Don't Mess With Mr In-Between

"You've got to accentuate the positive
eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
But don't mess with mister in-between"
(lyrics by Johnny Mercer, published in 1944)

Why is it that I always seem to come back to this old song?

Particularly today.

(Sigh)

Controls

How I'd love to have a Fast Forward button ... one that will control my day.

You know, when everything just seems to move too slow. Why can't we just do it, get it done and out of the way? Why is it that others don't seem understand the urgency, the need to move quickly?

And yet... sometimes I need a Pause button.

When everything is going far too quickly, I need something that will give me a chance to stop, take a breather, and think it through. Take stock, make good decisions and not simply 'knee-jerk' reactions...

And then, I suppose, while I am thinking about it, I'd like a Rewind button.

It's so I could go back to a situation, and do it differently (somehow). Or perhaps I'd simply go back and experience it all again, but knowing what I know now...

But I don't have any of these controls. And life unfolds, one day at a time. We have one life to live.

Lord, give me wisdom.

Psalm 1: 1-3 (NIV)
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Time For Myself

It's been an intense and busy week. Plenty happening, plenty to keep me buzzing, and one or two alarmingly long hours to boot. And busy is OK, once in a while.

But it's been a little too busy for the last week or two, to be honest.

It's Friday now and I'm feeling physically and mentally drained. The grey matter is definitely in need of a reboot!

I'm looking for a few minutes (if not hours) of some precious me-time over the weekend.

Which is something we all require from time to time. And I desperately need it now. Time to stop.

Here's a few quotes on the subject...

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it. It's like boats. You keep your motor on so you can steer with the current. And when you hear the sound of the waterfall coming nearer and nearer, tidy up the boat, put on your best tie and hat, and smoke a cigar right up till the moment you go over. That's a triumph.” - Ray Bradbury, Farewell Summer

“Just five minutes, God, I chant like some hostage negotiator on the brink of a resolution. Five minutes alone. Please, please. Please.” - Shannon Celebi

“We need quiet time to examine our lives honestly and openly ... spending quiet time gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.” - Susan L Taylor

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place” - Mark 6: 31-32

So Annoying

Let me tell you a bit about last Thursday.

The day became a bit of a battleground, I must admit. At the start of the week, over a hundred different problems stood in the way of me getting the following Friday off work.  You'll never make it, the little negative voice in my head said. I was suitably defiant.

By the time Thursday arrived, the barriers to getting my own way were down to a mere handful. The day was still far from easy, and definitely 'shots were fired'.  Nevertheless, I stood my ground, determined to see it through, ticking off one by one the urgent jobs that I had to get done; swerving the distractions and people who sought to derail my precious to-do list for the day.

Why did I need Friday off? Because it was the funeral of a very dear friend. I had feared that I was going to have to cry off, but I knuckled down. I went the extra mile and worked past my normal clocking-off time during the week so I could make it happen, as it was becoming increasingly clear to me that I should be there. I was so chuffed to leave my desk clear as I went home.

I raced home, and quickly changed so I could go out again and give blood. The donation session was booked at least 4 months before. No problem, no great concern, the day had been planned around it.

But the donation didn't happen. There wasn't enough iron in my blood. I mean, not anything to cause me medical issues, just not enough for the nurse to approve me to donate.

They measured it precisely. For anyone whose medically trained, apparently my Haemoglobin level needed to be 135g/l or over to donate.

It was 134. Argh!

No big deal, you might think. And you'd be right.

But it was so annoying. One point. One!

And I swear I could hear a cackling laugh in the background as I left the venue to drive home...

Inside

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.

Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)

Truth or Intuition?

I've just woken up from a rather fitful night's sleep.

There were so many images in my mind, many of them flashbacks from things that I had experienced the day before, but these were interspersed with all sorts of new things. Feelings, images.

• Extrapolations on a theme?
• My mind just wandering?
• Or genuine intuition?

I can't say at the moment. I certainly can't tell you what was in those dreams...

But what was revealed was certainly enlightening. And disturbing.

:(

Clickbait!

It's been quite a reflective week for me. And one where I've come to a couple of quite disturbing conclusions.

And it all started when I began to take a closer look at other people's blog posts and Facebook accounts, in order to review them for what we now call clickbait.

It's an internet term which is defined (Oxford University Press) as: content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page.

Now, the idea is to drive traffic to your website, blog or even your Facebook wall by saying something deliberately outrageous or controversial.

The writer wants your reactions, because he wants you to click on their link or go to their site to read more; he wants you to make more and more comments. This all feeds into the stats to their site.

The problem comes with the fact that it's a form of manipulation. You're being played, enticed to learn more in a way that benefits the site owner. Any means is fair game, just as long as it works. Benefits may even be financial... some website owners get quite good money from advertising revenue from their website (I don't. I dislike advertising so don't want it on my blog).

However, I've discovered that it doesn't end there.

You can apply that same sort of thinking to other aspects of life.

In the past, I used to listen to a lot of talk radio, until I got so fed up of all the negativity that I used to hear. But now, I realise that many talk-show hosts are doing the self-same thing. Stirring up controversy just to build up listenership... 'clickbait' on the radio...

And I suppose that you see it on the front pages of the popular press, where controversial headlines are placed on the front page to increase readership. It's what they used to call 'yellow journalism', where a good headline will always take precedence over legitimate or well-researched news... or even the truth.  Anything just to sell papers. (sigh)

And today was the saddest realisation of all.

I realised that one of my colleagues was doing the exact same thing to me. Deliberately saying outrageous and offensive things to try and goad a reaction from me.

He didn't. However, it all came out tonight in a massive ball of rage, which I'm trying to channel into this blog post to get it out of my system before I go to bed tonight.

Remedy For A Heavy Heart

Proverbs 12:25 (NIV)
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.

Do you know what it's like to have a heavy heart?

A heart that is weighed down with problems, with the cares of this world. I'm reliably informed that the use of the term 'heavy' in the sense of 'weighed down with grief or sadness' has been around since 1300.

That's a lot of anxiety, over the years! And that's a big deal - because doctors believe that a high proportion of illness in our society is directly caused by anxiety.

And yet - 80% of the things that we worry about never, ever come to pass.

So, let's be encouragers, wherever and whenever we can. Sharing the weight where we can, lifting the burden with a kind word at the right time.

We've already got enough negativity in the world as it is - without adding to it.

(This is my thousandth post in this blog. Better make it a good one!)

Target Setting - part two

(This is a follow-up of a post that I first made a while ago. Actually, it took me a bit of time and effort to find the earlier entry in this blog. Not surprising. I found out that it was, in fact, practically four years ago now. Wow! Here's the earlier post.... to save you guys having to look back!)

Four whole years have gone by ... and I notice that I ended the first post ... "There'll be more on this shortly."

Here's a follow-up.

It's a little late. I know... however, there's a good reason.

I got one huge nudge this week.

Here's what kicked this off, an ad at the railway station that I found...

And something resonated inside me. Pretty strongly. So much so, that I just had to blog this... linking it back to my previous post. It was all somehow connected...

Psalm 17:6-9 (NIV)
I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.

Walking Humbly

Micah 6:8 (NIV)
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

'Nuff said. :)