Saying Yes…

image courtesy of bossfight

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to say, no? Why is that?

Is it because once you’ve said no, the topic is closed. It’s over. No further discussion. Moving on to the next thing?

Or is it because no just feels like a safer option?

When you say no, there is no commitment. No obligation. No risk or gamble.

No chance at failure.

Probably. Definitely. At least for me.

I suppose it’s a combination of being an introvert, manifesting impostor syndrome, disappointment, and native gullibility that has led me down the path of no.

It’s just easier. Less chance of being hurt. Right?

There’s only one problem with saying no. You miss things. You let opportunities pass you by. You often get left behind. You don’t usually realize any of these things until it’s too late.

So…in the spirit of trying new things, I’ve decided to say yes. For one week. I will say yes to any opportunity, large or small. I will say yes, even when my mind is screaming, NO! RUN! DON’T! Even if it terrifies me. Even if I feel like I don’t have the proverbial snowball’s chance in hell. I WILL SAY YES.

I mean, what do I have to lose? No, hasn’t really gotten me anywhere. And frankly, I could use some new adventures and a few new friends too.

I will give it a week. If I like this new attitude of yes, I may say yes for another week.

Wish me luck. I will report back on my findings.

How about you? Is your go-to answer yes or no? Tell me what you think about yes and no in the comments.

Annie the yes-woman

Darling Henry – Theme Friday

Henry was a darling

a quiet, gentle man

Who never rose his voice

and always lent a hand

He worked his job

for thirty years

Never missed a day

Always with a smile

and a kind word to say

He paid his taxes every year

and glady did his ‘part’

And let his son go off to war

although it broke his heart

He mowed his lawn

and swept his walk

with great care and pride

Never grumbling about grafitti

he used the whitewash to hide

He voted in elections

ever faithful to his party

Believing that the promised change

would make his country hearty

And then the pinkslip came

Henry was no longer needed

Outsourcing – the solution

to which his bosses heeded

And oh yes, by the way

the pension plan was bleeded

And in the dark his son returned

from the ravages of war

But Henry didn’t recognize

the boy he once adored

The market crashed -housing fell

bail outs left and right

And in his heart he wondered

When he’d lost his sight

But suddenly his eyes were opened

and shock rang through and through

and no one had to tell him

what suddenly he knew

And Henry’s still a darling

a lovely gentle man

who raises his voice proudly

to get a better plan

For Henry won’t surrender

his country without a fight

because my dear friends

our Henry’s seen the light

copyright 2010

Christine and Henry

Clancy Jane and Henry

Spring – Theme Friday

And out of the ashes, Spring has sprung. The fire that savaged and left my beloved hills scarred and black is now but a smoky memory…

Boasting fragile green under the spring sky, the hills are again alive.

I stand in the midsts  of new birth, rebirth and all things green. From tender leaves on saplings to fresh blades of virgin grass.

Creatures and local denizen come out of hiding and run along backyard walls, twitching bushy tails and scanning for crusts and peanut shells. Or take for the sky to revel the green below—settling on branches to sing their springtime ditties.

And now there lives a singing tree—that serenades me nightly as the sun saunters away from day and the moon moves in with silver light.

Jasmine blooms open and perfume the air in sweet repose as feathered friends tuck in the kiddies for the night. I hear them wooing their babies to sleep with chirps-twitters-fluttering wings. The magical tree safely ensconses the tiny warblers in dense foilage—keeping out bullies, making the world safe for babies not yet ready to fly.

copyright 2010

Christine has found spring too

Christmas Lives

Among my many adventures last year, Christmas wasn’t one of them. I had moved to a new state, started a new life and had many hopes for the future. What never dawned on me was that there would be no Christmas.

And I’m one of those whacky folks who really loves Christmas. Everything about it. From the tacky decorations that the stores put up way too early, to the endless Christmas carols on the radio, to the food. Santa Hats. Reindeer ears. Candy canes. Christmas trees. Even though I hate being cold, I still secretly wish for snow every Christmas Eve.

I collect Christmas movies and force roomie to watch them with me. Typically, I have the Christmas tree up and the house decorated by Thanksgiving weekend. Oh yes, I am a Christmas nut.

But then, last year, I discovered that Christmas was not to be. There was no belief in Christmas trees, or Christmas gifts or any real celebration. It was just another day as far as he was concerned and I got tired of him asking, ‘do you want a Christmas gift?’ I figure if you have to ask then please don’t do it because clearly you don’t want to. And no one should give a gift begrudgingly.

I tried. I found a sad little tree in Home Depot and decorated it – which seemed to amuse him but not in a nice way. I cried a lot. I did send Christmas cards but they were full of apologies for not doing anything else. For being sad and broke and
un-Christmas-y. Probably would have been better off to not send them at all. And then of course, people who don’t believe in Christmas also don’t believe in New Year’s, Valentine’s Day or birthdays either. In a phrase, last year was a bust in ways too many to enumerate.

This year, however, Christmas lives. I am about to put up the tree – even though I will probably moan and groan  as I do so. I’m going to put on Christmas music, and do the house up in silly decorations and maybe tomorrow, I’ll go get some Christmas cards with Santa and reindeers on them and some smart alec saying.

