by Al Van Dyk | Jan 23, 2018 | Attitude is Everything
“It’s just a rock,” the young Princess Dot tells Flick. To Flick, the rock was is a representation of a seed that contains all of the building blocks that are already inside of us that just needed to be nurtured. Over time that seed to which Flick was referring will grow into something amazing like an oak tree. Flick never landed the plane so to speak, to Dot the rock will forever be a rock and Flick will forever be eccentric. Are you a Dot or a Flick?
The Dreamer
Flick is out there. He is a dreamer, a starry-eyed, “We can do this” kind of guy, unhinged from reality. He thinks he can change the world. He sees warriors in a bunch of has-been circus performers and is willing to risk it all, even the lives of those around him, rather than accept his place in his society’s created order. He lives his life covering his tracks with half-truths and “What if’s”instead of coming to grips with what is fact and what is fiction. Much to our dismay, we all have a Flick in our lives.
What would Flick do with a bucket of rocks? Would he just lug them around, complaining about his stiff back, or would he try to make something useful out of them? My guess he is your go-to guy if someone delivered a truck-load of lemons to your door. As much as we hate to admit it, we all need a Flick in our lives.
The Princess
Her assessment of Flick was summed up in two words, “You’re weird.” Dot is the impressionable mind, too inexperienced to see threats that are real, too enamored with a future that awaits, confident that it will be free from challenges and strife. She lives in a bubble, a community of kindred spirits, consumed with her iPhone and Instagram.
She represents that teenager living in our house and his or her friends that reside in their orbit. They take life as it comes, never thinking too deeply, never invested too heavily, preferring to live a life that is warm and fluffy. Who can blame them, as they grow up, too often we shield them from the world as it exists and allow them to create a universe in which they are the center?
The Bucket – Redux
At times, we jump to a conclusion or accept a premise before we assess or analyze what is coming at us. We conclude that those rocks that are in the bucket are necessary to maintain the life that we dream of is our unavoidable cross to bear. Do you ever take the time you look in your bucket assess what is worthy of a coveted spot? How much of what you and I carry is due to a conscious choice? That which consumes space, in part, may represent an interest, an ideology or a dream whose time has come and gone.
Of course, there are things we carry that embody what life throws at us; these will always demand a place in our buckets, maybe just for a season or maybe to shorten our season. But there are also times that we fill our buckets with treasures and trinkets collected from flea markets and souvenir shops on our journey that take up valuable real estate. What would happen if we got rid of some of this nonsense that we unwittingly hand down to future generations, would our buckets be more manageable and less burdensome?
Hoarders Beware
In my bucket, you might find some smaller rocks that represent remnants from past endeavors that are no longer viable; now merely pipe dreams that serve no foreseeable purpose. In my lovely wife’s, you might find the worries that only a mother and wife can carry. Maybe its time to empty our buckets once again, and remove some of the debris; the worries, the apprehension, the doubt and the distrust that found their way in, having encroached on the valuable space once reserved for ingenuity, optimism passion and trust.
It’s a misconception that our buckets always need to be full. It’s our responsibility to make sure that what’s in them equips and prepares us to provide for our needs, however, its equally important that we have capacity to spare so we have the freedom to act when we get the privilege to carry each other’s burdens and lighten each other’s load.
So what rocks are in your bucket? Do you need them to help you get where you are going, building a bridge or a path to your future? If not, if what is in your bucket is holding you back, what can you shed to lighten your load?
Thanks for reading and liking, sharing is a bonus
Good point Ivy, I see that everything you carry fits nicely in your fanny pack. They are indeed useful accessories.
Al and his faithful sidekick, and space conscious companion, Ivy the wonder pup.
That’s where you keep your trading cards? Did you print your own trading cards?
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by Al Van Dyk | Jan 15, 2018 | Attitude is Everything
Hodie foveam; cherish today. You have a chance to write your story, will you take it? If so, who will be your audience; the few, the power brokers, the beautiful and the celebrated? Or will it be the many; the broken, the outcast, the incarcerated, the dregs of society and the politician? Still unsure? You can start by writing your story to an audience of one!
Cherish the Moment
We are the hero in our story, and it’s ours to cherish. We think of our story in the context of who is listening and who we think would care. Ask yourself, who would connect with your story; the 1% or the refugee living on pennies a day, or neither? What a daunting decision, yet each day we decide who we want to be part of our story and with whom we will share it.
Today, someone somewhere will live out a mountain top experience, creating memories that he or she will cherish for a lifetime, while some other poor soul will endure his or her worst nightmare. Some events will make it into the highlight reel and will be retold at family gatherings long after we are gone. Others are fodder for home-made YouTube videos, bloopers and out-takes, so embarrassing or so horrific that we pray that others will soon forget. Lastly, there are those tragic events that rock our world; it’s the stuff that shapes our worldview. As much as we would like to forget, it is these that we relive and remember.
