Posted by Shirley Anne on September 4, 2010
Do you have a passion for something? Do you have a passion for somebody? When you first see the word what does it immediately bring to mind? The word has different meanings to many people and here are those listed in the dictionary (see Dictionary.com).
1. any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
2. strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor.
3. strong sexual desire; lust.
4. an instance or experience of strong love or sexual desire.
5. a person toward whom one feels strong love or sexual desire.
6. a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music.
7. the object of such a fondness or desire: Accuracy became a passion with him.
8. an outburst of strong emotion or feeling: He suddenly broke into a passion of bitter words.
9. violent anger.
10. the state of being acted upon or affected by something external, esp. something alien to one’s nature or one’s customary behavior ( contrasted with action).
11. ( often initial capital letter ) Theology .
a. the sufferings of Christ on the cross or His sufferings subsequent to the Last Supper.
b. the narrative of Christ’s sufferings as recorded in the Gospels.
12. Archaic . the sufferings of a martyr.
In which of these descriptions do you see yourself? Many of us most probably don’t realise how passionate we are about certain things in our lives until they are challenged. Our immediate reaction is usually one of defence, we are adamant that our ‘passion’ is justified and will defend it whether our passion is valid or not.
I have a passion, well probably more than one if I were being truthful. My passion is my faith and my faith is in my God and my Saviour. I am passionate about all things concerning my Maker. It isn’t simply a belief, an ideal, a religion or anything like these but is a knowledge founded in a relationship. I have experienced a dramatic change in my attitude brought about by the realisation that God loves me and has demonstrated that love. That is the key, He demonstrated His love so I know Him to be true. For me, life without God is meaningless. Yes, I have a passion. I have ‘lesser’ passions too of course but they are all temporal, my main passion is for something that will last forever.
Are all your ‘passions’ centred in this world and only for your life in the flesh or have you a passion for something better?
Shirley Anne
Posted in Religion | Tagged: Religion | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on September 3, 2010
It has been yet another fine day which began with a trip to a house three miles away to do a small job. They all seem to be small jobs for me. It could be that I advertise as a small job specialist! I find I get more work that way which suits me fine, in fact it is more lucrative and I don’t have to work my socks off to earn good money. That meant I was back home before lunchtime and because I wasn’t in the mood to do more digging in the heat I decided to take E out to lunch instead. We do a lot of that these days as you probably already know if you are a regular reader of my rantings. Years ago, when I had just started in my career, I never thought I would be in a position whereby I could take time out whenever I felt like it and furthermore to be in a position to be able to afford it! I feel I have earned the privilege having worked for 48 years. I would like to think that everyone should be able to enjoy their lives more as they get older. Of course I think we should all be able to enjoy our lives throughout our lives but unfortunately that isn’t possible for everybody because of circumstances or lack of opportunity.
I read quite a few of other people’s blogs from time to time, some regularly and others not quite so often. I like to look out for any interesting blogs and will comment there when I find them if appropriate. There are so many out there to read, some write about specific issues, some are personal diaries, some are very interesting and others not, that is to me anyway. I read about the difficulties that some people have to face each day and count myself very fortunate that I don’t have some of they problems they have. I wish I could say that it has been one fine day for them too. Maybe one day it will be.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Happiness, Life, Lifestyle | Tagged: Happiness | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on September 2, 2010
Some months ago I spoke about the out-of-the-way places around my town, places most people don’t visit, probably because they don’t know they are there. Today I had been working hard in my garden and had to change my clothes. I put them in the washing machine together with other clothes and set it running. There is a chair in the laundry room and I sat on it for a few minutes, mainly because I wanted a little rest. I watched the machine start its cycle, fill with water and begin the wash. Now you may not realise this but clothes soak up water so the machine has to allow more water in until the correct level is reached. This is quite normal but what I noticed was that the timer reset itself too. Initially it showed 1:21 and during the fill cycle it dropped to 1:19. When the water level had been reached however the timer reset to 1:21. I had never noticed this before even though I use the machine often. At first I wondered what was going on but then realised that if the water pressure was very low it could take quite some time to fill the machine with the consequence that the wash cycle would be reduced. That is why the machine resets the timer once the water level is reached. Now I am not writing this to educate my readers but no doubt that has been done. What I wanted to say was that there are probably many things like this which happen right under our eyes but we don’t really notice. I will ask a question of you here to prove my point. Assuming you have wallpaper on at least one wall at home, could you describe what it looks like without going to see it? You may be surprised to know that you can’t, at least accurately. This is why the police have difficulty with witnesses who cannot remember exactly what they actually saw. It seems we only take in essential information in any situation. I just asked E if she could describe one of the pictures on the wall in the room we are both sitting in at this moment and she had difficulty in describing it accurately even though it has hung there for many years. We have a picture of the two boys together when they were quite young and she described that one without any difficulty at all. It proves a point I think. Things that are not really relevant to our situation at any given time are usually not noticed at all.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Nature, People | Tagged: Nature | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on September 1, 2010