I started my shopping today and though the budget is still pretty tight, there will be presents. Exchanged with people who love to do so. There will be a meal to look forward to and lots of silly, soppy sentimental movies. I’ll find a santa suit for my dog and force her to pose for pictures. I’ll drive around the neighborhood and admire the lights that people have put up. I’ll buy some Christmas candy for the homeless guys who hang around the park. I will celebrate Christmas this year because it means something to me. And it always will.

Maybe though by not having it last year I learned something interesting about Christmas – that it’s not so important how you celebrate it, but that you celebrate it. To me, there is something fundamentally humane and joyous about holidays but especially Christmas. It is the time of year that we let our guards down – we show our love for our fellow man and friends and family and neighbors. It’s special. No matter what your religious beliefs, it is kind, warm, caring, fun, happy, giving. It brings out the best in (most) of us. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

So, I hope all of you out there are celebrating too, in one way or another. That you are feeling the Christmas glow, or love or joy or warm fuzzies. I hope that you are feeling your own giving and kind nature and reveling in it and sharing it with others. Christmas lives. In all of us.

Change – Theme Friday

The only thing certain that you can absolutely rely on in life, is change.

No matter how secure, content and safe you may feel in your life, with your friends, family or job – it can change in an instant. A fraction of a moment. A shard of time.

Your friends can turn their backs, your spouse could find someone new and your company could go out business without warning.

Or…the country that you love could be attacked on a beautiful late summer morning. The building you work in could be transformed from a benevolent old friend into a blazing enemy determined to destroy all within and without. Your countrymen could be murdered for a sin no greater than being in the wrong place at the wrongest of times.

Never forget the way that day changed all of us – please.

copyright 2009

I humbly dedicate these words to all the victims of September 11th, their families and loved ones, and to we who mourn the loss of that day, still.

Christine is changing here, check it out.

Hey Buddy – Can You Spare Some Change?

The idea of change is a sometimes scary prospect. It makes us uncomfortable to go from predictability to non-predictability. What we know can suddenly become what we don’t know. What we believe can shift and look completely different in the flap of one butterfly wing.

This can be a good and welcome thing or it can be horrendously disorienting. Perhaps it’s all a matter of perspective? I think so.

There are times in our lives when we want change. To change our look, our jobs, our lifestyles, or geographical location. Borne out of boredom or a sudden event that brings us to a new awareness in our lives or viewpoints. We crave a change or improvement of conditions because we realize our current path is somehow leading us in the wrong direction and we will do whatever it takes to affect that change.

On the other hand there is that other kind of change, the type we don’t want or expect or like. The type that surprises and throws us off our feed. Puts us in a quandry. That throws the proverbial wrench into the works and never will our lives be the same. But should it? Should our lives always be what we know, what we can predict and control, keep us safely wrapped in our comfort zone. Are we meece or men? I wonder.

Good or bad, to me, the essence of life is change. For when we stop changing we stop learning, we stop living and become the guys fighting to maintain the status quo – which in the end is impossible. Because no matter what we may or may not want, nothing ever stands still or stays the same. It either gets better or it gets worse – it contracts or it expands if only minutely. So, it seems to me that we either change or we stop being and become a little bit less every day. At least, that’s how see it.

How do you see it?

Cha-Cha-Changes…

I don’t know about you but I hate change and yet I love it. I love the newness and the excitement and honestly the whole mystery of it. What will it be like, where will I go, who will I meet, what will I see? On the other hand, being the lazy slug that I am, I hate changing anything – sometimes I don’t even change out of my pajamas, especially if it’s cold and the coffee is good and I get involved in something…I can go days just sitting in front of my computer. It’s pathetic really, I didn’t even know who’d been elected until Roomie came home and blurted it out before I could stop him. So see we have your classic love/hate relationship going on with change here.

So what is that all about? Is it simply comfort? We get comfortable with where/how things are and are loathe to alter things because we might have to actually put on our shoes or brush our teeth? Talk to another human being? Have I (we) become incurable couch potatoes? In my case, I suppose the answer would be yes, typically.

However, if I really think about it, this entire year has been all about change for me. Which could account for all my whining and sissy-assed behavior. Things that I always thought would be the same, weren’t. The unthinkable happened to someone I dearly love. Wonderful, surprising things happened that I never could have guessed in a thousand years or believed had someone told me it was going to happen. But more than anything my outlook has changed, it’s definitely more positive and filled with much hope and joy for the future. There is a whole lot more activity going on in the old gray matter – which has sort of had the affect of making me seem like Rain Man’s older sister or something. I laugh a lot more and smile a lot more. Which is really pretty amazing when I consider that a few months ago things seemed awfully glum, terribly sad and even hopeless.

So perhaps I have become an advocate for change. Not just for the sake of the change, I mean I could rearrange the furniture for that – but for new things, good things.

I know most of you are probably scratching your heads and thinking, ‘wtf is she talking about?’ that’s okay too. Maybe I’m just thinking out loud. Bottom line is that one thing, one incident can change everything and maybe that’s the way it’s meant to be. If you ask, it is.

How about you, any good changes happening for you?