Jack’s Winning Words 7/24/13
“To be 70 years young is sometimes more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.”  (Oliver Wendell Holmes)  How would you act if you were told to “act your age?”  Think about that today.  Recently I read that, “Age is just a number, and jail is just a room.”  Our mind tells us how old we are.  To our mind, this world is a grand and glorious place, or it can be a confining jail.  Where would you rather live?    ;-)  Jack

FROM LP IN PLYMOUTH:  I often feel I should have it more together at 35. But things still feel chaotic. Like I'm still learning and trying to "grow up"====JACK:  In my mind, you are one of those who has always been "wise beyond their years."  However, with wisdom comes responsibility, and you have been (and will be) able to handle that.

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  It's a two-edged sword for sure. The gifts that accompany aging provide opportunities for wisdom through reflection. While youth seems to provide the optimistic vision for a future of opportunities that know little restriction. (In the eternal realm, as there is no time, we have the blessing of both.) Although I can see the disadvantages of youth and maturity, I can also see the advantages as well. It's a fair trade-off all-in-all. One without the other seems so pointless..====JACK:  Philosophical thinking gives us an interesting way to use the thinking process.  It may not change things, but it can possibly help alter life's direction...for the better.  I hope so.====RAY:  Your comment is true enough; and I hope philosophy catches on. Effective philosophy (the love of wisdom) helps one develop an understanding of oneself and the underlying fantasies one might otherwise hold as true. Nonetheless, living out one's life will eventually test every idea for accuracy and adjustment. I wish Socrates, and others like him, were more prevelent and still around to promote thoughtful inquiries. Instead, as a general population, we seem to simply "vote" our opinion through texts and emails...with little thoughtfulness for the poorly developed conclusions we voice. We seem to have come to "think" things are true because we "feel" they are. This isn't philosophy, it's a tragedy!====JACK:  Every generation has its "Socrates," even though (s)he's not always recognized.  One of my favorite quotes is this:    "Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand prerogative of mind. How few think justly of the thinking few! How many never think, who think they do!"  (Jane Taylor)

 FROM TRIHARDER:  A close friend just lost his father to cancer. (Funeral is today). But, they reflected before dad passed:  It was a good run. Nothing left undone, nothing left unsaid.  True love in both directions.  A cheerful, happy man, even as he was dying. Compare that to a miserable 40 year old with no worthwhile relationships.====JACK:  John Greenleaf Whittier wrote:  “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”  Your and friend and his father "took care of business" as the end drew near.  In that sense, they did not have to regret what might have been.

 FROM DRERIC:   I turn 41 years young on Monday, but I don't feel like it. Except for my knees. They feel like they're 65 sometimes ====JACK:  Sometimes pain can be a pain, but the optimistic person says, "Wow, look at all the things that are working perfectly in this body of mine...and I have many other blessings, too.  That's one way (among several) of resolving discomfort.  Eating birthday cake is another.

 FROM TARMART REV:  Free as an uncaged bird, of course! Occasionally my wife and I will stay a little later at a wedding reception of some of our town folk when everyone has eaten and had their fill of beer or liquor as the case may be . . . and now it is time for the dance! I'm humored to watch some of us 50-60 year old guys thinking they are 25-30 once again, making their moves out on the dance floor and courting the younger women. The Bible reminds us about old men "dreaming dreams" . . . in a much different context, I know.====JACK:  The only time when you can really turn back the hands of the clock is when Daylight Savings Time ends in the fall.  I "smile" at the TV ads which show old men dreaming dreams.

 FROM RJP IN NAPLES:  Good one Jack. When my Dad was dying in the hospital I bought him a small "Goofy" doll to mount on his lamp because he always kidded me that I was Goofy. He looked at me and smiled and said " Will you ever grow up?" I smiled back and replied, " I hope not"====JACK:  Well, you have lived up to the hope that you expressed to your father.  Our faith gives us the strength to smile through our tears.

 FROM GUSTIE MARLYS:  I am at my 60th class reunion in Warren.  Last night we were all 17 again!!! ====JACK:  See, it's all in your mind!

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  You can be young at heart at any age.====JACK:  "Fairy tales can come true.  It can happen to you."  Congratulations for allowing yourself to be among the very young at heart.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  From somewhere in my past...this approximation of a quote.." A mind is it's own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven." Our choice. Classic philosophy was not a large component of my educational background...and presently there seems to be little time for musing or perusing. Instantaneous decision making, responses, etc..WW does a great job of generating thinking beyond brief responses...even if it is only in our own mind. ====JACK:   I'm impressed that you recall the words from Paradise Lost, by John Milton.  I once went to school with someone named John Milton.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  DEFINITELY IN A GRAND  AND GLORIOUS PLACE!  NO-BRAINER.  OW HOLMES ALSO SAID, "TOO MANY PEOPLE DIE WITH THEIR MUSIC STILL IN THEM."  THAT IS SADLY TRUE, I THINK, EITHER DUE TO LACK OF OPPORTUNITY OR TIMIDITY.  LOVED THE TRUMAN STORY IN YOUR BLOG! LOL! HERE'S TO BEING 80+, CHEERFUL AND HOPEFUL!!====JACK:  Have you ever heard (or sung) the song, "This world is not my home, I'm just-a passin' through.  My treasures are laid up, just beyond the blue"?