A few days ago, on Facebook  I posted a re-run blog that I wrote 2 years ago.  It was about writing letters, long ago, back when I used to write a great deal of them.  I just loved corresponding in this way!  When I began writing letters, I was in high school.  I had pen pals from other countries, but most of them didn’t write much in their letters and/or quit entirely.   

However, I had one pen pal with whom I corresponded for years, even after I was married.  That made our relationship so special.  I had only met him once when I was 17, and over the years we developed a wonderful relationship through all of our long, newsy missives.  So much so, that even when life events caused us to lose contact, we were able to find each other again.

At present, I already have a young friend with whom I correspond, that I enjoy very much. I worked at the school she attended and I tutored her.  She is a lovely young woman and we truly enjoy this experience.  

Now, I am about to have a new pen pal, one who lives far away, on another continent.  A young woman, who I became acquainted with on Facebook, and I have decided to write letters to each other.  She wanted to be Facebook friends in order to help her learn English.  So we messaged each other back and forth, which recently culminated in a very long “chat” on Messenger.  I am really excited to begin this journey with her.  The words we write and send to another person are a treasure to keep, and return to again whenever we choose.  It is a tangible communication and that makes it special.  It’s like having a souvenir from a memorable event.  But it is so much more personal.

I look forward to corresponding with this young woman and learning about her and her country.  We are going to become pen pals starting tomorrow when I write to her for the first time.  She is the same age as my oldest granddaughter.  I am eager to learn more about my new friend  and I really want to get to know her.  I want to travel to her country someday.  But, for now, the journey will begin with a pen and paper.  Then the written words will be folded and tucked into a stamped envelope, which will travel the many miles between us. And hopefully, sometime in the future we will meet face-to-face.  And that will make me so very happy.

Today, while driving home, I began to feel a song coming on.  So I started “writing” it in my head, trying to remember it as I waited for traffic lights, stopped at stop signs and finally arrived at my house.

I went up the steps, into the house and started to write the lyrics as I had been singing them in the car.  And then I wrote a second verse.  Now I go through the torment of wondering if this is a melody I have heard somewhere in the past and if I have hijacked it as my own.  I am always concerned that this could happen, what with all the songs that live in my head.  I just now wrote the lyrics and rewrote them once already, so I am pretty sure that they are original.  Time will tell.

It is a gospel song and there are patterns and repetitions that are common in this vernacular.  So sometimes, I worry that I could be unintentionally copying part of another writer’s work.  So far, to my knowledge, this has not happened.  But it concerns me nevertheless.

But I am so amazed and happy that these songs come to me just begging to be sung.  That’s not the way it really happens, of course.  They don’t beg.  But it sure seems that way.

Music, writing, dancing, performing music and acting, the visual arts and so many other creative ventures can elicit joy, sadness, frustration, anger and every other emotion that humans can feel.  It is all part of human expression and communication.  

Many, many more people have multiple skills and trades for designing and building things of all kinds. Others of us are gifted in occupations that go unnoticed and underappreciated.  But nothing else would be able to function without all of them in our world.

All work is valuable and necessary to create the world we live in.  All are important.  We each have something to give and we all benefit from each other’s labors.  Everyone is needed in our society and our world.  For that I am more grateful than words can express.  And all of these thoughts occurred to me just because I was inspired to write a song.

Today is my birthday.  I am 70 years old.  I don’t know what I am supposed to feel like, but I sure don’t feel 70.  I just feel blessed.  Sure, I am not young, or as fit and my memory is not even close to what it used to be.  But I am doing pretty darn good.  I am healthy, my eyesight is pretty good, and all my senses are working well.  I have so many things to be thankful for, and I am pretty happy most of the time.  I have my down moments.  But they are just that, moments.

A birthday is a time to take stock of where you are in your life journey.  When I think about it I, recognise that I have always had a nice place to live, clothes on my back and family who love me.  I have wonderful friends, both old and new and chances to serve in my community.  I have talents, God given, as all of our talents are, and love to share with others.  And I enjoy that so very much.

