Granny-O Speaks

July 27, 2022

What is your name? I met a young woman as I entered the door of a surgical Center a few weeks ago to have cataract surgery. She was the greeter and did the preliminary screening. She took my temperature and asked to see my ID etcetera. I asked her what her name was, and she said, “It is Samantha or Sam it doesn’t matter to me.” It does matter a great deal. What do you want to be called? You are the person who is going to make your name wonderful or just plain crummy. You are giving your name its identity as your name is identifying you. Be proud of your name say it like you were a queen and wear it royally. If you want to be called Samantha, say with pride, my name is Samantha. If you want me to know you as Sam, say my name is Sam. Say your name with the spirit it was given to you. Stand up and be counted as a woman who loves being who she is, and a woman who wants you to remember her and her name. Today, if I am fortunate enough to see Samantha or Sam smiling as I walk through the door to have my second cataract surgery, I will again ask her what her name is. When we first met, I told her to choose which name she wanted to be called, don’t give people a choice. I wonder how she will respond to the question today. I will never see Samantha or Sam again, because we are but ships passing in the night, but my dear Samantha or Sam I will remember your name. I will hope you have a new appreciation of what a wonderful name it is, because it is your name, and you will hopefully wear it with pride into your future. Thank you for making the day better for people as they walk through the door. You are super! I just wanted you to know you made a difference in my day two weeks ago and you are continually influencing each person as they walk through the door and see your smiling face. Have a most marvelous day and be happy because happiness is a choice.

Granny-o

July 23, 2022

I just reread my May 25th Blog. Are you kidding me? I was so incredibly happy when I started reading it, and by the time I was finished I was even happier. I am so happy right now… I could almost, like an over inflated balloon, burst. Wow. what can I say about God and love and appreciation and gratitude other than wow? Of course, wow is my favorite word so I guess I use it pretty much all of the time, or it wouldn’t be my favorite word. Oh, I could also say thank you. Thank you is like a booster rocket. Thank you puts into perspective what is wonderful and agreeable to me. It also sums up my moment-to-moment gratitude into two words. Sometimes I get a little carried away with gratitude and might go overboard with my wording. Thank you says it all. Wow. There I go again, happier. (Deep breath) It is Saturday morning here in my world. It is 7:49 AM, and I have been up for hours. I think of it as I have a dream when my eyes are closed, and then I open my eyes and I have a dream that starts all over again. My life is like one incredible, fantastic, super marvelous happening. How could I possible choose not to be happy? It is a gift. Life is a gift. I am 74 years old, and my days are even more important to me now. I love being old, but the days of my life are numbered and there are only a finite number left. Do the math. However, I so believe in God, and Heaven, and love, and forever and ever even dying would not rain on my happiness parade. I choose to enjoy my life day to day, because things are always changing. Someday today will be but a memory and I am doing my best to make my memories good ones. Okay, (deep breath) I will say goodbye for now. Once I get started, I could go on forever. So, Thank You. Be Well, and most of all Be Happy.

