Any Unnecessary Pianos In Your Life?

In the Comic strip, “The Doozies: by Tom Gammill on 6/10/2009, it has a salesman at a man’s door trying to sell him a piano. To which the man replies, “No one in the Family plays.” To which the salesman replies, “Doesn’t matter – It makes a great table for Picture frames.” And the last panel shows a piano in the driveway complete with half a dozen Framed pictures on it.
And under the comic were these three comics from previous readers. One said, “How did the guy get the piano to that place”. Another said, “If the pictures were included I might make an offer”. And the final; said,” It’s a shame no one plays the piany no more.”
Again this is just a reminder that different people can see the same thing but come to completely different conclusions depending on their own personal interests and likes.
However what I wanted to focus on here today was how many things do we have in our homes or lives that are not being properly used for their intended and proper uses? And what should we do about them? Just keep them to prop Pictures on? Learn to properly and fully use them to their proper end? Pass them on to someone else who can. Or just get rid of them and replace them with something more appropriate to your needs?
Again I cannot make any decisions for you. All I can do is to encourage you to look at your life and see if you have any “Pianos” there just propping up pictures, and whether you need to pass them on to someone who can make proper use of them or just get rid of them altogether and replace them with something more practical and more suitable to your needs. So will you do that today? Will you look at what is unnecessarily cluttering up your life and how you can best dispose of it? And then do something about it!

Are you really that desperate?

This “For Better or For Worse” comic Strip from 7/2/09, by Lynn Johnston has the wife’s best friend busy at the computer tapping away. Then we read her thought bubbles, which say: “Lonely divorcee, age 35, one child, seeks companionship…”
“No! Make that: Sincere single woman with child seeks relationship with…”
“AAGH! It’s no use!! I’ll probably attract some crazy NUTCASE!” Now had she stopped there, it would have been fine, but the final panel ends with her continuing to tap away at the computer saying: “Then again… A weird relationship might be better than nothing!”
Now you will know from my previous blog, Are you this type of Friend? “ that her friend talks her out of posting this letter, but have you ever felt like this? So desperate for something that you will be tempted and strongly tempted to do what you know is the wrong thing, but are still prepared to do so, because of your perceived desperation?
If so, stop for a while and really think about what you do have. Sometimes in cases like this, one focuses on what they don’t have, forgetting all that they do have, and often things that others would just love to have.
Now I know that this is just a cartoon character, but as yesterday’s blog pointed out, she really wasn’t that badly off. She had a great kid, a great job, a home of her own and stability. She had all these good things but had forgotten them in her obsession for something else.
Again this is only a comic strip, but what about you in real life? Have you also become obsessed with what you don’t have and forgotten all the Good things you do have? The good things that many others would just love to have!
So today, don’t focus on what you don’t have but focus on and appreciate that which you do have.

Are you this type of Friend?

In this “For Better or For Worse” comic Strip from 10/2/09 by Lynn Johnston, the wife is reading a letter handed to her by her best friend and responds, “Don’t tell me you were actually going to put an ad in the personal column!”
“Connie, this is just too much! Your need for someone has become an obsession!”
“You’re got a great kid, a great job, and I think you’ve been acting like an idiot”.
Wow! How do you think you would react if your best friend spoke like that to you? Well, let’s see how the comic strip ends, shall we? There in the last panel it has Connie reply with her hand on her friends shoulder saying:” Thanks El… I knew I could count on you to say the right thing.”
What El said to her friend was tough but true, and sometimes we just have take a deep breath and speak up when we see people about to do something stupid and seeking our council.
I am not saying here that we should become busybodies with an opinion on every subject, but at times and especially when it is brought to our attention, we may need to risk our friendships and maybe even our reputations by being called busybodies, to say what is right, and what is needed. Needed to be said and needed to be heard! What say you?

Think after you speak too!