And if that wasn’t enough to be grateful for, I am retired.  And I’m contemplating the chance to pursue life goals which I have never had time and opportunity to do until now.  I really feel happiness more than anything.

I am almost embarrassed by my good fortune, because I know full well that there are many people who do not have that experience in their lives.  But that is what moves me to be of service to others in whatever way I can.  And it is equally important to graciously receive the gifts given to oneself.  Whatever we have to give in this life is meant to be shared.  At least, that is what I believe.  And the joy it causes both parties to feel is an immeasurable treasure.

As I am writing this, I am eternally grateful to those of you who will spend your time reading it.  A gift, given and received, is a chance to make our world a better place to live.  And that is what I’ve learned in the 70 years I’ve lived.  Thanks for reading!  It makes me so happy!   

Do you ever think about how moods affect our lives?  I do.  And it is quite a powerful factor in how we see the world, how we interpret events, and how we behave.  I tend to think about how moods affect my daily life.  I do this a lot.  That is because I like to think about the psychology of actions and reactions in my own life.  I want to understand what makes me tick.

Now I know that sounds odd, and I probably am odd.  However, self-examination can be helpful in decision-making.  And sometimes, it may be a good idea not to make decisions when one is in a bad mood.

Many of our reactions to circumstances and events can be dramatically affected by our moods.  It is not a good time for important, far-ranging decision-making.  It is best to put it off to another day.

There are activities to be avoided when one is in a bad mood, especially those that have to do with the primary relationships in our lives.  Anger rarely serves a positive purpose, and should usually be avoided.  Stay away from people, if possible.  If a person can’t do this, limit close contact with others.  It’s better to be safe than sorry.  Words, once uttered, cannot be taken back.

I am blessed with having good moods most of the time.  And I prefer to look on the bright side of things.  Still there are times when that is not even conceivable.  Each person is the only one who truly knows what is happening in their own situation.  Every one of us is unique.  Comparisons are not usually helpful and sometimes can make things worse.

Today, I was becoming sad and didn’t know why.  However, today I was able to thwart that feeling and began to talk myself into a better mood.  That doesn’t happen often.  But today it did, and I am so happy and grateful.  

Recently, I decided to just walk around the house with my phone while praying.  I used to do something similar before, but didn’t have a way of measuring how far I was travelling.  This was at a time when I didn’t have any device for measuring distance.  But I would speed walk in my kitchen for twenty minutes or so and get a pretty good work out.

Today, there are many ways to track mileage, but I just use my phone, because it’s smart and can do such things.  Sometimes I am jealous because my memory has really let me down.  But my phone does not disappoint!

Walking is therapeutic and it benefits you regardless of how you might feel about it.  Just do it and you’ll see.  After doing this, a person can’t help but feel better.

I found out, when walking on a treadmill at the gym, that I was going farther than I thought.  And the amount of time spent was more too.  That encouraged me.  But then I stopped, and Covid hit and I am back to walking in the kitchen. The temperature there is always the same and totally controllable, unlike the weather outside.

I have been delinquent in my walking in the kitchen, and have just started up again.  But the best thing is that it takes so much less time out of my day.  There is no driving back back and forth from home to the gym.  And even after just a few days, it gets easier and begins to form a habit.  That’s the key, forming a habit.

Today, I found an article put out by Harvard Health Publishing, entitled “Exercise can boost your memory and thinking skills.”  I mean, as I was writing this I found it!  It’s online and it was just published on 2/15/21.  Boy does that encourage me!  It’s really a great article!  I recommend it!  150 minutes a week is a suggested goal, and I can almost do that already.  If you haven’t exercised recently, the article stated that it is best to start gradually and add 5 to 10 minutes each week.  I think that makes it easier to get used to it.

So if you are interested, and want to walk a mile, or more, just do it today.  I definitely think that you’ll be glad that you did.  I sure am!