Do you know why I remain positive in spite of a lot of bad things that happen?
I have literally walked through a swamp in Panama with mosquitoes so thick you couldn't breath through your mouth. I came home with dengue fever from that trip.
I have had the body of my Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) in my hands after he died in combat.
I have been mortared, rocketed, ambushed and generally had people try to kill me with live ammunition. I came home from Vietnam with Malaria.
I grew up poor in a very poor neighborhood and went to school with kids that had more spending money than my dad made in a week.
I have turned the corner and realized that I am responsible for my own happiness. I helped select our class motto in Officer Candidate School - Iligitimi non-carborundum. Roughly that means don't let the bastards wear (or get) you down.
I am 60 years old and no one can ever change me now. I am who I am and if you like me fine, if you don't, go away, I don't care. I refuse to let the things that are wearing the smile off your face trouble my heart. Bring me a good laugh and I'll laugh my butt off with you.
One of my favorite stories is the one about Harry Truman. A lady came to Bess one day and said, "Bess, you just have to get him to stop saying manure!" Bess smiled and told her, "It took me over 20 years to say manure." 9 times out of ten I can recognize it and don't have to step in it, or taste it to know the genuine article.
MUD
The thing that I notice is that so much has happened to you that was bad to terrible, you probably have used up your's as well as someone else's bad things in life.
ReplyDeleteYou're happy because you know that you paid your dues and came out shining. And by way of comparison, all else pales.
Salute, sir.
Hey! You sound like one crusty old dude! I love it. Sometimes all we need is perspective.
ReplyDeleteThank you much for your service. I am the daughter of a retired Army First Seargent (yikes! Sp??? that doesn't look right). He's about to turn 62 and is a crusty old dude too.
Abraham Lincoln is attributed with a saying, "A man is just about as happy as he makes up his mind to be".
ReplyDeleteThanks for your service sir.
OK, one more person mentions the crusty part and I'll go take a shower. I do wish you were all here to see the barred owl right outside our window. I'll have to look close because it is snowing for the 21st or 22 time this season. I wonder if I will have to mow in the snow if this keeps up. Hey AL, bring on spring, that Global Warming crap was just a foot puller wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteOH no, I'll hear that story about the difference between the climate and the weather again if I keep this up. MUD