For some, today is just an extension of yesterday, and all of the yesterdays before, defined by the will to resist falling victim to the mundane or to yield to the inevitable. The day begins with a restlessness that prompts us to get out of bed; taunting us to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary and to accept the challenge to make our story come to life. Some would say it’s a calling, initiated by the burning desire to harness that restlessness and direct it into something intended to inspire and meant to cherish. For many of us, our past experiences are indicative of our future endeavors!
Scotty, We Need More Power
What will it take for us to consider writing our story from the perspective that today is a new day, one rich with possibilities? We can start with a clean slate. We have no recollection of the experiences and events that formed the scar tissue we carry. We are the soldier with no memory of the battles we fought, the doctor with no recall of how many lives you saved or lost or the starry-eyed politician who forgot how many times he sold out his constituency. You bear the wounds but do not carry the memories.
Could we even write our story without a clear understanding of where we have been? Would we sign up for that five-year mission to boldly go where no man had gone before you if we knew that there is a tractor beam that keeps us tethered to our past? So, where do we go from here? To begin, we must come to grips with this paradox — we build our future on our past, but our past need not define our future.
Hodie Foveam
Those of us with degenerative conditions have the burden of living in the shadow that today may very well be the best day for the rest of our lives. But guess what, those of you who don’t have degenerative conditions have the same prospect before you. With that said, who has the more significant challenge to cherish the day, those of us with an incentive of which we are aware, or those who live in ignorance that their motivation should be different?
Cherish today! Today, we get 24 hours to use as we see fit and to live but once. What will you do today to make your story one you will cherish and is worthy of retelling?
How are you going to hodie foveam?
Thanks for reading and liking; sharing is always appreciated.
Nice touch with the Latin, Ivy. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when the battery to your iPhone dies.
Al and his faithful, but isolated sidekick, Ivy the wonder pup.
Sorry, Ivy, we will have to wait a week or so to share our big news.
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by Al Van Dyk | Dec 25, 2017 | Attitude is Everything
Dear Family and Friends,
Christmas is here! On behalf of my family, I would like extend our Christmas greetings to you and yours.
From Our Family…
To begin, it has been an emotional and exhausting year for Lisa as she had to re-order her priorities so that she and her family, extended family and friends, could to tend to the needs of her ailing mother. The challenges to help care for her mom were compounded by distance and by the additional demands that accompanied her promotion to Director. Yet because of their collective efforts, they were able to do the nearly impossible; they were able to give her the gift of nearly full-time care for the better part of nine-months.
In our feeble attempt to alleviate Lisa’s stress, Ian and I had to step up to the plate. We tried our hand at laundry and grocery shopping, so that she could come home to a reasonably clean house, a few days clean clothes and enough food in the house to pack Ian’s lunch. Apparently, only his mom can get the lunch thing right. It was our gift to her as our way to make her feel like we had it all together.
Her absence was noticed by Ian the most but he handled it like a champion, growing up before our very eyes into fine young man. Now a freshman in high school, he is finding his niche. He is the social one; very active and out-going. He, too, added his needs to the mix by taking drivers training. Now, he is looking forward to the day when he can drive on his own. If the first snow of the season is any indication, he may need a little more time with an adult in the navigator’s seat.
Kelsey is still at home. She found a career path that shows promise as a recruiter for a staffing agency. It is her responsibility to encourage other adults to act like adults. Her job is stressful at times, still she seems to enjoy it and will begin the process of obtaining her certifications after the first of the year. As for the guy in her life, she has found companionship but has yet to announce that he’s a keeper; unfazed by his Buick.
Taylor moved away to Mississippi State University, an SEC school, taking a position in its Health Education Department. Now, she has to re-learn the English language in a foreign dialect. She has found the word “y’all” to be very useful and is trying to get us northerner’s to include it in our everyday vocabulary. After the first of the year, she will begin taking classes in pursuit of her Masters’ degree.
She too has a guy in her life. Although not officially engaged, he gave her a cowbell as a symbol of his devotion. I, for one, am unclear how to convert cowbells to karats, but have to believe one exists in this long-held tradition at Mississippi State.
As for me, I was the unstable one. My leap of faith more closely resembles a walk through a maze in the dark. I still do some writing, mostly in the wee morning hours well before daylight. Feel free to follow along at alvandyk.com. There is some stuff there you might find interesting.
If you were wondering, I still have Parkinson’s, but with the support of my family and friends, I am committed to living a life full of passion and purpose.
…Our Christmas Wish to Your’s
As the year comes to a close, I am drawn to the idea of gifts, particularly how we get spun up about what to give to whom. It was during one of those early mornings that I was reminded that we have a gift that awaits us. Maybe there is another way to think about gifts this season. Maybe Christmas is about being a gift to a hurting world that points others to the Greatest Gift. Lisa was a gift to her family. Ian and I made a feeble attempt to be a gift to Lisa. And our girls, by their very presence, brighten the lives of those whose lives they touch.
