BACKYARD CRICKET
This is one of my favourite poems – it reminds me of simpler times. The subjects in the artwork are my great-grandfather and great-uncle in the 1920’s, Capel, Western Australia, (the dog is no known relation). Enjoy the poem.
“BACKYARD CRICKET”
Remember back to younger days when sport was played for fun.
We’d play the game with pure delight beneath the summer sun.
When a bat could be a tree branch, a can could be a wicket.
The fences marked the boundaries; the rules were backyard cricket.
We would play the game for hours and all would get a turn.
We’d bowl slowly for the small kids; they’d need a chance to learn.
But when a dad or uncle would go up to the crease,
We’d bowl as fast as lightning; all mercy bowls would cease.
And when it came our turn to bat, we prayed to lady luck,
‘Please let me get at least a run, not bowled out for a duck!’
But soon we came to learn the fact that losing was no shame,
It’s all about good sportsmanship and how we played the game.
For winning is an empty thing, if everyone is cross.
For all the good it did for you, you may as well have lost.
The greatest match you’ll ever play is not for fame or rates.
It’s in the backyard of your home with family, pets and mates.
Poem and artwork by Ian Coate
https://iancoate.com/
The Power of Giving
Katharine Hepburn’s childhood, in her own words.
“Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.
Finally, there was only one other family between us and the ticket counter. This family made a big impression on me.
There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. The way they were dressed, you could tell they didn’t have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.
The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, animals, and all the acts they would be seeing that night. By their excitement you could sense they had never been to the circus before. It would be a highlight of their lives.
The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You’re my knight in shining armour.” He was smiling and enjoying seeing his family happy.
The ticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted? He proudly responded, “I’d like to buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family to the circus.” The ticket lady stated the price.
The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man’s lip began to quiver. Then he leaned a little closer and asked, “How much did you say?”
The ticket lady again stated the price.
The man didn’t have enough money. How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?
Seeing what was going on, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and then dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.”
The man understood what was going on. He wasn’t begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking and embarrassing situation.
He looked straight into my dad’s eyes, took my dad’s hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied; “Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.”
My father and I went back to our car and drove home. The $20 that my dad gave away is what we were going to buy our own tickets with.
Although we didn’t get to see the circus that night, we both felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing the circus could ever provide.
That day I learnt the value to Give.
The Giver is bigger than the Receiver. If you want to be large, larger than life, learn to Give. Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get – only with what you are expecting to give – which is everything.
The importance of giving, blessing others can never be over emphasised because there’s always joy in giving. Learn to make someone happy by acts of giving.”
~ Katharine Hepburn
Two Types Of People
Don’t Think, Just Obey!
Said nobody ever who wished you well.
Surrender To The Mystery
HELL NO! As soon as you say ‘unknowable’ you stop looking for yourself or reading to find if others have already solved the mystery.
KNOW is at the top of the scale.
MYSTERY is at the bottom of the scale.
The author of this was probably in apathy, content to consign all to MYSTERY at the bottom of the scale.
That is NOT the path to greater awareness and competence.
The Sunflower
“Last night I bought a sunflower to put on the windshield of someone I’m smitten with.
After some consideration, I decided not to since we had only been on one date, the night previous. Don’t want to come off too strong, right?
Anyway, I grabbed the flower on my way out this morning with the intention to give it to someone on my way to work so it didn’t die alone.
What happened next has left me changed in ways I don’t even have words for yet.
While I was sitting and drinking my morning joe at the coffee shop (which I typically take to go), I saw a woman reading something with tears quietly and quickly sliding down her pale face.
It was like there was a magnet in the sunflower that was being drawn to her, because I knew in that moment she was who I was going to give the sunflower to; she was who I had to give it to.
When I got to her table I said, “Hey, pardon me. I have this sunflower that I was hoping to give to someone special and that someone I had in mind didn’t work out, but I can feel that you’re special too, so I want you to have it.”
Before I could even hand her the sunflower, this complete stranger flew into my arms with tears flowing, and gratitude spewing, as if I was someone she once loved, and lost.
It’s what she said next that I’m still trying to grip.
She was crying because her fiancé had died the week before, just months before they were going to get married.
On their first date, he brought her a sunflower and from then on, got her sunflowers, never roses, because she was the light of his life.
Today, through me, he was able to show her that she’ll always be the light of his life and how we as humans have a message to carry that goes far beyond words.
I’m shaken, awakened, and feeling raw.
You never know how much a simple gesture of giving someone a $5 flower will change their life, as well as yours. Life is about giving and being of service to others.
I challenge you all to find a way to make someone else’s life just a little bit brighter today and be of service. You never know the impact you could have.”
Credit: Danny Wakefield
Discomfort vs Dysfunction
Most options have an element of pain to them. The trick is to pick your pain wisely as some options, like not exercising, appear to have less pain the the short term but are far more painful long-term.
Monopoly Ends When
What A Circus!
The truth is even more reason not to get eaten up by trivialities. The truth is that we are immortal, indestructible spiritual beings enjoying a mortal existence. The truth is that nothing can hurt you as a being unless you agree to being hurt.
My advice? Stop being so damned agreeable to being hurt! Enjoy the ride! Decide what game you want to play then play it!
The game you will enjoy most is one based on your basic purpose and for which you have a natural talent and suits your personality.
If you do not know what your basic purpose is in life, here are some tips to find it.
In chatting to many people I have been able to help them identify their basic purpose. It has always been a specialization of the desire to help.
I think the problem is that we are not taught to look for it, to recognize and pursue it. In many cases we are dissuaded from it – “You can’t make enough money doing that!”
If you would like some ideas on how to identify your basic purpose, here’s a blog post I wrote to help you:
How To Work Out Your Basic Purpose In Life