Taxes

Lately I've been thinking about taxes...........okay, I guess that about sums that up.........Later

The Plan

Lately I've been thinking about the "Plan". Now, I know there are a lot of "Plans" out there; the plan of Happiness, the Plan of Salvation, city plans, house plans, development plans, emergency plans, etc. But the Plan I'm talking about is one that came about during a conversation had by my lovely wife and I following the sudden death of a friend. He was about our age and one morning he kissed his wife good-bye, hopped on his favorite motorcycle and left on an errand. He never returned. His death was one of those unexpected things that not only saddens you but makes you feel your own mortality and causes you to think deep thoughts.

After the funeral, Regina and I were sitting on the couch in one of those moments when you feel the need to be very close to the one you love and the "Plan" came into being. We were talking of how we really didn't know how we could possibly handle such a sudden and complete loss. With such an irrevocable hole blown through our lives, how would we muster the strength to conquer the sadness and move through the rest of the days, months and years we would face alone? As I pondered those things, my thoughts moved away from how would I live without Regina if she left me to what would I be experiencing if I were the one to leave. I realized that, as hard as it would be for me to leave her in such a position of grief and sadness, I would be excited and ready to move on. For those who understand that this life is a place to learn and to grow; to be tested and to overcome; death is graduation time. All of the wonderful blessings our Heavenly Father promises are waiting on the other side of the veil. In fact, the whole purpose of living is to get to that point where we leave life behind. So, I told her that she needed to be aware that, as hard as it would be for me to leave her alone...and that would be extremely hard, I would be anxious to take the next step; to charge forward with life. I told her that I would understand a period of grieving but that I would hope and expect that she would move through that grief and, knowing that I was happily anticipating our reunion, that she should move on with life and enjoy the blessings that come with mortality. She thought about it and agreed that her hope would also be that if she is the first, I, too, would quickly come to the point where I resumed the joyful experience of living.

So, that's the "Plan" as it has come to be known by us. We don't want our passing to be the point at which life virtually ends for the other also. Which ever of us leaves first will do so with a soft sadness for having left but with the confidence that the other will not let our going ruin the rest of their earthly experience. The one who is left will give place for grief and loss but cherish the good things to be had in mortality. We'll still think of each other when we see an amazing sunset or walk through the mountains or play with the grand kids. We won't shut life out but, honoring the wishes of the one on the other side of the veil, we will embrace life until it is our turn to take that next step. So the "Plan" is to, whatever happens, choose to Live.........................Later

Time

Lately I've been thinking about the Nanosecond........I mean, really...a NANOsecond? Are we an obsessed species or what? What other creature on the face of the earth - or under it - even splits time up in a measure of YEARS? They all seem to get along just fine. However, we humans have the need to shatter a second into a billion pieces. Think of a bear. Now here's an animal that gorges himself just before nodding off to sleep for a few months. Do you think that when he wakes up he worries that he has just slept away a fourth of his year? (just as a side note, did you ever wonder how a bear manages to keep from, ah...well, lets say...fouling his nest while he takes his 3 month snooze? I can't even make it through one night! I actually read something about that a while back. It seems Mr. Bear introduces some high fiber food into his diet just prior to commencing his hibernation. Things like pine needles, dry leaves, small twigs and pine cones and the sort. These then form a sort of intestinal dam which prevents "accidents" while he sleeps. Of course, with the arrival of spring and his emergence from a cozy den, old Mr. Bruin becomes a bear on a mission. I have to tell you that I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a grizzly who has just awakened with the need to, shall we say, eliminate a certain amount of fiber from his system. I wonder if that is the origin of the saying "grumpy as a bear"? But I digress.......) Where was I?... oh yes...Nanosecond. The nanosecond is so short that no human can actually time it. We had to invent something to keep track of this itsy-bitsy shard of time that we decided needed to be tracked. Its called the Atomic Clock. I don't know about you but that sounds like a rather dangerous piece of equipment. I can just imagine myself waking up to the alarm on my atomic clock, rolling over and hitting the snooze button with a bit too much vigor and eliminating the wester half of the Salt Lake valley. Don't get me wrong, I'm somewhat of a science fiction buff and I know that if we didn't have things like Nanoseconds, astronauts on their way to Mars might not get their rockets fired exactly on time and end up circling Saturn by mistake and we don't really want that to happen. Its just that it all just boggles this simple man's mind a bit too much. So, I guess I'll just let the people who have to worry about such things as nanoseconds carry the burden for me. Maybe I'll just see if I can find a nice pine cone to munch on and try to sleep in tomorrow. ......Later.

A Blog

Lately, I've been thinking about doing a Blog. The question is....what do I blog about? I'm not really an expert at anything that is "blog-worthy". I don't have any fascinating hobbies that people would like to keep up to date with. I'm a religious person but I don't think anyone would call me a theologian. I have opinions but I'm not really an up-to-the-minute political analyst. I'm not a chef, a beekeeper, a philanthropist, a Hollywood star, a quirky new musician, a liberal/conservative spokesperson, a world traveler, a self-help guru, a photographer, a painter, a consumer watch-dog, a technology geek, an entrepreneur, a movie critic, a poet, a humorist, an amateur journalist....well, you get the picture. Now, my wife (Regina) started a blog a while back (essexgrowingfamily.blogspot.com) and its great! She tells about our family and friends, the events of daily life, posts inspirational quotes and fun pictures and all sorts of wonderful stuff. She has a way of reaching into your heart and it shows. It would be a shame to dull up her blog with my posts. I'm sure people would end up skipping my stuff to get to hers :). So, I am left with the original question....what to blog about? I have been thinking and thinking....and thinking. Then, it hit me! I should blog about...(pregnant pause, here)...stuff I think about. What genius! Nobody is more of an expert on what I think than me. Heck, sometimes I explain my musings to someone and they STILL don't know what I'm thinking. In fact, now that I look back a bit, people have always been interested in whats going on in my head. I can't tell you how many times someone has said to me, "Jim, can you please tell me what WERE you thinking?" Its a natural. I'll be filling a need! Don't you just love serendipitous inspiration? Its taken a long time but finally, the world will receive periodic insights into stuff I think about. Well, I better go now. I have a lot of serious thinking to do...people are depending on me.....Later!