We all have been given a gift by the One who freely gives to all who ask. Some of us will treasure our gift, leaving it unopened, only to admire the beauty of the wrapping paper. Others of us will accept it, open it and experience Peace beyond what we ever thought possible. And there are those among us that feel that they are undeserving of the Gift. My prayer for you this season is to accept that gifts are just that, something freely given to those of us that are undeserving, and receive it with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.
Rejoice, your Gift awaits.
Merry Christmas from the Van Dyk’s
Al, Lisa, Kelsey, Taylor and Ian
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by Al Van Dyk | Dec 22, 2017 | Attitude is Everything
Have they been good enough or are they still on the bubble? This is the time of year that our kids tell us what they want for making the good list. As their parents, we weigh their behavior over the last 30 days or so and we ask ourselves, have they been good enough to be recipients of the gifts we freely give them or are they still on the bubble? What about you? Did you check to see if you hit the minimum requirements?
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by Al Van Dyk | Nov 22, 2017 | Attitude is Everything
“What are you thankful for?” Do you remember when you were in grade school and the teacher would put you on the spot with this question? Were you that kid who would raise his hand sheepishly and say, “I am thankful for turkeys.” Was that your answer? Maybe you were one of the very few who could articulate what you were thankful with complete sentences while you were still in your single-digit years but you were too timid to raise your hand. If that was you. feel free to chime in anytime. Comments are always welcome.
I’m not sure it matters what you are thankful for; I am starting to think that if we’re thankful we are off to a good start. My opinion was validated today by PragerU. If you are unfamiliar with PragerU’s work, I would encourage you to watch this weeks’ video The Key to Unhappiness. For those of you who lean left politically, it will probably give you hives, but it’s a chance that I’m willing to take. Prager sums it up very nicely, if we have a spirit of gratitude, we will be happier; if our disposition is one of ingratitude, we will be unhappy. So my question to you this Thanksgiving, “Are you living a life of gratitude or ingratitude?” If you are unsure, here are a few things that I am thankful for, just to get your juices flowing:
As you can see, my family and I have been blessed. We have experienced God’s provision in ways that words cannot express. He has blessed us with friends and family that are committed to traveling our journey with us. If we didn’t experience our time in the desert, we could never comprehend the bounty that we find in our oasis.
Happy Thanksgiving. See you at Best Buy?
Some of you may have noticed that I have not been posting quite as often as I have in the past. Please be patient while we get back on track. When life comes at you from all sides, something has to take a back seat.
To repeat a line from Charles Krauthammer who borrowed it from the Terminator who probably stole it from some fraternity brat who ran out to buy a condom, “I’ll be back.”
Thanks for reading, liking and not sharing the last line with your grandmother.
I don’t understand it either Ivy; I don’t know why older people get squeamish when you talk things like pickle relish and mustard. Good point, maybe it does give them gas.
Al and his faithful, and dietetically astute sidekick, Ivy the #wonder-pup.
by Al Van Dyk | Oct 30, 2017 | Attitude is Everything
Once again, I deviated from the “All things Light and Fluffy” theme that I had going for a week and a half. My reason to do so was valid, but today I need to stay on point. I have a mandate; I get no more than 500-words and to keep it “light and fluffy.”
So here goes:
#10. I can mix my own martini’s, shaken not stirred.
#9. Because I have something in common with Michael J. Fox and Kirk Gibson, people think I have them on speed-dial.
#8. Many people think Parkinson’s disease is a precursor to dementia. If I forget someone’s name or to take out the trash, I can attribute it to the next phase of the disease without actually experiencing it.
#7. I have a socially acceptable reason at my fingertips if I spill ice cream on my shirt. This applies to any food that contains tomato sauce as well.
#6. It gave me a reason to start a blog and write using long words and complex sentences about subjects I know very little about.
#5. Ivy is famous. When she goes to the dog park, the Pomeranians and the Shitzu’s treat her like a rock star.
#4. The rigidity in my legs that accompanies off episodes will come in handy if want to audition for the role of Frankenstein or some other such mutation.
#3. I have found a way to be productive during those early morning hours when most people are asleep. I have called State Farm so many times, my phone number is blocked and Jake requested a restraining order.
#2. Writing this post reminded me how important it is to be able to count backwards from 10. It may come in handy if I ever get pulled over by the police under suspicion that I am driving under the influence.
#1. Parkinson’s taught me this one important lesson; that my friends and family are more important to me than the stuff I have amassed; that fear in nothing more than a four-letter word that I can either live through or in it’s grips; that I have a story to tell that is worth sharing that others may want to hear; that an extraordinary life is attainable even though I may shuffle my feet at times; that goals are still lofty even though I can no longer climb ladders; that my friends and family are more important to me than the stuff I have amassed.
Are you jealous? I thought you would be.
Thanks for reading and liking; sharing is nice too.
Ivy couldn’t join us; she took a knee. She asked to be “emancipated” to take the night off to work on her counting skills.
Al without his faithful, now emancipated sidekick, Ivy the wonder pup.
I need to look that one up.
emancipate ~ transitive verb
to free from restraint, control, or the power of another; especially: to free from bondage.
It’s just a collar, Ivy. You’re a dog.
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