Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Everyone has a story.  You just have to stop and listen and observe.  Every one tells their story differently.  All the drama is there.  You often find out their tales in bits and pieces.  Very seldom will theirs completely unravel.

Most of the time you gets little pieces of theirs.  In little chunks.  Maybe ten, fifteen seconds at a time.  They do not have to know you.  It is hard not to reveal anything of yourself.

Your dress, manner and conversation speaks volumes.  You just have to listen.  Some people reveal triumph, others tragedy.  Others failure.  All you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open.

Others peoples’ story are always unraveling in front of you.  You have to take the time to listen.  That is all it takes.  A little patience and time.

Tags: bits and pieces, conversation, drama, everyone has a story, failure, keep your eyes and ears open, observe, patience, peoples' stories, reveal yourself, stop and listen, take time to listen, tales, tell your story, time, tragedy, triumph, your dress, your manner
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Time is always a question of balance.  It is easy to keep yourself occupied.  Every person needs empty spaces in their lives.

It is all too easy to go faster and faster nowhere.  It is essential to slow down, even stop even if that is briefly.  ‘Be still and know I am God’, the words from Proverbs in the Bible.

How can you possibly hear that tiny voice inside you if you are always rushing from one thing to another?  It is so essential to stop periodically and examine your life, figure out where are you heading.

That tiny voice inside you is too often passed by you in busyness and turmoil.  ‘Observe the Sabbath’, one of the ten commandments, is there to encourage you to get off your treadmill and look at your life.

How can your life have balance if you do not give your self time to examine it?  How you use your time is always a question of balance.  That is the only way to hear your tiny voice so easily covered up by other things.

Tags: Be still and know that I am God, Bible, busyness, examine your life, get off treadmill, going nowhere fast, look at your life, need to slow down, observe the Sabbath, Proverbs, question of balance, ten commandments, time, tiny voice inside you, we need empty spaces in life, where you are heading
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When death is knocking at your door, money fades in importance.  It is so easy to delude ourselves:  that your time on this earth is forever.  But when the realization comes it is running out (often due to illness or old age) your money (and possessions) are no longer that important.

All of a sudden other things come to the forefront:  your relationship with loved ones, maybe your legacy also.  Your possessions which maybe you spent a lifetime accumulating do not matter that much.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and the richest person in the whole world, realized that; when he founded with his wife what is today’s largest private foundation pouring in it more and more of his energy and resources (billions of dollars) in that endeavor.

In my case, I can not take my journals, books and music I spent a lifetime collecting with me when I go.  I have to figure out what is truly important in my life.  I do not want to waste time.

Often when someone faces his/her deathbed and realizes the way they spent their time really does not matter.  Your impending death shifts your priorities and also forces you to reexamine your value system.

Too many people die alone because they did not invest time in others.  Did not Jesus say, “When you lose your life, you find it”.  I think that is a paraphrase.

When you are in the dusk of your life, you find out the most valuable commodity you possess is time.  All the money in the world can not buy you one more minute on earth.

That realization forces you to examine your life carefully.  It is never too late to make a change although it is easy to regret the time you lost in fruitless endeavors.  You can never turn back the clock but there is always today.

Tags: accumulating things, Bill Gates, billions of dollars, books, death knocking at your door, deathbed, die alone, do not waste time, dusk of your life, examine your life, fruitless endeavors, God, illness, impending death, invest time in others, Jesus, journals, loved ones, make a change, Microsoft, money, music, never too late, old age, our time on earth, possessions, private foundation, regrets, relationships, richest person in the world, shift your priorities, spend your time, there is always today, time, turn back the clock, when you lose your life you find it, writer, writing, your legacy, your value system
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Every day is a privilege and why do I act otherwise.  I act as if my days are endless and as King Solomon says, ‘Life is but a vapor.’

I waste (our) days sometimes.  I act as if my time on this earth is infinite.  I know.  I have been there repeatedly.  I have to remind myself each day is a gift.  I know I am a master of rationalization.  I act as if I will be forever here.

