Posted by Karla Lofgren Davis, March 13, 2009
I am so glad I am now in the e-mail groups of so many of our Milby classmates. I am getting lots of interesting / informative / funny / vivid / inspiring messages these days. Some of you are VERY prolific, others more selective! Keep them coming!
Lately, Larry and Kathy Bass have been sending some provocative “Thoughts for the Day”. I really am enjoying all of them, but on Saturday, 02/20/09, I received one that is REALLY for me!!!
The time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted time!
I am far too task driven and feel guilty over "wasted" time. Ed has scolded me for 47 years about my lists, saying I need to be more ROLE oriented (wife, friend, mother, and now - grandmother) rather than being GOAL oriented. I get it, but I don't often do it! This daily thought was just what I needed to read. I enjoyed wasting a full day yesterday - guilt free!!!
Posted by: Glenda Burns Minniece | February 22, 2009 at 06:01 PM - Karla, This is a comment regarding your reflections on the quote Larry and Kathy Bass sent: "The time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted time!" I've always been a lazy creature and have wasted a lot (!!!) of time, but have always felt guilty about it, coming from a family of very industrious people as I do. So when my mother would try to amend my behavior, I would quote Richard LeGallienne's poem: I meant to do my work today, Mother was a poetry lover so some of the time she'd let me get away with it, but not always! For sure! But in more direct response to the Bass' quote, a poem written in 1900 by William Henry Davies is especially apt in our modern, fast-paced world. Here's part of it: And I know that we've all noticed that if we've been wrestling with a thorny issue, then lay it aside for a bit, our minds relax and the issue becomes clearer and/or more manageable. The Bass' quotation is right on - "wasted" time is never wasted - especially when enjoyed!
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling to me;
And the wind went sighing over the land
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand -
So what could I do but laugh and go?
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to sit and stare?
No time to see in broad daylight
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
Posted by: Linda Strickland | February 23, 2009 at 11:41 AM - Now that we are retired seems we have more time to reflect on life going on around us.
Glenda, Talking about time...I sometimes do not wear a watch when out and about. I enjoy the moments spent not looking at a list, viewing a new business, speaking with others I meet, not on a mission but a "la la" time of simple enjoyment. Linda
Posted by: Charles Simmons| February 25, 2009 at 07:04 AM - While flying for the airlines, I was married to my wrist watch. Like Linda, I never wear one around the house anymore - only when I'm out and about, but hardly ever look at it. Another thing I don't do anymore is constantly watch the Weather Channel. About all I care about is, "Did the sun come up this morning?" Time is different when retired. I find it's measured in weekends - not hours. Getting somewhere on time is a virtue, but I've coined an expression that applies when we get just a little behind schedule -- Relax, we're not catching an airplane!!!
Karla, I love the whole idea of this post. Now I can reflect about this and put off all those other things I have been meaning to do today. You sure have a witty husband. I love the idea of being more "role" oriented instead of goal oriented. Mary Oliver is one of my favorite writers/poet. She knows so much about "wasting" time. Here is a favorite poem:
The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean---
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Posted by: Judy Kennedy | May 06, 2009 at 12:48 AM
What a neat subject. Thanks for starting it, Karla.
Several years ago, I bought a book strictly because of the title: "When I Relax, I Feel Guilty." Many of us have lived that way for so long. Our focus has been so busy "doing", that we lose sight of just "being."
I too was one of those busy, busy bees. Something had to be going on all the time. Then retirement came! Yeehaaww! Now I wonder how I ever got anything done while working. Gals, how did we manage to raise our kids, hold down jobs, come home to housework, cooking & cleaning, staying gorgeous & "available" for our men, & still be of a sound mind? I'm convinced it was because of the grace & mercy of God!
I'm with Charles & the watch business. Mine hardly ever comes out of the jewelry box. Sometimes Lanny will ask me what time it is. My remark is, "I don't know & I don't care." Many a day I have to check my Franklin Planner to see what day it is & if I have any appointments. Oh yes... they're important appointments... like get my nails done, go to the beauty shop, have lunch with our daughter, play Crazy Canasta twice a month, clean the motorhome for another trip, check the blooms on the 70 Plumaria in the yard (only 5 are blooming so far this year due to the dry 100's), check on a neighbor, invite friends over, send cards to those who don't have email, spend time with friends & family, make new memories together (like here on this blog.)
Yes, we've all had a lot of things we've gone through together (some happy, some not) & lots of memories we've shared. Now because of this site, we have an opportunity to stay connected, remember the things the Lord has brought us through, & face each new day filled with hope, joy & excitement. Just look at the new memories we're making here; the times we're getting together for lunches, strolling the beaches of other places, meeting on ships, strapping on holsters & shooting guns, helping a friend rebuild a barn, meeting at an RV Park in Montgomery next month for a visit & dinner, class reunions & so much more.
Wasted time? I think not. It was all part of a wonderful plan. Kinda like Charleen's quilt. In our lives, we usually only see the underside of jumbled threads as they hang down, look tacky, yet make things come together. But if we look at it from another perspective, it looks beautiful & is a work of art.
Life's all about BALANCE. There's fun & serious. I love to attend our monthly zany Red Hat Luncheons, wear lots of bling & pazzazz, (but then I do that every day), collection of outrageous sunglasses to choose from, make people laugh just by walking in the room. (John, I have a photo of me on a Harley in my Red Hat bling.) Yet when it comes to a need in someone's life, I can "kick butt" in the spirit praying for them.
We have a sticker for the GMC motorhome that says, "Go RVing - Life's A Trip." After signing emails, I add, "Enjoying the Journey."
So dear fellow Buffs, wherever you are - in the work force, retired, working hard or hardly working, we're in this thing called "LIFE" together. May you enjoy "your" journey. Hugs & much lovin' from my heart to yours - now & always!!
Billie
P.S.
If you ever need me to pray with or for you about something, you know my email address. Time spent in prayer is NEVER wasted. :)
Posted by: Billie Trombatore Young | June 24, 2009 at 04:15 PM