Life long learning and growth

 I had my stroke on September 22nd, 2021, and I guess you could describe the past eight months as the definition of hell on earth. What else could you consider it, when you go from a normal functioning adult, to an almost childlike state, where everything has to be done for you, from feeding to cleaning. It is an adjustment, to say the least.

It has also been a time of reflection and personal growth. I realize that before my stroke, I was just going through my days, without really challenging myself, or using my God given talents. I was just settling. 

Now I am focused. Though every day is much like the last, I have found that the depth of my mind allows me to challenge myself to new limits. I have always possessed these abilities, it is only now that I have drawn upon them. 

We are each capable of achieving great things. But we often times fall into a routine that causes us to settle on the easy way. TV, Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter or any number of distractions can leave us wondering where all the time has gone. Our productivity suffers, and we don't realize, it is at our own hand. Sometimes we even forego sleep, to serve these electronic thieves of our time. 

Do we really need to follow the life of some fictional, on air  character, or measure our success by how many likes we get, to our last comment on some post on Facebook. We are here for such a short time, in the grand scheme of things. A mere blip on the timeline of history. The question will be, are we remembered for our contributions to those around us? Or forgotten as easily as a high school gym locker combination!

Nearly everyone is walking around with more computer power then we had to send the first men to the moon, and it gets used to check out our social media page more frequently then to expand our knowledge. Athletes get better when they challenge themselves. Taking on people better then us, hones our skills, we become better. It's the same, when it comes to mental challenges. If we tend to hang out with people who use an expanded vocabulary, ours seems to expand too. Unfortunately, the opposite also tends to be true. Think about a job you've held, where everybody uses the worst of language, if you're honest with yourself, soon you had a similar use of words. We raise or lower ourselves to those around us, whether we realize it or not. 

I find myself reading a lot of articles and papers on my condition. Many of them use terms I've never heard before. I therefore, find myself looking them up. This not only requires my remembering the terms, but how to spell them, or at least something close. I feel smarter already!

The new shirts are in, so get your orders placed, for your friends and family now. The shirt drive lasts through July 18th. Then they will ship within 2 to 4 weeks. We have a fundraiser set up through a company called Custom Ink. After we sell a few shirts, all the money, goes to us. I'm asking that if you are considering getting a shirt, that you do so now. My wife Jonell had this design made up, and I think it turned out pretty good. A nice powder blue shirt, with a character of me. What else could you want? You know that you want one, so order yours before it's too late, and they are gone! I truely appricate all those who take the time out of their day to check into my BLOG!