Tag: mental-health

Humming Along

~ John ~ Leave a comment

Humming along but not in my Hummer– that is long gone ….being driven about in a 20 year old Ford now– excellent shape… all maintenance was kept up to date– the thing is in showroom condition.

The interesting part about this day is that today I start on a remarkably strong probiotic– 500 million active organisms —more than I have ever taken before…. on prescription …sitting around seeing how it is going to affect me … didn’t even go to church today — but so far so good— been about 5 hours since I took it now…..nothing frightening yet.

I have been enjoying using chatgpt ai chat box lately because it seems to know the answers to any question I might put to it. This morning I am going to look for that special wood that is always used in the western united states — I know it is not sage– sage is one kind of western wood that has an aromatic appeal… but this other one is the one that smells a little bit like burning asphalt. I will find it though because chatgpt seems to have all the answers to anything I am interested in.

It is a little later now and I looked on chatgpt and found out that the wood I was trying to remember is mesquite. When I was out west many years ago, we always used it for roasting our steaks out on the range. Later I got so nostalgic about it that I bought special incense with the mesquite smell which i sometimes use even today just to stoke the nostalgia of my old cowboy days. (I still have a closet full of range hats and dress hats from Nieman Marcus.) LOL.

We are having hamburger steak and mashed potatoes for lunch today along with carrots and broccoli and all the good stuff that i could not eat because of my cdif for more than 25 weeks. Now that I am into my 26th week of recovery, I find that my digestive machinery has healed again to the point where I can eat normally once again and it is a real blessing, I can tell you that much.

Oh My God — another gunman firing shots in the vicinity of the President —-Thankfully everyone is safe —horrible incident but yet another convincing reason for the planned Big Beautiful Ballroom to get done —it will be ever so much more secure than the venue where this devilish incident occurred. This evil happening should cause the dearly beloved president’s popularity ratings to rise again, you would think, right?

I am expecting delivery of some new compression stockings in the morning or in the afternoon….Amazon ….this time I am getting the open toe variety to deal with the neuropathy in my toes …never had neuropathy before I got the cdif —but now i live with it daily. Not funny at all.






Time Is All We Have

~ John ~ Leave a comment

The modern world encourages a casual extravagance with time. We disperse it across trivialities, surrender it to distractions, and invest it in pursuits that neither elevate nor endure. Yet for the discerning individual, time is not something to be “filled,” but something to be shaped—deliberately, even artfully. To spend time well is to curate a life of intention.

There is a refinement in choosing depth over breadth. An hour immersed in meaningful conversation, in rigorous thought, or in the appreciation of beauty—whether art, music, or nature—carries a richness that no abundance of shallow moments can rival. Time, after all, is not measured merely in quantity, but in texture.

This perspective demands a certain discipline. It requires the courage to decline invitations that dilute one’s focus, to step away from the incessant noise of the ephemeral, and to privilege what is lasting over what is merely immediate. Such choices are not sacrifices, but affirmations of value.

Ultimately, to understand that time is all we have is not to succumb to urgency, but to embrace clarity. It is an invitation to live with precision—to align one’s hours with one’s highest standards and deepest convictions.

For in the end, a life well-lived is not defined by how much time we were given, but by how discerningly we chose to spend it.

As for me? At my very advanced age, I certainly do not have that much time left on this earth so I spend my time any damned way that I please…. and I do it without apologies to anybody. I think I have earned the privilege.