Granny-o

July 11, 2022

When you know everything in life is a gift you never take anything for granted, and you appreciate everything you have. Everything is or should be a wow moment, or a joyous moment of extreme gratitude. Or to make it easier to remember, be happy. I am so in the zone this morning. So, totally amazed by everything, that it is very possible this will AGAIN be the best day of my life so far, and I say thank you. I say wow, and yet it is only 7:04 am on a Monday morning. Wow! Already a wow on a Monday morning at 7:06 am. I breathe deeply because I cannot even for a moment forget how blessed I am. Okay, now it is 10:37 am. I was so wired with excitement I had to go on a three-mile walk. What gorgeous day it is. The sun is shining, and it was in the mid 70’s when I was walking. I have been home for quite a while doing puzzles on my phone and doing words with friends. Now I have my full attention on my blog. The point I was trying to make is think wow and not ow as often as you can. I know life can be difficult, but when it is wonderful the answer is to know it is wonderful. For instance, when you have a tooth ache you are well aware of the pain. When you do not have a tooth ache, are you well aware you are not having a tooth ache? People notice the bad and overlook the good in most cases. Therefore, happiness is usually out of reach. Start seeing not only the good, but the incredibly miraculous as you go through your days. Write down the wows until you develop the habit of seeing them everywhere you are going. The more you see, the better your vision will become. When I am at church there is a list published every week about people to pray for. So many of the congregation are having problems. Praying certainly helps them, but where is the gratitude list? The list that makes every day a Thanksgiving Day. Where is the gratitude? Where is the appreciation? Most people do not appreciate what they have until they don’t have it. When it is gone it is gone. For me, happiness is living in the now with great memories of the past. You can’t be where you are if you haven’t been where you’ve been. Use the days of your life as building blocks for your happiness today. Happiness is a choice. As I have said, “I have been happy, and I have been sad. I like being happy better”. Make today great. Make it greater than you could ever imagine, and then say THANK YOU for all the gifts you have been given. Bye for now.

Granny-o

June 29,2022

Add a smile and give your cheeks some exercise. Add a smile and you will start having fun doing whatever you are doing. As I wash a dish or two, I smile. I remember what fun I had had washing dishes when I was little. Sometimes my grandmother would have let me wash the dishes after we had all eaten breakfast, when we had been on vacation in Ohio. I had had to stand on a stool to reach. I had just loved rubbing the wet soapy cloth over a plate or pushing it down into a glass. I had loved the bubbles, I had made using the soap shaker filled with shrunken cakes of used soap, as they had been swimming around on the surface of the pool of water in the washing side of her sink. When the dishes were shiny and draining, I had cleaned the sink as I laughed. My grandmother had let me use the squirter to get all the suds down the drain. I had been so happy when I was playing in the water holding bubbles in my hands and washing the dishes, sometimes at my grandmother’s house. After everything had been done, she would have lifted me off of my stool and then picking me up would have given me a big hug and a kiss. She would have put me down again, and she would have said, “Now go and play.” I had been confused. What had I been doing? I thought I had been playing house. Then I had run off giggling as little girls are wont to do. I grew up and I still do some dishes that are not in the dishwasher, and I smile because I remember. I still squirt water around the sink after I have cleaned it, perhaps taking a little extra time just because it is still fun. If you add a smile to your face, you will find everything you do is more fun. When did adults forget? When did adults become so serious? What came first, being happy or the smiling? I am not totally sure, because I am for the most part pretty much always happy, but sometimes when I am deep in thought, I think to smile. Then I again remember the happiness I had had doing what I am doing when I had been doing it then. Let us remember, so we do not forget and let ourselves become too serious. Oh, one more thing, I am remembering how I had loved doing the wash with the wringer washing machine with the agitating spinning middle. What fun it had been to squeeze everything through the wringer and watch it drop into one set tub, then into the other after a second wringing and finally into my outstretched hands before I had dropped the clean wash into the woven clothesbasket near my feet. Hanging the laundry on the clothesline to dry using wooden clothes pins at my grandmother’s house when I was little had also been great fun. My face just smiled again. Try smiling yourself. It is like eating peanuts, once you start, you just can’t stop. Be happy and have a most marvelous day.

