Thanksgiving

Yesterday was a wonderful day. It was Thanksgiving and for the 13 year in a row, I played football with close friends. After we played, I went to the local high school football game, which I hadn't been to in years, and I had a blast catching up with friends I haven't seen since high school.

Like we do every year, my wife and I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom and dad were upset due to the fact that they just put Poco, their dog, down. And to top things off my uncle was very ill in the hospital. Mom asked me to say grace because she didn't think she could make it through it. Normally I would ask my cousin Beth to do it but I felt deep down that I had something to say and I agreed.

Instead of saying grace with a prayer to God, I said what I was thankful for. I said I was thankful for my new wife and new family. I was grateful that my family was together and asked for a moment of silence for those who had either gone before us or couldn't make it for dinner. It was short and sweet and by the smile on mom's face; I knew I had done a good job.

I think every day should be a holiday. Every day should be Thanksgiving, Christmas or Chaunnaka. Wouldn't that be great?!!! Can you imagine? I don't know about anyone else but the holidays to me have always been a very happy time. Families get together and enjoy each others company. We laugh, make fun of each other (in a good way) and tell jokes.

Imagine every day with a smile on your face and on the face of all the people around you. Is this possible? I think so. Anything is possible. Anything can be done. All we have to do is put our minds to it, think positive and embrace the love.

I wonder if this is what Heaven is like. Every day living in peace is hard for us to fathom. But it's not impossible. Every day we have choices to make. We try to make the right choices but sometimes it doesn't end up being the right choice. At least we try and trying is all any one can ask.


I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I wish you all peace, love and happiness all the days of your life.


Peace is possible. All we have to do is spread the love and peace will be among us.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a great day for me. It was basically family day here at our house. We got up not too late and I made breakfast for Beth and all the kids. Then later Beth and I went outside and did some gardening. The kids were all in the house playing games and I don't think I heard one argument. For some of you this would sound like a normal Sunday but it goes further than that for me.

I had a different feeling yesterday. A feeling of togetherness. A feeling of being needed and wanted. A feeling of comfort. I new that there was peace in the house and I knew my kids weren't getting in trouble.

There is something to be said for this. To each individual it might be something different but for me it's called family bonding. Even if nothing is said while working or playing games it's knowing that we're a family and we're there for each other. Family is everything. There's nothing more important than your own. Cherish it and hold on. Family means love to me. Different families show love in many different ways. Some yell like my grandparents used to do on a daily basis.
Some say it and some don't. The important thing is love and togetherness, peace and harmony is possible. It's our task to make sure it happens more often. Spread the love.

I think we should shorten the work week to everybody works 3 days a week. Monday through Wednesday for the 1st shift (8 hours a day) and 2nd shift would be Thursday through Saturday. Every one has Sunday off. This way maybe we could spend more time with our families. And maybe this way there would be more peace and more harmony within this world.

Peace to all.

Rick

Life and death

The other night I was working here at the fire station and my mom called. At her 1st words I knew something was wrong. She told me that she and dad had to put down their dog Poco. She was upset and crying and I knew she wanted me to come by to be with them. I felt badly that I couldn't but I knew she understood.

Poco had been in pain and couldn't walk without his training wheels. Mom and dad used to take him for walks in a baby carriage. He couldn't pee without the help of my parents. They would have to hold him while squeezing him like you would a fruit to get juice. It wasn't a good quality life for a dog.

Although it was difficult for me to say, like I had done a couple times before, Poco had to be put down. It wasn't a good quality for life.

Why do we mourn for the dead? We mourn for our loss. We mourn because we will miss our loved one(s). Are we being selfish? I think so, but that's ok. Should we mourn? Yes, we are human. We will recover. What else should we do? We should celebrate the life of our loved ones. Celebrate because they will live for eternity in a better place without pain and suffering. Yes I believe that even dogs go to heaven.

Life here on Earth is temporary. We need to live life to its fullest. Tomorrow might not come. We've all heard this before but do we live life to the fullest? It's hard but life is hard. We don't live our lives like tomorrow might not come. We take it for granted that tomorrow we will open our eyes in the morning. We take for granted that the Sun will shine. We take for granted that we live in freedom. Can we afford to do this? NO! We can't.