…..that our eldest son was born. This morning I had no jobs to do at work so I spent a couple of hours continuing ‘the big dig’ in the rear garden. Several wheelbarrow loads later I had cleared out a large area of soil and roots adjacent to where I left off yesterday and then moved the soil again to level out the ground where it had been dumped. Hard work. Really hard work. I then lay the first layer of hardcore before I decided I’d had enough. I had plans to go out to lunch with E. By now it was noon anyway so I went inside, got washed and changed and off we went to a place about twenty miles away in the direction of where our son and his wife live. He was in bed until 4.30 because he is working the night shift at the moment. He is a policeman so he gets to work all sorts of weird hours! Anyhow E and I had a lovely lunch and drove on to give him his birthday presents just as he was getting out of bed. We spent some time with the two of them before coming home early in the evening.
It only seems like yesterday when I saw him come into the world. My how time flies!
Shirley Anne
Posted in Family | Tagged: Family | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on September 1, 2010
I play guitar every day, usually for an hour or so, sometimes twice daily if time allows and I’m in the mood. I remember the first time I picked up an instrument back in 1990. It was really a toy but it was in tune. It gave me the chance to practice a few basic chords like G, D, A and E. Soon I found myself progressing to C, F, Bb but found it difficult to hold down an Eb chord. As with anything we do, practice makes perfect, not that I am perfect by any means but I am a good player. I originally took up the guitar because at that time I was engaged in children’s work at church and the only music they had was through an old tape player. Soon I learned a few songs and the children joined in with singing and playing tambourines and such. They really enjoyed the music. I progressed to membership in the church band and had some really nice times there but playing in a church band is somewhat different from playing on stage in a pop group. Oh we had music to dance and sing to and many did that but we also had music for praise and worship and songs for prayer and quiet moments. I left the church after ten years there and gave up playing the guitar for about fives years thereafter. I started playing again in 2005 but only for my own pleasure. I play mostly Christian music but also play some popular secular music too as the mood takes me. I have written a few songs, some slow and haunting, some lively and some you could class as rock. Almost all of them are Christian songs. Once I recorded thirteen of them with a girl from the church using the church’s extensive mixing desk and equipment. I still have that recording on tape! I like playing guitar but sometimes I wear out my fingertips doing it! When I say I play for an hour I mean just that, continuously, without a break! It’s becomes quite addictive but I discipline myself and take a break to do other things. I can wear out other parts of my anatomy as well!
Shirley Anne
Posted in Music | Tagged: Music | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 31, 2010
After a lazy weekend it’s back to work today. It has been gloriously sunny all day and it looks promising for the rest of the week. I plan to do some more work in the garden so that we can finally lay that concrete I was talking about recently. I have this afternoon off work so I can start today. It will take some time though.
E had won a prize many months ago, in fact it was last December, but she has only just gotten round to claiming it! It was a free ticket for two on a balloon flight. Hopefully we will be taking the trip soon. Next week, I think it will be Tuesday, E and I are going into Liverpool to see a show, another prize that E won recently! I don’t know how she does it! So life goes on in the same old way….but I like it!
Shirley Anne
Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged: Life | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 30, 2010
Well it has been such a lovely day and E and I managed to have our Barbie after all. Unfortunately she has gone to lie down for a spell having taken her medication with alcohol. She will be ok I’m sure. I was left to do all the clearing up but that’s ok too. Our youngest son was with us but as usual for him he disappeared after a quick burger. He went to spend time with friends. We were pestered by wasps but they didn’t spoil our enjoyment. One went for a swim in E’s wine and one flew up my skirt and stung me on my leg. What is it with wasps? There are things that can be used to keep pests like them away but we didn’t have them. According to the weather bureau it appears we are in for some more sunny days yet. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Enjoyment, Food | Tagged: Food, Leisure | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 30, 2010
What is the most important thing in your life? What single thing is in your life that you simply could not do without? If you already possess it how are you keeping a hold of it? Could it be a material thing or a spiritual thing, something tangible or something unseen? Whatever it is would you give it up for somebody else’s benefit? Are you unselfish enough to let it go or is it something you would willingly give? Where does your heart lie?
