September 06, 2003 2:11 P.M.

Something to Look Forward To

Photo by Marcia when I was lying on the ground in a park this summer. I try to take my digital camera with me much of the time, just in case I see something I want to �shoot�. Often I am surprised by the results.

Seems like this is the �put off until later� time of the year for me. I have been putting off doing a lot of things. Writing this page, being one of them. I am always thinking about subjects to write about, and then I have second thoughts, and decide not to do so. Or, I have a rebellious streak, and think, �I don�t have to write anything if I don�t want to.� Which of course is true, but the greater truth is, I really do want to. I determined at the outset that I would not strive to be an everyday contributor, or even close to that. I would just write when a thought developed in my mind that seemed worthy of sharing. And that is pretty much what I have done. However, lately there have been several thoughts which I have let slip through the cracks due to �end of summer putting off� season. Or something.

I have never wanted this to be the type of journal where I record my daily activities. My daily activities are just too bland for the most part. Not even �I� am interested in hearing about them. But my thoughts are not so bland. And I am a cogitator. An extrapolator, if you will. That�s what �philosophers� are supposed to do, isn�t it?

Problem is, that by the time I get to the end of my �thinking�, I sometimes forget how it started. That makes for a very poor subject to write about.

Due to the �blandness� of my life these days, I have been thinking a lot about today�s topic.

It seems that I am determined to fight through the bland, until I discover the grand.

If that makes any sense.

It does to me.

Here is a secret. The �grand� is not necessarily �large� as the word would imply. It is �grand� in quality. And often is overlooked.*

When I was a small child, I had three categories of toys which were my very favorites. Paper dolls, coloring books, and dolls. Having no brothers or sisters, I could play very nicely all by myself, with these. I had a LOT of all of them. The first two were very inexpensive at that time (can you believe 10 cents for a book?), so my mother always treated me to one or the other, every time we made an excursion �downtown� to go shopping. I was very happy with a small bag of cashews, a chocolate malt, and a new paper doll book from the �ten cents store�. A new box of Prang or Crayola crayons would just put me over the top! I preferred the �look and feel� of the Prangs, but Crayola had the best variety of colors. How else would I ever have known what �burnt umber� and �prussian blue� were.

Here is the point. I most likely would not have time to play with the new purchases after we returned home that day. The late afternoon and evening would be spent doing necessary things before bedtime.

The paper doll or coloring book would be placed somewhere close by my bed and tucked in with me, for the night.

The next morning, almost before my eyes were opened�I awoke with a sense of anticipation. There was something to look forward to. It may have taken a few moments to realize what that �something� was, but the sense of it was there.

Over the years, I began to realize the difference upon first awakening when there was a �something to look forward to�, or not.

This is not a childish thing. It is one, small, but important facet of a person�s happiness. �Something to look forward to.�

As we grow older, this is something we often have to purposefully form our thoughts around. It is often a choice, and then an effort�to find that �something�. It can be as obvious as anticipation of a vacation, or a visit with friends or family. It can be looking forward to accomplishing a goal or acquiring a new piece of furniture.

Or, so often, it must be something which has to be mined from everyday living. A delicious cup of coffee. New blossoms on a flowering plant. A favorite T.V. program. A good book. Anticipating the arrival of something we have ordered to be delivered.

Abe Lincoln once said: �Folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.�

We are all children until we decide to grow up. Growing up, in this case�doesn�t mean we don�t need the little things to look forward to. It means we have to choose to find them at times.

And this is desperately important. When there is nothing at all to look forward to over a period of time, people tend to give up having the desire to go on. It is not a small matter.

I am trying to learn various ways of creating or discovering my own things to look forward to.

Well, on THAT depressing note, I hope you don�t lose the essence of what I have been thinking about. Life has a pattern of two steps, repeated over and over as we climb our personal staircase. The steps are called �choice� and �learning�. The choices are imperative. The learning is the process. Growth is the result.

My Webshots wallpaper pulled this photo up yesterday, and I thought I would share it with you. A couple of years ago, several members of our family took two of my grandchildren to Disneyland. These two are a year apart in age, she being the younger. It was the first time she had remembered meeting her cousin, as they live in different cities. She fell in love at first sight. We took this shot as they paused for a snack. They are a couple of �characters�.

*For those who may be concerned (probably no one), I want you to know that I do realize that I split infinitives, have fragmented sentences�and the worst of all�I START SENTENCES WITH A CONJUNCTION/PREPOSITION much of the time.

I have chosen, whenever I feel so inclined, to write as I think�or as I would speak, just letting it flow. That seldom produces good literary form. But, (there I go again) you do get to know the real me better that way.

Thanks for reading.

Text � copyright 2003 - 2008 The Homespun Philosopher

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