It is marvelous what a shower and putting on clean clothes (and dressing nicely) does to your attitude.  I am saying today matters.  I will respect my time here.  It is truly a gift.

It is so easy for me to fall down in the dumps to use a cliche.  I really have to work at it and sometimes from the outside first and my attitude towards the day will change.

Every day I am on this earth is a privilege and I have to treat it as such.  I really matter to the one above so I have to give him the respect due and treat each day that the Lord brings me as a gift.  It really is.

Tags: Bible, clean clothes, down in the dumps, each day is a gift, endless days, give respect to God, God, infinite, King Solomon, Life is but a vapor, Old Testament, respect my time here, take a shower, the Lord, time, time on earth, today is a gift, today matters, waste time, your attitude
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I always thought there would be tomorrows but now I am not sure.  My visits with my doctor made me realize this so I decided to plan the trip to San Francisco I have wanted to do since the late sixties.

I do not know what my fascination with San Francisco is but I have wanted to go there for forty years.  I want to go in style:  I will take a “sleeper” on Amtrak with my wife from Chicago to San Francisco next spring.

“The California Zephyr” goes across the United States:  I have always loved trains and they are my favorite form of public transportation.  I have almost six months to plan out this trip in next April.

I do not want to put off this trip any longer.  Who knows what the time will bring?  ‘Time is indeed a vapor’ in the words of King Solomon from the Old Testament.

Tags: Amtrak, Bible, California Zephyr, doctor, King Solomon, late sixties, Old Testament, public transportation, railroad sleeper car, San Francisco, thought there would be tomorrows, time, time is a vapor, trains, United States, who knows what time will bring
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Time is the most precious thing you possess.  All of a sudden, money does not mean anything when you realize your time is running out.

This realization has become sharper to me:  I may not make it to my seventieth birthday.  I am trying to work through my depression that descended after my last visit with my nephrologist.  The report was not good.

I did some research and found out the mortality rate of people put on dialysis was depressing:  over twenty per cent die the first year and over two thirds in a five year period.

I could be facing my end.  Material things did not matter much any more.  Time can not be bought.  It is the most precious thing you possess.  This was all brought to the forefront.  And I did not want to waste it.

Tags: cannot buy time, depressing, depression, dialysis, do not waste time, face my end, material things do not matter much, money, mortality rate, nephrologist, time, time cannot be bought, time is precious, time running out
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‘Life is but a vapor.’  King Solomon’s words in the Bible.  If that is true and it is so what’s the point?  Your life will be over before you know it.

He tempers those words in the Old Testament with the statement and I am paraphrasing:  It is a gift to enjoy our life.

The Greek has several words for the word “time” and right now they escape me.  Nevertheless, one means the chronological passage of time and another means the significance of that point in time.

It is true, time seems, in retrospect, to flee you but not all points have similar value to you.  It is the points in time that have significance to us so don’t despair over the passing in time.

Cherish the moments you have been given for there is no more precious gift that can be given to you than today.  We all have so much and none of us knows exactly how much.  And that makes our time on earth here that much more valuable.  We never know when it is going to run out.

Tags: Bible, cherish the moments, don't despair, God, Greek, it is a gift to enjoy our life, King Solomon, life is a gift, Life is but a vapor, Old Testament, passing time, precious gift, time, time flees, time is valuable, time on earth, time runs out, today is a gift, what's the point?
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I did not think about it:  I was wearing shorts today like I have for months.  It was time to switch to pants.  It was rainy and 58 degrees outside.  The summer was really over.  It was only a few weeks ago where the temperature dropped 10 degrees as if someone just flicked a switch.

For months I just wore tee shirts.  I could no longer do that.  Summer had officially less than two weeks to go.  It already felt like autumn.  I just had to make the adjustment as far as apparel.  It was time.

Tags: autumn, Fall, God, outside temperature, pants, rain, seasons, shorts, summer, summer is over, tee shirts, time
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What is worst than death?  A few suggestions.  Living and dying at the same time.

Knowing you really do not care how you are spending most of your time.

Knowing deep inside your job is the wrong one and you refuse or are too scared to make any change.

