“If yu’ can’t have why you choose, yu’ just choose what you have.”  (Owen Wister, The Virginian)  This is something like the Sheryl Crow song, “It’s not having what you want, but wanting what you got.”  So many people out there…wishing for what they once had…rather than appreciating what they have.  A group of Indians, complaining about painful feet, threw their moccasins into a pile.  After trying on the others, they came away choosing their own.   ;-)  Jack

FROM PM:  Good morning!  Your timing on this one is perfect! A year ago we moved from my absolutely perfect dream house (open floor plan, Lots of natural light) to a home that feels tight and dark. I’ve been working on my mindset to appreciate where we are but it has been a real struggle. Not always but the struggle seems to come in waves. My attitude has been very poor lately and I’m feeling homesick for our old home.  Your email is helpful this morning.===JACK:  I like the word, serendipity...good things that happen by chance.  When I sit down to write Winning Words, I have no idea how they will be received.  It was the same way when I was writing sermons.  The Holy Spirit guides in mysterious ways.

FROM SHALOM JAN:  My grandmother said, "If everyone put their troubles out on a line like clothes, we'd all go out and bring in our own."===JACK:  It would be hard to hang moccasins on a clothesline, but the idea is the same...."Thou shalt not covet!"

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Why can’t we humans be happy with what we have.  It’s always:  if I just had that, or if I just did that, or I just need that!  But that the nature of humans.   I have two Indian friends.  One is an Blackfoot and one Odawa.  Their histories are unreal!  I live the old Indian sayings.  Some were very  wise!===JACK:  I want my own moccasins and my own set of concerns.