Tag Archives: trash

Synchronicity, walking, dogs, and diet

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I was lucky enough to see synchronicity in action this morning! It is so nice to see it in action, although it always amazes me when I see it. Perhaps it is a form of pass it forward, or maybe it is just coincidence, but I am grateful to see it all the same. I went out for my morning walk and what did I see? I saw a group of people out with trash bags picking up trash along the walking path!

What a sight, there was a group of about eight people out with their bags and some sticks with nails on the end to spear the trash on the ground. They were out there with their bags half full, or half empty, depending on your personal take. As I walked along the walking path I made it a point to thank each of them. I want them to know I appreciate their time and effort making the park cleaner.

They appeared to be enjoying themselves, which is a normal feeling from knowing you are doing something of value for others even if they do not see you doing it. I hope this group whoever they are, out there cleaning up the walking path decide this is something they can do on a regular basis, and not just a one time spring clean up effort. It would be good to see more people involved in keeping their walking areas clean.

Which brings me to another sore spot of walking paths besides the trash people drop all over the place. People walk their dogs along the paths too, and do not bother to clean up after them. My guess is they don’t think about it, because for many of them they make a quick walk through and they are gone. But what their dog’s leave is not something that is cleaned up by the fairies that come out of their homes after everyone leaves, and turn dog crap into gold dust. Here in the desert where we get twelve inches of rain a year on average that dog waste is there for a long while. I suppose my point is if you have a dog and you take it for walks, it is likely a public area, and kids and other adults use that area too, so please clean up after your dog.

I have rediscovered and enjoyable way to get outside and enjoy the day now that spring weather is here. I found a book on diet and health that explains eating, health and exercise better than any book I have ever read. One of the ideas the book promotes is strolling after meals. Strolling is a slow meandering walk. You are moving, but not trying to walk for exercise. I have been wanting to actually lose weight rather than starve for about five months now, and this book came along. Synchronicity in action?

This book promotes strolling for twenty minutes after each meal. Not less than twenty minutes and not a whole lot more than twenty minutes as it tends to make your stomach stop the digestive process which is not the intent. I have been strolling after meals for a week now, and I find I am really enjoying this slow walk. Walking at a slower pace lets me observe more, and pay more attention to what I see. For example the Crocus’ are starting to bloom and walking slower gives me a chance to enjoy them.

During my work week, strolling feels like a nice a extra break after my meal, and a chance to walk away from the job for twenty minutes. In the past I would eat and cruise the internet for those twenty minutes. That twenty minute walk away from work is a nice relaxing break. I have noticed the afternoons now seem to go more quickly, probably because I have broken what was a boring pattern of lunch, net, work.

So, I really do not know if the people collecting trash was because one of them saw me out more than once collecting trash myself, or it is something they are doing because they wanted to do something for their neighborhood, but I would like to think it is sychronicity in action.

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Grateful for smaller things too

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I was thinking of all the smaller things I am grateful for that are normally overlooked or ignored. So much of the time when reflecting on what is good in life we always tend to think of the big things, and the little things fall by the wayside. I thought this may be a good time to reflect on the small things that are as important as the big things. As a cook that taught me how to cook many years ago said, “The big things take care of themselves, we have to pay attention to the little things.”

I am grateful for my Dentist, and one other Dentist that proceeded him. As someone who spent more time in a dentist chair in school than most people do in their lifetime, I can say, my dentist is a great Dentist and, and a great person too. On one of the fingers of my right hand, I have a scar where a ‘dentist’ jammed the broken remains of a Novocain vial into my hand because he was angry. Most of the other dentist’s were not much better. The Dentist I see now is light years beyond them all!

I am grateful for my Doctor. He is not a pill pusher, and he actually listens to what I have to say and models whatever I need around me whenever possible. I know many people have doctors who hand out pills like they were candy, but that is not medicine to me, that is hiding problems. There was a doctor I had to see due to my job who wanted to do a prostrate check on every male patient he saw. Doctors like him used to be the standard, little knowledge and little caring.

I am grateful for the mechanics that work on my car. The job has become so specialized tool equipment wise, that the days of shade tree mechanics are about gone. Over the years I have listened to and watched customers be taken advantage of by mechanics. It is a sad thing to see, the greed in the automotive repair business, I am grateful my mechanic is honest, and recommends used parts whenever possible.

I am grateful I was given the opportunity to travel around the country and see some of the world when I was younger and mostly single. There is nothing like going to another country and actually living in it. Understanding peoples lives in that area of their country to help me appreciate how good life is here. We want for little that we need, and for almost all of us, we live much richer lives than we need to. This kind of life is not possible for most people in some other countries, even those countries we see as aligned with us.

I am grateful for the person delivering my mail, and the person picking up my trash. They do excellent jobs, and are rarely if ever recognized in their line of work by their customers. I have never delivered mail, but I have family members who did. Often they were out in the worst of weather, working like dogs in the Christmas seasons, and generally working harder than most of us on most days. I had been a garbage man for a short stint, and it is a hard nasty filthy job when dumping cans by hand. When trash is picked up by one person and a truck, it becomes a job something like the person delivering the mail. So much work, and sometimes not enough time.

Finally, I am grateful for the wonderful people that check me out at grocery stores. They stand in one spot all day, talking to hundreds of people a day…and most of those people are complaining. They listen to complaints about the store, or the prices, or the parking. When it is not complaints about the store, it is about something that they have no control over, the traffic, someone’s neighbors, kids, dogs, on, and on, and on. I think these people should be paid by the minute for listening to complaints.

My list of things I am grateful for goes on and on too, but I think I have mentioned enough big small things I am grateful for this week.

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