Tag: Gen X

Food For Families

Central Florida volunteers gather at a local High School every Thanksgiving Day morning to pick up and deliver boxes of food to needy Families.

Tomorrow will be our tenth year of this Thanksgiving Day family tradition.

A decade ago, and even before Cheryl was pregnant, I suggested to her that we find a way to show our children that we are here to serve and not to be served.

This is a simple, and seemingly insignificant act of kindness influences our thinking, and our actions, all year long.

A Publix Grocery Store Produce manager started Food For Families many years ago.  With help from Central Florida Churches, Schools, and community members, needy Families are identified.

The Central Florida Community also delivers Food for Families on Christmas morning and Easter morning, providing us opportunities to put others first on three special days where we traditionally didn’t.

Mid Life Creativity

Do you ever have moments, seasons, or even longer stages of life where you question many things? Or maybe you find yourself lost and confused. Or, overwhelmed.

Mid Life creativity is critical in moving from a mid life crisis to a mid life celebration.  Several times yesterday, I thought about it being Monday. Monday is “Twistee Treat Day”.  And so is Friday.

Seemingly insignificant, or trivial, at first glance, isn’t it?

You see, as a mid-life father of a nine-year old, in many ways, I was a “fish out of water” when our son was born.

What to do, right?  Well, it seemed like a good idea to find small ways to create lasting memories (traditions).

Perhaps the main reason this is challenging for me is because, when I tried to recall these things with my Dad and my Grandfather, I was coming up empty.  Both men loved me and I loved them.

I just simply don’t remember any special things that we did together.

Tomorrow I’ll share a creative mid-life list of some of the things that are so simple, and yet so significant, that they will last  life time.  Who wouldn’t want that?

Simple Thanks Mid Life?

Simple.  Thankful. Present. Childlike. Humble.

At mid life, there are many things that can distract us from being present.  And when this occurs, we can not be thankful for even the simple things.

Not being thankful for even the simple things leaves us open to create habits that take us farther and farther from thankfulness.

This should alarm us.  And maybe, just maybe, we should be thankful for our alarm.

Stuck?

Little bit. Maybe it’s the cold. Maybe not. Maybe it’s the time difference. Maybe not. Maybe it’s writer’s block.  Maybe not.

Whatever it is, I’m thankful for it.

What?

Thankful for writer’s block?  As a writer, are you telling me you’re thankful that you can’t write?

Absolutely!

The simple fact of addressing something honestly can be liberating. Plus, the fact that most of the time writing comes easy, well, that inevitably will lead to days where it doesn’t.

So, I’m abundantly thankful for both sides of the coin.  Are you? Make it a great, and thankful, day.  Because if you don’t, who will? If not today, when?  Carpe diem.

Roll With Mid Life?

Yes, we should “roll with it”, mid life, that is.  There is no avoiding it.  Is there?  Maybe if our lives are cut short, we could avoid mid life, but that’s really the only way.  Who wants that?

Not me.  So what can a person do?  Why not “roll with it“.  A phrase I learned a long time ago.  It means to take whatever you are given and “roll with it“, or make the most of it.

If you can’t change what you are given or presented with, why not make something good from it?  Because if we don’t, then we are destined, it would seem, to complain.  Who wants that? Here, let me demonstrate how simple this concept is. Please pay attention, it’s over in ten seconds.