Granny-O Speaks

December 3, 2021

Too old. How old is too old? I am 73, and 73 is old. I love being old, but would I want to be too old? I am not sure, but I hope I don’t live long enough to find out. It seems like you would be too old if there were never any appreciation or gratitude in your life. When there would never be a day when you were happy. You just didn’t care about eating, drinking or breathing. In your gloom and doom, nothing would please you. Everything would be terrible. Then that would probably be too old. However, I am not in charge here. I am alive to learn about love and happiness. Sometimes the lessons are easier to learn than at other times. My husband always thought your time of death was written in stone. Even on the day you were born, in his opinion, the day of your death would be known. Maybe not to you, but to God. God knew when you would die, but He was not telling. Wouldn’t it be difficult to know the day of your death ahead of time? It would be like having a black cloud over your head, reminding you of your demise. A black cloud always in the sky. Even if the cloud were small, you would see it drifting around over your head. When it was 1999 and 2000 was right around the corner, there was a big digital clock in Times Square in New York City. It was counting down the hours until New Year’s day 2000. It was unnerving for me. It counted down by the seconds, so the dial was speeding along. Wow. Every second was a big deal when time happened with an end in sight. When you are living forward seconds fly by unnoticed if you do not know when you will die. It is now twenty-one years later. The world has not ended. I am still here, and I am not too old. There is love and appreciation in my life, and I am happy. I am trying to redefine old age as a good thing, not something to be dreaded. Appreciation and gratitude keep you interested in living. Appreciation and gratitude wake you up in the morning with cartoon eyes and a smile stretching ear to ear. Too old. Probably not. It is up to you. No matter how old you are, you should be appreciating what you have and be grateful that you have it. Life is a gift. Let me repeat that…Life is a gift. You will be dead for a long time. Before you change venues start realizing what you have here and now. Start adding up the wows of your day, every day. If you do the ows will go away. My husband also was known to have said, ” If you have a headache I will jump on your foot and your headache will go away.” What he was trying to remind me of, was to stay focused. If you don’t mind… then it doesn’t matter. {another one of his favorites) Look past your problem and see the wonders of life. Focus. Appreciate and be grateful. It won’t always solve all your problems, but it will be much easier to deal with them. You might not become giggling happy, but you will become calmer, and will experience a peaceful happy. A happy that will keep you from ever being too old. Thank you for reading my Blogs. Old is a good thing, just like young is a good thing. Each phase of your life is designed by you to be what you choose it to be. I choose happy. I choose wow. Have a never too old day. Make it work. Open your cartoon eyes and look around. See the magic. As happened to the blind man who picked up the hammer and saw. (My husband had many words of wisdom.) Good bye for now.

Granny-o

November 30, 2021

Through the rain. Barry Manilow and his friends made it through the rain. He even sang a song about it. Barry Manilow had his following, but some people thought his message was too simplistic. I liked his music. I found myself singing along in the car when his songs came on the radio. Everything does not have to be complicated. We have all had times of grief or misery. It is a part of life. There are times when the sky is so full of dark clouds, you don’t think the sun will ever show its face again. But the clouds do go away, and the sun does come back out. Barry Manilow and his friends knew about the struggles of being in a storm, but eventually they made it through the rain. It takes perseverance. It takes faith. It takes love of family and friends. It might make it easier if there were a singable song on the radio saying it will be all right. Just hang on tight. So maybe happy takes a vacation for a while if life’s circumstances get in your way. Fix what you can, or live through what you have to live through. When the sun comes out again, welcome back your happy with open arms. Happy has to be the rule not the exception. Don’t let the corners of your mouth stay down for any longer than is necessary. Remember the miracles of your life before your life went south. The miracles never went away. You just stopped recognizing them. Turn yourself around, and get back on track. Happy is so much more fun than sadness and misery. Happy is a choice. Happy is a good choice. Have a wonderful day.

Granny-o

November 27, 2021

Listen. Listen. Listen. LIsten to the words of your spirit. Your spirit lives inside your heart and gives you advice as to how to live your life, if you are listening. I have been taking dictations from my spirit for years. Today I would like to share one of the dictations with you.

