ElCool43 DNO's blog: "A thoughtful look at ourselves"

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY A MARINE. THE
FOLLOWING IS HIS REQUEST. I THINK IT IS REASONABLE.....

PLEASE. WOULD YOU DO ME THE KIND FAVOR OF SENDING THIS TO AS MANY
PEOPLE AS YOU CAN? CHRISTMAS WILL BE COMING SOON AND SOME CREDIT IS
DUE TO OUR U.S. SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN FOR OUR BEING ABLE TO CELEBRATE
THESE FESTIVITIES.LET'S TRY IN THIS SMALL WAY TO PAY A TINY BIT OF
WHAT WE OWE. CAUSE PEOPLE TO STOP AND THINK OF OUR HEROES, LIVING AND
DEAD, WHO SACRIFICED THEMSELVES FOR US. PLEASE, DO YOUR SMALL PART
TO PLANT THIS SMALL SEED.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND HAVE A JOYOUS SEASON.

"Live each day to the fullest"

Rumination: "Friend", "Friends?, "hi friends"...

Someone said, "Thank you for the blast comment.", and, another wrote "friend"

Whose Friend request do you think was accepted the same day??

One of the other four was accepted after a few days of "investigation"...

Did any of the above read my "About Me"? I really do not know. Do you? 

* * From a VERY long-time friend, who had a brush with death on September 3, 196x, in Vietnam * *

Our  Fighting  Personnel

1/2 Boys - 1/2 Men & Women too!

1/2 boy 1/2 man 
If you read this, you WILL forward it on.   You just won't be able to stop yourself . 
The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either.   
He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer.   
He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.   
He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.   
He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.   
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.   
He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.   
He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.   
If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.   
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands.   
He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.    He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all.   
He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. 
He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.   
He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to' square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.   
Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.   
He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.   
Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.   
And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so.   
As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot. . ..   
A short lull, a little shade and a picture of loved ones in their helmets.   
Prayer wheel for our military.... Please don't break it. Please send this on after a short prayer.  
Prayer Wheel   
'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us.   
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need.  Amen.'   
When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our ground troops in Afghanistan, sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those in Iraq, Afghanistan and all foreign countries.   
There is nothing attached....   
This can be very powerful..   
Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Coastguardsman, Marine, or Airman, prayer is the very best one.   
I can't break this one, sorry. 

     The window from which we look . . . (how true)

  A young couple moved into a new neighbourhood.

The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbour hanging the washing outside.

"That laundry is not very clean," she said.

"She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.
Every time her neighbour would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comment.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:
"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."
And so it is with life.

What we see when watching others

depends on the purity of the window through which we look!

This offering from a very long-time pal from the state of Wisconsin, edited slightly by me.

In a small Texas town ( Mt. Vernon ), Drummon's Bar began construction on a new building to increase their business. The local Methodist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening, calling for petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.  

The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the fate of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented, "I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not."

Passed on to me, by a dear friend, some years ago, while he was fighting cancer. Although the cancer won, I still treasure his many stories.

A famous writer was in his study room. He picked up his pen and started writing:  

**Last year, I had a surgery and my gallbladder was removed. I had to stay stuck to the bed due to this surgery for a long time.

**The same year I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favourite job.

I had spent 30 years of my life in this publishing company.

**The same year I experienced the sorrow of the death of my father.

**And in the same year my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accident. He had to stay in bed at hospital with the cast on for several days. The destruction of car was another loss. 

At the end he wrote: Alas! It was such bad year!!  

When the writer's wife entered the room, she found her husband looking sad, lost in his thoughts. From behind him she read what was written on the paper. She left the room silently, returned with another paper and placed it beside her husband's writing.  When the writer saw this paper, he found this written upon it:  

**Last year I finally got rid of my gall bladder due to which I had spent years in pain.

**I turned 60 with sound health and retired from my job. Now I can utilize my time to write something better with more focus and peace.

 **The same year my father, at the age of 95, without depending on anyone and, without any critical condition, met his Creator.

**The same year, God blessed my son with a new life. My car was destroyed but my son stayed alive without getting any disability. 

At the end she wrote: This year was an immense blessing of God and it passed well!!  

The same incidents but different viewpoints. If we ponder, with her viewpoint, what else could have happened, we would truly become thankful.

 Moral : In daily lives we must see that it's not happiness that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy. 

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.  

!! Stay Blessed !!

This is unedited.  It was sent by a friend of 35 years, passed on from someone that he received it from. This is for each and every one who wishes to take a moment and love life, regardless of how that may be expressed.  Thank you very much for visiting my blog today!

love,

ElCool43

READ THIS VERY SLOWLY... IT'S PRETTY PROFOUND. 

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. 

I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. 

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you? 

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched ' Jeopardy ' on television? 

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few days ago. We never did have lunch together. 

Because we cram so much into our lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! 

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. 

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.' 

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. 

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. 

Now....go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to...not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? I had a friend from high school that I was always going to call and never did. The other day her name was in the obituaries so we never had that chat.

Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you. 

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask, 'How are you?' Do you hear the reply? 

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' and in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi'? 

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over. 

Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND including me if you consider me a friend. If it comes back to you, it affirms your circle of friends. 

To those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do. 

Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!

Friends are like balloons;

once you let them go, you might not get them back.

Sometimes we get so busy with our own lives and problems

that we may not even notice that we've let them fly away.

Sometimes we are so caught up in who's right and who's wrong

that we forget what's right and wrong.

Sometimes we just don't realize what real friendship means until it is too late.

I don't want to let that happen so

I'm gonna tie you to my heart so I never lose you. 

End of "Balloons"

From Mark  2/23/2008

  A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS JUST BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE BOX:

1.) EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK .
2.)    YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE.
3.)     WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU.
4.)    IN LIFE , YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS, WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER.
5.)    TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU. 

We all need to be constantly sharpened.  This parable may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and abilities.  Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to accomplish.  Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always remember that the most important part of who you are, is what's inside of you and then allow yourself to be guided and sharpened by the hand of God.