Friday, November 30, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 30, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR YET ANOTHER EXTENSION ON MY SECOND TURN.

Got great news from my doctors today.  Recent tests showed a potential problem that turned out to be a benign cyst and an inflamed vein.  No surgeries and no invasive treatment recommended.

Once you have been misdiagnosed over a period of several months for a simple little ache or pain (in my case, a sore throat that wouldn't go away), only to discover that you have a Cancer, it invaribly causes a lot of future paranoia.  Every persistant discomfort feeds the Cancer elephant in the room.  You can't get a good night's sleep, your thinking is overtaken by dark demons and you are not ever satisfied with casual diagnosis or a clear exam by a general practitioner.

Recently I requested x-rays and ultasound exams from specialists for symptoms that wouldn't go away and are, unfortunately, also related to Cancer symptoms (what isn't).  I was not satisfied with the 5 minute exam, saying I was ok.  I had a dozen of those before a specialist declared I had Tonsil Cancer  We all know that catching Cancer early is key to your survival chances.

Our brain will not allow us to discard or delete a significant traumatic experience from our memories, allowing us to approach potential similar situations in our future with a clear head and no trepidation.

It iwas an odd set of circumstances and solutions recommended today.  I spend my time at the computer, playing guitar, cooking, working on the landscaping and exercising at the gym.  My medical recommendation today (from two specialists) was to not sit for more than 1/2 hour at a stretch (working at the computer like I am now), not standing with my weight mostly on my left leg (my guitar/cooking posture) and no lifting of heavy weights or landscaping rocks for a month.

I am good with the no rock lifting and reducing my free weight load, but I will have to train myself to use a different posture when playing or cooking, and we all know that when you are on the computer and are on a roll (writing calculting, gaming) it is hard to get up and walk around every 30 minutes.  The good news is that I did get the recommendation to use the hot tub at the gym daily...I think I can embrace that one more enthusiastically.

All said, I am thankful for the surreal experience today of going to the specialists for test results consult today, driving glumly to my appointment in a dark and stormy driving rainstorm, getting good news from specialists I trust and exiting the hospital two hours later to be greeted by sunny skies and an arcing rainbow over the hospital parking lot.  The voice of God is not always a voice.

rlw


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Thursday, November 29, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 29, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR REMINDERS TO 'JUST BREATHE'.

From my cousin Bill - great video (as it turns out it is a travel video to visit Alberta), but a good reminder to enjoy the paths we take...even when we don't quite know the destination and the ultimate gratitude for life...to just breathe.  Nice soundtrack as a bonus.

32 days left in 2012...how's your list?

rlw

Just Breathe


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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 28, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR SEEING MY SISTER EMBRACE THE JOYS OF GRANDMOTHERHOOD. 

Until a few months ago, I led the sibling race with three grandchildren, me '3'...my sister '0'.

Grant
However, with the able help of two of my three nieces, she caught up in a hurry with a grandson Grant and a set of grandson-granddaughter twins, Owen and Emma in the last 90 days.  She is fortunate to have three beautiful daughters and their children have inherited their good looks.

Emma & Owen
I am thankful, as I am sure she is, to live long enough to see the generational chain extended.  This kind of allows one to partially justify one's presence on Earth and we each get a gold star on our foreheads for our worthy existence.  The parents, of course, get 99% of the accolades, but if it wasn't for us....etc......so, we get 1%.

I am thankful I got to see and hold little pieces of my soul/DNA living on in a tiny little bundle of joy, all destined for greatness.  We are grateful to have good children (good parenting, of course) embrace the joys of their own parenthood and watch them become good guardians of their very own tiny souls.  And on it goes....

rlw


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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 27, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE EXPERIENCE OF FOCUSING DAILY ON THE GIFT OF BEING THANKFUL.

Just 34 days left in 2012 and in this daily-blog-for-a-year experience.  Focusing on all that I have to be grateful for has opened my eyes to the unlimited potential for happiness, just for being thankful for the things we mostly take for granted, every day.

Ran across this blog from the "Gratitude Guru, Paul Taubman" I thought I would share:


"Make Appreciation part of your daily life. Recognizing other people for what they’ve done for you, even the little acts of kindness, is essential even when the individual is family or a close acquaintance.

Say “thanks” for each act of kindness incurred. It’s so easy to state and yet so frequently taken for granted. It’s particularly true when it bears on your own loved ones.

Convey your Appreciation and gratitude frequently. Take the time to author a note or send an e-mail even if you already said thanks. Send a present to show your gratitude for someone’s help.

