Notre Dame Burns…
“Bones destroyed. Expensive to repair. Some parts unavailable to replace.”
“Sounds like me,” Elder said, We were listening to the news of the Notre Dame fire while having breakfast.
“We’ll do all we can to restore her, keep her alive,” French President Macron says. (OK, I’m paraphrasing, you got me! But that’s the gist of it.)
And then the news that trees no longer grow tall enough to replace the ceiling beams
originally used in the church.
Eight hundred fifty years since that great church was built. Amazing!
A lot has changed since then. I’ve changed a lot just since I turned 50!
Elder’s been on a downer lately. Fighting a cold.
Getting sick always brings out the doom and gloom in him.
When we’re younger, we shrug things off. Everything always heals,
everything always gets better.
The first time Elder was told by the doctor he might need a knee replacement things really changed.
“It won’t heal no more” they said.
After 50 you start to see and feel changes in your body. When the doctor
tells you they won’t be going away, that’s quite a shocker. You begin
to contemplate your own mortality. That for sure is a downer.
“What have a done with my life?” Elder wonders.
When he gets in these moods, I try to mentally impress upon
him all the good. But it’s like this circular loop that keeps playing.
I say something good, he counters with something bad.
However, there’s a little trick I learned that brings him around every time.
Writing.
There’s a great power in our hands that few are aware of.
It was shown to me by Michael Lavery, author of the book, “Whole Brain Power: The Fountain of Youth for the Mind and Body”
Turns out, when your mind coordinates with your hand, it activates
a different region of the brain. Doing this creates a deeper thought
A while back I had put together a book to help teens build there
self-confidence. The book is very positive in nature, with silly,
happy-faced characters, uplifting quotations, poems, stories
the desire within to go out and do more good in the world.
Just 5 minutes with this book can totally turn your mood from bad to good.
From down to up. It’s guaranteed to turn your frown upside-down!
So I told Elder, “Get the book out.”
It’s written in journal form so you can pick it up and put it down whenever.
The book works best as a daily activity, but daily use is not required for it to be effective.
If you could use a picker-upper or know of a teen who struggles with self-esteem, you can grab a copy at Amazon.com. It’s titled “Gratitude Journal and Family Fun Activity Book”.
It’s easy to get mentally down on yourself when you’re not feeling well physically.
Often, a little encouragement works wonders. Little reminders of just how good you really are, and the value you bring, can quickly set you back on the path to feeling happy and energized again.
They’ll use engineered lumber to replace the long, burned-out Notre Dame beams. They’ll find a way to fix everything else there too I expect. In some ways, the church might even be stronger after the repairs. Elder too.
They’ll fit an engineered knee to replace Elder’s one day too.
All in all, we should count our Blessings, be grateful that we live in an era when technology lets us engineer so many critical replacements parts.
“100 years ago they’d just take you out and shoot you,” I tell Elder.
“Quit your crying and get to work now!”
(That ought to cheer him up, right?)
Well, the sun is shining and the temperature is rising here. Much to be grateful for. That’s likely to boost the Elder’s mood some. The book did help a lot already though.
What makes you happy?
“Bene Vivere!”
ElderBob Schwarztrauber