As the world changes so should we because tomorrow might not come. The Sun might not shine. We might not open our eye and we might not be free. Live today for today. Live life like every day was your last. Hold onto what you have. Embrace life like you would embrace a loved one. Let the people in your life know you love them every day. Show them. Tell them. Teach them even while in an argument. Never go to bed without telling the people you love most how much you love them.

We've all heard this before and we've all said this before. Most of us will go to bed angry without showing their love. Again, we're only human. But if we make more of an effort to show our love to others then we become a better person. If we help someone in need, we become a better person. We need to reach out and pass on the love because that's what life is all about. And if we do this we become a better person and we'll feel great about ourselves. This is the 1st step in being able to change the world for a better place. If we find happiness within it makes life a better place for all. If you find true inner peace you will find that your inner peace can and will make a difference in others.

When I first got on the fire department I was in a Memorial Day parade. I was sitting in the back of Engine 1 and my parents had dropped off my son who was 4 or 5 at the time. So I got permission to let my son ride with us on the engine during the parade. As we were coming up to a crowd of elderly people I noticed that there wasn't a smile on any of the faces in the crowd. I said to my son, "hey Rob, smile and wave at all the old people. It'll make them smile." Rob thought I was crazy. He also thought this was great and he did what I had asked him to do. Rob started waving and smiling like crazy as we drove past the crowd. To his surprise, not only did the elderly people smile but they waved back. Rob thought this was awesome. He laughed and was so happy as were the crowd. What he didn't realize was, I just taught him that a smile is contagious and a smile can make someone very happy. The crowd had gone from looking miserable to shining like the sun because of a smile from a child. Isn't that great?! A small gesture goes a long way.

True happiness comes from within. This I believe. Love yourself 1st. Once you love yourself then and only then can you shine. You and only you can make yourself happy. No one can make you happy except you. Others can help you and you can help others to find peace and happiness.

Show your love and shine every day. It's funny how contagious it can be. Spread it and embrace it. Teach it and lead by example. If we all did it, think of what a beautiful world it will be.

Peace to you and all you love.

Rick

Change

I'm trying to write something to inspire people to change. To change the way we look at others, to change the way we treat people whether we know them or not; whether we like them or not. Do we change or do we just sit and watch the cruelty go by? In this I mean, can we look at "The Big Picture of Life" and realize that if we don't change ours ways soon, how can we make this world a better place? We can't make it a better place unless we are willing and able to change.

I see life come and go and of all ages. People die. It's a part of life. We accept it and move on. But before I die I want to be able to say at the gates of Heaven that I've tried to spread the love. I tried to make people realize that life isn't about money or social status. It's about being kind and generous to others. It's about taking the time to not just walking with blinders on. Open your eyes and see the beauty this world has to offer. See the beauty in everything around you and everyone around you. Even the meanest people you know have a good side.

Think about that guy who just cut you off. You're pissed. You want road rage. You want to slap him in the head. But, if you take a second to think about it and ask yourself 'is he really getting to that place he needs to be any sooner as he's at a stop at the red light in front of you? It's kinda funny if you ask me. Or, take the same situation and ask yourself, 'is he in a hurry because one of his loved ones is in the hospital or something bad has happened? For Pete sake what ever the reason is, let it go. It's not important. Just let him and it go. Life is too short to get so angry plus think of all the energy you're wasting. Your body and mind don't need the stress

If you leave a comment, and I hope you do, please leave ways about how we can change and how we can do our part to change others. Let's face it, we can't change everyone but we can surely try.

Peace to all and much love,
Rick

This being my 1st blog, I want to address the world as we see it today. I want to reach out and change this world by opening peoples minds and heart so that they may look at what I call 'The Big Picture of Life".

I was brought up believing in peace, love and togetherness. I do not believe that God put us on Earth to close up our borders. I don't think we should have borders to begin with. We should all live as 1 nation that strives for unity. We need to work towards a better Earth before we destroy it I believe that He put us here to be a loving, caring people. I'm not trying to preach.

We need love people. This world is in such turmoil. What gives anyone the right to say this part of land belongs to me? It belongs to the people of the Earth.

My future blogs will talk about how to make it a better world. I've spoken about communication, being kind to others, and a list of other things which I will repeat until I'm blue in the face.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and I hope you agree with what I have to say. Please pass the word of "The Big Picture".

Take care and be good to everyone.