Less Hustle More Coffee

Here is a flavor of fall from my office.

Sleep was good last night and our evening was nice. George fixed hamburger steaks, fries and toasted onions in the air fryer, and salad and beans. We watched “Below Deck Mediterranean”. It’s the next to the last show. Then in October “Below Deck” will be on. It’s mindless entertainment and fun to watch. I’m glad George enjoys watching it. Or at least endures it.

We are enjoying the Netflix. George realized there was an Ultra HD instead of just HD. It’s more per month (maybe $3 more than what we had). He was like a kid and said “yeah yeah do that”. So we upgraded right from our seats with the clicker, just like that! lol And the difference is really incredible. So George went through and picked movies from the list and added to our “watch list”. Also I went through and picked some out before we switched to Ultra HD and now I need to go back and do it again b/c it opened up more movies for us.

The temps are getting cooler at night but during the day they rise up. I think we are living in a desert right now (I originally typed dessert – which might not be bad to live in – I think I’d choose cheesecake – it’d be soft.) I think we have a batch of really hot weather coming – like upper 90’s the weekend into next week. Normally the first week of October – Oct 5-8 brings a terrible thunder storm which really sets the dynamics to bring cooler temps in and there is still a battle of warm and cold air the rest of the year which each battle bringing cooler temps with it.

We are predicted for hotter than normal temps through the rest of the year with periodic fluctuations of warm and cool – but averages I guess are higher. Yes, I’ve been watching the weather channel a bit more lately. I kinda got away from watching it through the years when they had shows on instead of the actual weather. Lately when I turn it on they are doing the weather – might be b/c of hurricane season. Not sure. But if they are back to the old way of doing it, I’m good with that.

Something I was thinking about in the shower this morning. I have been listening to some podcasts that are spiritual minded. I rather like listening to some of these Self-Help type of things by listening on Audible to books like “Girl Wash Your Face” and “Kind is the New Classy”. It helps provide some surprising understandings about the psychology of why we are the way we are sometimes. I was a bit enlightened by my own “thinking through” of a few things after listening to a pod cast yesterday. On the podcast of “Girl Wash Your Face”, she was talking about the negative things that roll around in our head – like judgement of others and we often don’t even realize what we are thinking. That is so true. We are so used to our own thoughts – they are OUR thoughts and no one else can hear those thoughts unless we mouth out what we are thinking – which a lot of us do sometimes. We chide ourselves for the gossip or the unleashing of our thoughts to others. But do we chide ourselves for the negative thoughts we have of others, or even our own selves? We think about why we are having those thoughts, usually some other form of judgement or division or placement of what is right or wrong in our minds.

Having slept well and then getting up and taking a shower (an excellent place to think) I realized a few things. As a person that grew up in a spiritual family-which I am lucky to have been born into an extended family of Christian faith – but growing up in this world and having been taught black and white rules of Christian faith – it makes for a breeding ground of judgment against others. Think about it. When a person learns “right from wrong” you notice the environment you are in and when others cross the line, your brain makes a notation of it as a deviation from the rule, the norm, the law, the ______(fill in blank). I think that I have been listening and watching of so many through the years of my entire life of others commenting about people who have crossed the line. Their name is mentioned and their “sin” or “wrong doing” or “rule breaking” is then mentioned EVERY time their name is brought up. So, we have most all of us, done this, so there is no pointing of fingers to any one person, I’m not placing judgment here myself but just making observations of why we do what we do as humans.

So having been in that world for so long I think my brain was trained to constantly compare current situations to what is right and just. Which is a good thing, but it makes me define what is not right – ALL the time! Whether it be a person, or a situation. And of course, you know my nature is to make everything right, good, and better. And if I don’t I set to whining about it like no tomorrow – and that might be a Southern Magnolia thing. lol

Anyway, that was today’s revelation. But I have been making more notice of “my thoughts” lately and not just deciding whether to say this or that, but deciding whether I need to even be thinking this or that. It’s easy to say we should filter our thoughts and keep the evil thinking out – no bad thoughts of evil leading to sin, but have we actually thought about the things that we think of about other people when we judge them, why are we judging them? The book I was reading “Girl Wash Your Face” said to think about something good about that person when you have that bad thought. What a great idea.

It’s never been our job to judge others in the first place. A quick read of The Shack, will teach that lesson. And about forgiveness as well. But yet we all do it. And some of us more than others but we all do it. Some may have a problem getting past their judgments of others. It’s as if the person should just be named their “sin” or “rule breaking” and have it as a name tag or a placement on their forehead.

What if people just loved one another instead? What if people looked for the good points? What if people looked into the “why” something might have happened? What if people really need our support and kindness instead of our judgment and cruelty? What if instead of drawing lines, we drew closer? What if we realized drawing a line may not give that other person a chance to improve or be loved? What if it alienates them further?

These are thoughts that roll around my head in the shower, in the car, at blog time, at night before bed, in the morning when I wake. All in an effort to be a better person myself, to be loved myself, to not be judged myself, to do what God would have me do.

And what man would have me do – is to get my derriere to work so I can finish that last payroll closure for the plant that needs to be finished this morning. Hope you all have a superb day!