September 20, 2021 5:46 AM

Another day. What can you say but wow? What can you say but thank you? What can you say but I am so happy? Another day indeed. Wow. Do you see a pattern here?

God has given you so much. God has given you everything…including you. Do you get that? Even you yourself are a creation of God.

Remember when you were pregnant, and you said it was a miracle because you had no idea how to make fingers and toes. You were a place for a miracle to happen, but God made the miracle happen. Well, that is how it goes. Opportunities arise to make God’s miracles happen When you think of a marionette, a puppet on a string, what is the source of the value? The puppet or the puppeteer? What is the value, the puppet or the carver of the puppet? The carver or God who gave the carver the talent to create the puppet?

No matter how you look at it, everything goes back to the source. The source is God. Think about one thing that was created otherwise. What do they say, six degrees of separation? When you are talking about creation the distance is even shorter. Everything is directly connected to God, and that is a good thing. Because God is perfect. God never makes mistakes, and God loves you. Wow. Can you even wrap your head around that? God never makes mistakes, Wow, and God loves you. Wow. Like I said can you see a pattern here?

Can you imagine God loves you, not because of you, but because of the you created by God. Perfect creates perfect. God is perfect. God created you. You are who God created you to be.Wow.

Hence the reason for your extreme happiness. Your joy is that you ar a living breathing miracle of God. Wow, and God loves you. Wow again.

You are a creation of God. You did not create you. You were created for you. You were given talents and opportunities to bring joy and happiness into this world. You were created to be happy, to follow your dreams. Actually to follow God’s dreams for you.

How grateful you should always be, because it is a gift. It is all a magical marvelous gift. Take your hands for example. How magical and marvelous are they? Hands are a wonderful invention. Wow. Hands are really a wonderful invention. Your hands are a gift to you. The way you use your hands is up to you. But you did not create your hands. They are a gift. Wow.

I see why wow is your favorite word, everything is a wow. Enjoy your day. Be happy, and forever know you are loved, and know you are a gift.

Thank you for being my scribe today. I love and appreciate you too.

While I take the dictations from my spirit, I have no idea what I am writing. It is speed writing. I do not know the meaning until I read a dictation back. I have been listening for years. The dictations seem to be custom made for me. It is like a instruction book of how to appreciate my life. I am so grateful. Listen. Listen. Listen. You too have a spirit living inside you waiting to speak to you.

Granny-o

November 26, 2021

I. I is the shortest word in the English language. There is not another word any shorter. There is no I in team, but there is an I in your life. a great big I. I is so important it is automatically capitalized. Every time. No exceptions. I is emotionally charged, attached to your heart. You cannot say I without having taken ownership of the moment. I can say this unequivocally. This is truth. Not debatable. I is establishing your truth at any particular moment. I is an incredibly powerful word. It is a very powerful tool indeed. I determines your thinking and your behavior. So here is why I am so hung up on I. If the I occurs in a sentence you are speaking you are creating a reaction to something. I like you. I am hungry. I am smart. I am stupid. I am lonely. I am grateful. I could go on for ever and ever. I is everywhere. Since you can only change your world by changing yourself, start by listening to yourself when you say the word I. Are your truths what you want your truths to be? Is your world what you want your world to be? Change your thinking. Change your world. I am stupid could be a reaction to a test you failed. Are you really stupid? Or were you unprepared for the test? You were probably unprepared. Most people are not stupid. You can improve your grade by studying for the next test. You can change your world from stupid to smart by studying. Good job. I am sad. Are you really sad, or are you sad because of circumstances which are happening in your world? By understanding what the cause of your unhappiness is, you can become less unhappy or you can even become happy. Let us say you are sad because you do not like your job. You have the job you have because you do not have enough education or enough experience to get a better job. Keep working, but take classes at night, enabling you to improve your working situation. While you are at the job you are at, learn all you can. That is experience you can take with you when you go to your next job. You do not have to be sad forever. Do something to change sad into glad. Complaining without action is worthless. Don’t grumble. Fix the problem. I is your reaction to any situation. If you understand why you say I, you will understand how you are reacting to events of your life. If you are happy with your life keep doing what you are doing. If you want a better outcome make a better I sentence. Be forewarned, life is not a slam dunk. Even if you figure it out today, tomorrow may be different. Tomorrow, you might have to change your I sentences again. I am optimistic about your outcome, but I cannot change your world…only you can do that.

