GRATITUDE - January 28, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR BEING IN THE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE SATISFIED WITH THEIR LIFE.

"One-third of all Americans feel dissatisfied with their lives (100 million people)."  USA Today

Ian, Kyan, Zak, Grandpa

How sad it would be to be dissatisfied with the way your life was and feeling helpless to correct it.  Worse than being dissatisfied about how your life was going would be to not change anything and at the end of your life be unhappy with the way it turned out.


How do we choose to invest our irreplaceable time? 


"Time is the coin of our lives.  Spend it wisely, lest others spend it for you."


We have the power to control much more of our life's results than we think.


rlw


I am having the Time of My Life and am very Grateful.

GRATITUDE - January 27, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE MY OLDEST SON BECOME A FATHER.

There will be many more posts coming down the road on the theme of my thankfulness for each of my outstanding children. 

That said, this one is for Ian.  Happy Birthday!  He is expecting his third boy next week.  28 years ago, he was the gift of my first child that changed me forever.  For that, I am eternally grateful.  He changed me as his children have changed him.

“When you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out — because that’s what’s inside. When you are squeezed, what comes out is what is inside.”


rlw

GRATITUDE - January 26, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR A PATIENT MUSIC TEACHER.

Not wanting to start at the raw beginning and work my way up to Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star when I first started learning how to play the electric bass..I was able to set my own direction and have now learned to play about 20 rock songs with another 10 nearing completion.

I am changing direction next month to restart my lessons from the beginning - learning how to read music...so much out there to learn and I can pick everything up much faster if I learned this new foreign language.


Listening to people that know how to read music is like listening to ancient Greek to me and it has become obvious that  although it may sound like I can 'talk the talk' when I play the songs I know - 'I can't walk the walk'.  Memorizing my music will help keep the Alzheimer dogs at bay but would be better if I knew what I was talking about.


I am very lucky to have a skilled teacher that played for 30 years in rock bands before getting his BA degree/with honors in Music from Sacramento State.  Very patient.  I am thankful to discover him and that he didn't make me play 'Twinkle Twinkle' before 'Smoke on the Water'.


rlw

GRATITUDE - January 25, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR MODERN TECHNOLOGY.

...or at least the 2012 version.  Thirty years from now (wouldn't that be a hoot if I was still here to read this) this statement will cause much snickering and laughter, like reading a letter from the past talking about the modern conveniences of a wringer washer and a horse and buggy.  


The current ability to record and preserve family archives far surpasses what was available to previous generations.  My generation dug through trunks of yellowed  letters and fading black and white photos, attempting to piece together family history.  So many ordinary, but great people with grand stories of adventure and accomplishment, kindness, heroism, love and generosity faded into obscurity, never to be found again, because their exploits and memories were never recorded.


The ancients did a far better job, handing down from generation to generation, memories captured in song, dance and wall art.  Some families have a family historian.  Most don't. My sister is ours.  That said, I suspect we have more information on our fathers and father's father, than we do on our current generation.  


My mom's version to record that for me was an inherited giant plastic tub full of old photos, letters, half-started notebooks, old report cards, etc. I am forever grateful for her foresightedness to keep it from Goodwill and the public dump.  


Scraps of seemingly ordinary paper, are mementos and instant memory enhancers to be treasured, not necessarily forever, as some items may mean nothing to my children and my grandchildren, but certainly for me in my lifetime.


I have a few observations about life, some stories to tell and even bits of perceived wisdom I wish to pass on to my children and their children.  As it fairly recently occurred to me that I may not live forever, to impart my message personally, I embraced the technology enhanced version of the family memory plastic tub.  Kind of like preaching from the grave, in  a darkly humorous way.


Note: I love my inherited plastic tubs, and I may never get to the bottom of them in my lifetime, as I most often, fall apart a mere two inches into the pile. Each time I open it I am able to look at my personal family history, as seen through my mother's eyes.  Like an archaeological dig, each inch of memorabilia in those cursed (with much love) tubs conjures up years of memories, smiles and tears alike. Like in a dark magical time machine, I am transported back into time to relive times I thought were long forgotten.


Oh yeah, the gratitude for technology part...I have undertaken a "Ginormous" task of scanning and digitizing thousands of family paper photographs...yes, grandchildren, we actually temporarily preserved our photos and memories on pieces of paper...into my hard drive and onto cds and posting online in blogs and videos.  That too, will surely become ancient and archaic soon enough, the buggy whips of our generation. 


It is highly likely that Facebook will become this generation's family album.  That is where I now go to get updated pictures of my grandchildren and to see my sister/brother-n-law's  latest worldly adventure.  Thank God we are sheltered from the boring family-room slideshow our our in-laws last camping vacation...


To step it up a notch, this old guy (64 and counting) has a spate of on-line blogs and a couple of YouTube channels to preserve my bits of perceived wisdom, advice and partially-fact-filled remembered stories.  I don't know if I have done a better job of plastic tub stuffing (I still do that for my children however - they each have their own legacy tub), but I am embracing the new technology.


