The Positivity Thread
- Thread starter RCF
- Start date
Bonefish Jack
Steelhead
+1 And I just hope it will be in warm and shallow saltwater
Funny I was thinking the same thing when contributing to the 'challenges of getting older' thread.
For sure there are challenges health wise when it comes to aging, but they don't subtract from the awesome, lucky, privileged life I've led.
Too many positives to list in my 69 years but the ones that matter are two amazing children and a beautiful wife that saw something in me at the age of 19 and has been by my side ever since.
Another positive is spending all of my years in the beautiful PNW. I never take it for granted that you can look out on most (some?) days and see Mt. Rainier or the Olympics. A short drive away is the kind of scenery that people fly from all over the world to see.
I can totally identify....
although, I'm happy to add, I'm mostly just a dick just to my friends....progress I guess....
in all seriousness, I try to be as generous as possible with my time, my goods (a lot of time is built in there) & my empathy (this probably pops up far more in my work with cancer patients where it really doesn't take all that much extra to just give that call to check in to see how they're doing, even if there are limited things that I can physically do).
Last edited:
you do you!Should I start posting shirtless bass photos?
FinLuver
Native Oregonian…1846
Gas, Grass, or Bass…Nobody Rides For Free!!
After a career as a CSI, the excitement or adrenaline rush is now, at times, just unwanted baggage to deal with. And I never know when something might get triggered. Like the Reiner family tragedy caused a bit of a tailspin cuz one of my long forgotten first homicide scenes was a similar sad story. Heck, I'll never be able to have ceramic cutlery in the house.
But this isn't about a pity party, I'm simply providing background. Since retiring 4 years ago I've made a determined effort to focus on the positive. Like RCF wrote, it's so easy focus on the negative. It can be a conversation starter to open with a bad thing we might have in common....such as the crummy weather or some horrible news story.
One place I find positivity is here. I visit our site at least daily (who am I kidding....I'm a PNWFF junkie
) and usually find something positive or encouraging. Like learning Clarkman helps people with cancer or Starman Rex has a guardian angel riding shotgun when he's driving.....(note to self - don't go on a road trip with Rex) 
Sometimes good things turn up where least expected....other days I gotta go looking. Here's a fun one from a site I check from time to time.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
Carry on
….and like Scudley said…Don’t be a dick
But this isn't about a pity party, I'm simply providing background. Since retiring 4 years ago I've made a determined effort to focus on the positive. Like RCF wrote, it's so easy focus on the negative. It can be a conversation starter to open with a bad thing we might have in common....such as the crummy weather or some horrible news story.
One place I find positivity is here. I visit our site at least daily (who am I kidding....I'm a PNWFF junkie
) and usually find something positive or encouraging. Like learning Clarkman helps people with cancer or Starman Rex has a guardian angel riding shotgun when he's driving.....(note to self - don't go on a road trip with Rex) Sometimes good things turn up where least expected....other days I gotta go looking. Here's a fun one from a site I check from time to time.
'Trashed Panda' Story Raises $180,000 for Animal Shelter That Discovered it Drunk in the Bathroom
Each shirt, hoodie, or coffee mug had a slightly artistic depiction of the collapsed raccoon in the photo taken by Officer Martin.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
Carry on
….and like Scudley said…Don’t be a dick
Last edited:
You can tell when you're fishing a lake where @Billy has been recently because all the big ones have their shirts buttoned up wrong, collars half popped.
The guy has no dress & release ethics at all
Lost Dog Found Chained to Pole 2,000 Miles Away Reunited with Family in Time for Christmas
It had been 5 years since Choco was amongst his people, and over the years his family had grown. It hadn't outgrown him.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
Capt Insano Emeritis
Legend
There are so many great people in this world, so much love, but along with it there are constant attempts through interference like tinfoil on antenna's to convince all that there is not. We can be practical and choose positivity and focus on the niceties of our human interactions. We can choose to crawl away from the traps all around us . Be happy and take care all of you.
This past year I was BLESSED with many things! I have really been focused on a single goal, "At the end of each day, no matter how rough, find one good thing and be Thang for that one thing. Focusing only on that one thing. And at the start of each day I say "Thank you for one more bonus day!"
I tried to focus on giving back (I have been very selfish in the past, and it is an easy drug to fall back to) as much as possible to others and the community. And this many times gave me more in return, smiles, laughter and joy. My wife helped and supported me in many of this endeavors.
Some of my high points this year...
Married to the most wonderful wife 30 years
2 years cancer free (730+ bonus days)
Was able to repay my wife, by playing nurse for her while she recovered from 2 knee replacements. (She had missed me through to manyrecoveries to count)
Got to spend time with my dad, some great days and some hard days, he is turning 86 in a few weeks.
Got to spend some fun filled days with all 4 boys and their families.
Got to fish with my brothers and build a chicken coop & run, with only one visit to the ER. (I am now current on my tetanus shot)
Got to help several hundred kids catch fish, many times there first fish, including my grandson.
Won first elected office position and was sworn in this last week.
And 365 (plus hundreds more) small blessings!
I tried to focus on giving back (I have been very selfish in the past, and it is an easy drug to fall back to) as much as possible to others and the community. And this many times gave me more in return, smiles, laughter and joy. My wife helped and supported me in many of this endeavors.
Some of my high points this year...
Married to the most wonderful wife 30 years
2 years cancer free (730+ bonus days)
Was able to repay my wife, by playing nurse for her while she recovered from 2 knee replacements. (She had missed me through to manyrecoveries to count)
Got to spend time with my dad, some great days and some hard days, he is turning 86 in a few weeks.
Got to spend some fun filled days with all 4 boys and their families.
Got to fish with my brothers and build a chicken coop & run, with only one visit to the ER. (I am now current on my tetanus shot)
Got to help several hundred kids catch fish, many times there first fish, including my grandson.
Won first elected office position and was sworn in this last week.
And 365 (plus hundreds more) small blessings!
I have always loved the words of the Desiderata and it helps me maintain a positive outlook on life:
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
by Max Ehrmann ©1927
Desiderata: Original Text
This is the original text from the book where Desiderata was first published.Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
by Max Ehrmann ©1927
I am positive that most of my fish will be unclipped just like last year.