Granny-o

November 26, 2021

Get out. Get out of doors. Get away from the walls that fence you in. Get out. Just being able to see the sky will improve your day. Just seeing the sky will remind you of your size and importance in the universe. In your own universe you have a presence. Everything seems to revolve around you. When you get out, you become a stranger to the world around you. When you have a place to go back to, being a stranger for a while is a good thing. When you are a stranger, you lose your history. When you get out, you become a new person to people who have never seen you before. Why does this work? It works because when you get out if you have sadness, no one knows about it. When you are a stranger in a big world you begin to realize you have the power to downgrade your problems. They take on less importance when you have the time to see the big picture. When you get out the thing bothering you the most, bothers no one else on the street. Your experiences decorate your heart and your mind, but when you get out you put you and your problems into perspective. Not only are your problems temporary, but your problems are specific to their target. You are the bull’s eye for your problems. You are going in for surgery today. It is an overwhelmingly big deal for you. It is not a big deal for the guy walking into the grocery store. He is only interested in buying a steak. It is not a big deal for the boys throwing a football in the yard. They don’t even know you exist. It is not a big deal for your brother. You haven’t seen or heard from him in five years. It certainly isn’t a big deal for the president of the United Arab Republic, he doesn’t even like Americans. Why would he care about your surgery at eleven o’clock this morning? I am trying to make a point here. People who know and love you, think you are a big deal. They think your surgery is a big deal. They will be calling to see if you are all right later today, or maybe some of your family and friends will be sitting in the waiting room praying you will be all right. Thank God for being loved. Thank God for having family. Thank God for having friends. No one else cares about what you are going through. Let’s say your daughter is getting married today. Again no one cares except for your family and friends. When you get out for a while, you have a new appreciation for those who love you. It is the day after Thanksgiving. Were you able to be grateful yesterday for family and friends? Were you still incredibly grateful for all the people in your life when you woke up today? Getting out there reminds you of your good fortune. You are loved. How great is that? Get out there, and when you get home, wrap your arms around those you love, and who love you. Smile. they are all you have. Be happy because you have them all. Welcome home.

