Live a LIfe that Matters....

[lucy]

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A friend sent this to me....

"Live a Life that Matters      PDF      Print      E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Monday, 13 October 2008 10:30

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours, or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters."



link follows

[lucy]

http://blog.rohananeja.com/index.php?/2008101351/Newsflash/Live-a-Life-that-Matters.html

[ivanm]

Good piece lucy.  I am growing older and can see my mortality even clearer as the days go by.  I still have little goals to reach and things to do but I also tend to want to do more for others.  Sharing is very important and is a good way to be remembered. 

I am not an Indian giver, and I don't expect much in return for my efforts, but I take the attitude that someday I may need some help and in the meantime I try to help others.  For example, I am a volunteer at the local hospital, and I sometimes go out of my way to help those I barely know, on a personal basis that is.  I drive for the hospital, taking cimens to a lab in a larger city and sometimes go get blood from the larger blood bank hospitals.  The calls come at peculiar times, even at night but I usually get up, get dressed, and go out into the night to help someone I don't even know.

That is what life is all about, caring and sharing so that we all may better our lots.
If we don't take care of each other there is no one else to do it.

[lucy]

That is a wonderful service, Ivan....

[Michael]

I always wanted to be a great musician.  But I moved off of that road to prepare myself for spiritual leadership...thinking that the country would come to its senses and not omit the solidity of the age-old religious insights of the Apache.  But that boogeyman is greatly overshadowed by newer boogeymen like Islam.  So have I wasted my time?  Seems like it.

Like a cat in a kennel full of dogs...not everyone can 'be all they can be'.

[lucy]

I disagree. \

We all have different gifts. If you have a musical gift, you need to go most urgently with that gift, and I have heard your music. Don't sell your natural abilities and talents you have worked to develop short...there are so many ways to reach out, and art and music and such are powerful. After all, can you name an 18th century banker or lawyer? But, look at the artists and musicians and writers who live on....

I do believe there is so much value in the arts that speaks to us throughout the ages and endures much blood, mayhem, and shattered dreams...

And besides, it gives you a sense of pleasure and accomplishment as well.

[ivanm]

Maybe Mike could work up some sort of gospel ministry by using his musical talent, inspirational songs and the like. I once heard a young Indian man play a harp of some sort, and he played some beautiful songs that had a religious connotation to his people. We usually see him and his partner at the big craft shows each September in a nearby town. They sell the music on CD format and maybe the special little harps, piccolos, or whatever they call them.  Very moving and very nice.

[lucy]

That's a wonderful idea....

[notoc]

I can play "Knees Up Mother Brown" on spoons...

[lucy]

well, er, everyone has "gifts"....

go for it/

I am sure this is bound to make someone's day a little brighter.

[Michael]

Maybe Mike could work up some sort of gospel ministry by using his musical talent, inspirational songs and the like. I once heard a young Indian man play a harp of some sort, and he played some beautiful songs that had a religious connotation to his people. We usually see him and his partner at the big craft shows each September in a nearby town. They sell the music on CD format and maybe the special little harps, piccolos, or whatever they call them.  Very moving and very nice.

I do consider my music spiritual in one way or another.  It is somewhat trapped between religious/personal/and consumer demand.  It's hard to make a living at it and choose only one or two of those roads.

[notoc]

I am sure this is bound to make someone's day a little brighter.

Only mine. Actually, I'm the only one who can tell it's "Knees Up Mother Brown", to everyone else it just sounds like some guy clacking a couple of spoons together.

[lucy]

Maybe if you hummed the first measure before you begin the spoons....

[notoc]

Maybe if you hummed the first measure before you begin the spoons....

I'll give it a go, use the 'good' spoons after Christmas dinner and report back.

[ivanm]

I'll give it a go, use the 'good' spoons after Christmas dinner and report back.

Live a little and throw in a few plastic disposals for a new sound. 

Do you guys have turkey day in England?  My wife and I usually just prepare a breast if we are not having company as we don't really care for the dark meat.  The white meat makes really nice leftover sandwiches too.  Today she will make a punkin pie and some other goodies that can be made in advance.

Speaking of food and goodies, we have tried a fudge recipe that uses Velveeta cheese and it is delicious and easy to work with.  I think such a recipe may be on the internet for those of you who are adventurous.

Happy whatever day Notoc, and to you that separate Thanksgiving, happy Thanksgiving.

I do yard art by laying out figures on 1/2 plywood and painting the characters.  I transfer the pattern to the board by placing big sheets of carbon paper under the pattern and tracing along the lines with a stylus or and old ball point pen that does not flow ink anymore. My Thanksgiving character is real cute, two Pilgrim children holding a sign that says Happy Thanksgiving.  Their big eyes and fat little cheeks really make the day.

I get these patterns and some my supplies from a place called The Winfield Collection, which is in Fenton, Michigan. They have very good customer service and I can talk to a live person if I need assistance.  The sealer for the work is a clear satin finish polyurethane that is really super.  It dries to the touch in 15 minutes and can be used inside as it smells like hairspray.  It can be cleaned with soap and water.  I think it is called Hydroshield, and it is expensive, relatively speaking, about 21.95 a quart.  However, a quart will give two coats to a lot of yard art figures.

Just recently I finished a piece, actually two pieces, where Santa is riding a little tractor and pulling a trailer with a Holstein cow in it.  She is wearing her little Santa hat and looks pretty happy nestled amongst the packages in the trailer.

I guess I am still a kid as I love doing these things, expecially the funny ones or something that has Santa in it.  I have the new patterns for Santa in a big sleigh and being pulled by a black and white Holstein cow.  Really neat.  I've transferred the sleigh pattern to the plywood but havent' started to saw it out yet.  I use a scrolling blade in my sabre saw that has 20 teeth per inch and it cuts going up as well as going down, and the cut is very smooth as if one used a knife instead of a saw blade.

I also have a pattern for Santa riding a polar bear.  These things take a lot of wood, about 5 feet out of a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood, and good plywood with a smooth surface runs about 24 dollars a sheet at Lowes.

I have so many of the darned things that I need to sell off some.  We are expecting a carpet layer in the coming days so Edna and I have been moving the cutout from a spare bedroom (Santa's workshop!) to the garage.  I prefer to keep the real nice ones in the house although the sealer is very good, even better than the satin finish white paint I put on the back of the pieces. 

I provide a way to hold the things upright by attaching two metal conduit clamps to the backside of the piece, driving the metal conduit into the ground, and then sitting the clamps down over it. There is a screw above the top clamp to stop the conduit from going on up the back and not supporting the thing.

Well, my honey has breakfast ready and I need to get back to a plumbing project.  We replaced a lavatory with its plumbing and the drain is not sealing up well.  I need to take it apart and use some good ole Permatex gasket cement on it.  That Permatex wil fix what ails you if you can get the residue off your fingers when you are thru.  I usually use gasoline or mineral spirits, whatever is handy.