I love getting up early, seeing the moon still shining and the stars twinkling high in the sky. Cricket wonders why I rise so durned early, but she lives with it. We look out the window to see if the deer are here, and if they are treat ourselves to a majestic view.
Fred Rogers
Mr. Rogers was right. It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and I for one intend on enjoying it to the fullest. We feed the deer and other animals, letting them know our property is a sanctuary. I view the sky at night, grateful I can still see the stars, knowing in town it's an impossibility.
Mr. Rogers was someone we always made fun of, but he taught kids to accent the positive and eliminate the negative. In today's day and age, that is the opposite of what we think, and he wouldn't be as popular as he was. Yet he influenced several generations of children to the point his show ran for years after his passing.
We need Mr. Rogers once again. His positive attitude and his teachings--They were simplistic, not beating the children over the head, merely making a point and going on.
And maybe we adults need to watch the show as well.
Whenever you ask someone how their day is, and they reply, "Oh, it's been one of those days," sometimes I just want to sock them. You see, I've been having one of those years. (Last year was the same. I didn't even send out a Christmas letter!) One of my favorites films is 1975's The Wind and the Lion.
In the film, Sean Connery's Raisuli says, "This has been a bad year. The next one will probably be worse." When things get in a blah way, we start quoting that line, and laughing about it. (Of course, we never do say it as well as Connery did.)
Times like this make me want to take the calendar, and mark the days that have stunk off. You know, that way they never happened. Then it reminds me of a comic book I had as a child. The Ghostly Trio was tired of Casper's goodness, and purchased a magic calendar. They could mark off any day they wanted to get rid of. Sounds great, right? Well, they marked off the year they met Casper. In doing so, they also marked off the year they found their house, learned to fly, etc. In short, they messed up their lives. In getting rid of those memories, the trio also got rid of some good stuff, and they learned their lessons the hard way.
But isn't that what the 'bad stuff' is, anyway? Learning our lessons the hard way? We don't realize it at the time, and it will take us a long time to admit it - - - if we ever do - - - but every day is a lesson. (We just think we get out of school. The difference is that we don't get graded now.) It's up to us if we pass life's lessons.
Having a stinky day? Chin up, buck up, and proceed. If you've seen The Wind and the Lion, you know the Raisuli did just that, losing everything, yet loving every minute of it.