Granny-o

November 23, 2021

To be or… To be or not to be has been a question asked throughout the centuries. There is never one answer. Sometimes you are, and sometimes you are not. To be or not to be what? For our purposes here, I will say to be or not to be happy. It seems like the answer should always be a resounding yes. Yes! Yes! Yes! I want to be happy. Well, if you go by my theory, then happiness is a choice. Happiness should be a slam dunk. Unfortunately, life happens. Circumstances and humanity sometimes make it impossible to be happy. Don’t give up hope. Everything that is a bother, a problem or even a catastrophe is only a temporary interruption to your happiness. Happiness should never be the exception. It should be the rule. Happiness should dominate your life. Okay, I would guess I might be getting some resistance here. I don’t know what to tell you. Hear me now or believe me later. Happiness should dominate your life. Again, your choice. I am seventy-three years old. I have had a lifetime to see how things work. I love being happy. I love being old. I could just finish out my life here on earth being happy, but when I was 21 God said to me in a gigantic silent voice, “Be a teacher.” So, I became a teacher. I want to keep using my gift from God to help more people. I want to show people how to be happy, or how to find their happiness if they have lost it along the way. There are so many unhappy people. I believe many many people the world over have not figured out how to be happy. Okay. Here is a quick tutorial. Appreciation and gratitude will start you on your way. It is not an attitude change. It is a change of focus. It is a life altering change which enables you to see things differently. You can make ow moments into wow moments if you try. It might be tricky at first, but remember the only way to change your world is to change yourself. Don’t freak. it is not that hard. Don’t just be grateful, be amazed at being alive. Thank God for all the gifts you have been given. Start there. Life is a gift. This is not a theory, it is the truth. Life is a gift. Wow. The day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A lot of things might be going on for you and your family. There is stress. There is stress just fighting the traffic when you are going to the grocery store. Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the weekend before going back to work will hopefully be filled with happy moments, but undoubtedly there will be stress. During the preparation or celebration somebody might say something in a moment of frustration that has nothing to do with what is going on. I have found in my lifetime it is best not to respond to anger with more anger. Anger causes loose tongues. During the holiday weekend there may be many things happening in ways that you are not used to. Be careful. Hold your tongue. Don’t say something you will regret saying. You are with family or with friends. A compliment goes far when trying to keep the peace. Go with the flow. Remember there is enough stress. You do not have to add fuel to the fire. I find when I might want to say something that should not be said, I go into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I try to reconnect with who I am. Sometimes when I feel like lashing out or want to respond in an unfavorable way to something that has been said it is because I have forgotten who I am. By looking into a mirror, I can again look into my soul. I take a deep breath, and splash a bit of water on my face. I am not by nature an angry person. So why should I be acting like an angry person? I look into my eyes and reconnect. Then I go back into the room and reconnect with those I love. Give others room to let off steam, and also give yourself time to diffuse your own emotions in time of stress. Usually it is not something that is taking place now that causes the frustration or anger. Anger and frustration have a tendency to have built up like steam in the whistling kettle on the stove. Don’t react to what bothers you, until you know the cause for the blowup. Cool out. Find a mirror. Let this Thanksgiving be a happy occasion, not the beginning of World War Three. Be nice. For sure appreciate everything on the table and everyone sitting around the table with you. Aren’t you glad you have a family? Aren’t you glad you have friends? Smile. It is your choice to be or not to be happy. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Granny-o

November 20, 2021

Gratitude. Gratitude is not just lip service. Gratitude is the serious appreciation for everything good in your life, and that would be everything. Thank you is almost a prayer. Wow. Gratitude sends shivers up and down my shins and across my chest. Gratitude is like electricity going down my right arm. All of those things just happened to me as I said the word gratitude. Gratitude is not lip service. Gratitude is like a prayer. I know I am repeating myself, but it is so important it makes repeating it necessary. Do you realize even for a minute, that your life is a gift? You did nothing to make you happen. You were a miracle from the very beginning. You were God’s work. Wow. Again I say thank you and again electricity of is traveling through my body. Everywhere except for in my head. My head never seems to get that sensation. I am going to pay attention and see if it ever happens in my head. It is 6:42 AM in my world, and it is Saturday. When you are retired, everyday is a Saturday. I have time to smell the roses, and I have time to be grateful. I think everyone should make time to be grateful. You most likely have to go to work. Aren’t you glad you have a job? Aren’t you glad that the money you earn is responsible for you having a roof over your head, food to eat and everything else you need? You know, money does not grow on trees. You probably spend a lot of time taking your children to where they have to be. Aren’t you glad that you have children? The holidays are coming up, and you have to go to your parents’ house. Aren’t you glad that you have parents? Aren’t you glad that you are not an orphan? Come on now. Start being grateful. Instead of saying I have to go to my parents’ house, Say I am glad I can go to my parents house to celebrate the holiday with them. Some day you will probably be an orphan, and you will be staying home for the holidays. Be grateful for what you have. If you do not appreciate what you have, it has a tendency to go away. Get your act together and feel the magic. Get your act together and put a smile on your own face. Gratitude puts things into perspective. Gratitude reminds you that it is a gift. Everything is a gift. Start with the basics. You are a gift. Wow. Did you ever think of yourself as a gift? Well, start thinking about that idea. You are a gift. Wow. Gratitude brings out the best in all of us. Gratitude will make you happy. Because gratitude is the magic. Didn’t your mother always tell you to say thank you. Well, I might be old enough to be your mother, or even your grandmother. I am not reinventing the wheel here. I am just telling you… Say thank you.

