"Father Knows Best". A 50's Era Sitcom And Usually True 21

"Father Knows Best". A 50's Era Sitcom And Usually True.

I was an 8-year-old television channel flipper. Remotes hadn't been invented yet, it was the 60's. My Dad is an avid sports fan and on the weekends he enjoyed watching games from his favorite chair on our only tv. The channel knob was just out of reach of his chair, so he gave me the job of flipper. I would sit next to the tv waiting for Dad to give me the signal to flip the knob to the next game he was watching. It made my Daddy happy and I was content to sit there all day flipping channels so he could watch parts of every game televised. I got to spend time with my Dad while learning about sports.

This is just one of many warm memories I have of Pops, that's what I call him now, and whenever I feel unhappy I go to the memory book in my mind and conjure up a cherished snippet. Works every time. It's hard to feel bad when you recall Dad giggling with delight at his Easter prank. He made bunny pawprints (using mud) arranged in a path through the house that led to our baskets. And I always smile when I remember how we would all clear out when he announced he was going to "fix" something. Ruh-roh he has the screwdriver, run for your life kids. Pops isn't very handy.

As I got older I realized my Dad was wise. When I was 16 shopping for my first car he advised me not to buy the souped-up Pontiac Firebird from the used car lot. Told me I didn't need a car like that. He was right. I bought a brand new Ford Pinto instead and drove it till it died.

My Dad's viewpoint on raising children is simple. Whenever we (I have a younger brother who I still lovingly refer to as Brat) did something stupid, he would say to us "I shoulda raised poodles instead of kids, poodles listen." That was his friendly reminder to us that he was getting frustrated. I have said this to my kids on occasion.

My happy memory book is full of fun times with Pops. He's not going to believe this, he doesn't think we were happy as children. We were happy Pops. Sometimes we seemed unhappy but that's just because we were growing up. We were silly kids, then silly teenagers trying to figure things out. Inside, way down deep, we knew we were loved and we were happy.

We should never live in the past, but it's okay to visit there occasionally. Happy memories can sometimes block an unwanted impression from becoming a negative thought. So on this Father's Day get out the memory book and honor your Dad with the gift of remembrance of a happy childhood memory. He will appreciate it. I know Pops will.

Holes. Not The Sigourney Weaver Movie, The Ones In The Sidewalk Of Life 20

Holes. Not The Sigourney Weaver Movie, The Ones In The Sidewalk Of Life.

Portia Nelson wrote "Autobiography in 5 Short Chapters" below.

Chapter I
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost, I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out.

Chapter II
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter III
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in it's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter IV
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

Chapter V
I walk down another street.

End.

I fell into the hole. I saw it and fell in anyway. Damn it. I guess I am on Chapter 2. You would think that at the tender age of 55 I would have already advanced to Chapter 3 but this isn't a race. It is about the journey and we all know that we don't really operate at our own pace anyway. The big guy upstairs has that control. So it is in my life's plan that I am coming out of my Chapter 2 hole, finally. I was in there a very long time and coming out of this hole has been a slow process, which I now understand is the way it has to be.

I just finished a book called "Transitions... Making Sense of Life Changes" by William Bridges. I swear he wrote this book for me. I have had this book for a long time, picked it up for fifteen cents at the library book sale years ago. (It was my first book sale and I bought over 100 books.) This book has lasted through the paring-down of my personal library (I realized I could never read all those books and I donated most of them back to the public library). Despite the fact that I wasn't inspired to read it, it kept getting in my way. It would appear on this table or that shuffled about but not read. Finally one day I picked it up and started to read it. Made it through the first pages and it was ok, but it didn't speak to me. For the next six months, it sat next to me on my end table. I would move it occasionally to dust and put it right back. I don't know what prompted me to pick it up a week ago unless it was the pure hopelessness I was feeling, looking for comfort and answers from somewhere. But here ya go, somehow I picked it up, began to read, and as I did a light came on. No choir of angels but definitely a light. HOLY CRAP. This is what's happening to me. This guy KNOWS. So there you have it. There are no coincidences, the Universe wanted me to read this book and now I know why.

Holes are the way forward. Gotta go down to go up. They say "two steps forward one step back" so I ask, is the one step back down into your hole? Portia doesn't mention falling backward into your hole so I am just going to assume you can because it fits with the two steps forward metaphor. Anyway, for my purposes today it doesn't really matter how many steps forward or back that you take, what matters is what you do when you fall into the "hole".

As I mentioned, I believe I am on Chapter 2 in Portia's "Autobiography" above. I am just coming out of the deepest hole of my life so far. I swear I could smell Chinese food in that hole. Tells you how deep it was. Horrible place, hated going there. Nothingness. Nowhere. Nada. A place where you can't function properly. Emotions are all fractured. You can't think. You can't connect with yourself or others. Life is hopeless and I am lost like the tv show.

What I learned from Mr. Bridge's book is that the way out of the hole is to "Let It Be." Sir Paul McCartney knew something when he wrote this song. He got it. He knew what to do and how to get out. I thought I had it too until I experienced this hole and realized I wasn't quite as evolved as I thought. You lose your reasoning in the hole. I got it now Sir Paul. Just "Let it Be" people. You have to go back to nothing to become something again. Go "Down in the Hole"(Alice in Chains) and "Let it Be"(The Beatles). Then one day you will be like the Phoenix rising out of the ashes. Reborn.

Read his book if you feel like you are in a hole. It may be the ladder that you have been stumbling around in the dark looking for. It was for me. Thank you William Bridges.

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Mr. Bridges. I am just a girl who read a book and now wants to help other people in her situation get out alive.

I dedicate this post to my Adventuregirl buddy Kim. Like the book, you keep coming up, guess the Universe wants us to do something, come on you know you wanna.