Diamonds in the Rough

We build who we are each moment at a time. Every thought we have translates into an action even if it is inaction. Each action we take becomes a decision. Each decision we make helps shape our character. Our character will define what kind of life we will lead. The type of life we lead will cement how we effect our world. How we effect world will distinctly specify how it is we are remembered. How do you want to be remembered?

I find myself often thinking about the end result first and the best course of action second. I have found this method to be the most successful in my dealings. Quite often we meander, we linger without direction and purpose in life and to those that continue to do that regularly I would ask, "How often do you get in your car with no idea of where you want to go?"
‎"How many times have you packed a bag and driven to the airport with no idea of where you are going, no trip planned and no ticket purchased?" 'Why should the rest of our lives be any different then our travel plans?" "How can we expect to have our goals and accomplishments realized with out a carefully laid plan?" Granted while we can not control everything, we can develop a course of action that will assist us as a map to reach what ever our promise land may be. We can put into place safety guards for incidentals and unexpected derailments. Most importantly we can enlist the assistance of others who will be there to support and guide us along our journey.
Life doesn't offer a dress rehearsal, you get one ticket to your life. Choose how you live it carefully. Treat the people God has placed in your life like the fragile gifts that they are. Unlike milk none of us has an expiration date stamped on our tummy. We never know how or when the people we love will be taken from us. Value the time you are given because it is the most precious gift you will ever have bestowed upon you.

It was a hot Summer day in August. I was so excited to go to Nanny and Poppy's apartment because I love spending time with my Poppy. Nanny was on a plane to California to see Great Aunt Ruby and Great Aunt Mavis. It was a gift from Poppy for her birthday.
We were supposed to be painting the apartment with him. He wanted to surprise her when she got home because she had been asking him to do it for a while. When Poppy realized how hot it was going to be that day he gave my dad some money and told him to take us to the beach.
It was the most wonderful day. You see my dad didn't do stuff with us often. Most of the time he was too busy or couldn't be bothered and it was just us kids with my mom. It was the first time I can remember us ever doing anything as a family. We went on the board walk got pizza and cheese fries. When we got home the phone was ringing. Mom and Dad were still getting my brother Al and my sister Jen in the house so I was the first one to answer the phone. It was my Aunt Adriane, my father's sister, she was hysterically crying and kept saying put mommy and daddy on the phone. Dad got on the phone and he soon started to cry. My Poppy had a heart attack that afternoon not long after we left. I was told years later he had gotten to a phone and dialed 911. The day that was one of the greatest days of my life also became the saddest because my Poppy passed away. For a long time my aunts and father all blamed themselves for not being there. Everything in life has purpose. Poppy was a proud man and it was probably for the best that his family only saw him as a strong person and not in his hour of need.
Till this very day every one in my family misses my grandfather, Poppy. He was a strong man, very guarded to the outside world but he loved his family dearly.  He taught me about politics, art, music and culture and the most important thing of all, not to take my life or my freedom for granted. While he had no more then an eight grade education he was a wise, cultured man and well rounded in his knowledge. He was always learning, always experiencing new things to try to better himself and his family meant the world to him.

So many people in this world never think about who it is that they want to be in their lives. What they want to get out of their experiences while they are here. They waste their time, energy and emotion on things that are of no value to them in the long run.
As a society we allow ourselves to be repressed by religion, government and the media. We let those entities tell us who to be, how we should think and we allow them to often define our lives. If we stopped for just one moment and left all of the presidential elections, coca cola commercials and religious ideologies behind and were left to our own devices; What is it that we would do? Who is it that you would want to be?
I used to think that I needed to do something amazing in this world in order to make a difference.  That anything less then spectacular would be considered mediocre by most standards. As I have progressed through my life I have learned the value of making a small difference in some one's life.
In 2003 I became a mother. It was the most unbelievable and eye opening experience I have had in my life thus far. My daughter Guinevere opened my heart and my mind to so many new ideas. My opinion never mattered so much to any one before. Having a child is like ripping off a piece of your heart and allowing it to run around naked outside your chest. My capacity to love has grown so much in the six almost seven years since Guinevere was born. She inspires me to want to be a better person. She has made me a better daughter to my parents if only because I now know how they have felt my whole life. While things are not perfect.
There are times when we argue and fight but my family loves me. They are the only people who will be there to support me no matter what I go through. They will forgive me and care for me no matter how I act.
I guess my point is that you can decide how you want to relate to this world. I have always stated that while you can not control what happens to you, you can control how you respond to it.
So often in life we spend so much time wandering we never see the diamond mines we have at home.

 Acres of Diamonds

Old African Proverb

An African farmer had becomequite bored with his life and the rocky soil he had chosen to till.
He had read that diamonds were being discovered in abundance and the idea of finding millions of dollars worth of diamonds got him so excited that he sold his farm and headed out.
He wandered all over the African continent; the years slipped by as he searched for the diamonds and wealth that he never found.
Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it on his mantle as a sort of curiosity. A visitor stopped by and told the
new owner of the farm that the funny looking rock on his mantle was just about the biggest diamond that had ever been found. The owner of the property told him that “. . .the whole
farm is covered with them – I’ve been kicking them out from under my mule.”
With that the new owner of the property sold many of the diamonds and used his profit to benefit the small town. When the prior owner returned home broke and tired he saw that the new owner of his farm had become a rich king.

Never go in search of the world's riches until you have explored your own back yard.

Importance

Jayme Lin Rose

In the positions that I have held, in the home that I once dwelled, in the car that I once drove, no meaning do these things hold

In the grace that I once gave, my helping hand did save, important these things are, not my home, my money, nor my car