The following thoughts come from scribbled down notes that were collected from random sheets of paper and even some from a brown paper bag – so I wouldn’t forget them when I came here to speak with you.
These are thoughts. That’s all.
Stream of consciousness, unfiltered and uncensored.
These are parts that I wanted to put together, like a puzzle – I suppose.

In fact, what I am about to expose are thoughts that spanned throughout an otherwise rough day or a sleepless night of reflection and soul-searching.
These thoughts which I connected from tiny blurbs are some of my views that came out from my heart and onto paper, almost like a vomitus spew, which is gross but to purge more than to be obscene, I realize it’s impossible to rest when my thoughts spin too quickly.
So, I had to find that special relief valve in my head – (so I can sleep).

I write this with intention.
Although this might appear to be scattered thinking, still, my hope is that you will find this entry as heartfelt and hopeful.
Please . . .

I believe it was Robert Plant who said, “Does anybody remember laughter,” when he would sing the song, Stairway to Heaven, live and on stage.
Does anybody remember laughter?
What a great question.

Let’s not mix words anymore.
Let’s be clear on this.
Let’s see what’s in front of us right now.
It has been decades now – the world we live in is changing.
No one is getting younger – least of all me.

Life has changed and currently, life is still changing. Life will always change.
I know that.

I have said this before –
There are times when people seem lost or better yet, if a person is about to embark on a new journey, or how about this – when someone is about to embrace an unexpected change or a turn of events shows up without an invitation, it can be unsettling at first. It can be hard to roll with the punches or to evolve with the changes, especially if we don’t know where to begin.
Sometimes, I find this is true for myself. I’m not sure where to start. I don’t know where to go first or how to begin or what to expect.

Like Bob Dylan once sang, “My weariness amazes me.”
If I think about it, so does our ability to overcome.
This amazes me too.

We are who we think we are. Otherwise, who are we?

If we believe that we are enough or if we believe that we have value and that we are worth the world then, of course, we are worth more than say, if we think we are worthless or otherwise, a burden or a bother.

“As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.”
James Allen

Sunday morning –
The sun is coming up and there is so much to do. Yet, there is nothing to do at all – except to disconnect or to relax or to let go of oneself, or to allow the moment to be sufficient enough that ah, the sunrise is here and the new day upon us is enough to cover us like the first wave of a high tide that covers the dry side of the shoreline.
Quenched of its thirst.

Back when I was younger, I eventually thought that I’d be tougher.
Somehow.
And I don’t mean this as if to say that I am not tough or that I have never been tough at all.
No, I can say that there were spurts of toughness and acts of mine that were the toughest of all because, above all, my acts were true, same as all of this is true – or at least this is true to me.

I have heard the saying, “life is short.”
And it is. Time is ticking.
The clock is on and yes, life is too short to be complicated with indecision, which means now is the time to move.
Now is the time to stand up. Or better yet and in the spirit of this journal – now is the time to cross these items off of our list.

This means now is the time to live.
Take a risk.
Go someplace. Do something different.
Don’t be afraid.

And so it was. A time.
A moment.
A fiasco or two, maybe.
Who can say?

Life is moving now. And me? I am reconnecting with myself.
I look back at the different stages of my life. And to each is their own beginning. To each is their own middle and to all is their own ending.
This is life –
cyclical

I remember back when I was a kid and The Old Man would tell me that I quit too easily. He’d say that I gave up too quickly, that I didn’t even try or that whenever things were tough or the fight was too much, I’d fold up and give in.
He told me that I didn’t have any stick-to-itiveness.
Stick-to-itiveness . . .
It’s a good word