Choices
I'm not sure at what age we begin to make choices in our lives. I suppose it starts at an early age. You go to the barber shop, and if you sit still and don't fidget too much, the barber might give you a choice between a green sucker or a red one. I like the color green, so it wasn't too hard to choose.
Somewhere around the age of eleven or twelve, I got a paper route. On Friday nights I would collect for the papers I'd delivered. Unfortunately for me, there was a drug store down the street from where I delivered. They had a soda fountain, as well as a pinball machine, and they carried the latest copies of comic books every month. I used to spend an uncommon amount of money at that drug store and when I got home several hours later, I'd lie through my teeth when mom asked how much money I collected. Needless to say, my dental hygiene suffered from the vast amounts of junk food I consumed. I'm a little surprised that I didn't end up with juvenile diabetes or some such thing. Fortunately, I was fairly active, so maybe that saved me at the time. Still, it was a stupid choice to make.
About the time I got to Junior High School, I was doing odd jobs, mowing lawns and finding projects around the neighborhood to make money, so I bought some of my school clothes. One thing sticks in my mind: socks. When Mom bought me socks, they would be white, like gym socks. That's great if you're in the gym, but frankly, they made you look like Gomer Pyle if you wore them with street shoes. I used to get my socks at J. C. Penney. I always bought black ones. I remember they were really soft, they retained their color and if you had a hole in one, there was no problem finding a match for it somewhere in your drawer. Periodically, I'd take a trip to Penny's and come back with a few pairs. Unfortunately, during those years of puberty, my feet sweat like I was in a sauna and when I took my shoes off, I could clear a room because of the stench. Still, it beat looking like Gomer. Good choice.
When I was twenty-four, I made the decision to pack up my small family and travel across the country to Alaska, to join a Christian community. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I regretted that choice, especially in the early years when we were struggling without electricity and living like the folks on Little House on the Prairie, only in a rain forest and without the common sense that those people had.
There is nothing I can do about what happened in the past. I made a choice and had to live with the consequences, just like all the choices we make. At this stage of my life, I'm dealing with some medical issues. Apparently I have some gall stones- oh boy, gallstones! What fun! Not only that, but my heart has some plaque somewhere, and I have what is called a fatty liver. Too much cheese and crackers I guess. I'm trying to eat better, and I'm doing a little better with riding the stationary bike, but frankly, I'm not going to give up enjoying what gives me pleasure entirely, just so I can live longer. What's the purpose? I remember reading an article that I wish I still had. Some Oriental doctor had written a funny post that put down so much of what the healthy leaning folks were pushing. He mentioned getting in shape, but also mentioned that round is a shape, so not to worry too much. He said when he died he wanted to go out enjoying whatever it was he liked, with an ice cream cone in his hand and chocolate smeared on his face. Sounds good to me.
Back in the early days, after I had bought the Bonnie J, I had the opportunity to go to the ocean and spend a week or so there fishing. I was trying to make money, so it made sense to leave. Unfortunately, Jan hated to have me go, and it was always a struggle, weighing staying home and perhaps enjoying sex more often, or going fishing and making money and catching fish. Honestly I enjoyed both a lot. While few things can compare to sex in terms of pleasure, catching fish is an awful lot of fun too, and frankly I could fish for hours on end. There is always a downside to everything, isn't there? While I could be fishing for hours, it didn't mean I would be catching for hours. Sometimes I would go for long periods of time without catching a thing. With sex, while I may not endure for hours, I was fairly certain of the outcome. Choices!
Somewhere around the age of eleven or twelve, I got a paper route. On Friday nights I would collect for the papers I'd delivered. Unfortunately for me, there was a drug store down the street from where I delivered. They had a soda fountain, as well as a pinball machine, and they carried the latest copies of comic books every month. I used to spend an uncommon amount of money at that drug store and when I got home several hours later, I'd lie through my teeth when mom asked how much money I collected. Needless to say, my dental hygiene suffered from the vast amounts of junk food I consumed. I'm a little surprised that I didn't end up with juvenile diabetes or some such thing. Fortunately, I was fairly active, so maybe that saved me at the time. Still, it was a stupid choice to make.
