Bucket list 45 – the positive side

July 27, 2014

We celebrated the life of a beautiful human being Saturday as we met and listened to his grandchildren share their thoughts and remembrances. Uncle Jack – john Lester Robins – was just sort of 100 years old and had lived his life as a quiet, obedient servant of the Lord. Always calm; always caring; he always looked at things from the positive side thanking God for countless blessings. His prayers were always of thanksgiving for his wonderful children and grandchildren. When hearing of Uncle Jack’s graduation to the other side of the veil, Robin Scott (Jean’s brother) noted that he was, indeed, a man without guile. I totally support this contention.

The positive lesson I want to glean from Uncle Jack’s life is powerful and universal. We can worry, fret, swear, and cuss the things that go wrong. We can blame the government, our family, ourselves, and even God. We can declare with disgust that our lot in life is putrid and unfair. We can even disenfranchise ourselves from loved ones, from life around us, and from God.

Or, we can rise up and with all the vigor we can muster, declare that we have been blessed by every act, action, contention, and understanding that has made our life unique and inspirational. When we are happy we need to share our thanks. When we are sad, sick, mad, broke, lonesome, or any other of a thousand anomalies that work their negative impacts on our minds, our job is to raise above all these elements and give thanks for the positive. In moments it will become completely evident that our lives are made up of 99 percent calm, caring, blessings with that pesky one percent coming as a blast of ice cold air and diming the lights on all things beautiful dashing out the positive in our lives.

When we read, listen, observe, and live life, we can become as Uncle Jack and bless the lives of others by his ever-caring, ever-thankful nature. For those of us who are able to encounter multiple maladies, we need to be ever vigilant and on the look-out for those positive things that brighten our day and give hope and cheer to those around us. I was visiting with a young lady (a daughter of Bonnie C, a cousin as she beamed her delight in finding a new light in her life – a young man named Gregg who will shortly become her husband. She has had multiple bouts with illness over her life and through faith and positive living, has been able to overcome, survive, and thrive. Will she have other obstacles? Certainly, but she will do likewise with them and move onward and upward sharing her beautiful caring radiant smile and testimony of the blessings of God.

I have been listening to excellent historical fiction stories about folks in the Philippines and Haiti. For centuries many of these wonderful people have lived in the most depraved circumstances. Yet, hope springs eternal and life goes on. The media has been full of stories about children lining up on the southern border of the United States with Mexico to cross the border into new circumstances. Fifty million people in the United States now use food stamps to survive. Everywhere we can imagine; everywhere we look, we can see people in need of positive, caring, well thought-out opportunities. We need to stand tall and share that which has been given us so lovingly and abundantly.

I shared with my son, David, the thought that our job in this life is not to simply make money, but to create opportunities for our families and for others. My learning from this note is that we are either part of the problem, or part of the solution. I want to be part of the problem.

God bless each of us as we share our lives with others.

Duane Jacobs, grandfather, father, uncle, brother, cousin, and friend