The weather has been great this past week. A new driveway has been laid and it looks great. We have lived in this house for over thirthy years and never, I mean never have worked on this driveway. Even after both boys started driving nothing. The driveway out by the road the corners have been cut and the little bit yard by the bushes was just a mud hole. For the last few years, I have had only enough strength for work. I went to work and that was it. Just going to work. S the house started to look sad without the loving care it needed. The garage door didn't work, the windows had not been cleaned and that driveway. Just close my eyes and it was gone u til the next day. The flower garden were also pretty sad looking. Now that I am retired I am seeing more of the saddness in the yard. Starting in March when the weather was mild, I started edging the beds and culling out the vinca, lemon balm, and a few other flowers that have over taken the gardens. I am done with both and the yards seem happier. With catching up with the work, around the house, that had been so neglected also seem happier. There are days when I want to curl up and not wanting to see the light of the next morning. How can I continue when I hurt so badly? I can only function taking heavy doses of strong pain medicine. What sort of life is it when it hurts to walk, to sit, to bend down,to move from one spot to another spot? If I ponder to long my current situation in life with a disease without a cure, always progressing to worst pain, never giving me a break, I wonder why continue? It comes down to adjustment. I daily, hourly, each job I need to accomplish, I adjust. I adjust my five senses. The five senses are a flood gate of ceaseless streams providing pleasure for each pain that I feel. I and all others lust for knowledge, knowledge that feeds the mind. With each particle of knowledge, I adjust. I see a weed by the roadside, I wonder what good cand it bring. I see a gnat on the breeze and wonder it's purpose. I look at the gold lined cloud, with it's royal splendor of purple and crimson and wonder at the vaulted heavens and their purpose. Even in pain I hunger for knowledge, I thirst, I strive. From a million fountains bursting forth with cool, crystal droplets of knowledge, I adjust. With each adjustment I forget. I forget the sadness that surrounds my body. It provides a momentary relief from my shackled life. I realize that the door of forgetting, is within my reach. And only I can open that forgetful door.
With a wink and a nod-HeWal

It took me years to understand the concept of what a team is all about. At work there is the team of bosses and there is the team of employees. If these two very different teams cannot mesh together then issues arise. Instead of the teams understanding each other, the two teams are in conflict. Butting heads, slowing down on the job, grievances abound, with both shouting that I am right. I have come to realize that we all are in teams. You need to have teamship with your neighbors other wise the fences can get pretty high. You need teamship while sharing the roads with others. You can just imagine the disasters that will occur. You need teamship with your doctor. Once again you can see the dangers when both of you are on a completely different page. And you also need to understand the team within your body.
Most of the reasons, the teams, that are in our lives are in conflict, is because we have not taken the time to understand each member and their rolls. Instructions miss the mark if you do not AIM for the person. Learn to make allowances for human conditions, talk specifics and methods for instruction. Both you and the team need to cover the who, why, what, where, and how. At the very beginning of any issue the team is facing, these four 'Ws' and the one H need to done immediately. Your first paragraph, your first conversation, your first action, need to be accomplished quickly. If your team does not understand why their jobs count and where they fit in the big picture, you will never have team you are proud of. Do not start your team before you and they know what you are doing and don't do all of the talking. The key in running a good team is a skill you cannot do without. The key to a good team is sound planning and follow thorugh. Think the assignment through and know each member on the team. Once all understand that jobs depend on quality, you can count on your team members to produce. But first you need to look around at yourself, rate yourself and then get going. A trivial misunderstanding can sometime wreck efficiency, put an end to teamwork. What is the best insurance against such foul-ups? Constant communications and an eye on the human factor. Be perceptive, avoid vagueness, be clear, factual, meet with the team with regularity and accept responsibility. When dealing with a progressive disease, with no cure, a disease that is so painful it becomes easy to neglect the magic of a team. At times I have allowed myself to become withdrawn and become focus on the dark side. It is worth a million dollars a year to have the habit of looking on the bright side of things. The one who conquers the difficulties of being dishearten, the one who conquers instead of bending to the storm is the kind of man who never fails. One needs to hammer and forge yourself, instead of dreaming yourself into a character. It requires a good and strong man to say " I was mistaken and am sorry." A weak individual will fail to do the right thing and often hesitates.
Remember your team within. It is that team that will make you, strengthen you, allow you to move one toe at a time. It is not easy to pull yourself up. BUT you are the ONLY one who can.
With so many teams in our lives it is a good thing to understand them all, and then we can move forward and deal to the best of our ability. It all starts with only a smile.
With a wink and a nod HeWal