Granny-o

June 17, 2022

I don’t know how to do it. I wrote a book, and I have done what I could do. I had been working on my book for a long time. In 2010 God spoke to me. His words were, “Finish your book” I said to Him, “How am I supposed to do that?” God said, “Stop asking me how…just do it.” I said, “Okay.” You would think I would have gotten right to it, and I did for a while, but then I lost my confidence. The writing part was easy, almost like automatic writing, but the editing and how to get it published were beyond what I knew how to do. So, I put my book on the back burner. Then one day I went to a garage sale and the owner of the house was a published author. I asked him if he would like to help me with my book. He said to send him the first chapter and he would decide. After buying a copy of one of his books I pretty much ran to the car to get home. I brought the first chapter of my book to the author that afternoon. About two weeks later he phoned and said, “Yes I will help you.” I spent some time with him, and we spent some time with my book. I paid him as we went along. After a while I decided that his changes were changing the book from sounding like my book to sounding like his book. I finished paying him deciding this was not going to work. I walked back to my car and being discouraged slowly drove back home. My husband said, he would help me check for spelling and grammatical errors. We worked on it for a couple of months. He did not try to rewrite my book, but together we cleaned it up. We are not professionals. My husband told me if we did not finish editing soon, he would not be able to help me anymore. He was right, because for the next six months the cancer in his body became fatal and he died on April 30, 2021. Anyway, in June sometime, I revisited my story. I finished editing it before I moved back to New Jersey on October 5, 2021. Then I hit a roadblock again…what do I do now? God told me in 2010 to finish my book. It is now 2022. What is wrong with this picture? So, if anyone who is reading my blog could help me get my words in print. I would very much appreciate it. Like I said, “I don’t know how to do it. I believe in life if there is a problem, with help there can be a solution. Thank you.

Granny-o

June 14, 2022

Education. Education… Why do we need to be educated, and what does being educated mean? I was a teacher in my younger life. Why do we need to be educated at all? I guess the main reason is survival. In order to survive you must know something. Before people had alphabets, they drew pictures on the walls of caves to warn others of danger. There are different ways to communicate. Drawing being one way, and then there are smoke signals, and sign language. There are many ways of getting the message out there. In the beginning of life, children learned how to survive from their parents and relatives. Education was on a need-to-know basis and was handed down generation to generation. As time passed, education became more formal and more extensive. Children had to go to school where they learned to read and write and to do the numbers. Mostly teachers spoke and children listened. Schools have changed now, and children are learning things way beyond the classroom. It begs to differ, are teachers going the way of the dinosaurs? Will everything in the world be mail order or virtual in the future for our heirs? I can’t imagine what it will be like, for the people I will never know. Survival is different from generation to generation. So, what is learned is different too. Children for the most part do not know how to write cursive any more and don’t know how to read it. Also with computers, today’s children do not know how to spell very well. if they are on the computer all well and good but give them a piece of paper and a pencil and their spelling is a bit suspect. I know they still have the National Spelling Bee every year, but do they teach spelling in schools? Are there spelling tests every week? I don’t know. Things have changed in the classrooms since I was teaching kids. Very young children know more about sex than I even knew when I was newly married, Today’s kids think recipes are the choices in the drive up at McDonalds. Families don’t usually sit down for dinner together. Children do not have any idea what it means to have a balanced diet or what the five major food groups are. Nutrition is bacon, and pizza. I wonder if life expectancy will go down as this generation ages…if you happen to believe in life expectancy. It is all about survival. Survival can only be judged by those who come after. I mean did the dinosaurs think they would be extinct. Now, about what it means to be educated. Does being educated mean to be rich and be able to have anything and everything you ever wanted. Does it mean to have a good job in order to have those things? Does being educated mean you are better able to survive and will live forever? What does being educated mean? I believe we are all put on this magical journey of our lives to complete God’s vision. We are God’s legs and hands. I believe we all have God given talents at birth, but we need to learn how to utilize our gifts from God. Education is the road to knowledge, and Knowledge will make you able to fulfill God’s plan for you. In this world there is a need for each one of us to exist. I believe with education you can make all your dreams come true, because you will know how to do it. If you are doing life as you should be, you will be happy and fulfilled. Look deep inside and you will find the road you should be on. The right road for you is the road that utilizes your God given talents. The magic is, that when you are on the right road what you do is something you love to do because you have the talent to do it. It is a gift. It is all a gift. Happiness is having a job that you love so much, you would do it even if you were not getting paid. However, since you have the gift to be extremely good at what you do you will be paid the big bucks. Do what you love and you will be happy.

