Morning Musings and More

Three things capturing my thoughts this morning distracting me from my regular routine.

The first was thinking about my aunts and uncles on both sides of my family never having children. My mum and dad were the only two of their siblings who had kids. One of my dad’s sisters had been married a short time but never had children. I wondered if somehow this played a role in how I’ve turned out in my later life. 

It dawned on me, too – I don’t really know my father’s siblings. (We saw my mum’s two sibs more often.) Sure, Dad’s would come for Christmas and exchange gifts, and maybe on occasion we might see one of them another time during the year, but I realize I have no idea who they were as individuals. I just know them by what my parents said.

Yes, I was an adult by the time they all passed, but I was still young and raising my own kids. I didn’t take the time to have conversations to find out anything personal about my aunts and uncle. I wish I could have conversations with them; find out who they really were. Of course, as kids, we don’t think along these lines, but now… 

The next issue is the water problem here. Last spring our water bills doubled and now they’ve doubled again. It’s so disheartening because they’re not solving any problems. The cost is skyrocketing, and we are limited on what we can use. People are wanting to drill their own wells, but it sounds like you need to have over an acre and most of us don’t. The most discouraging is, even if they do finally figure things out, it won’t happen in my lifetime, which means all these final years I’ve had paid an exorbitant amount for what little water I use. 

Then I read Eric Rhoads’ latest email and it led me on another side of the freedom of speech issue which I’ve been writing about a lot. I love what he said here:

“What if we all watched our tongue? What if we held back the temptation to lash out and spew negativity, and instead projected encouragement and belief in others? We would change the world. Your small, seemingly innocent words can have an impact. Words can ring in our thoughts for decades. They can set us on fire or burn us at the stake. How will you use your words today?”

We’ve all said things we’ve regretted. And, too, sometimes it’s not what is said but HOW it is said. There’s got to be a way where we can freely speak our beliefs without letting our negative emotions take control of our tongues.