I am performing an experiment. I expect that the outcome will be favorable for me, and it will take 45 days to complete.

Each day, I add a piece of the puzzle, ultimately ending up with the desired outcome.

Bear witness to this experiment with me. Let's travel the road together.

Today: I open myself up to all possibilities.

Thanksgiving thoughts - 2010

One of my daily affirmations is "I am gracious, accountable, and focused."

Grace, in my mind, is to be appreciative of what you've got. So in a way, Thanksgiving is every day for me.

I am grateful for things that fall into major subsets - people, situations, and things.

I am grateful for my wife, who swore she'd make me laugh every day, and she keeps her word.
I am grateful for my mother, who is probably my best friend.
I am grateful for my brothers and sister, because no matter what, we know we can count on each other.

I am grateful to be back in touch with many family members that I'd fallen out of touch with.
I am grateful to be alive, and to have a chance every day to make a positive impact on the world around me - especially my wife's world.
I am grateful to understand what it is to be healthy, and to be healthy and happy.

I am grateful for a job that reminds me that I love to work, and I love being a technical writer.
I am grateful for my bikes - Shtiya and Moyo - my strength and my heart.
I am grateful for the wisdom that I earned from the University of Hard Knocks.

On the night before Thanksgiving, I listen to Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" album, and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". They remind me of when I first truly listened to those albums - on the day before Thanksgiving, when my grandma came to spend the night, and help my mother with Thanksgiving dinner preparations. When I think of my Grandma Rodgers, I recall how much I love her, and how much I love my Grandma Cummings. Both named Rose, ya know...

So thank you, Thanksgiving, for granting me the memories that remind me that our past is a blueprint to our children's future.

Thank you everyone.

A Rock Lobster Treat

I just spent the last 30 minutes writing a piece that touched my soul regarding John Lennon, and the PBS special "American Masters".

And through a computer glitch, I lost it. It was deleted.

Gone.

Finito.

It must have divine providence.

Thank you, my spiritual guides. I love and miss you.

Get Back Jojo!

People always talk about "If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing...". But what if you really had a chance to go back?

What if the you who you are now, could go back in time? What if you could take someone with you? I mean, I would totally take Sheryl. I think we would have so much fun being as wise as we are after 43 years (44 for me), and seeing how different things would be.

If it wasn't for cancer, I would not be the person I am now. Sheryl and I might not have ever met. BUT... what if we were already married, and what if I could be 35 again, and not have to go through cancer again, but still have the glory of youth and excitement of all the years ahead of me?

Instead of 40 glorious years together, we could have 60, and we could have fewer aches and pains, and blah blah blah...

I love my life. I say it over and over, and I completely believe it. Sometimes though, I gotta admit. I wish I had everything I have, but could have a few less worries, and have the spirit of being young.

Oh well, I guess that's what I get for watching live Weezer videos while nursing a bit of a cold. :(