Granny-o

November 19, 2021

(Deep breath). Sometimes a deep breath can mean slowly exhaling a sigh, aaah. A sigh can be a moment of total contentment. A moment of bliss. A moment of amazement of how wonderful everything is. A sigh can be quiet appreciation for everything you have and the gratitude because you have it. Your heart is telling you everything is going along perfectly. You listen to your heart and you are on board. You are in the zone. Aaah. (breathe). You know the feeling. For me it is another wow moment. (Deep breath). I am having one of those moments right now. I am feeling overwhelmed with joy. (Deep breath) It is 8:30 AM, and I am feeling the magnificence of being alive. The feeling just came over me before I had a bowl of cold cereal with half of a banana. The cereal and the banana are gone now, but the feeling of incredible joy is still with me. (Deep breath). My cartoon eyes are wide open, and I can feel my cheeks pulling the corners of my mouth up. Wow, what a wonderful day I am going to have. What a wonderful moment I am already having right this minute. (Deep breath). I remember when I was first married to my husband. He was 27 and I was 25. It was the beginning of happily ever after for both of us. Or so I thought. I was so happy, but my husband could not stand my being happy. What? What happened? The truth was before we fell in love, he was not a happy man. He was used to being sad. Before I met him, I was happy. I was happier after we met…much happier, but I was happy before we met. My husband did not know how to do happy, so my joy got on his nerves. Where could that have come from? Who could have known that was going to happen? I knew he had not been happy, but telling me I couldn’t be happy was a new revelation. So for months into our marriage I cried. I would go into a closet with the door closed and just cry. I cried, I cried, and I cried. I did not smile any more. I guessed the honeymoon was over. I did not remember how to do sad, and to be frankly honest I did not want to be sad. Was this what I agreed to when I said my vows for better or for worse? Did I agree to give up my happiness? I wanted my happiness back. So we talked. We cried. We had sex. Slowly my husband’s walls of protection crumbled and he started on his own road to happiness. Our marriage lasted, our love grew, and we both lived happily ever after. We did so until he died in April, just short of our 48th anniversary. I am now 73 years old. I love being happy, and I love being old. I am not willing to give up my happiness again. I did it once, and I am not going to do it again. My husband learned to be happy. I can help you find your happiness, or help you get it back. Do not ask me to give mine up. Misery and sadness are temporary responses to circumstances. Happiness, true happiness, is a heart thing. True happiness is not touched by happenings in the world or in your life. Even when you think you couldn’t possibly be happy. Think again. You can be. (Deep breath)

Granny-o

November 18, 2021

Survival. Survival is a good idea if you are going to keep living. You have to survive in order to live. We all know that to be true. When you are in survival mode, all your energy is being used to breathe. Sometimes things are so difficult you can’t even see the the sky through the water as you are drowning. This situation happens occasionally. In this very large world, it is possible that someone somewhere is going through something right now. Perhaps that is why you can watch the news 24/7. It is why the news is almost always bad. There is always some catastrophe happening somewhere. I used to watch the news, but now I don’t watch it. Too much gloom and doom is not a good thing. The point I am trying t o make here is it is not always easy to be happy, and sometimes it is virtually impossible to be, if your world is falling apart. I get that. Let the tears come. As long as you are surviving, and still breathing the misery you are experiencing in the short run will end. It is possible the moment of misery will change your life, but the thing causing the misery will end at some point. Then you have the ability to again look for or to find your happiness. When I am talking about happiness, I am not trivializing your situation. If you are experiencing great difficulty, get help. If you not able to function, or your world is falling apart, get help. When I am talking about happiness, I am talking about all the days that are not putting you in a place of extreme difficulty, danger or overwhelming sadness. Get help when you are having really bad days. With most people life is not a continual disaster. There is time to be sad, but let me remind you there is time to be happy too. If you had a pie chart dividing the days of your life, the great majority of your days should be happy. Happiness is a choice on those days. Those are the days you have no reason to grumble. Those are the days to remember appreciation and gratitude. It is like when you have a toddler and you have to take him to the doctor. The doctor gives the little guy a shot and that child screams. Boy does he scream. The doctor told me, when I went through that situation , you could tell the intelligence of a child . by how long he cried after the shot was over. How long does it take us to stop crying when nothing is threatening us any more? How long does it take us to be happy when the tears have dried up? Happiness is a choice we can make on the good days if we choose to. Celebrate survival. Celebrate every new day. Every new day gives us another chance to be happy, because sadness is, and must be temporary. When you are not sad appreciate the happiness. Survival…another necessity of happiness.

