Contentment

Snow over night... but gorgeous morning. Sure would like some WARM weather - for more than a few hours, though.

RFD.tv guests Sat night - Ray Stevens, Rider's in the Sky, Charley Pride & a few others. Very entertaining. Gotta say I'm loving Ray Steven's new release "We The People"... talk about to the point! And, of course, the Rider's in the Sky are always awesome.

Jeff & Ben are due home tonight from PA. The memorial was apparently extremely well-attended and the family was showered with love & condolences. Jeff said that everyone wants to do "something". The owner of the little local grocery store (it has a small cafe in the back where they ate breakfast today) loaded Jeff & Ben up w/ all kinds of food for their trip back. I think he's really glad he went - it was important for him to be able to be part of that for his own closure.

On an entirely different note: Jeff & I were talking the other night about an old friend of his from high school - Chris Hazel. Chris was labeled "Mentally handicapped" in school, but his parents made sure to treat him like any other kid - anything he wanted to try, they made sure he was able to do so. He played basketball w/ Jeff on the h.s. team and graduated w/ him. He took one job washing dishes at a local kids camp & was there for several years, eventually moving on to the kitchen at the very large psychiatric facility located in a nearby town, where he also washed dishes & was general kitchen help. He's been there almost 20 years & is talking retirement!! What a lesson we could learn from him. He's been totally content at that one job - and more importantly, a job that most of us would HATE and would want to move on from as quickly as possible. He never missed a day of work and takes great pride in doing a good job. Why aren't we all that content? Why do we feel such a need to "move up, move on, move out"? Why can we not just take pride in a job well done? Lord knows, Jeff & I are as bad or worse as anyone else... and I'm not sure why - where does that drive come from? And why do we, as a society, worship it as such a good thing? Wouldn't the world in general be better place if everyone would look for contentment in their current situation, rather than always striving for that elusive "Something Better"?

And... just to be perverse... let's consider that other side of the coin. We seem to want that "Something Better", but NOT at the expense of any actual work! We want it to fall in our lap and just somehow "get better". Lord forbid we have to actually experience any discomfort or difficulty to get there! Why on earth would someone choose to feel miserable indefinitely over feeling uncomfortable briefly if it would lead to a better life?

Ok, that's my rant for the day. Perhaps I just stated what you already know... or perhaps you'll have something to mull on? Or, most probably, it's just me being difficult and wanting Something Better to land in my front yard. :)