Mixture

Mixing compatible elements can create something amazing and quite extraordinary.

Mixture

As I sat, comfortably talking with my friend James Alders, it wasn’t long until it was almost as if his voice had become my own internal voice.  You see, our experience of how we came to live in our town was eerily similar.  We had been casually looking for a new place to live, over an extended period, and nothing had felt right, until we came to the streets on which we currently reside.  Both of us simply felt drawn here.  We know that this is our place in the world, and we’re still discovering why, many years later.

Finding one’s place is in the world is important to the quality of life.  It’s like finding the right pair of shoes. Fit is imperative!  And, really, it is, for many of us, more important than the style of the shoe itself.  Fit is always a personal thing, and as I was listening to James he caused me to think of another aspect of fit.

It’s fair to say that mixture is more than just a matter of taste.  Mixing incompatible elements can be a disaster and mixing compatible elements can create something amazing and quite extraordinary.

I have a great hot fudge recipe.  Its taste is simply heavenly.  I love it so much that one day I decided to make a batch and share it with my kids.  So, I was happily mixing, stirring and heating away as I described this delightful confection to wide-eyed children.  I couldn’t wait to share it with them.

I spoke to them as I cooked, so as to build the anticipation of wonder and delight.  When it was finished I dipped a spoon into the pot and invited my daughter Kilee over for the tantalizing treat.  I carefully, not to waste a precious drop, reached out to her with the hot-fudge-coated spoon.  My eyes were aglow.

“What do you think?”  I said with the expectancy of one hoping to achieve the status of hero.

“It’s not good!” she said with a grimace consuming her face.

“What!?” I replied back, thinking she was joking.  “Really?”

“Yes.”  She said.  “I don’t think you made it right.”

I was indignant!  And, my taste buds had been drooling for this mixture for many minutes as I cooked, so I prepared to take a taste myself.  The spoon was in hand.  The heavenly combination was coating the entire eating surface.  It went in my mouth!

There was laughter all around as my eyes bulged and my face frowned.  I had added salt to the mix, rather than sugar!  It was awful.  Mixture is everything!

As we sat, comfortably, James and I were sharing the tale of how we came to be mixed-in together in the same town.  It wasn’t long until it was almost as if his voice had become my own internal voice.  You see, our experience of how we came to live in our town was eerily similar.  We had been casually looking for a new place to live over an extended period and nothing had felt right, until we came the streets on which we currently reside.  Both of us had simply felt drawn here and we know that this is our place in the world.

“Mixture is everything!”  I thought to myself as James spoke and he transformed into a new, critical element of place right before my eyes. I saw him in a new light, through different eyes.  We had so much more in common than I ever would have guessed!  Mixing compatible elements can create something amazing and quite extraordinary.  Our town is the perfect example of this!

Howling Success

“Look what I brought to your door!  See the lessons you learned.”

Howling Success

The wind was howling and pounding the windows of houses throughout the town.  Such nights are a common occurrence, yet that doesn’t seem to remove the angst that blows in with the wind.  That was the case on one howling night as I was reviewing the events of my particularly challenging week.

The week seemed to be stack-upon-stack difficulties that had absorbed all of my attention.  And, these same challenges seemed to be stirred up and swirling anew as an accompaniment to the weather.  That is until there was a shift in the wind.

The shift in the wind happened as soon as my consciousness began to follow the wind, like the string of a kite, dancing to the wind’s voice. 

“Look what I brought to your door!  See the lessons you learned.”

I caught hold of the string and the evening’s torture became enlightenment as my mind went from one lesson to the next, building a new sense of gratitude. Suddenly, the week’s long list of challenges were no longer a source of fear; the wind had indeed shifted.  Rather than viewing problems as trouble, I could see them as growth and opportunity.

Opportunity doesn’t always knock gently at the door.  It often comes disguised as a challenging problem. So next time your heart is filled with apprehension and angst ask: “What important, life changing lesson can I learn from this?”

Then as the wind is howling and pounding the windows of your soul, remember that such challenges are a common occurrence in life.  And, let your mind follow that wind, like the string of a kite, dancing to the wind’s voice, as it directs you to see your path toward growth.

“Look what I brought to your door!  See the lessons you’re learning.”

Opportunities, for success, come howling for everyone who can recognize them in all forms.

Keeping Your Cool

“It’s not usually a big issue, but a combination of a couple of small things that cause a problem.”  - Gary Christensen

Keeping Your Cool

One bead of moisture began to be pulled by gravity toward the ground.  I felt it gather and begin its slide down the side of my face.

“I guess I am a little warm.”  I thought with a sense of uncertainty.

Such uncertainty from discomfort was unusual, because it was about nine-thirty in the evening.  The sun was hiding behind the Stansbury Mountains and my family room should have been filled with cool, conditioned air.  I got up to look at the thermostat, flipped on a light and stared at the temperature, eighty-one degrees!  Forced air was coming from the vents, but it wasn’t cool, so I turned it off and contemplated a costly problem.  Luckily, I knew who to call first thing in the morning.

My friend Gary Christensen is a heating and air conditioning expert.  I touched his number and a few minutes later his van was pulling into my drive.  He had my compressor open, hooked up to his diagnostic tools, cleaned and operating perfectly before eight-thirty in that morning.

“It’s running well now!” he said.

“It’s past its expected life span, so I thought I’d need a new one!”  I replied.

“No.  It’s running well.  Here’s the thing.  It’s not usually a big issue, but a combination of a couple of small things that cause a problem.”  Gary taught as we listened to the whirring of the compressor’s heat exhaust fan.  “If you pay attention to three small details everything will run well most of the time.” 

Here is Gary’s advice about how to keep your house and yourself cool.  Keep your internal filters clean.  Make sure to keep external clutter away.  Maintain good air flow from the outside in.

Gary says, “You don’t need to spend a lot of money on expensive filters.  Just buy good quality that doesn’t restrict the air flow too much.”  Life is a lot more fun when you and I don’t decide to make it too make it more restrictive than it needs to be.  My friend Dianne Merrill says, “Try to say yes as much as possible!  Nobody likes to hear no all the time!”  So, say yes as much as possible.

Say yes, when it comes to getting rid of clutter in life.  Ask, will adding this cause me to stop paying attention to what is really important to me?  Just because you and I like to say yes, doesn’t mean we don’t know how to say no when needed.  Maintaining space to “breathe” is critical to happiness.

Relationships are the breath of life!  Gary would call this, maintaining good air flow from the outside in.  Surrounding yourself with good people willing to reciprocate a fulfilling connection will always enhance quality of living.

My friend Gary Christensen knows all about heating & air conditioning and he’s also an expert when it comes to enhancing the quality of life.  I touched his number and a few minutes later he had opened my heart, hooked it up to his diagnostic tools, and taught me how to keep it cool before eight-thirty on that very morning.