Granny-o

November 16, 2021

Old people and children cannot tell people what they know, because people do not hear. They might listen but people do not hear the wisdom of the young or the old. I suppose it is God’s way to allow everyone to discover for themselves their own heart’s desire. It seems that the old and the young are the closest to God. God humbles those who know Him. God makes the silence of the heart okay. Think for a minute how much God knows. God knows everything. Everything. God knows things people cannot even imagine. He is so far beyond where we are. God has created everyone to His own specifications. He has created everyone with the power to exist and flourish. But God gives everyone free will to do with the gift of themselves as they see fit. He does not dictate or even suggest how we should do our lives. He has given us free will, which is why humans are so much less than perfect. If God ran us like a puppeteer pulling the strings of his puppet we would be faultless. But that is not the way God works. He made each of us to be unique, and there are no strings attached. We are all human going through life on the edge of disaster. Every step we take has the potential to be our last. It never is the last, because nothing ends. We as the ignorant, are always fearing what we do not know. There is nothing to fear, but being as we are ignorant…we do not know that. Old people and children know the truths, but God has told old people and children to hold their tongues. Self discovery of the masses is God’s will. It says so in the Bible. It says so when you open your eyes in the morning. Figure it out. Today is a new day. Figure it out. When you wake up do you have cartoon eyes? Are you amazed each time you see the sunrise in the morning. Do you notice such things? Do you take the time to notice such things? Old people and children always have cartoon eyes. They always have time to see things like the sun rising. So why am I again trying to share my knowledge with you? I don’t know. I don’t want to, and I can’t as well, tell you how to live your life. I don’t have a clue. I do not know how to live the days of my life without stumbling and falling sometimes. I have enough on my plate, just doing my life. I am not even going to attempt to do yours. However I am a teacher by God’s design. It is my gift. I want to try one more time to make the world a better place. I have decided that what I want to tell you is that happiness is within your reach, and being happy makes your life so much better. So much better. I should know, I am old, and I have done happy for many many years. I have also done sad, and trust me, happy is much better. There are many people who are sad. They have no clue how to be happy. I know how to do happy. I want to share my knowledge with those who do not know where to find happiness. Look, this might surprise you, happiness is found inside of yourself. Happiness is love. Your heart knows love. It is appreciation. Your soul knows appreciation. You know what makes you happy. You were born knowing, but living has made you forget. Old people remember what they were born knowing. It is one of the reasons I love being old, because I remember, and what I remember is all good. My eyes don’t cry very much because I am so happy. Most likely I will die before you are old. My knowledge will be lost like the chalk marks on a blackboard, as the felt on the eraser of time passes over them. I will live in a state of happiness for all time, now and forever because I have come to a place of understanding. Let me tell you about the secret. Actually it is not a secret. Happiness is all about love and appreciation. It is not changing your attitude. It is so much more than that. Love and appreciation let your spirit soar. Let your eyes see, and your ears hear. Love and appreciation are the gratitude you feel when you know that everything is a gift, and you know you are loved. Wow. It is 5:34 AM and my first audible word of this day is wow. Wow. I know you are not able to hear me at this point of your journey. You are not old enough or young enough to hear. Put my words away somewhere. When you are old we can compare notes. God willing, we will communicate then about love, appreciation and happiness. Someday you will be old, If you live long enough. Then you too will look into the morning sky and say wow. Even if wow is not your favorite word. God bless you. God bless me. God bless everyone. Smile. Practice appreciation and sooner or later you will be happy.

Granny-o