I have an online blog:  Robert Welton Remembers, a record of some of the myriad of stories that make me who I am.  I have recently started putting them into printed booklets - five or so stories at a time...yes , yes,  I am still victim to the printing on paper thing...can't escape it.  For my grandchildren and beyond, we may never get a chance to be around each other like multiple generations living under the same roof, where everybody interacted with Grandpa.  Mine live a few thousand miles away.


So, to end a short story gone long...today I created a new video channel. Whereas, my thirteen year old daughter could have completed this task in a few minutes...I struggled with it for hours.


ROBERT WELTON REMEMBERS on YouTube.  Now, my grandchildren can see me and hear me and have a sense of who I was, perhaps bring me a little closer to their heart.  When I am no longer on this side, perhaps those that knew me might check into the legacy from time to time. I know if my Mom had done this, I would likely visit daily.  Just sayin'.


This first post is lovingly dedicated to my sister, Sharon, our family's grand Poobah historian.  If you want to know our family's history from a hundred years ago, she has it.  If you want to know about a camping trip my sister and I went on 50 years ago and experience the overwhelming sibling love we shared around the campfire, click on the link above.

rlw

-        Robert Welton: Twitter                     

-        Robert Welton: FaceBook 

-        Robert Welton: LinkedIn          

 

·        My Blogs              

-       http://sunriseandtime.blogspot.com/   

-       http://robertweltonremembers.blogspot.com/

-       http://robertweltonanotherdayinparadise.blogspot.com/

-       http://gratitude-alittlegoesalongway.blogspot.com/          

-       http://rwelton.hubpages.com/

        Write Your Own Hub

 

YouTube

-http://www.youtube.com/user/aaasportsstuff/videos

-http://www.youtube.com/user/rweltonremembers

GRATITUDE - January 24, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR GOOD FRIENDS FOR MANY YEARS.

From a FRIEND I've known for almost 50 years...how grateful I am...we should all be so lucky.


To all my FRIENDS


Be the kind of person, that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says "Oh, Crap, He's up."

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.

Love the people who treat you right.

Forgive the ones who don't, just because you can.

Believe everything happens for a reason.

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands and don't let go.

If it changes your life, let it.

When you are mad, take a few minutes to think before you act.

Forgive quickly.  God never said life would be easy.  He just promised it would be worth it.

A real FRIEND walks with you when the rest of the world walks on you.

rlw

GRATITUDE - January 23, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE RESULTS OF TODAY'S VISIT TO THE DENTIST.

I hate going to the dentist.  I don't hate the dentist, just the whole needle in the gums thing.  Part of the discomfort is baggage from my youth, when our family dentist killed his family and burned the house down.  I was also friends with the son.  I was seven.


Although modern dental technique is far better than the parent holding you down, telling you it will be over soon, I still get apprehensive when I know I have a bad tooth.  When I was about to start the 7 weeks of radiation, I had to get all my dental work for the next year caught up, because they couldn't work on my mouth until I had completely recovered from the chemo and radiation (almost a year).  Had a root canal , two crowns and misc. cavities fixed..took a while to get it all done...and then I got to start my chemo/rads.


That said, the largest tooth I have on my lower jaw on both sides (had all my molars pulled already) has been hurting  a bit and was sensitive to cold air and water...One can only eat like a rabbit with the front four teeth for so long...so my lovely bride made me take the appt and I went in this morning.


The segue to gratitude is thus:


I had the obligatory x-rays (which I have been avoiding, as I have already been exposed to more radiation through treatment and ensuing CT/PET Scans than the survivors of Hiroshima).  


The dentist came in and asked why I was there.  I told him about the teeth, the discomfort, the sensitivity to cold, waiting for words like extraction, root canal, fillings, etc. to burst from his mouth.  Instead I heard "Mr. Welton your teeth look fine, I can't find anything wrong that requires attention.  You might want to consider having your crown replaced in 2013 or 2014. Your gums a a bit inflamed in a few spots, however.  I recommend you rinse your  mouth out with salt water regularly.  See you in a couple of months."


I am thankful I lived long enough to have the PERFECT dental visit after requesting one for existing problems.  If my saliva glands were working, I would have whistled.

rlw

GRATITUDE - January 22, 2012

I AM GRATEFUL FOR KNOWING WHEN TO SAY THANK YOU.


"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness.  It will change you mightily."   - Gerald Good.

"Saying THANK YOU is a learned response by many people.  It just comes naturally.  It is automatic.  The next time you say 'Thank You', pause to see if you really mean it, or if it was automatic.  It is OK if it was a natural response (it is certainly better than no response) - take a moment and actually FEEL thankful!  It will be an awesome feeling." - Paul Taubman


To all my friends and family - a sincere Thank You!  I have a wonderful life.


VIDEO - WHAT AM I THANKFUL FOR?