Perspectives ...

A Guest Article

By Maggie

Howdy!

For those of you that don’t understand…..that’s the standard greeting for us Maroon-loving Aggies from the southeast.  (And I realize that Uncle-B is totally anti-Aggie just like he’s anti-“I” anything and just like he can’t tell the difference between Maroon and “purple”!)

You see, in my mind, it’s all about perspectives.  Ole Uncle-B and mom-D just never had the opportunity to experience the Aggie spirit that my Mom and Dad have.  They have a different perspective.

I know….all of you are trying to figure out where I’m going with all of this.  Well, it seems that every time I have an idea and have dad put it into words, as soon as Uncle-B reads the title, he’s convinced he knows where I’m headed.  And he’s been right once or twice.  Not so fast mi amigo!

You see, summer is starting to fade and the days are getting shorter.  This time of year, it seems that it takes a little longer for the sun to come up and I’m usually helping Dad feed the cows in the dark when he gets home.  (There’s just no way we could make it up in Alaska where it’s dark for 22 hours a day.)  And for me, I spend all day waiting for Dad to get home, which gives me a lot of time to “Lounge and Think”, not to be confused with how this whole little website got started.  (Ooh, maybe I’ve come up with a new column idea…..)

Back to point!  These shorter days got me to thinking about how colder weather, shorter days, leaves dropping from the trees and brown grass could make a person feel a little down.  Especially when you’re from an area that has lots of trees and lots of green…no offense Uncle-B.  After that, I started to wonder what it is that keeps people in a chipper mood; bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning (like my Mom)….  And I finally had to think it’s about Perspective.  We all control our own moods and attitudes.  We all have control about what affects us.  We all make priorities in life…. Like faith, family, our job and those people that come into our lives and find a place in our heart (friends).  All of these have an impact on how we perceive the world and what we make out of it.  And sometimes we all need to find the right perspective to what we perceive.

I know I ramble a lot, so indulge me for a moment.  Mom definitely doesn’t, and Dad only sporadically, looks at “book-face”.  Well, I’ve found that while there’s a whole lot of crap on there, there are a few neat things.  I saw this on one of Dad’s friend’s page and it really made me think of this whole Perspective thing.  As you read the following, think of the author’s perspective:

Today was the absolute worst day ever

And don’t try to convince me that

There’s something good in every day

Because, when you take a closer look,

This world is a pretty evil place.

Even if

Some goodness does shine through once in a while

Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.

And it’s not true that

It’s all in the mind and heart

Because

True happiness can be obtained

Only if one’s surroundings are good

It’s not true that good exists

I’m sure you can agree that

The reality

Creates

My attitude

It’s all beyond my control

And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that

Today was a good day.

Now that you’ve read it, and developed an opinion on the mood at the time it was written, I want to ask you to do something……

READ IT AGAIN FROM THE BOTTOM UP!

In the words of Uncle-B, life truly is “more better than good”!  Let’s all raise a glass!

Maggie Out!

Editor’s Note:  WOW – another great article Ms. Maggie!  Honest to goodness, when dad opened up the email and read only the first line – he immediately typed (and formatted) the following response:  “(a&m JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WERE GOING UP ON TUITION … DO YOU WANT TO ALIENATE READERS RIGHT AWAY?)”.  Yeah, he also grudgingly admitted that he thought that he knew where this story was going – but when he was about ½ way through the “poem”, he knew that he was wrong, but he did eventually catch on to the unusual structure of the prose.  That’s when he figured it out and got a little teary eyed!

Your dad had forwarded the article to us “early” because he saw that you were having trouble wrapping up the article and your thoughts … after we collectively read it several times and discussed it among ourseleves, we came to the conclusion that sometimes we all have a tendency to overthink things, and that It’s ok to just stop sometimes … Wrap it up don't cha know!  We shot you that message, and you stepped back from your article and saw what we meant.  We think that it ended just perfectly!

Thank you for the reminder! 

Today WAS a good day …

Life IS more better than good …

Let’s ALL raise a glass!!

And, we’d also like to take this time to refute a couple of Ms. Maggie’s more disparaging comments:

1. Dad isn’t anti-Aggie, he just doesn’t understand the traditions (and might just be a little envious of them).

2. He IS anti-“i” though!

3. Maroon is simply another shade of purple, to him!

4. We BC’s live at the southern edge of the largest oak forest in North America!  http://www.texasescapes.com/MikeCoxTexasTales/In-Quercus-Veritas.htm

In any event ... Best Wishes To All!!!!