Seek chances to reciprocate favors as soon as conceivable. Be observant and provide service rather than asking if help is required.

Calculate your blessings rather than wanting for more and moping around about what you don’t have. Put down a list of things you’re thankful for and you’ll be astonied at what you have to be thankful for. Feeling gratitude is intimately tied to being pleased.

Supply ways to support other people who are less fortunate. You never know when the tables may be turned.

Acknowledge the little things. There are little things about life that you are able to be thankful for at this minute. The air you’re breathing, this is a major one. Take a breath and realize being permitted to have air is an astonishing feeling. Don’t take this for granted. Likewise the water you ingest… be thankful for this too. This is crucial to life.

Make a list daily. Make a list of the matters in nature that you’re thankful for and bit by bit provide reasons and notions why you’re thankful for them. As you construct this list you’ll feel very empowered. This Appreciation list will help you on you life travel. Remember to place matters here you feel thankful for.

Be thankful for life. There are a lot of matters to be thankful for on the material level. A roof over your head, your auto, your apparel etc. But what I wish to point out here is there’s a 2nd level of gratitude that’s more potent than the material. This 2nd level is being thankful for life. This is being thankful for life experiences, trees, wind, friendships, and close relationships. These are more potent as they’ve a feeling attached to them. This makes it more tangible and authentic to you and the cosmos."
Can't sum it up much better than this...


rlw


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Monday, November 26, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 26, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE GIFT OF NOTHING TIME.

This posting, of course, manages to continue my mantra about the joys of being retired.  Whereas, I have much much to do and more projects than I will ever finish in my lifetime...the feeling of not having to go anywhere or do anything I don't wish to do, feels great.

I noticed, this morning, that euphoria that used to come on the first day of a three or four day weekend...with nothing scheduled and you weren't going to be late for anything.  If you had to go from A to B, you could take intersting side tours to C or D, even though it was out of the way, but you had driven past it a hundred time and were curious to know what was down that road.  And you had plenty of time.  Too much.  I am thankful.

"I am so busy doing nothing... that the idea of doing anything - which as you know, always leads to something - cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything. "
Jerry Seinfeld   


(This makes perfect sense to me)

rlw



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Sunday, November 25, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 25, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR TECHNOLOGY AND A BEAUTIFUL FALL SUNDAY.

Lise and I went back to the see the other part of the quite large Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Crocker Museum this morning and I just had to take more pics of the view from the 'rocking chair room'...antique oak and leather rockers in front of a big window wall overlooking a park...tried out a new ap on my Android - FX Camera - pretty cool...have no idea how I will use it, but a cool ap nonetheless.



If I wan't at the museum, I could have been practicing my bass licks.  Someone sent me this great electric bass video as inspiration...the downside is that it is a machine...tech engineering student made as a class project...perhaps if the winter rains kick in and I can't go out, I can focus on improving my bass skills...this might be a bit tough though.

Grateful to enjoy a beautiful day with no stress and no drama.

rlw


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Saturday, November 24, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 24, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR BEAUTIFUL FALL DAYS.

37 days left in 2012 - unless you subscribe to Mayan End of Days theory - then it is just 21.  Better start working on that list of thinks you wanted to get done this year or in a more pessimistic view - get done in your life time.

My list is complete, so, I look forward to the simple things, like more beautiful chilly Fall days, leaves turning color, a bit of nip in the air and wood burning fireplaces adding ambiance to the wafting breezes.

 Got to do just that with my lovely bride yesterday.  Our daughter is off on a jaunt to S.F. with a friend and so we had the chance to review the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Crocker Museum.

Overwhelmingly fantastic and nose-almost-to canvas closer than the covers of old Saturday Evening posts.  Over 300 framed original Saturday Evening Posts from every issue that Rockwell was featured on the cover over many years. Very cool.  Very thankful we got that opportunity.


early moon over
Fall leaves
on tonigh'ts walk
A nice rest spot on the third floor of the museum features a half-octagon room with an outside wall of glass looking out over the courtyard and past trees in Fall colors down to the river and the gold Tower Bridge.

Nice antique rockers with leather seats set up in front of the window for a respite from 'museum feetinitis'.  Pretty nice art display initself, on load from God.

Sometimes it is the little things...

rlw


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Friday, November 23, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 23, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR ACCESS TO A WORLD CLASS MUSEUM IN SACRAMENTO.

