Life is Amazing
From 15 species of Tortoise in the Galapagos Islands to the petal of a flower we cannot but ask why. Life is amazing in every little detail; why do the little petals of a chrysanthemum curl up inwards as it ages looking like a lot of little trumpets, when many other flower petals age outwards, turn brown and then fall off.
When we were children, we would notice these little details and ask questions as we grew up into adults, we hardly noticed the change of seasons taking everything for granted and never stopping to smell the roses.
Today the extremes in life are sort after taking selfies in amazing surroundings to get that picture on a jutting rock with your arms outstretched in a death-defying pose. We actually miss the amazing beauty that surrounds us. It is like the more we see the more we take for granted and just don’t see anymore. We view drone this and drone that on our smart phones, I pads, computers and television and miss what is right in front of us.
We have made it this far, we are still alive after so many years now it is time to open our eyes, we don’t have to travel the world or check off something on our bucket list to be amazed, just grab a $14. Bunch of flowers at the supermarket, take them home and put them in a jar like I did.
Happiness!
Happiness is an essential part of our lives, without it we can be miserable and miserable is not a necessary part of our lives at all, in fact it brings us down to where no one wants to be around us and we are more likely to get sick and die sooner! The best song written about happiness is the one written and sung by country singer Bill Anderson who has written so many positive songs and still performs at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. I first heard “Happiness” when I was in my teens, it has helped me many times in my life to be thankful and happy.
"Happiness" written & sung by Bill Anderson
Happiness happiness the greatest gift that I possess
I thank the Lord I've been blessed with more than my share of happiness
To me this old world is a wonderful place
And I'm just about the luckiest human in the whole human race
I've got no silver and I've got no gold just a whole lot of happiness in my soul
Happiness happiness...
Happiness to me is an ocean tide or a sunset fading on a mountain side
Or maybe a big old heaven full of stars up above
When I'm in the arms of the one I love
Happiness is a field of grain lifting its face to the falling rain
I can see it in the sunshine I breathe it in the rain happiness everywhere
Happiness happiness...
A wise old man told me one time that happiness is nothing but a frame of mind
I hope when you go to measuring my success
That you don't count my money count my happiness
Happiness happiness...
Happiness happiness...
This is the absolute best song ever to play and listen to if you are feeling down, play it listen, have the words speak to you. Put your mind to it – feeling down is in your mind you have the control of this, only you can change your mind and switch to positive from negative. Bad things are all around us, and if you are alone, it is so easy to fall prey to bad. Only bad news is news, so turn your mind off the news and see the beauty in life, squeeze your arms and feel the movement of your bones, feel the texture of your skin, look in the mirror at your eyes and imagine your mind behind your eyes changing into positive.
We have the largest collection of music ever complied for us to listen to because new music is being created every day so each new day the collection gets bigger! Turning on the radio gives us positive and negative jives. You can create your own positive list and play it every time you need it. My list includes – Sunshine on my shoulder, John Denver – Top of the World, The Carpenters – Take a giant step, The Monkees – Today is mine, Glen Campbell – Beautiful World, Dierks Bentley – Heaven, Bryan Adams – Imagine, John Lennon – Remember When, Alan Jackson – Add some music to your day, The Beach Boys – Young as we are ever gonna to be, Colin Raye – I hope you dance, Lee Ann Wormack.
You get the idea; this is 10 from my list of 200. Yes, some are old, but I am 80+ we all have our favorites from years past, there is nothing wrong with today’s music when it is on a positive note!
PAIN - PAIN - & MORE PAIN
Pain is what goes on behind the mirrored glasses, yes it’s in our mind.
“The pain will go away” We have all been told this at some time or other, well what if it doesn’t go away? Living with pain can be painful! No one wants to live with pain and that is why pain killers sell. The pain management market size is estimated at 80.92 billion USD in 2025.
The first and most important thing to know is why you have pain in the first place. As an example: you may have indigestion, the most common cause is something you ate. Once you have figured out the food or drink you ate that caused it your choice is next time avoid this item in your diet or accept that you will continue to have indigestion. The indigestion probably means that you have an allergic reaction, or you might be eating too fast.
As we age our bodies cause more things to go wrong and that can lead to more pain. Arthritic pain causes so much pain in our joints. Unfortunately, if something we do causes pain we tend to stop doing it when we really need to exercise through the pain.
When I started muscle mass training, I also had cortisone injections every 3 months in my knees so my pain was minimal, now my cortisone injections have lost their effect so I feel the pain, nothing has changed in my knees, I am still bone on bone, so I can still do my exercises if I accept my increased level of pain. My exercising will not make my knees worse, but will continue to strengthen my muscles, my choice. I am under supervision of my knee surgeon, my primary care physician and my physician assistant. Yes, I sometimes take a pain pill but so many other things have a cause and effect, the weather, heat, cold, damp, dry, even what I eat and how much, etc.
The most important take away is to find out what is causing your pain and remember taking pain medications only mask the pain and do not stop the cause of the pain.
It does not matter whether it is your knees, shoulders, hips, stomach, or, etc. staying a healthy weight, eating healthy meals, working your joints every day, will reduce your aches and pains and reduce your need for pain suppressants.
For me I am a great candidate for knee replacements so in November my right knee will get a replacement, my increased muscle strength in my legs should make the operation and my therapy easier.