Wanting to Feel Accomplished

 

There is a phrase, perhaps a bit "old-schoolish" now-a-days, that has been on my mind and has "inspired" me to a degree today:

 "Livin' Life Large!" 

For me, I have come to realize that for me.... to feel this way in my life *does not* mean I need to do anything "grandiose" or "shocking" or "on-the-edge."  But instead... for me.... I find that I can feel my own definition of "Livin' Life Large!" by:

1.  Feeling a sense of accomplishment in a day.

2.  Feeling a sense of purpose realized in a day.

3.  Having a feeling of creativity in a day.

4.  Feeling consistent and constructive in my actions in a day.

5.  Feeling love and closeness with my wife and family and faith in a day.

6.  Feeling tranquility in some part of my day.  

If I can accomplish the above six things in a day.... it feels like I *am* living my fullest life and it gives me a sense of joy and contentment.  

I thought about the above and formulated it in my mind as I was running this morning.  During my 10.2 miles (~16.5 km) of running, I alternated between thinking of how for me, I would envision "Livin' Life Large!" and praying different decades of the Rosary.  Now, today I am also attempting to keep in mind those six ideas and try to attain each of them to a reasonable degree.  

Other bulleted points for the day:

• I am hearing rumors that our community band may start up earlier than its normal "After Labor Day" start time for Fall.  It is both exciting to think about.... but also a little bit challenging because of huge array of work preparations that occurs during the proposed earlier start time.  

• My TMJ has seemed to resolve for a bit.... but now, unfortunately, I accidentally chewed on the inside of my cheek while eating last night... so I will have a few more days of discomfort as my inner cheek is swollen some and a bit uncomfortable.

• In my running this morning, I ran a different route that I have never attempted before, and part of this route was through a path that circumnavigates around a large soccer facility in our region.  It was quite a beautiful view while running.... very pastoral and inviting.  And.... to make the run even better this morning.... it was pleasantly cooler than the last few days, and  was densely cloudy so I did not have to worry about the sun nor sunscreen.  

• The very odd... very strong interest and excitement *about* smoking my pipes and pipe tobaccos WITHOUT the deep longing for them.... is still with me.  It is the oddest sort of feeling.  I am so used to having the deep longing for smoking go hand-in-hand with the excitement of wanting to smoke my pipes.... that feeling only the excitement about smoking my pipes is rather confusing.  I do not feel I can give a PCS rating to this sensation yet.  I also do not understand if it is a progression or a regression of my pipe smoking emotions.... or if it is just a completely new type of feeling about the matter.  Such an odd way to feel.  I think it would be so beautiful and enjoyable and pleasurable to smoke my pipes and pipe tobaccos..... but there is no intensive longing accompanying this. 
  

• I have heard rumor that there is an old school, hands-on lamp repair person that has now opened up shop again.  I am going to go check and see if this is true.  Lighting repair is nearly a lost art these days, as a few months before the pandemic started, I was looking about for such a person and all the establishments I had know of were long gone, and none were listed in the yellow pages nor on-line.  I have a ceiling light fixture that is very age-specific that has had the bulb sockets disintegrate from age, and I would like them replaced and wired back to functionality.  And, while I *technically* know and understand the materials, tools, and processes that are needed to rewire this structure..... when it involves electricity and the potential for a mistake to result in a house fire, I firmly believe I need to elicit the work of a professional to do it better and with more of a promise of safety than I could assure myself of with my own work.  

PipeTobacco