| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 581.1 | | AWARD2::HARMON | | Mon Sep 19 1988 12:23 | 47 |
| I also came across a reply that a member of the group had written.
I GOT OUT OF THAT RUT....NOW WHAT????
When I stumbled sleeply out of bed at 5:06, it was so dark I tripped
over my shoes and sprained my ankle. This made the mile walk at
dawn a very painful experience. I drove a new way to work, got
lost 4 times, ran out of gas 3 miles from a service station, ran
over a nail and blew a tire - of course, the spare was flat so I
had to walk 18 miles to work. Arrived at work 2-1/2 hours late
for a meeting with my boss to discuss my yearly review - he decided
to postpone it for 12 months. I switched chores with my wife last
Saturday - it so happened that this was the very Saturday she had
planned to wash and wax the floors, clean the refrigerator, rearrange
the furniture, clean all of the windows inside and out, do the grocery
shopping for the next two weeks and a multitude of small chores
that had been accumulating for the last six months. My plans were
to watch a ball game on TV.. I bought a wok and tried cooking an
oriental dinner...had a grease fire...the estimate for new kitchen
curtains, wallpaper and linoleum cam to $2,645.00. How could I go
wrong studying wildflowers...picked goldenrod and my hay ffever
has been terrible ever since. Tried staying up alone all night...I
was fine until 4:00am when I decided to go for a walk around the
back yard to help stay awake. Startled a skunk and I don't know
how I'm going to get rid of the stink on the side of the house.
I ahve a terrible rash from the four baths I had to take. Tried
reading to the blind...no one told me they were also deaf. I counted
368 blondes...my divorce will be final next August. I subscribed
to an out of town newspaper - from the town where I bought a summer
cabin - the front page picture was a good shot of the firemen trying
to put out the fire in my dream house that was caused by the alarm
system I just installed. I spent two weeks in the hospital from
canoeing at midnight..it was just too dark to see those falls.
I took a scout troop to see our congressman. It was nice trip but
he was in Florida. The airfare only cost $2,965.00, but to repair
the airplane seats that the kids played pillow fight with was quite
expensive. I learned a little Italian...my face still hurts from
the slap when I tried to say "hello" to my neighbors wife. I spent
last night in jail and my trial will be in 3 weeks from trying to
teach the neighbors kid what I do best. I must say that the two
hours of Mozart wasn't too bad...the music was so soothing I fell
asleep with a cigarette. Fortunately, the fire wasn't all that
bad, only destroyed four rooms. My breakdown came while I was at
dancing class. When I get out of this sanitarium, I will always
be thankful of one thing...."we only pass this way once"!!
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| 581.2 | y | RATTLE::MONAHAN | | Mon Sep 19 1988 14:38 | 6 |
| re: .1
You must be a very depressed person.
Cheer up and GET YOURSELF OUT OF THAT RUT!!!
|
| 581.3 | | AWARD2::HARMON | | Mon Sep 19 1988 14:54 | 7 |
| .2
This was written by a former co-worker of mine years ago. I think
he meant it to be a satire on the original article. I don't remember
him as being particularly depressed....just an odd sense of humor.
|
| 581.5 | thanks | LOOKUP::COMERFORD | | Mon Sep 19 1988 15:50 | 3 |
| re:.1
Thanks for the laugh, nothing like a good laugh to get me
out of a rut and realize I must enjoy life a bit more.
|
| 581.6 | | CNTROL::HENRIKSON | | Mon Sep 19 1988 17:15 | 7 |
| re:.1
"My plans were"...
I thought sure it would be... "to go out drinking with the guys." ;^)
Pete
|
| 581.7 | Live life as you go along... | MPGS::PELTIER | | Tue Sep 20 1988 12:34 | 38 |
| Getting into a rut can be a serious emotional drain. I broke off an
engagement because I felt my fiance and I were in an extreme rut!
Everything was so routine, and we didn't try anything new.
I came across an article in Reader's Digest that changed my attitude
towards life. I am a constant planner, always worrying that my life is
going to become boring and fall into a rut. This following article
really helped me evaluate things....
Where Joy Abounds
condensed from "The Stations" by Robert J. Hastings
(reprinted without permission)
"Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see
ourselves on a long train trip spanning the continent. Through the
windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of
children waving at us from a crossin, of cattle grazing on a hillside,
of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat,
of mountains and valleys, of city skylines and village halls.
But uppermost in our minds is our destination. On a certain day
at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Then wonderfull
dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together
like a jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the
loitering minutes - waiting, waiting...
'When I reach the station, that will be it,' we tell ourselves.
'When I'm 18.' 'When I buy a Mercedes!' 'When I put the last kid
through college.' 'When I've paid off the mortgage!' 'When I get that
big promotion.' 'When I retire, I shall live happily ever after!'
Sooner or later we realize there is no station, no place to arrive
at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is
only a dream that constantly outdistances us.
'Relish the moment' is a good motte, especially when coupled with
Psalm118:24: 'This is the day which the Lord hath made; we willl
rejoice and be glad in it.'
So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb
more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more
rivers, laugh more. LIVE life as you go along.
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| 581.8 | Enjoy life--1 Day at a Time | LEDS::CARDILLO | | Thu Sep 22 1988 12:51 | 27 |
| Re .7
>The true joy of life is the trip.
I totally agree with you. I just started an Insight Meditation
course and the primary message of the first session was just that.
It takes a lot of the pressure off always having to plan for the
future. My goal is to learn to live one day at a time and to be
aware of what's happening as opposed to just existing.
>I broke off an engagement because I felt my fiance and I were in
an extreme rut!
I broke out of a troubled marriage because my husband had a very negative
attitude towards everything. We both went to counseling with a
woman who taught positive thinking. I ended up taking her course.
It changed my life. My husband couldn't be bothered. He's still
stuck in negativity and thinking how unlucky he is and how everything
always happens to him. The trouble with that kind of thinking is
that you tend to bring on unfortunate things. Of course, there
is probably some satisfaction in being able to say, I told you that
would happen!
I'll leave you with some food for thought, also from my meditation
instructor:
"You don't have to be perfect to be perfect!"
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| 581.9 | LOOSEN UP AND LIVE! | CURIE::DECARTERET | More, more, give me MORE! | Thu Sep 22 1988 13:49 | 25 |
| I too, can't agree enough to the importanance of learning to enjoy life.
A reading that inspired me a while ago (author unknown) goes as
follows:
LOOSEN UP AND LIVE!
Change is the Stuff of Life
"The Times they are a changin'." In fact, they are changing so
quickly that we feel hard pressed to keep up. As they saying goes,
"Just about the time I have the means to make both ends meet, someone
comes along and moves one of the ends!" Our experience has been
one of being tossed about by the winds of change, pawns of chance.
At the heart of the matter is an essential shift in consciousness
from being victims of circumstance to being catalysts for change.
Identifying and making this shift propels us into an experience
that is both boyant and exuberant. No longer trying to make our
dreamworld into reality, we awaken to a sense of who we are and
what we are here to do. Loosening our grip on how we think things
should be, we begin to explore the possibilities right under our
noses. We lear to relax; to trust the process and begin to see
that the unique contribution we have to bring is change, the very
stuff of life.
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