“The Laughing Heart” by Charles Bukowski

your life is your life

don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.

be on the watch.

there are ways out.

there is light somewhere.

it may not be much light but

it beats the darkness.

be on the watch.

the gods will offer you chances.

know them.

take them.

you can’t beat death but

you can beat death in life, sometimes.

and the more often you learn to do it,

the more light there will be.

your life is your life.

know it while you have it.

you are marvelous

the gods wait to delight

in you.

~ by Charles Bukowski

47

“If you are pining for youth I think it produces a stereotypical old man because you only live in memory, you live in a place that doesn’t exist. Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” ~ David Bowie.

47.   That's how old I'll be on March 1st.  At least I have a leap day to cling to 46 (or 23, 37, 52...however old my wise 11 year old daughter tells me I am at one time or another).  It seems that this past year put a lot more stress on the tires in its road; our world seems extremely difficult to steer through in the day to day.  I hope we as human beings find ways to stop fostering antagonistic difference and distance and begin fostering empathetic understanding and community.

   So here are 47 random things through the years that, for their own independent reason, reflect the lessons along my way.

1. “If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”  ~ Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2. Desiderata:  https://www.desiderata.com/desiderata.html

3. Watch Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator

4. Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up

5. It's OK to not be OK.

6. My daughter's favorite , "Fight Song" ~ Rachel Platten

7. The charity and cause I hold most dear, AFSP Philly

8. Don't Quit

9. Sometimes you have to be Joyful

10. “A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.”
~ Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

11. "A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise." ~ Buddha

12. “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.” ~ Confucius

13. From Philly, we learn to " Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight "

14. Baby Yoda

15. “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

16. 525,600 minutes. How do you measure a year?

17. “Sometimes our mind is like the equivalent of a funhouse mirror, distorting and contorting and blurring our lives and our potential.” ~ Gary John Bishop, Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life

18. “There are two roads which human beings can follow, one of wisdom and the other of ignorance. The path of the masses is generally the path of ignorance which leads them into negative situations, thoughts and deeds. These in turn lead to ill health and sorrow in life. The other road is based on wisdom and it leads to health, true happiness and enlightenment.” ~  Muata Ashby, EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD The Book of Coming Forth By Day

19. "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." ~ Dalai Lama

20. Listen to Mr. Rhythm

21. We all could use some Army training, Sir.

22. I don't want your civil war.

23. Lincoln. Gettysburg.

24. "There isn't shame in having shadows - we all have them to varying degrees. it's simply a part of being human.” ~ Timothy Roderick

25. I didn't know I was broken until I wanted to change.

26. In the 70s, Chicago created a dialogue that could take place in 2020.

27. Why can't we be friends?

28. Proverbs 10:17 "He who listens to teaching is on the path of life, but he who will not listen to strong words goes the wrong way."

29. “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” ~ Oscar Wilde

30.  I've seen my share of broken halos

31. I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger. Ooh La La

32. Yoda

33. "Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people." ~ Fred Rogers

34. "Laughter is no enemy to learning." ~ Walt Disney

35. The dream of MLK should never cease. 

36. Nor should the one of JFK

37. There is never a wish, better than this, when you only got 100 years to live.

38. My amazing partner taught me to always look on the bright side of life

39. My amazing mother has always been the wind beneath my wings

40.  Even though he has long crossed the river, I am proud to be my father's son

41. My daughter is the best part of me

42. “Life’s like a movie. Write your own ending.” ~ Kermit the Frog

43. Hallelujah

44. You have to believe in magic

45. "You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." ~ Robin Williams

46. "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." ~ Rumi 

47.  (My favorite song) The World Ain't Slowin' Down

Thank you for taking the ride ~ Dave