Our Kind of People

Who wants to go out for some different ethnic food tonight?

Aging Capriciously

He’s not our kind of people.  She should stick to her own kind.  I don’t have anything against his kind, but I really think people belong with their own kind.  It’s like the saying, “birds of a feather stick together.”  I think people get along better with people who are more similar.  Like parrots with parrots and robins with robins.

I’m not prejudiced against anyone.  I have noticed that people seem happier when they are with people who are like them.  It’s a big world out there and its got room enough for everyone, so why should we crowd it?  Don’t you want everyone to be happy?

So if you like coke 

And you like dope

You’re my kind of people

(My kind of people)

You’re my kind of people

(My kind of people)  —- My Kind of People, CeeLo Green

 Why force people who are different to live…

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With so much despair in the world, maybe a little humour can help … a bit!

Angst and humour!

Robby Robin's Journey

So many events in the world are tearing us apart. I’ll get to what I hope will bring you a few laughs, but first I need to unburden myself of some  of what’s causing my despair.  This is, sadly, hardly a complete list.

The current state of the world has us wondering about the competence – and compassion – of too many political leaders.

• Some political leaders apparently believe it is perfectly acceptable to invade another country and bomb them into oblivion – to free them from the tyranny of being free.
• Some political leaders believe that guns don’t kill people, people kill people, so everyone should be able to – in fact, encouraged to – own a semi-automatic weapon. What the heck, buy as many as you want; I’m sure that’s just what the Founding Fathers had in mind 234 years ago.  Now, had those most recent victims been…

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Can Birds Really Save My Soul?

Ah the joys of bird watching.

Aging Capriciously

I am looking out my back window.  The headlines from another senseless tragedy still scroll across my video screen.  But my backyard is serene and peaceful.  I have a clothesline pole with three bird feeders and two suet feeders.  A minute or so ago, there were more birds than I could count.  Throughout the day, Karen and I watch the birds come and go.  Sometimes there are more than twenty birds all taking turns at our feeders.

Yesterday, we saw hummingbirds, ravens, woodpeckers, finches, doves, grackles, robins, and several other species that we could not identify.  Karen keeps a bird guide and binoculars at the ready and is always on the lookout for a new species to add to the list that we keep.  We are not true birdwatchers, but we enjoy watching the birds.  Amidst the carnage of life with its murders and wars, the birds are our escape. …

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Important lessons our parents teach us without even realizing it

Childhood memories.

Robby Robin's Journey

It’s time to lighten our loads, at least for a few minutes. Daylight now lasts well into the evening, at least up here in the northern latitudes.  The hope of spring has become a reality, and greets us every morning with fresh new green landscapes dotted with spring flowers.  And to top it off, my husband has just received a new hip, courtesy of Canada’s universal healthcare system. Time for some smiles, with thanks to Marilyn for sharing these with me.

LESSONS OUR PARENTS TAUGHT US

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
“If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.”

My mother taught me RELIGION.
“You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”

My father taught me about TIME TRAVEL
“If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”

My mother…

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Useta

Yep this is me at 73!

Older Eyes

Looking back a bit on the eve of my 78th birthday …

I useta get up the day after a marathon with legs so sore I could hardly walk.  Now I don’t need the marathon.

I usetathink my wife was lucky to have me.   Now I know that I’m the lucky one and that spending fifty years with her is the best thing in my life.

I usetasolve complex mathematical and statistical problems.   Now I do Wordle and figure out how to fix the shutters in our office.

I usetaride a bike fifty miles a week.  Now I ride a stationary bike that goes nowhere for 30 minutes.

I usetathink that people were basically good.   Now I look around at what’s going on in the world and I’m not so sure. That makes me very sad.

I usetabe an engineer who thought he was meant…

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How little things really change – just ask Socrates

The Socratic method.

Robby Robin's Journey

Fairly recently I started following an interesting blog that provides quotes from famous or quasi-famous people nearly every day.  Extensive collections of quotes. Wow, there are so many observations and admonitions that have been made over the years by so many wise people; you’d think that all that good advice would have made a bigger difference by now! As we know, not nearly as much as one might have hoped.

I have lots of favourite quotes from these collections, after just a few months. But I’m choosing quotes from the great philosopher Socrates for my example. Why?  Because, face it, folks, Socrates lived a very, very long time ago; the fact that what he had to say nearly 2500 years ago is still unerringly applicable is worth thinking about.

Let’s start at the beginning, in 470 B.C., when Socrates was thought to have been born in Athens, a full…

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Can You Really See the World from Another Person’s Point of View?

Aging Capriciously

One of the most often quoted and pro-offered bits of advice is “walk a mile in their shoes.”  Another version of this wisdom is to try and see it from their “point of view.”  Jesus said “ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” — Luke 6: 37-42

I submit that all of these bits of wisdom are more than admirable; they are essential to a life of wisdom and justice.  The problem is that all of them are impossible to follow.  You can’t walk a mile in another person’s shoes because their shoes won’t fit you.  You can’t see it from their point of view because you are not standing where they are.  You will always suffer from a plank in your own eye since this is nothing more than cognitive bias…

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Thoughtful Thursday: Life, purpose, and having fun along the way

Robby Robin's Journey

Sharing more food for thought from social media posts on how to live our lives. Can you tell which ones are serious and which ones not so much so?! For those of you not ready to relate to the aging quotesperhaps you’ll be reminded of them at some point down the road and say to yourself, “Oh, now I get it!”

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Mother’s Day: appreciation, but no glorification, please!

The joys and complications of family in our changing times.

Robby Robin's Journey

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there and all others who play a significant mothering/nurturing/supporting role for children, especially young children. Well, and especially teenagers as well!

My husband and I have been blessed in the mother department. Both our mothers were women who provided solid, secure foundations for us, with very different personalities. Just knowing the two of them went a long way towards showing us that there’s more than one way to do the “job” and doing it well. And my mother-in-law gave us the additional gift of living to a ripe old age and demonstrating by example how to age with grace and gratitude.

Our two practically perfect sons both married women who, aside from being lovely, loving and intelligent, are wonderful mothers to our grandchildren (even if the teenage grandchildren might not always agree; they’re not heavily into being mothered at the moment! ;)) As…

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How to Find Meaning and Purpose in Life

A little something to start the day.

Aging Capriciously

Two most important elements in any life are meaning and purpose.  Your soul, your spirit and your sense of well-being may depend more on these two elements than anything else you will ever find.  Money, fame, and success will mean nothing if you do not believe that you are living a life consistent with your purpose.  Nothing you buy or acquire will have any importance to you if you do not feel that your life has any meaning.

Many books have been written about the elements of meaning and purpose.  Two of the most famous are “The Purpose Driven Life” and “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

 “Being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same thing; You can reach all your personal goals, become a raving success by the worlds standard and still miss your purpose in this life.”  — “The Purpose Driven Life” —  Rick Warren

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