About the time I got to Junior High School, I was doing odd jobs, mowing lawns and finding projects around the neighborhood to make money, so I bought some of my school clothes. One thing sticks in my mind: socks. When Mom bought me socks, they would be white, like gym socks. That's great if you're in the gym, but frankly, they made you look like Gomer Pyle if you wore them with street shoes. I used to get my socks at J. C. Penney. I always bought black ones. I remember they were really soft, they retained their color and if you had a hole in one, there was no problem finding a match for it somewhere in your drawer. Periodically, I'd take a trip to Penny's and come back with a few pairs. Unfortunately, during those years of puberty, my feet sweat like I was in a sauna and when I took my shoes off, I could clear a room because of the stench. Still, it beat looking like Gomer. Good choice.
When I was twenty-four, I made the decision to pack up my small family and travel across the country to Alaska, to join a Christian community. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I regretted that choice, especially in the early years when we were struggling without electricity and living like the folks on Little House on the Prairie, only in a rain forest and without the common sense that those people had.
There is nothing I can do about what happened in the past. I made a choice and had to live with the consequences, just like all the choices we make. At this stage of my life, I'm dealing with some medical issues. Apparently I have some gall stones- oh boy, gallstones! What fun! Not only that, but my heart has some plaque somewhere, and I have what is called a fatty liver. Too much cheese and crackers I guess. I'm trying to eat better, and I'm doing a little better with riding the stationary bike, but frankly, I'm not going to give up enjoying what gives me pleasure entirely, just so I can live longer. What's the purpose? I remember reading an article that I wish I still had. Some Oriental doctor had written a funny post that put down so much of what the healthy leaning folks were pushing. He mentioned getting in shape, but also mentioned that round is a shape, so not to worry too much. He said when he died he wanted to go out enjoying whatever it was he liked, with an ice cream cone in his hand and chocolate smeared on his face. Sounds good to me.
Back in the early days, after I had bought the Bonnie J, I had the opportunity to go to the ocean and spend a week or so there fishing. I was trying to make money, so it made sense to leave. Unfortunately, Jan hated to have me go, and it was always a struggle, weighing staying home and perhaps enjoying sex more often, or going fishing and making money and catching fish. Honestly I enjoyed both a lot. While few things can compare to sex in terms of pleasure, catching fish is an awful lot of fun too, and frankly I could fish for hours on end. There is always a downside to everything, isn't there? While I could be fishing for hours, it didn't mean I would be catching for hours. Sometimes I would go for long periods of time without catching a thing. With sex, while I may not endure for hours, I was fairly certain of the outcome. Choices!
Somewhere in my past, I've heard a saying something along the line of - Make stupid choices, win stupid prizes. Sounds about right.
Often, when my daughter is visiting, as she's going out the door, she says-"make good choices." Hmmm... something we probably should have been saying to our kids when they were growing up. For the most part, I think they did.
I'd like to comment on one last thing. Apparently we're in the political season, where all these candidates are running. Personally, I'm sick to death of hearing all the commercials on TV and having my post office box overflowing with ads. I don't like to bring up politics on this site. I don't want to alienate any of my friends here, and I don't think this is the place for politics. Let me just say, that we will have to make a choice on who will represent us. Will we keep with the incumbent who we are somewhat familiar with, or go with the radical new person who lacks experience and wants to change our entire financial, judicial, electoral system and way of life? Frankly, it's like choosing between a kick in the groin with a steel toed boot, or a knock upside the head with a ball-peen hammer. It's our choice, and one that really warrants some serious prayer.
If you're reading this post, you've chosen to do so, so thank you.
I'd like to comment on one last thing. Apparently we're in the political season, where all these candidates are running. Personally, I'm sick to death of hearing all the commercials on TV and having my post office box overflowing with ads. I don't like to bring up politics on this site. I don't want to alienate any of my friends here, and I don't think this is the place for politics. Let me just say, that we will have to make a choice on who will represent us. Will we keep with the incumbent who we are somewhat familiar with, or go with the radical new person who lacks experience and wants to change our entire financial, judicial, electoral system and way of life? Frankly, it's like choosing between a kick in the groin with a steel toed boot, or a knock upside the head with a ball-peen hammer. It's our choice, and one that really warrants some serious prayer.
If you're reading this post, you've chosen to do so, so thank you.
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