In response to my blog “Think before You Speak,” I received the following response from my American friend in South Africa: ”I'm not sure that once you have made a decision you have to stick with it. I think it is often a sign of pride. I can think of instances where people in authority stubbornly held to decisions even when faced with the facts that showed that the decision was ridiculous. Why not simply admit that in light of the new information you have decided to make a change?”
Actually, I couldn't agree more with my friends comment. However that is dealing with the problem after the event. My blog was an attempt to get us all to think more carefully before making each and any decision. If that were done more often, there would be fewer occasions where we would need to correct ourselves. Which, as my friend implies, does occur more often now, than we would like.
So, as the topic is now on the table, is there some area in your life right now where you not only need to, but should re-evaluate your initial decision, even to the point of humbling yourself and saying, that in light of new information, you have decided to make a change?”
Again I thank my friend for his input on the topic. And if you have something you would also like to comment on or even correct, please feel free to do so.

Think before You Speak.

This “For Better Or For Worse” Cartoon Strip by Lynn Johnson from July 13, has the mother “out gardening when her Boy comes up and asks, “Can I play in the Sprinkler, MOM.” To which she replies, “No!” He then replies, “But it’s hot out and I’m not sick or anything! “To which his mother replies sternly, “ I said NO!” To which he replies, “ That’s not fair! There’s’ no reason why I can’t play in the sprinkler!’ Then in the final frame we see the mother's thought bubble: “I know …but once you’ve said no … you've got to save face.”
Now I don’t actually agree that she has to save face, but I do agree that once you have made a decision, you do have to stick with that, no matter how uncomfortably it makes you. Unless it is either immoral or illegal.
However getting back to the above illustration I think that there are two clear and distinct lessons to be learned from it. One for each party.
Firstly, the Boy put up a good argument at the end, but sadly He left all his pertinent points until after the answer was no.
So from this we should learn to marshal all pertinent and relevant facts before hand, and present them upfront, and not wait until after the decision has been made.
And secondly we learn form the mother not to be too hasty in rejecting a request, just because it’s timing is inopportune or its presentation is initially lacking in content.
So please think before you speak! Whether it is to ask for something, or whether it is too respond to any such requests, or for any other matter too!
Now of course if one of my children were to ask me that today, I would also say no! Not just because they are adults and would look funny running in and out of a sprinkler! But because we have severe water restrictions and can only run a hose for 2 hours, twice a week! Even now in our Winter/spring!

How are you feeling today? Crapulous or not?

Yes, are you feeling fabulous, Crapulous or somewhere in between?
I don’t know about where you are, but here in Oz Crappy is often used to describe not feeling very well. Now up until September 14th of this year, I had always assumed that crappy, although still not a nice word, was still a more politer form of a not so nice word, with a different original meaning (albeit slightly connected.).
Not so it seems, and feeling “crappy” is really a legitimate abbreviation from the noun crapulous. Yes, according to the word of the day for September 14Th Crapulous means
1. Given to or characterized by gross excess in drinking or eating.
2. Suffering from or due to such excess.
So again how are you feeling today? I am neither fabulous or crapulous. But okay nonetheless. And trust that you are likewise, if not fabulous.
But if you are crapulous today, I hope that you will soon get over it and be well again, and that next time, you will watch you eat and drink, okay?

Talking about Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.

No I am not making that word up! It really does exist. And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Hippopotamuses either. Although not a serious ailment, many people do suffer from it. I obviously I don’t, (some would say I suffer from the other extreme though!) but I do suffer from two related phobias: such as pronouncing and spelling ones like this!
Yes, according to a question in the Herald Sun Quiz page on September 15, hippopotomonstroses quippedaliophobia is the “fear of long words”.
As said above, I am happy to use long words once I know what they mean and thus I don’t fear them once I know how to at least pronounce them. (Just don’t ask me how long it took me to properly pronounce hyperbole!)
What about you? Do you fear long words, by either skipping them or ignoring them? Or do you embrace them enough to at least find out what they mean, even if you never use them again, like I suspect with the above word?
Putting this into general terms, what do you do with things that are unusual or strange to you in everyday life? Ignore them completely, work around them, embrace them or simply deal with them in the appropriate manner when they arrive and then move on?
Just something simple to think on for today! Have a great one too!