Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings! Colorado right now is experiences a moment off warmth after a long deep freeze. I am happy to announce that I have begun my final collegiate semester. Yahoo! I am eager to complete my studies if for no other reason than it will mean spring is here. What a wonderful thing spring is. That is not to say that there are not things about winter that I don’t enjoy. There is nothing prettier than a fresh sheet of snow. As of late I have been filled with the desire to try snow shoeing. It looks like it would be a blast. Skiing and snowboarding has never really appealed to me but the idea of hiking and just exploring sounds like tons of fun. It’s always fun to expand one’s horizon.
I did not get the Government publications position I went for but as a result have received the opportunity to interview for a couple of other positions as a result including one with the music library. All three are Library Technician positions that don’t require a Masters of Library Science but would be good for experience and allow me to have a position while waiting for a Librarian I position. Librarian I is the entry level for Professional position. There is about a 10-15,000 dollar difference between the two levels. Closing on completing my degree one of the biggest things I have been pondering is where I would like to apply. I would like to stay in the West, preferably close to family or at least a major Airport. I think I am going to start by getting a Road Atlas and circle all of the areas I am interested and go from there.
After losing so much weight I have let myself chunk up a bit more a result of slipping into so old bad habits but have committed myself to getting back on track. I have the skills and the knowledge but as is true often in life it is all about application. I love to walk which will always hold me in good stead and enjoy eating healthy foods and being active. Carrot anyone? One either moves ahead or begins to regress. There is no time when one can rest on their laurels. That was for me but I hope I can be an example to all of you that life is about hope, optimism and picking yourselves up no matter how many times you fall.
With that, I hope all is well with each of you and life is treating you well.
Love,
Steve
P.S. Enjoy my soothing tones and chiseled good looks in this week’s podcast and webcast.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Dear Family and Friends
Happy New Years everyone!
There is something about the Holiday Season that lends itself to reflection and introspection. Maybe it is the focus on family or tradition; maybe it is the fact that during this time we tend to look on things with a more compassionate gaze; or it could be all of the wonderful sites, scenes and smells of the season that arouse long forgotten memories. Often, for me, reflection and introspection comes in the form of a word. I have a unique relationship with words; at a particular time, place and situation a word may trigger a thought or image. In this vein, I have been thinking a lot about the word regret for awhile.
Funny thing regret, it is the manifestation lf all the things we quite haven’t let go of, or forgive ourselves for. I woke up on my birthday with the thought of; I am 36, yet a feel so young. I thought about friends who have been married for over a decade, parents of tweeners and some teens; those who haven’t been so lucky but have weathered the storm and those who didn’t and failed to find peace on this earth. In that moment, in my heart I felt gratitude but also a tinge of regret.
I regretted all the times I took things for granted in my life, not realizing how blessed and talented I really was. I regretted not cherishing the laughter and conversation shared with others, especially family and friends more than I did. I regretted not telling those same individuals how much they meant to me or better yet sharing a compliment. I regretted being to prideful and not letting others in when I felt inferior, overwhelmed or in over my head. This life, after all, is a shared experience. I regretted all the times in my life when I have wasted the resources and opportunities given me. Most of all though, I regretted making my life too often about what I wanted and how I felt and not about others, robbing myself of a broader influence due to being so doggedly focused on one possibility.
The funny thing is that I felt such a peace as I reflected on my regrets and the phrase cried out to me, “I’m still here with a smile on my face and laughter in my heart!” It is so easy to check out of life put it on “auto pilot” while we slowly atrophy socially and emotionally. It is as if this life is only about the harrowing and not about the growth. Repentance is when the struggling bud busts through the topsoil to behold the radiance and warmth of the sun. It is that radiance and warmth of the sun that I cherish as regret falls away. Regret allowed to stay too long becomes a cancer that leads to debilitating despair. As it decays by the effects of the sun the nourishment it provides in the form of experience leads to a perfect brightness of hope in which seeds long ago planted reach their eternal fruition.
I hope all of you are well and living lives of inspiration. I admire each of you very much in a myriad of ways. Your character and devotion instill greater hope and mercy.
Love,
Steve
There is something about the Holiday Season that lends itself to reflection and introspection. Maybe it is the focus on family or tradition; maybe it is the fact that during this time we tend to look on things with a more compassionate gaze; or it could be all of the wonderful sites, scenes and smells of the season that arouse long forgotten memories. Often, for me, reflection and introspection comes in the form of a word. I have a unique relationship with words; at a particular time, place and situation a word may trigger a thought or image. In this vein, I have been thinking a lot about the word regret for awhile.
Funny thing regret, it is the manifestation lf all the things we quite haven’t let go of, or forgive ourselves for. I woke up on my birthday with the thought of; I am 36, yet a feel so young. I thought about friends who have been married for over a decade, parents of tweeners and some teens; those who haven’t been so lucky but have weathered the storm and those who didn’t and failed to find peace on this earth. In that moment, in my heart I felt gratitude but also a tinge of regret.
I regretted all the times I took things for granted in my life, not realizing how blessed and talented I really was. I regretted not cherishing the laughter and conversation shared with others, especially family and friends more than I did. I regretted not telling those same individuals how much they meant to me or better yet sharing a compliment. I regretted being to prideful and not letting others in when I felt inferior, overwhelmed or in over my head. This life, after all, is a shared experience. I regretted all the times in my life when I have wasted the resources and opportunities given me. Most of all though, I regretted making my life too often about what I wanted and how I felt and not about others, robbing myself of a broader influence due to being so doggedly focused on one possibility.
The funny thing is that I felt such a peace as I reflected on my regrets and the phrase cried out to me, “I’m still here with a smile on my face and laughter in my heart!” It is so easy to check out of life put it on “auto pilot” while we slowly atrophy socially and emotionally. It is as if this life is only about the harrowing and not about the growth. Repentance is when the struggling bud busts through the topsoil to behold the radiance and warmth of the sun. It is that radiance and warmth of the sun that I cherish as regret falls away. Regret allowed to stay too long becomes a cancer that leads to debilitating despair. As it decays by the effects of the sun the nourishment it provides in the form of experience leads to a perfect brightness of hope in which seeds long ago planted reach their eternal fruition.
I hope all of you are well and living lives of inspiration. I admire each of you very much in a myriad of ways. Your character and devotion instill greater hope and mercy.
Love,
Steve
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