My very own good advice.........

I strolled into Starbuck's, as usual, last Wednsday after my workout. After ordering my Venti Hazelnut coffee, I grabbed the latest "Sync". It comes out every Wednesday and I love turning to the first page inside to see what the "Question of the Week" is in the "Meet the Staff" section. The answers to these questions are always very telling and I find myself thinking about what I might say in response...

Today's question was "If you could have dinner with the characters from any book, which one would you choose and why?"

Of course, there were the typical..."The Bible, it would be the experience of a lifetime..." or other such sentiments...the "literary" books, the "political" books, etc.....and I thought, who would I choose?

The First thought that came to mind, was a book that I haven't even read all the way through, and the associated movie that I didn't even LIKE. But nevertheless, there it was and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me...Alice in Wonderland...

Now, I have to admit, I immediately drew a correlation between this story and my life right now. I wish I could be the spiritual and/or mental/literary giant everyone thinks I am (hahahhaha) and say something profound about how I would pick "The Life of Pi" or some other random popular book right now, or maybe a classic like "Crime and Punishment" (one of those 400 billion page books that you suffer through in school and then tell people you read on summer break and they think you're all dark and twisty...). But nope....I chose a story about a non-sensical place a girl visits to get away from the boring and logical life, when she should have just followed her "own very good advice...", not going where she isn't invited and lounging around with Dinah the cat....

I mean, if I were at dinner with these guys, what would I say?

I would probably ask the Cheshire Cat "Why must you persist in evading the answers to my questions with riddles and then disappear?" (Although I would later realize.... that his definition of madness is merely doing the opposite of what everyone else thinks is normal and may, in fact, actually be sanity...and....if you don't care where you end up, it doesn't matter which way you go....)

I might talk to the rabbit about time management, so he wouldn't be rushing around so much...

Maybe I would ask for some of the mushroom to make me shrink when I wanted to hide or make me bigger when I was scared.....

And if the Queen of Hearts didn't threaten to "off my head", I might ask her how she got her name, when she obviously beheads anyone and everyone that does not follow her rules or do things to her liking...

I could possibly convince the Mad Hatter to give me an "Un-Birthday" party....



Let's just say that it would probably annoy the hell out of me...and yet, I would probably learn more about reality from these nonsensical characters than anyone else...and maybe more about my own life. Who would you have dinner with?

stuff....and stuff....

I had posted this some time ago on my MySpace blog and felt the need for revision...

Elizabeth Elliot has said.. "You can always choose to be grateful for what is given, or ungrateful for what is not. One or the other becomes a way of life."

I'm afraid that the "latter" has been my way of life for WAY too long. So, I reflect on this list and hope to add to it frequently.
You have to be purposeful about these things, so here's my list......I love and am grateful for...

the smell of cut grass... coffee...finding something unique... flowers... journals...being able to walk, jump, skip, run, and stretch...music that touches your soul...being able to sweat...flipflops in summer...the sound of seagulls...the heat outside that's only okay in Florida because you know the beach is there...friends that give you room to breathe...finger painting...weeping willows...hummingbirds...crisp mornings...sisters...water fountains...Chinese street signs...cats that like Eggo cereal and cool whip...visiting friends...revelations from God...twirling...anything Bohemian...ice...a cool breeze...people that know your name...a good, strong back...indian chai...a good night's sleep...Back to the Future, over and over again...grocery shopping when you're hungry...the smell of clothes after being on the clothesline...owls...fingerless gloves and legwarmers....smores...barf bags on planes...unexpected and spontaneous trips...double knit thermal shirts...secret hideouts...pumpkins...Christmas cookie cutters...wax lips...nostalgia...grilled cheese..killer boot camp gym classes...new shoes...aisle seats...wind chimes..snowcones...the coolness of satin pillowcases...the smell of freshly cut rhubarb...disco hits, especially 'Le Freak'...running....time alone....care packages and snail mail....the smell of Cabbage Patch Dolls that doesn't seem to fade over time...seeing someone realize God has just touched them...

Now go post your own...