Reality – Dave Glardon

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a great start.

Today is a new day. A fresh start. A chance to spread a little cheer and find a little for myself. No, I’m not drinking. I make it a point never to do that before breakfast. Aaannnd, I just finished my breakfast, so all options are on the table. Boss, if you’re reading this, I’m just kidding! (wink-wink).

Okay, my past few posts have been pretty heavy. Life works that way sometimes, and every now and then we need a good shot of reality. We’ve been there. I read this morning that today marks 5 years since 2020 began. I think we can all relate. So, excuse me if I get a little silly for a change. I’ve been accused of that once or twice, usually by my pastor.

Of course, he’s the guy who says we can’t just jump straight into Christmas. We have to observe Advent first. I never really knew what that meant, but let me explain what I’ve picked up over the years. It’s winter. It’s cold. It’s snowing. And before we’re allowed to celebrate the coming of Christ, we have to immerse ourselves in the drudgery that came before him. Got it?

Well, as much as I love my church and my pastor, here’s a novel idea. We’ve been through Advent for the past 10 months. Can we give ourselves time off for good behavior and find something to be happy about? I think we’ve earned it.

Sure, there’s something to be said for acknowledging life’s challenges so you can better appreciate the good stuff. It’s like eating Brussels sprouts before you can taste dessert. I get it. But there’s a reason I didn’t gain a lot of weight as a child – I didn’t get a lot of dessert. Some things just aren’t worth it, and those pungent green cootie-heads are at the top of the list.

But there’s also something to be said for stepping around the mud on your way into a party. Just because it’s there, that doesn’t mean we have to wallow in it. Not alone, anyway. I’m told mud-wallowing with friends can be a little … shall we say … exhilarating? But you still come out smelly, and nobody wants to be around that.

So, we look beyond the obvious and find something a little more enjoyable to occupy our time. Like dessert. Yes, I know, vegetables are loaded with vitamins. And I haven’t found a single vitamin since childhood that I want to taste. But I’m told there’s a whole industry for those of us who don’t like the flavor of vomit, so they make these things we can just swallow instead. Voila!

But this isn’t about vitamins or leafy green, semi-edible vegetables. It’s about finding a little joy. It’s about happiness. It’s about getting past all that surrounds us every day, the chains we can never seem to fully escape, and immersing ourselves into a world where people smile and laugh and sing. But no dancing. That’s where I draw the line. If you’d ever seen me dance, you’d understand.

Sometimes, my friends, we have to turn off the news, shut down the computer, and escape into an alternate reality where things like hope and victory prevail. We have to dream, to envision a more fulfilling existence, and plot … I mean, plan … a strategy for achieving it.

We can’t change the world around us, but we can change its effect on us. We can’t control circumstances, but we can control our reaction to them. We can’t change what has been to this point in life, but we can influence what is to be. And it all begins in that magical part of our brain where anything is possible.

Sure, at some point you come back to reality. At least I hope so. As much as I love the vision of traveling the beaches of the world, there are things right here that require my attention. Important things, like my job, the house, a leaky faucet, this mess in the basement … damn.

But here’s the point I want you to take away from this message – without dreams, none of the rest even matters. Work is important, but only if there’s something you’re working for … something other than a bill next month that’s not doubled because you couldn’t pay it this month. There’s more to life, friends. A lot more.

We don’t need any reminders that 2020 isn’t over, and 2021 isn’t shaping up very well, either. We can’t escape the challenges that surround us, but we can work our way around them. And it all begins with a dream. Okay, and letting ourselves sing happy songs right after Thanksgiving. Put up the tree, turn on the lights, and skip right to the good stuff! You’ve earned it.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Follow @dglardon

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope your day is off to a nice start.

Yes, I played hooky yesterday. We had the little ones, and they get here early, and my granddaughter is going through a “Grandpa’s girl” phase where she likes to cuddle in my lap, and … well, when the little guy asks you to make him some eggs, you make him some eggs. Hey, I don’t make the rules! Like Mongo said, I’m just a pawn in the game of Life.

Okay, we’ll see how many people get that last movie reference. When it comes to slap-stick comedy, that was one of my all-time favorites. Crude? Yes. Edgy? Like a razor blade. But a perfect example of how ignorant we can be when we choose to be … well, you know … ignorant.

I think about that a lot as I read the posts on social media each day. In the past week, I’ve removed a few more people from my list of contacts, simply because they insist on showing a side of humanity that really doesn’t need to be shown. In some cases, I even agree with their general perspective. That doesn’t mean we have some God-given right to be rude about it.

Whether we like it or not, we’re judged by the words that come out of our mouth. Or, in this case, the words that fly off our keyboard. It’s one thing to be passionate. But when passion yields to insolence and outright disrespect, we’ve crossed a line. And the worst part is, all it does is beg an equally unpolished response from somebody with an opposing point of view.

It’s been pointed out to me that nobody likes it when you correct them on social media. It doesn’t matter if the story is an outright and easily proven lie, we’re supposed to just be quiet and let the manure spread. All too often, we’re more interested in being heard than speaking the truth, especially if that truth challenges what we want to believe.

We see this all the time, and not just in sensitive topics like politics and religion. Years ago, I was looking for some freelance writing work and I got an offer to write reviews for a company’s products. I asked how it would work – would they send me the product to try out and I’d write a review on it? Would I get to keep the product? Can I write a review for a Lamborghini?

As it turns out, they would send me a list of features and “marketing bullets” about a product I’d never seen, and then pay me to write lavish reviews about it. And I could make even more money by writing negative reviews for their competitors’ products! That’s how it really works out there, folks. And then they stiffed me on my paycheck!

I’m kidding. I’ve been desperate for cash before, but never that desperate. But you know, there are a lot of things I’d never do that other people do every day. I bet you can say the same. Morals and principles are only as strong as the people wielding them.

When I read reviews, I generally skip over the best and the worst, and focus on what’s in the middle. Even if they’re genuine, the best usually sound like, “We just bought this last week, used it once, and it works GREAT!” And the worst are from people who could stumble into a pot of gold and whine about their aching toe.

It’s one thing to spew hate and misinformation, with no consideration for the people it affects. It’s another thing to blindly welcome such thoughts into the sanctity of our brain. If you fill a glass with clean water, it’s crystal clear. Add one single drop of ink, and it’ll never be clear again. And the more ink you intentionally drop in, the darker it gets.

The movie I was referring to earlier is one that illustrates the ignorance of racial bias, more accurately than we’d care to admit. Thankfully, not too many people turn to that movie as a documentary to support their beliefs, because it’s so intentionally over the edge that nobody in their right mind would see past the slapstick mockery to find any inkling of truth.

But how often do we allow negative thoughts into our brain, simply because they fit our preconceived notion of reality? And how often do we go looking for more of those thoughts to bolster our opinion? There’s no shortage of ink, friends. The only question is, what color?

Manufacturers pay writers to come up with the perfect words to convince you their product is the best. Politicians do the same thing, and even other governments if it suits their interests. If you want an informed opinion, you have to inform yourself. Dig deeper. Ask questions. Challenge opinions. Above all, trust your instincts. The truth is there. You just have to want it.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Follow @dglardon

Tag: Reality

That’s It! I Want My Dessert!!!

Reality or Opinion? It Depends Who’s Doing the Talking.