There are those who try, excel and succeed in spite of their hardships and history or oppression by others and outside forces.  There are those who stagnate, fall back and fail because of various reasons.  There are those who celebrate the opportunities to make their own successes or failures.  Others will throw blame and demand to be given what others work hard to achieve.  Who are you?  Where are you going to go next?

Does your Logittude find you Shining today?  Choose your path.  Let your history be a compass to your best destination.

We are blessed to live in a country with the personal freedoms to excel if we recognize and seize the opportunities that God lays before us.  No one says it will be easy, but you will never know the possibilities until you try.  Small decisions can lead you in the right direction, little steps at a time if necessary.

Is today the tomorrow you expected yesterday?

Even with the best intentions and a fresh desk calendar, time slips pass without my permission.  What I want to do, what I have to do, what I need to do and what I actually attempt to do are not always the same lists.  Dutifully, at the end of (most) days, I move my list of intentions to the next day’s page.  My repetitive attempts at lists and reminders at least keep me aware of intentions before they slip away, out of sight and out of mind.  Yet, here I am on another beautiful Sunday.

Is tomorrow the future you want to be planning today?  Why not give it a shot?  What can you do today to be one step closer to the future you really want?  Lists are laughed at, but they do make an idea real in the sense you can see it, read it, revise it and come back to it.  Lists do not have to be reasonable.  Mine contains realistic entries and ambitious fantasies, but why not?  It is my list after all, so I can put what I want.

Today, I have general maintenance tasks, like laundry, dusting, decluttering, but I also have grand listings, like discover a million-dollar idea, create works of art and replace my bathtub.  Realistically, I am going to be at my desk working on business (I do the management of our family’s business from my desk here) and cheering on the Houston Texans’ attempt at winning a football playoff game.  Odds are good for the business work and maybe some laundry, but bathroom renovations are highly unlikely.  Any million-dollar inspirations will be left to serendipity.

Time will tell.

Not a spelling error or typo, but my reflections on a day like today – plodding through the day.  Gradually, step by step, I have progressed through tasks as necessary.  Redirected by recollections of tasks missed or needs outside the intended path set by my list of last evening, I have continued to plod deliberately along.  The evening’s list for my morning’s endeavors will include all those items missed today with those needed for tomorrow.  Logittude and necessity have charted my course, but I have plodded the path.  Sweet dreams and shining tomorrows.

Today, when I could have slept late, God woke me up earlier than usual.  The house was quiet;  the day is overcast and a bit misty; and I am warm and safe and without fear.  For this sense of overwhelming security, I am thankful.

My family members will gather today in various places to share lunch, love and conversations.  Children and grandparents will spend a little time together simply existing and finding happiness from those priceless moments.  We have transportation to bring us together, and telephones and computer messages for those who cannot be present physically.  Bonds are strengthened just by slightest efforts.  The food we share will sustain us, nourish us and (in some instances) entertain us.  We are Blessed.

In the afternoon, the freedom of our particular Sunday allows time to watch football games, browse local flea markets, work in the artist’s studio and play catch up at the business next at home, by choice and not by instruction.  We can wander across the wooded grounds of our home with only birds, squirrels, random neighborhood cats and dogs, to drop in unexpectedly and without harm.  (I am happy to say the neighborhood skunk who chose to sleep at my back door Friday night has moseyed back to the woods.)  My family is safe from harm.  For the many factors that contribute to that safety, we are Blessed.

For family and friends.  For the opportunities laid before us.  For the chance to recognize those opportunities before they pass and to seize them for best advantage.  For the talents inside us and the discovery and development of those talents.  For the good health and physical well-being to be able to enjoy all of our Blessings.  I am Blessed.  For these Blessings, I will SHINE to the best of my ability and try to bring just a little brightness to the lives I may touch in passing.

Thank you, God, for this Day.  Amen.