There are too many unresolved conflicts in your life.

Your marriage is “dead” and you are “paralyzed”.

Each day is the same.

You no longer can see beauty.

All you can do is complain.

Money is more important than people.

Each day is not new and blends into each other and you wonder how you spent your time.

In fact, you have no idea where the time went.

Love just seems to be too idealistic.

You can not love or work.

All you feel is pain.

You can not get past your pain.

You forgot how to laugh.

Each day is not a new dawn.

You think you have to go to some far off exotic island, to escape, to enjoy your vacation.

You can not wait to do that.

All your friends have died.

You forgot how to be a friend.

This is just an incomplete list.

And I want to caution there is always two sides to everything.

And it is only my list.

Tags: be a friend, beauty, can no longer see beauty, complain, each day is the same, forgot how to laugh, friends die, God, love, marriage, money, new dawn, pain, scared, time, unresolved conflict, work, worse than death, wrong job
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Depression can be a result of one major event but often it is an accumulation of a series of unresolved small matters.  Tackle each matter you have some control of, step by step, and usually your depression will lift.  It might take awhile, hours, days and sometimes a few weeks.

Somehow you need to examine your life and see what is on the surface, see what is bothering you.  It is often an accumulation of many small things.  Each small matter that you can exert some or more control of the sooner your depression will lift.

In this state it is usually a good idea to baby yourself a bit.  Start doing things that usually give you pleasure.  In the beginning it may be hard to remember the things you did in the past that always gave you pleasure but start somehow.

Just be patient, your depression will probably lift given enough time.  Just start.  Obtain solace from the fact depressions usually are temporary:  they will lift but you have to exert the power or control in your life you can.  It just takes time and effort.

And remember in the beginning, it will take greater effort:  an object at rest to get going will take greater energy and once you get moving it will take less and less extra energy to keep going.  So be patient in the beginning with your inertia (your state of depression).  It will get easier and easier as your depression eases but you have to make a greater effort in the beginning.

And by no means am I am saying to forgo professional help if you need it.  It may mean being put on an anti-depressant to buy time while you learn better coping mechanisms.  There is never shame in seeking the help of a doctor or counseling or both if you can not come out of your depression by yourself.  You do not have to do it alone.

Tags: anti-depressant, baby yourself a bit, coping mechanisms, counseling, depression, depression will lift, do not have to do it alone, doctor, effort, examine your life, extra energy to get going, God, inertia, patience, professional help, take control, time, unresolved small matters
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My daughter worked the last eight days.  She is going to spend time with me today.  Father’s Day for her had to be postponed two days.  That is the most precious thing she has–her time.  She does not have much money but she has time.  And no price can be put on that.  Time is invaluable.  Especially when that is all you have.  So squander it on the people you care about.  It is a gift.  You never know for sure when it will run out.

Tags: Father's Day, God, money, my daughter, time, time is a gift, time is precious, work
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Just examine one section of the book in the Bible written by King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) to illustrate this.  Truth is absolute but it is more complicated than that.  Yes, truth is absolute but is always balanced by another truth.  There is a time and place for everything.  It states there that ‘for everything there is a season,’ the section of the Bible from which Pete Seeger, the well known folk singer, adapted his lyrics of the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which the Byrds had a hit with in the late sixties.

In those lines you have one statement or if you want to call it one truth balanced by another.  For example, ‘there is a time to love and a time to hate, a time to mourn and a time to laugh’ and so forth.

Too many people have pulled this Scripture (and others of course) out of context and declared part of each statement to be absolute truth.  If you were to declare one statement to be absolute truth (and it is), it is not valid for an eternity.

And this happens all the time when a preacher will act as though he/she is the only one who possesses the truth, and others do the same.  Yes, there is a time and season for every truth and be aware there will always (???) another side to it and there is a season for everything.

Tags: "Turn! Turn! Turn!", absolute truth, Bible, double edged sword, Ecclesiastes, for everything there is a season, God, King Solomon, Pete Seeger, Preacher, scripture, seasons, the Byrds, time, time and place for everything, truth, wisdom
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