Granny-o

June 13, 2022

Ask questions. What? Where? When? Why? Believe it or not, your mother and father had a life before you were born, or before you were ever even thought of. Children have a tendency, no matter what their age, to think that the world revolves around them. They are the sons and daughters of parents who had no other label than being the parents of their children. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Parents are parents if you are part of their lives, but realize your parents wear and have worn many different hats in their lifetimes, and being your parents is only one facet of who they are. Ask questions. What? Where? When? Why? In most circumstances, parents have lived a quarter of a century before they brought you home from the hospital. Who are your parents? What are they really about, when you take yourself out of the equation? Your parents come to into your life with their own talents, their own dreams, and maybe their own baggage. Your parents will be the parents they are because of the lives they have lived for the first quarter of a century of their lives. These people who will love you, feed you, clothe you, and guide you will be people with a history. Your future will depend on their past. It is best to know as much about them as possible. The first thing you should know, is that your parents are human, and are likely to make mistakes. Forgive them, for they are doing the best they know how. Second of all appreciate all they are doing for you, because their love is a gift, and lastly know you may not always agree with your parents but learn about where they are coming from. Learn about their dreams, their successes and their disappointments. The circumstances of their lives will determine their behaviors and actions as your parents. There is no need to reinvent the wheel at every turn. Let your parents make your journey easier for you. Let their love and experiences smooth out some of the bumps in the road of immaturity. Ask questions. They have been there and done that. They have been where you are. You don’t need to or want to be clones of your parents, but you can learn so much about your life by understanding theirs. The other thing is they will become more interested in what your world is like if you care about theirs. What are your dreams? Where do you want to go, what do you want? Perhaps they can help you on your way. Your parents want you to be happy. They want you to follow your dreams. Even when you are grown up, they have already been grown up. Ask them for advice. Talk to them about the world you live in. Your parents are not your enemies, your parents are your cheerleaders. When you are happy, they become happier. When you succeed, they enjoy your success vicariously. They are in the audience as you receive the recognition of your accomplishments. They are in your corner whether you are laughing or crying. I am 74 years old, and my mother and father have been dead for a long time, and yet I can see how they are still influencing my life. I often say, even today, I am so glad I was not an orphan. I knew my parents when, and I know who I am now. I am forever grateful, and my happiness can be traced back to the choices I made. The choices I made had a lot to do with the parents I had. Ask questions. Get to know your parents, and by doing so, get to know yourself. All any parent wants is for their children to be happy. Return the favor. Children have a better life when their parents are happy.

Granny-o

June 8, 2022

It is not that complicated… Love + Appreciation + Gratitude = Happiness. It is the entire story. Obviously, sometimes circumstances try to interrupt our happiness. That’s life. Solve the problems and then get on with your real life. It is my belief that on regular non-catastrophic days people as a whole are not happy enough. Maybe everyone is not crying and unhappy, but most people are not happy enough. So, let us say that on a happiness scale of a 1-10 you are a 7 or an 8. In some situations that would be considered to be pretty good but let us all remember we are living in a magical world of miracles, and therefore a 7 or 8 would seem to be a little light when rating our level of happiness. Also remember that everything we have is a gift. We did not earn our way into this life; we were born into it. We came into this world with all our God given talents and all our body parts in place. At birth we were a perfect example of God’s work. Every moment of our normal life should be an extraordinary celebration of our life. Wow. What a gift. We should be dancing in the street, or at least be smiling from ear to ear. Love is what life is all about. We are loved and have always been loved. How wonderful is that? We need to appreciate the love, for it too is a gift. We do not earn love or buy love; love is a gift. Wow. Why aren’t you thinking of that as you grumble your way into a new day. You are loved. That should surely put a smile on your face. Then, appreciation. Do you appreciate the people in your life? I mean really appreciate them. Does your heart get excited whenever your loved ones or friends walk into the room? Do you appreciate everything else about your life too? Do you rejoice as you look into the mirror that you are alive? Do you appreciate everything about your life? Do you wake up thinking what a wonderful day this is going to be? Do you wake up wanting to sing as you climb out of bed? You should be feeling that way because it is all a gift. Your life is all a gift. Are you grateful for all the gifts you have been given? Do you hear your voice say thank you many times in one day? If you have all this knowledge in your heart, every day will reflect how blessed you are, and you will be happy. It is not that complicated. It just takes practice.

