The Last Post of the Year 2016

Tis the night before New Years Day 
And all through the house
Callie Jo was acting a fool
Mitch was quiet as a mouse. 

Actually that's everyday life in my house. Callie Jo is always running around trying to get into something. Right now she's on a quest to unlock the front door. Sigh.

Anyway, I am surprised that I have only managed to do a couple of posts this month, if that much. I have been SUPER busy, which in all actuality is a good thing. Spread on top of that the fact that I took my first vacation in three or four years, and that means no posting for me. However, I have scribbled a few thoughts in my journal from time to time.

But this is the last day of 2016, and I wanted to journal before the year is out.

I am still a bit jetlagged from the vacation, knocking out cold at around nine in the evening and waking up bright eyed and ready to go at two in the morning. I get a bit woozy around three in the afternoon. I hope this is over before I have to go back to work. And I'm not going back until Tuesday or Wednesday.

I am still thinking about vacation, this wonderful vacation halfway around the world. I've never been further than Mexico and the Caribbean, so being in the Middle East of all places was... a thing of courage for me.

And guess what... I have taken close to 700 pictures. 700!

That's a lot to sort through. And no, I will not post each and everyone.

But I've been perusing one particular picture since returning home. Well, it has been on my mind since I took it.

While my sister and I were having breakfast on Christmas day atop the Burj Khalifa, a couple of ropes came swinging by. Then a man came swinging by.

123 stories up off the ground.

Mind you, those buildings in the background are skyscrapers.

That puts it into some perspective for you.

"Ain't no way I'd be up here cleaning windows this high," I said a bit to loudly.

I took several pictures of this brave worker. I was trying to get a picture of him looking my way. But he never did. He just swung around, being the most dutiful of employees so high up in the sky

I was amazed that he wasn't distracted. One would have thought he was walking around on the ground, checking the windows or whatever he was doing.

And this has been the most interesting-and unexpected- picture I captured on my trip.

2016 was a turbulent year. Nothing of my own doing, though. It was a year of ups and downs, highs and lows, triumphs and tribulations and the life.

But the waters of 2016 were made exceedingly murky by the election.

(Murky is the nicest word I can come up with for now. You don't know what I really want to write on this here rated PG blog. Let's just stay with...murky).

And all that murkiness was a DISTRACTION.

There were days, far too many to count, that I was glued to the television, watching this whole drama/wanna-be reality show unfurl like smoke from a stale cigarette. There were many more days where we endlessly discussed the shenanigans.

In other words, there was all this distraction. And I could have used that time to be more productive. I could have used that time to pray. I could have used that time to feed my spirit.

I could have used that TIME.

So I study the worker swinging from his ropes some 123 stories off the ground. I see what's going on around him- the wind blowing in his face, the amount of space between him and the ground- and I am afraid for him. Really, I am afraid for ME.

I am looking at the circumstances. He is not.

He is equipped and well trained for the job he is doing. I'm not trained for that.

Thank goodness there is thick glass between he and I.

I wonder how my negative words would affect him.

Would my negative words affect him as the negative words I've heard all year affect me?

I have discussions with people, successful black people, gay people, and other people who don't fit the "Great" in Make America Great Again.

And our spirits have been broken, even if it is on a subconcious level.

And that's a bad seed to sow, breaking a person's spirit.

It's a difficult thing to know that you've done all the right things in life, yet your gender, the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, and/or your religious choices deem you insufficient by those who consider themselves supreme.

It's been a task dealing with my own psyche and self worth during this time, and even harder watching my peers do the same.

I know and you know if you have read here long enough that I love some old school music. (Stick with me for a second on this digression). I really love some Earth Wind and Fire. Why, I have been listening to them since I was 4 years old.

I'm 46 years old now. Certain songs, I know every word, every inflection, EVERYTHING. You can the very first note of the song and that is all, and I can most likely tell you the name of the song.

So likewise, for the past couple or years or so, we have heard some very scary things. Talks of walls, banning, rounding up of folks, kicking folks out, i.e., this whole process of making America great again... and it gets into the subconcious. And all this seed sown there produces... something.

Earth Wind and Fire produces joy for me... a memory of a time when I was a little girl without a care in the world, just excited that my favorite song was on and that I could watch my cartoons and play with my barbie dolls.

I wonder what kind of crops will be produced from the seed sown into the hearts of those considered "less than". Seed that has been sown day after day, month after month, and so on.

*jumping back to what I was talking about*

I don't want to receive any of that. I want to be like the worker there above, swinging and doing his job despite the dire circumstances and danger. I watched the Dubai fireworks show tonight and realized that he wasn't washing windows. He was setting up fireworks. And yes, he had to concentrate on getting that right. Distractions could cause him to do something wrong or cause a fire of tragic proportions.

The worker taught me something that day, though. I must concentrate on the job at hand and root out distractions. And that's what I have learned this year.

Whatever distracts me takes away from me reaching my goals. It keeps me from seeing the positive.

And that needs to stop. I need to take that seriously.

Distractions are bad seeds. And when allowed to root, they choke out the good seed.

And all of us have experienced great things in 2016. I am sure you can name them if you try.

I know I can.

I have reduced my cable news intake by a good 95%. It was a distraction.

And I have noticed the quality of my life has increased dramatically.

I feed my heart and soul and mind good things. Good things.

Imagine that.

More of that will go on.

I will continue to be successful. I will increase and not decrease.

And so will you.

So don't be afraid.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year.

ON PURPOSE!!

With much love,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl LadyLee.