We are very fortunate to have a family membership pass to the Crocker Museum in Sacramento, Ca.  Originally the home of Edwin and Margaret Crocker, with one of the most extensive art collections in the West, Margaret donated the home and art collection to the City of Sacramento in the late 1800's..  A recent multi-million dollar modern addition has created a world-class museum destination for the region.

Lise and I are spending the afternoon enjoying a traveling exhibit of the Norman Rockwell collection.  The museum is about 3 miles from our house, so very cool. We are thankful for the proximity.

"The Crocker Art Museum, formerly the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, is one of the leading arts institutions in California, and the longest continuously-operating art museum in the West. Located in Sacramento, California, the Museum hosts one of the state’s premier collections of Californian art. The collection contains works dating from the Gold Rush to the present day, a world-renowned collection of master drawings, European paintings, one of the largest and most comprehensive international ceramics collections in the U.S. and collections of Asian, African, and Oceanic art. In addition to its collections, the Crocker offers a variety of public programs."

 NORMAN ROCKWELL EXHIBITION
"This exhibition celebrates the full range of Norman Rockwell's artwork, including rarely circulated works from the collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Included in the presentation are original oil paintings of some of his most famous illustrations, drawings, war bond posters, and numerous covers that Rockwell created for the Saturday Evening Post over nearly five decades. In addition to the artworks on view, personal correspondence and archival photographs offer insight into the life of one of the country's most beloved illustrators."

I hope you are enjoying your day as much as we are.  Our intent is to enjoy a late lunch at the museum cafe...it won't be turkey.

rlw

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Thursday, November 22, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 22, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR  EVERYTHING.

Due to love, faith, luck and modern medicine I had the great privilege today, of having a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, with people I love and that love me, in the relatively strife and stress-free Northern California area of the United States of America, in a beautiful home, that is not under-water, cooking a fantastic meal in my wonderfully appointed kitchen, with every tool, knife, pot and pan a chef could dream of (thinking of my mother-n-law-Martha), dining on family heirloom Limoge China and drinking wine from Waterford Crystal (thinking of my mom-Grace) thinking about how four long years ago I was thankfully enjoying my first solid food in five months after my life-saving chemo/radiation/feeding tube ordeal/experience with Tonsil Cancer and my unwanted, inherited position as the current reigning Grand Patriarch of the Welton clan, thankfully cheered on by my sister who only gets the  Grand Matriarch spot by spreading my ashes at sea, tipping champagne glasses with my lovely bride of 17.5 years, without whom, I would surely be living in a cardbox box down by the river, next to a lovely young teen daughter that keeps me young and in fighting shape, as she approaches the 15-18 years of young womanhood, where I meet courting young men at the door with a photo of my three sons - her brothers - all nice- pushing 6'- guys but, not to boys that hurt my daughter's feelings and feeling fortunate to watch the circle of life envelop my sister and I, with children (my three handsome sons and her three beautiful daughters) and now our children's children (three for me and three for her - she was always soooooooooooo competitive - has to get twins from one of my beautiful nieces next week - just to catch up to be even at three each) and actually living long enough to catch the golden ring of retirement after 50 years on the go-to-work-every-day merry-go-round of life, traveling to witness, first-hand, the true wonders of the world and learning how to play bass guitar and become a music legend in my own mind, be around to take my daughter to school every day and pick her up every evening - where I bond and she texts- and establish good, man-to-man, adult relationships with my grown - building their own nests - sons, seeing the three youngest grandsons Weltons celebrating life and to have the opportunity to establish (I didn't use the word - enhance) my own legacy through the miracle of my YouTube videos and the www. with this daily blog, where I remind myself EVERY DAY to not take anything or anyone in my life for granted...as all are gifts (even the Cancer thing) and should be treated with gratitude as such, stretching me intellectually, often, to find the positive, half-full, impact on my life - sometimes easy - sometimes not - but an opportunity, none-the-less, to appreciate, just how fortunate a man I am. 

"To receive the riches and full blessing of life's gifts, one must first, give thanks, often and from the heart."  rlw

"The best kind of giving is thanksgiving." -  Chesterton

The more we give - the more we receive.  I am the richest man I have ever met and I am truely grateful.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

rlw


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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 21, 2012


I AM GRATEFUL FOR FRIENDS THAT SEND ME LINKS TO SHOW WHO I COULD HAVE BEEN IF I HAD PLAYED PIANO INSTEAD OF BASS AND KEPT MY PONYTAIL.

Tommy Johnson
The Real Boogie Man
Always great to see good musicians that make you smile and move it. Thankful for eyes, ears, friends and the internet...all needed to appreciate this video.


