Fresh Eggs...

Have you ever taken out a carton of eggs and cracked one open, only to find that it’s been frozen? When that happens, you have to wonder what’s wrong with your refrigerator? Why did the egg freeze? So you go back out to the refrigerator and check the milk, at least, that’s what I do. I want to make sure that the milk isn’t frozen as well. When I say, go back out, it’s only because I have teenagers, and that forced me to buy a second refrigerator that I keep in the garage because there’s not room in the kitchen. So, I go back out to check the milk and make sure that it’s not frozen as well, and once I get out to the garage, I notice that someone, or several someones, have not thrown away the cartons that once held the cans of Pepsi on the garage floor. With a sigh, I pick up the empty carton, break it down and carry it over to the recycle bin, break it down and drop it in. How hard was that? I begin to walk back over to the refrigerator, when I hear the phone ringing inside of the house. I run in to answer it, but after looking at the caller ID and noticing that it’s not someone I know, I choose to ignore it. So I run back up the short flight of stairs to the kitchen, and I go to the kitchen refrigerator to get out the milk so that I can make the scrambled eggs. Getting out the milk reminds me that the eggs were frozen and that I wanted to check the milk outing the garage, and the cycle is complete.

How many of us experience days like this? You might not experience the specifics of the day, but the general idea of it. You experience the inability to be able finish one task before another one rears it’s ugly need! So what do you do?

I’ve had this difficulty a lot recently, and i’m not really sure why. It hasn’t been a problem all of my life, just within the past few weeks. So what am I doing to solve this untimely dilemma? I’m really focusing on the task before me. I am determined to get this one thing done and then move on. If something comes to mind that threatens to draw me away from my current task, in order to satiate the craving for more than I can handle, I have a note pad where i write down the task and get to it when it comes up on the rotation. I’m finding this to be incredibly effective as well as providing me with a great ToDo list. I’ll be busy for weeks to come at this rate!

So, just my two cents worth. If you’re experiencing this issue, give my idea a try and let me know if it worked for you. You can always reach me at author@drewbankston.com or, for more fun things delivered monthly, go to my webpage (www.drewbankston.com) and sign up for my monthly newsletter, where you’ll get life tips, info on my new books, my touring schedule as well as information on book give-aways and contests. Later my friends!

Drew

A Change in the Weather

This afternoon it started to rain, and then there was a snow shower. That’s not really unusual for Colorado in February except that we’ve all become used to daytime highs in the upper 50’s and 60’s recently. It’s been nice and wearing short-sleeved shirts has certainly been pleasant. So today was much of a shock to the system. The forecast of snow overnight was a shock to the mind as well. But the more that I thought about it, the more it seemed like a fun thing. We’ve had some nice weather here in winter, and now it’s time for a quick shot of snow to remind us that it is indeed, still winter.

Life can be like that, though. We cruise along in life with our daily dose of regular, everyday activities but every now and again, those activities are disrupted or a wrench is thrown into the works and quite suddenly, our life is filled with momentary chaos. Sometimes it doesn’t feel momentary, but it’s good to remember in all situations, that everything in life is momentary. It doesn’t last. It won’t be this way forever. So how do you handle the momentary disruptions to your life? Do you fall apart? Do you panic?  Do you wonder why life is so against you? Or, do you wonder what lesson you’ll learn from the current situation? Do you take a look at where you are in life and wonder how this situation will propel you to a new understanding and knowledge?

There are many times when we feel personally picked on as situations encroach on our lives. The best thing to think about, though, is that it’s all, momentary. Momentary. Only here for the moment. The blink of an eye in the overall scheme of things.

I realized today, how incredibly much I love this life. I love everything about it. I love the lessons that I’ve learned and I look forward to lessons yet to come. I can’t imagine life being any better than it is right now, and yet, according to my goals, it will get better and better. So for me, when these bad things happen to disrupt my life as I know it, I look at it much like the weather today. It’s a change. It’s different. It might not be exactly the way I want it to go right now, but tomorrow’s a different day and things will begin to steer back to the road that I was on before this happened. I’m looking forward to this small change, but then anticipating a return to the normal, my normal and my road. It’s the road I love and will take me to new heights. Hopefully, you have a similar road that will support you through the twists, turns and changes as mine does for me.

Chasing the Dog

All of my life, I’ve been chasing the dog. Okay, I haven’t literally been chasing a dog, but I did today. My little dog, after having a bath, ran down the stairs to find freedom awaiting at the bottom in the form of a front door which had blown open. By the time I had made it outside, the little stinker was already two doors down, standing in the driveway and taunting me. So, I did what any good owner would do. I grabbed the leash and went after him, hoping that he would see the leading in my eyes, and hear the sorrow of his leaving in voice.

We played a wonderful game of “you’ve almost got me” for about half an hour and half a mile. It was cold and the wind was blowing. I had forgotten my cell phone and didn’t remember to put on a coat, sunglasses, hat, gloves or anything else to keep me warm. I thought that he was running the way that we walk every morning and evening, so at first I was thinking that he would just run back to the house, but then he surprised me and took an unexpected right turn toward a busy street, down the sidewalk about a thousand feet away.

I was worried, then, about his safety, and I was also getting tired. I walked another five hundred feet and could see him sitting at the corner up ahead, watching me. I gave it some thought and decided that continuing the chase, at this point in time, might drive him out into the street, so I sat down on the sidewalk and decided to rest for a bit and think about what to do.

I looked over at where my dog was sitting and, to my surprise, he was running toward me. He stopped about thirty feet away and looked at me. I looked up and called him. He took a few more steps and stopped again. Once again, I called him and to my surprise, he came over to me and allowed me to put the leash on him and take him home.

I’ve not been chasing the dog all of my life, but I realized that chasing my dreams all of my life, as I have, has been a great deal like my adventure of today. I chase my dreams with all I’ve got. I can see them up ahead, and sometimes they seem to stop, look at me and then run a little farther ahead. Just like today, it sometimes requires that I sit quietly for a moment, and take a break fro the chase in order for me to rest and regroup. Then, and only then, the way to reach the dreams will come to me. They say that most people quit chasing their dreams when they are only a few inches away from catching them, but there are times when you need to allow the dreams to get closer to you.

Drew