the company she works for.  It was so interesting listening to her stories of panel discussions and the real workings of committees that we don't get to see on television.  I kept watching for her in the evenings as she said she had been promised a couple of tickets.  I laughed when I asked her why she was home one evening rather !than on the convention floor ... she replied, "Empty campaign promise, mom"  We giggled...
 

Gabby Douglas - Going for the Gold

As I have mentioned many times in my blog, I can get a song in my mind and it just stays around.  A few days ago, it was the song, YOU GOTTA WANT IT by Jordin Sparks.  Not too long ago, we were watching the Summer Olympics held in London.  Those Olympic medalists didn't get the gold by just showing up for practice every now and then ... they had to want it and want it badly!!  They had to focus often times leaving family and friends behind to find skilled coaches and fertile environments for growth in their sports.

 

You know we can get all sorts of help and encouragement from those around us but when it comes right down to it, we have to want it!!  We have to supply the perseverance and work necessary to rise above and get the job done.  So often, we back down at the first sign of challenges -- it's the mighty warrior who is able to forge ahead in adversity having faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

For me, I find it important to read biography books about those who had survived heavy odds to become not just good but great.  I also pick the brains of successful people in areas that I want to grow in ... physical, spiritual, personal.  I wanted to know if the blood sweat and tears was worth it in the long run.  What did I hear?  Absolutely!!  The one thing though that stuck in my own mind was the concept of balance.  In becoming great at one thing, these people often neglected balance in their lives ... at least for a season.

So often, I am like the puppy dog who gets ahold of a toy and won't let go.  I wanted to rise above the loud clanging of the chains that bound me from childhood.  I read, I studied, and I did the work necessary to move to a point in my life where I am comfortable in my own skin.  I do not worry about being abandoned by my family if I speak the truth (in love) -- I do not worry about pleasing man as long as I am pleasing the lord of my life.  I keep my slates clean and can say "I am sorry" without losing myself.  To have to be right don't matter so much anymore. There was a time, when I struggled ... I didn't want to be the bad guy, the failure, the misfit.  When authority figures would question my motives, I would get my knickers in a knot and defend myself.  "I'm not a bad person ... I was set up, don't you see?"  Now?  I know that God knows my heart and my story.  He is my judge and it is his rules I follow.  If I gain the praise of men and lose my sense of self, what have I accomplished?
 

I visited an Alanon group not too long ago.  It had been many many years and I was curious to find out if it would be the same type of group that I found myself in so long ago at the little green house on Parker Road.   "Hi, my name is Dottie."  "Hello, Dottie."  That was the same ... the format was the same and yes, although the faces were different, the people were fighting the same battle.  Whether AA or Alanon

What had been familiar to me for my growing up years and early adulthood was familiar and felt right ... it wasn't and I had to relearn how to live in a healthy way.  I was one of those who wanted it enough to fight tooth and nail to attain a new sense of well being. Try as I might, I couldn't do it myself.  My own will power wasn't strong enough to pull me through the tough times.  I caved in over and over until I found my Lord God and grabbed his hand.  Together, we walked through the peaks and valleys of life celebrating the smallest of my victories.  When others told me I couldn't do it, He told me I could.  When others abandoned me, He stood beside me.  I ran, He followed.  When I cried out, He showed himself.  As I grew stronger and was able to share my own story with others, I could thank Him for his steadfastness.  I had people say to me, "Jesus is your crutch in life."  I would smile and say, "You bet, He is!"

What is it that you want most?  Are you willing to do the tough stuff to attain it?  When my right foot gave out and I couldn't walk, I took the risk and had it rebuilt - for six long weeks, I couldn't put any pressure on my foot.  I had a little scooter that I put my leg and foot on which made me somewhat mobile.  For a time I had to not walk in able to walk in the future.  Make sense?  Think about that.  I had to undergo a painful surgery and work through countless hours of therapy in order to walk again.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely!

No matter what your challenges are, there is hope.  Maybe your road map of life needs some tweaking and maybe you need to realize that God has different plans for you than you did for yourself.  At any rate, there is a way, you know...  It was Abraham Lincoln who said, "People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be"?  I think that's true. You don't HAVE to go to work ... you have a job, be grateful!  You don't HAVE to clean your house ... you have a home to clean, be grateful!  You don't HAVE to go visit your parents ... you are blessed with parents to visit, be grateful!  You don't HAVE to be a parent ... you have been blessed with children, they are gifts -- all too soon they will be gone to live lives of their own -- be grateful for the time they are underfoot.  I don't HAVE to go to church ... I have religious freedom to worship the God of my fathers ... I am grateful!  Can't you see the list is endless?  Today, I am of sound mind -- I have the freedom to write a blog and publish it.  I am able to walk in the sunshine and pull the weeds growing in my garden.  I am able to enjoy life this day and do what I can to make this a better world.  My fingers (although swollen and sore from arthritis) fly over the keyboard and leave messages for my family telling them that I love them.

Some weeks ago, I found a former high school classmate on Facebook.  We struck up a conversation and, I must say, I have enjoyed catching up.  She led a full life until about seven years ago when life threw her some curve balls and she no longer can run and do all the things she used to do.  I wish I could visit her bedside in Montana and listen to her story.  I can close my eyes and see her as she was in 1964 - a beautiful brunette with snapping brown eyes.  She tells me her hair is white now -- somehow, that seems impossible.  Life has a way of marching on, doesn't it...

The day will come when my voice will be silent and my fingers unable to move -- my work will be done on earth. Until that time, you can count on me to pester you with snippits of my life and my proddings to NEVER QUIT!!

As we walk through life together, I pray that you will find that passion inside of you that drives you to be bigger than yourself.  I pray that you will love with abandon, laugh til your belly hurts, and never stop growing, living life to the fullest.  I get up in the morning and one of the first things I do is brush my teeth.  I found this little sign at Hobby Lobby and I snapped it up.  As I swish the toothbrush across my teeth, I think about the three things listed before me and how I can stay positive.  This morning, I laughed ... I heard this little voice inside of me saying ... "You're alive and brushing your teeth ... that's something, isn't it?"  Yes, it is!!  Enjoy your day!!

Miss Dottie