Happy Birthday. When you get to be our age, you are glad to have another birthday. Jeny had a great 82nd birthday. She got a good report from her physical therapist. She heard from both sons and their wives as well as Shawn and Stacy. She had good conversations with grandchildren. She heard from many friends all across America. Thank you for remembering her!
She had a steak dinner prepared by yours truly with her extended family. She had an Irish dinner with Shane and Sherrie while we were at the beach. She got to spend two days at the beach house.
It was a Happy Birthday.
We had two tough moments. First, we agreed it was time to go through her closet and send some items to Goodwill. Nine bags later we have a good start. It was hard because of her work and other memories attached to the clothes. I am proud of her for her commitment to a difficult chore.
Second, we received bad health news from a special friend to both of us. Those of your from our Illinois State years may have ties to Tom Oyan. Tom is in a real health battle right now. Please remember him, his wife Julie and his sons.
Windows to My World. The current political situation reminded me of the importance of a psychological process I will call framing. By framing, I mean our genes and our experiences form window frames through which we view the world. The windows can be called paradigms, or perspectives, or viewpoints, or several other terms.
Whatever name is used, the concept is the same—how we view the world is affected by the window through which we look. How we frame our world is a big factor in how we observe and act in our lives.
Certainly, in today’s political views we see how framing shapes the opinions people have of events. I could give many examples of the different interpretations Republicans and Democrats have for the same events.
Today is not a political day. Today I want think about framing for how it shapes my daily attitudes. I have many different windows in my mind. Today I want to focus on the choice I have between two windows – a window of wants and a window of thanksgiving.
I have wants:
I have big wants — like peace and justice.
I want my needs to be met.
Some people have material wants. At my age, I do not have material wants beyond my needs.
I have wants for the behavior people with whom I have direct contact. I want them to behave in particular ways that fit within my frame of reference.
I do not have a great influence over the big wants. My needs are met in abundance. I do not have material wants. The daily desire for people to behave in particular ways is my focus today.
Through my frame of reference — I expect people to stop at red lights, clerks to be nice, the dog not to bark, friends to meet commitments and loved ones to behave in certain ways. These expectations are not met with regularity.
I do not know about you, but if I become too focused on my window of wants for how others behave, my daily life and relationships suffer. I need reminders to open my window of thanksgiving.
I drive a truck that is paid for and running efficiently. I have a friend who needs a car and cannot afford one. I have another friend whose car needs repairs they cannot afford. At the stoplight I need to open the window of thanksgiving.
In my own life, the place I need the reminder the most is with the people I am around the most, the people I love the most. They may do things with which I disagree; they may even do things that are wrong. My focus on those things should never outweigh my thanksgiving for them. I try to remind myself of the importance of the window of thanksgiving as a part of my daily quiet time. It helps!! Especially when the dog will not stop barking.
This and That
If you missed the two-year-old doing math on America’s Got Talent you missed a real treat.
AGT’s Youngest-Ever Act, Baby Dev, Stuns with His Math Skills | NBC Insider
Good News
Woman Raises Over $222,000 For 90-Year-Old Veteran Spotted Working On Memorial Day (sunnyskyz.com)
Preschool Teacher Becomes Lifesaver For Former Student (sunnyskyz.com)
75-Year-Old Homeless Woman’s Life Transformed After TikTok Video Goes Viral (sunnyskyz.com)
Missouri Fifth Grader Raises Over $7,000 To Erase School Meal Debt (sunnyskyz.com)
Peace,
Jerry
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