August 2021… and the Pandemic rages on… in unvaccinated areas of the world… Homelessness… Poverty… All of it! We go back to square one, and this time, having learned something from our mistakes, we have an opportunity to do it right!

Fear, anger, stubbornness, and other similar ways of dealing — will not work to fix the ills of the world… any of them…

It is solutions we need… creativity in thinking; a positive “can-do” attitude; perseverance; willingness to learn from, and work with, others; etc., etc.

In other words, “Be the solution, not the problem,” the subtitle of this month’s Poem Of The Month.

Oh, and… Love is always the answer, no matter the question.

POSITIVE ENERGY
or
BE THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM

Did you know? There is a direct correlation
Between positive energy and a positive result!
In order to attract positive things in your life,
Give off positive energy. It’s not difficult.

Only give out what you want to get back,
And don’t use your energy to worry!
Worry’s a negative message to the universe.
At best, results will be blurry.

When you seem to reach bottom with a negative outlook…
When you say, “It can’t get any worse…”
You are challenging the universe to do exactly that!
You are part of the problem. Put things in reverse.

Wayne Dyer’s words, when he shared this thought,
Had a logic to them. They did not seem strange.
“Change the way you at look things, my friends,
And the things you look at change.”

Let’s turn now to the words of our own Bill Gates…
A redirection from the negative to the positive tense;
“Spend more time and energy supporting what you favor
Than opposing what you’re [absolutely] against.”

With positive energy, you can expect positive outcomes.
(Your positivity to others heals your own pain.)
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
And the opposite is true — the message is plain.
Your smile can be the source of your joy.
It’s a wonderful lesson — to trick your own brain!

Take responsibility for the energy that you bring,
And choose wisely the things you do with your time.
You create your own reality — there’s no fine print…
No exceptions… no asterisks. The right choice is sublime.

July 2021… and the worries of the Pandemic, while not entirely behind us (Goodness knows we still need to be careful), are waning as things we once thought we’d losts are beginning to open up again… we can begin to think about starting over — keeping the things in our lives that really work for us, and discarding the things that don’t.

We can look at this process as an opportunity to start a New Day… and there’s no time like the present to get started!!!!

NEW DAY TODAY

Today is the perfect day for a new beginning.
Really, there’s no time better than now!
You’re always in charge of your thoughts about your life;
It’s up to you to determine the why and the how.

Just one small positive thought in the morning
Can change how your day will play itself out.
Each day holds the possibility of your rebirth.
Pursue it with positivity, deleting all doubt.

Think of it as an investment, an investment in you…
One small step towards happiness and good cheer.
So what will you do today, here and now,
That will make you proud of yourself in a year?

If change is the goal you are seeking for yourself —
A change in the manner your life unfolds —
Then the choices you’ve made must be revisited,
And new choices put in place; lose the old!

Every morning starts a new page in your story.
You have responsibility to make the narrative sing!
Drop the broken pieces of the past. They’re behind you.
Make each moment count, and enjoy the upswing.

Treat each new dawn of each new day
As special as it deserves to be treated.
Think of the New Year, and the attention it receives,
Then apply it daily! It is to be repeated.

Now that the nation… heck, the world… is beginning to open up again, it occurred to me that perhaps this is a good time to think about trying to get a few things right in our lives. Being in lock-down — whether self-imposed or not — gave one pause… time to really take a good look at things and think about how to fix them… or change them for the better.

What comes to mind is the famous do-over in the golf world… the Mulligan. Nobody is quite sure of the origin of the term “Mulligan,” but the most plausible involves golfers by that name. The USGA Museum mentions a fellow by the name of David Mulligan who frequented St. Lambert Country Club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during the 1920s.

Mulligan hit a golf ball off the tee one day, wasn’t happy with the results, re-teed and hit again. According to the story he called it a “correction shot,” but his buddies thought a better name was needed, and dubbed it a “Mulligan.”

Mulligans are never allowed under the rules of golf, but informally many golfers allow them, (at least on the first tee).

So, let’s take a look at our own first shots, and decide if they need a re-do. For me, this time in lockdown has offered an opportunity to see where some corrections were needed, and act upon them. (More details will probably come out in later poems.)

I offer my poem, “It’s Mulligan Time” for your pleasure. I hope you enjoy it.

IT'S MULLIGAN TIME
(Do-overs, Restarts, Plot Twists)

I wish my book of life was written in pencil;
There are a few pages I would like to erase —
A pandemic, an election, the divisiveness of beliefs —
Yet, doing 2020 over will not likely be the case.

Rewinding time is, unfortunately, not possible.
What’s done is done; our mistakes are behind us.
Though, sometimes one can get another chance to do it right
And correct the mistake with not too much fuss.

You can have a do-over starting today,
But you must clear your mind of all negative thoughts.
You must get over the feeling that it is too late;
Then do it. That’s right… give it your best shot!

Progress is the key word here, I think —
It’s okay to have setbacks when the going is hard.
Draw a line in the sand, and start over again…
And again… if you have to, moving constantly forward.

Albert Einstein is credited with more than science,
And understanding his definition of insanity is not difficult.
It’s simply doing the same thing over and over again,
And each time expecting different results.

So, don’t do it the same way. Be creative and open
To new ways of correcting the wrongs.
It’s not always about fixing something broken…
It’s about starting over and “singing new songs.”