Call me Skywalker

Posted on December 28, 2017 by dfolstad58

This is first short story in the category called Call me Skywalker.

I hope you love each one, comments are so appreciated , and go check out the others in the small series.  They are each brief and just wrote a few, five I believe.

dfolstad58's avatarLife and Random Thinking

God’s providence or karma brought them together – it changed both their lives.

He was just graduated from nursing school,  and turned 25 years old. Excited to be starting his new job at a hospice, he moved to a whole new city to start his career. The first day on the job he met Stella.

Stella was 83,  and she found the days long, dark and lonely at the hospice.  She was looking out the window at the rain, when her new caregiver came to bring her breakfast at 7:30 a.m.

Good morning Stella, my name is Luke but please call me Skywalker. Today is my first day and I will be your caregiver. How are you today?

He looked deep into Stella’s eyes and for the first time in weeks she felt like she was in the centre of someone’s attention, and not somewhere out on the edge.

Stella…

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Unexpected, welcome, and appreciated

Posted on December 27, 2017 by dfolstad58

Thank you for following my blog and your kind supportive feedback. A verbal chocolate of appreciation to everyone who likes my posts, and especially those I have gotten to know better via their feedback.

dfolstad58's avatarLife and Random Thinking

coffee shopI have discovered that people are surprised by compliments or expressions of appreciation.

I don’t mean with family, or your closest friends – they aren’t surprised. I mean the people you see regularly, but you don’t know their birthday, but you aren’t a stranger neither.

The cost is free, the time it takes is negligible to give a sincere compliment but the effect is long lasting.

I workedin an office in Vancouver decades ago, and this event is still remembered. One of my coworkers took the time one day to mention she noticed I took the time to dress well for work (ironed shirts, ties) everyday. She complimented me on my appearance. It struck me because the compliment was unexpected but appreciated. I don’t remember her name but I recall how I felt because she took the time to say a few kind words. Unexpected, welcome and…

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Simple Words Say it Best

Posted on December 27, 2017 by dfolstad58

It’s been five years since I wrote this but it’s still true

dfolstad58's avatarLife and Random Thinking

I know I have mentioned it before,  I have been reading the books of Alexander McCall  Smith and they take place in Botwana. The heroine in the series I have been reading called No. Ladies Detective Agency is Precious Ramotswe.

“It was time to take the pumpkin out of the pot and eat it. In the final analysis, that was what solved these big problems of life. You could think and think and get nowhere, but you still had to eat your pumpkin. That brought you down to earth. That gave you a reason for going on. Pumpkin.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

The dozen or so books are inspiring, and I would genuinely like to meet this author who breathes so much life into his characters. The author lived in Africa and if you click his wikipedia link you will…

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Living in the Splendour of the Moment

Posted on December 26, 2017 by dfolstad58
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Africa living in the moment

I sat down to enjoy reading a book the other day and I caught myself also turning on the television. I caught myself and I realized that I was trying to multitask reading which stunned me and disappointed me.
It seems that everyone, including me, is trying to do more than one thing at once and I realized that some of my best times are when I am doing just one thing and thinking about nothing else.   I was reading another blog and they used the phrasing “splendour of the moment” and I thought to myself how much better it is to live that in the moment instead of on autopilot while we multitask and are tuned out.
Think about these examples of mindfulness and living in the splendour of the moment.
Hood Canal - Potlatch-22

Catching the last rays of the day

Sitting along a lake with a crackling campfire, the sun going down, the fire popping and crackling as the light fades. Soon the lake is dark and the fire dims, I can smell the smoke and I’m thinking how happy I feel being out of touch from emails and texts.