If you do not have in your possession the desire of your heart, how far would you be willing to go to get it? Are you the hedonistic type of person who lives life to the full on all occasions? Are you ever satisfied with your experiences or do you find yourself looking for that something extra? Has this lifestyle become an addiction and could you live a much simpler existence instead? There is a danger in having things or experiencing too many ‘good times’ in your life. When you have to give them up you become an empty vessel with no purpose in life. You have lived for yourself and now you find yourself wanting. Without purpose in life it isn’t worth living. What then is the purpose of your life? What are you living for, is it something transitory or is it something lasting? Where does your heart lie?
Shirley Anne
Posted in Life, Lifestyle, Philosophy, Values | Tagged: Life, Philosophy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 29, 2010
This weekend is a Bank Holiday and for many that will mean a trip in a car to some resort on the coast or some place in the country. As many as 16 million cars may be on the roads at the peak of the travelling period which is a lot of vehicles for a small country. Many will have spent hours stuck in traffic jams with the prospect of the same on their return journey home. Many people fly off to foreign parts with all the hassle that entails during these holiday periods. It is bad enough travelling during off-peak times! I have never been one to travel far if at all on public holidays. Why would I wish to be stuck in traffic when I can enjoy myself at home? There are plenty of opportunities to go travelling at other times. People are so predictable sometimes, their lives follow the same old routine year after year, following the same paths as everyone else. Soon it will be the annual ‘Air show’ here in Southport, that will be closely followed by other yearly events leading up to Christmas. All these things become tradition and it’s as though they need to be observed in the hearts of the majority. They follow like sheep without questioning their behaviour. We get pollution from the aircraft that fly during these displays when we are informed that we should be using less fuel ourselves. We celebrate ‘Guy Fawkes Night’ with fireworks to remember November 5th when on that date in Elizabethan times there was a failed attempt at blowing up the Houses of Parliament. Then there is Halloween a few days before when people ‘celebrate’ the time when goblins, spooks and other imaginary forces are at large. Nobody ever considers that if there were such beings at large they wouldn’t just keep to October 31st. Children mindlessly enjoy ‘trick or treat’ without understanding why they are doing it! Then there is Christmas. Well what can be said about Christmas? It is a man-made festival purporting to celebrate the birth of Jesus which may be fine but he wasn’t born on December 25th now was he? The festival has no origins in Scripture and it is celebrated in vain. In any case most people treat it as a time for anything else but what it was intended for. Many thing we do are pointless so why do we do them? I would say that people are trying to fill their lives so that it has purpose but many fill their lives with rubbish seeking one ‘thrill’ after another. Life has more meaning than that. Read the book of Ecclesiastes and you’ll see what I mean! This world, at least western society, is living at a fast pace but getting nowhere. Even as I write the tv is bombarding me with adverts encouraging me to do this or buy that and it must be now before the ‘offers’ end! I can save hundreds of pounds if I buy now…..yeah sure…I can save even more if I don’t bother! Life in the fast lane is not for me………what’s the point?
Shirley Anne
Posted in Lifestyle, Philosophy | Tagged: Behaviour, Philosophy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 29, 2010
I managed to get up early today. I normally do get up early when I have work to do but I usually try to have a lie in when I’ve nothing planned. So I got up and looked out of my bedroom window. It was raining fairly heavily and there was a strong wind blowing. Not much chance of that BBQ so I resigned myself to normal meals. Anyhow breakfast came first but by 1 o’clock it was very sunny although the wind hadn’t eased any. It is late afternoon now and the sky is almost completely blue and the wind is beginning to slow down as forecast. E and I had our main meal at 1.30 which I had cooked so we are not in the mood for a BBQ now and the wind although much less strong is still too strong to for us to be sitting outside. We’ve had enough food anyhow! Maybe tomorrow we’ll get the chance but I’m not banking on it.
It’s our eldest son’s birthday on Wednesday, he will be the ripe old age of 28. Gosh I remember when I was 28……yes, I can remember that far back…LOL. Much has happened in my life since he was born and now I am at the stage in life whereby I should be retiring and having lots of Barbies but I’ve too much to do. Oh well………
Shirley Anne
Posted in Leisure, Weather | Tagged: Leisure, Weather | Leave a Comment »