Granny-o

June 3, 2022

An ow is but a misspelled wow. Let’s go back to basics. You are not in elementary school anymore, but how you spell wow will determine the outcome of your life. For example, wow is my favorite word. If I wanted to write wow in my Blog and I kept misspelling it… all you would read, my dear readers, would be ow. That would be most unfortunate. If I went through the days of my life saying ow instead of wow that would be most unfortunate also. How would it possibly be possible for me to be happy if my favorite word happened to be ow? So, when you are writing be careful how you spell wow. It seems like so many people latch onto ow. The people I am talking about are not happy. Change your vocabulary and you will change your potential of having a good day. Instead of wow let me think of other synonyms that might work for you: stupendous, wonderful, exciting, special, incredible, fantastic, excellent, amazing, terrific, outrageous, unsurpassed, tremendous, glorious, great, and grand. You can’t leave out grand. These are words that came to mind when I thought about my favorite word. That word would be wow, just in case you forgot. What is your favorite word? I wake up saying wow. I go to sleep saying wow, and all day long the word wow comes by my lips over and over again. Just having wow for my favorite word puts an explanation point on everything I see and here. Since I have had Covid, I cannot taste or smell, but just imagine how great it will be when those senses are returned to me. Right now, I feel as if everything is better than I could have ever expected it to be. It does not matter if I cannot smell or if I cannot taste. Everything is just perfect the way it is. I so love being old. I am still 74. I so love being happy, and I so love living in a world of miracles. Miracles are always there. Every day I try to see another miracle that I might have been missing and to revisit the ones that have always been there. Life is wonderful. Life is a gift. I say thank you over and over again. Another day. Another moment. Another wow. I must remember to breathe. (Sometimes I just forget.) Have a perfectly miraculous day. Oh, I just thought of another synonym… perfect. Make this a perfect day for yourself. It is your choice as to whether it will be or it will not be.

Granny-o

May 31, 2022

I am sorry. Did you ever say I am sorry to God? God knows when you mess up. God knows everything about you. He loves you and forgives you in spite of all your sins. That is a big deal. God has forgiven you for any and all mistakes you might have made in your life. Afterall you are human, and humans make mistakes. God gave each and every one of us free will. So, mistakes are bound to happen. Sometimes if we do not learn from our mistakes, we might even make the same mistake twice. Fortunately for us, God will always forgive us. He loves us, and will love us until the cows come home, or even for longer…for much longer. He will never stop loving us, and He will always forgive us. That is the way God is. But have you ever said I am sorry to God? When you are sure about forgiveness, you think you are entitled to make mistakes. You are not accountable. You will always be forgiven. Yes, it is true we will always be forgiven, but it might be a humbling experience to admit our shortcomings so that we can try to improve our behavior in the coming days. It is hard to fix something if we do not know it is broken. In saying I am sorry to God; it is like a prayer. We are saying we did or said something wrong, and that we need help in making things right. Please forgive me. I messed up. Saying you’re sorry to God, will make it easier for you to say you are sorry to other human beings if you have hurt them in any way. Especially to those near and dear to you. Don’t hold grudges. Accept apologies as you would want God to accept yours. Apologize when necessary and be willing to forgive others. Once there is understanding you can go back to being happy again.

Granny-o