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I can’t make this fancy a drink

A day of cold fresh air and exercise in the wintertime, tobogganing and laughing and then a nice warm mug of cocoa with marshmallows warming my fingers as I savour the rib soreness from laughter.
Being in the delivery room for the arrival of my long awaited firstborn.  I am excited, nervous, joyful. Telling myself to capture the memory so I never forget every second.
The wonder of watching my daughter walk across the grass in her wedding dress, wonderstruck at the beautiful independent woman she has become. She looks so happy!
my iron horse with lights

My bike at Okanagan lake

The first sunny day my son learned to ride a two wheel bike independently and I can’t keep up running along side to protect him, and I feel proud, and a little worried.

The first breath of wind on my face after five long months in hospital, I feel real excited to be going home finally, and tired.
What I learned is that I need to slow down and spend more time right now experiencing life while it is happening.  I have just this one life.
Here is where I think it could be really interesting – pretty please add as a comment below any memory or time that you lived in the splendour of the moment.
Thank you for sharing.
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A Lesson about Light I learned this week

Posted on December 21, 2017 by dfolstad58

menorahThis week I learned a lesson about light from a rabbi.

I’m not Jewish but I was invited to a public lighting of a menorah candle. The rabbi spoke warmly, and genuinely to explain the symbolism of the candle lighting and hanukkah.

Afterwards people mingled and had some food, and the potato latkes were delicious. I digress from the lesson, but they were really yummy.

As an illustration as he spoke the rabbi briefly talked about fire and water. He confirmed with a firefighter present that the bigger the fire, the more water needed to extinguish a fire.

candle in the dark 1However, not so with darkness.  Darkness needs only a candle to beat back darkness,  more darkness does not vanquish a candle. The rabbi used this metaphor for darkness in the world and people’s lives.  He encouraged us to light our own candles and keep them lit. He said light a candle for someone else or help them to light their own.

I empathized with this metaphor because I walk at night often. I used to rely on reflective material but it is useless it is reflecting light, as in you are still invisible and I once had a jogger almost run over me in the dark.  However even the smallest LED light is visible a great distance away, and so I wear a light and I carry a flashlight as an extra precaution.

candle in the dark 2It is winter, dark and cold but I hope that we can all light a candle for ourselves, or help someone by being a light,  dispelling the dark of loneliness, addiction,  or helping to someone else light their candle and keeping us warm as well.

I think the rabbi was right, let’s all be candles.  It can feel sometimes like we aren’t doing much to help,  but if that candle goes out,  then you really see the difference it makes, and dark times calls out for light, even a small one.

As I look toward 2018, this was a lesson I was thinking about, and at this time of year when people are rushing about, shopping, buying – I liked the lesson about less doing amazing and thinking we all can do amazing with less than we think.

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Not Waiting for a Close Call

Posted on December 13, 2017 by dfolstad58
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Okanagan Lake, looking north in Penticton

A few weeks back I was home by myself and developed some chest tightness and deciding to be cautious I went to the emergency room at the hospital here. I actually went first to a walk in clinic and they sent me to ER, lesson learned right there I did.

2005-11-18 12.56.08That was Friday, and I finally returned home Sunday afternoon after spending two nights at the hospital and I will spare you the details except I stayed an extra day after reacting to the drug treatment and my tongue swelled up until I was unable to swallow and only barely breathe.  After eight hours of that, I was much more understanding of people who have allergies.

Looking back I was wondering how do we react when we have a close call? When a car nearly hits us? When someone we know is severely sick? We are in an accident and walk away from a totalled vehicle? When someone we know has some type of crisis?

Regardless of the event, it seems to me that whether it is us or someone else – it is close calls that cause us to reevaluate our lives, treat ourselves better, treat our loved ones or ourselves more thoughtfully perhaps?

I request your thoughts or comments.  How often do you self evaluate?  Every New Year? When you or someone you love has a close call? Never or maybe you are very mindful person and it comes naturally.

Regardless my lesson for myself I have been thinking about when walking today was not waiting for motivation from a close to do a kindness to someone including myself.

riskyThanks for taking time to read, and comment.

I am looking forward to reading and responding to you. 🙂

I will place this in my category called Thinking Out Loud. Thanks for listening in.

 

 

 

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