THE REAL BOOGIE MAN


rlw

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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

GRATITUDE - November 20, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR PURSUING THE BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE.

Here we are, a few days away from Thanksgiving.  One day out of the year we offer our thanks for family ,friends, food.  Everyday we are confronted with a multitude of reasons to embrace gratitude.

Reviewed a website today "Tiny Buddah"...had a great post regarding seemingly ordinary things we most often take for granted, that deserve our gratitude.  The person posting listed these 60 things (small start - as there are thousands):

Here are 60 things to be grateful for in our lives:

1. Your parents - For giving birth to you. Because if there is no them, there will not be you.
2. Your family – For being your closest kin in the world
3. Your friends – For being your companions in life
4. Sense of sight – For letting you see the colors of life
5. Sense of hearing - For letting you hear trickle of rain, the voices of your loved ones, and the harmonious chords of music
6. Sense of touch - For letting you feel the texture of your clothes, the breeze of the wind, the hands of your loved ones
7. Sense of smell – For letting you smell scented candles, perfumes, and beautiful flowers in your garden
8. Sense of taste – For letting you savor the sweetness of fruits, the saltiness of seawater, the sourness of pickles, the bitterness of bitter gourd, and the spiciness of chilli
9. Your speech – For giving you the outlet to express yourself
10. Your heart – For pumping blood to all the parts of your body every second since you were born; for giving you the ability to feel
11. Your lungs – For letting you breathe so you can live
12. Your immune system – For fighting viruses that enter your body. For keeping you in the pink of your health so you can do the things you love.
13. Your hands – So you can type on your computer, flip the pages of books, and hold the hands of your loved ones
14. Your legs - For letting you walk, run, swim, play the sports you love, and curl up in the comfort of your seat
15. Your mind - For the ability to think, to store memories, and to create new solutions
16. Your good health – For enabling you to do what you want to do and for what you’re about to do in the future
17. Your school - For providing a environment conducive to learning and growing
18. Your teachers – For their dedication and for passing down knowledge to you
19. Tears – For helping you express your deepest emotions
20. Disappointment - So you know the things that matter to you most
21. Fears – So you know your opportunities for growth
22. Pain – For you to become a stronger person
23. Sadness – For you to appreciate the spectrum of human emotions
24. Happiness – For you to soak in the beauty of life
25. The Sun - For bringing in light and beauty to this world
26. Sunset – For a beautiful sight to end the day
27. Moon and Stars - For brightening up our night sky
28. Sunrise - For a beautiful sight to start the morning
29. Rain – For cooling you when it gets too warm and for making it comfy to sleep in on weekends
30. Snow – For making winter even more beautiful
31. Rainbows – For a beautiful sight to look forward to after rain
32. Oxygen - For making life possible
33. The earth – For creating the environment for life to begin
34. Mother nature - For covering our world in beauty
35. Animals – For adding to the diversity of life
36. Internet - For connecting you and me despite the physical space between us
37. Transport - For making it easier to commute from one place to another
38. Mobile phones – For making it easy to stay in touch with others
39. Computers – For making our lives more effective and efficient
40. Technology – For making impossible things possible
41. Movies – For providing a source of entertainment
42. Books – For adding wisdom into your life
43. Blogs – For connecting you with other like-minded people
44. Shoes – For protecting your feet when you are out
45. Time – For a system to organize yourself and keep track of activities
46. Your job – For giving you a source of living and for being a medium where you can add value to the world
47. Music - For lifting your spirits when you’re down and for filling your life with more love
48. Your bed - For you to sleep comfortably in every night
49. Your home - For a place you can call home
50. Your soul mate – For being the one who understands everything you’re going through
51. Your best friends – For being there for you whenever you need them
52. Your enemies – For helping you uncover your blind spots so you can become a better person
53. Kind strangers – For brightening up your days when you least expect it
54. Your mistakes - For helping you to improve and become better
55. Heartbreaks - For helping you mature and become a better person
56. Laughter - For serenading your life with joy
57. Love - For letting you feel what it means to truly be alive
58. Life’s challenges - For helping you grow and become who you are
59. Life - For giving you the chance to experience all that you’re experiencing, and will be experiencing in time to come
And last but not least… #60:
You.

For being who you are and touching the world with your presence. For being alive and reading this post. For giving me the chance to touch your life and fulfill my purpose to help others. You are the reason I live. Thank you.
 
Nice post.  As you approach the annual day of Thanksgiving, review all the things you have to be grateful for.
 
rlw
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