COMPARISONS - IF I HAD ONLY

A moment ago, where I am happily here in Salt Lake City, Utah, my hostess handed me a Thanksgiving Zen Story. The timing was perfect for I had begun the above titled blog while still in Burlington, Vermont. I will not write the entire story since it is not important in this context. What is important is the message Zen Master Sono taught her students (rich-poor, sick-healthy, in distress or satisfied) to adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day, under all conditions. The affirmation was, Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever."

That's one big mouthful, and from the story apparently many a student was disappointed and went away not at all pleased. Those who adopted her mantra, or affirmation, practicing it all through their day, found peace and healing.

Once more, I say that's one big mouthful, particularly during this Season of let's be Jolly and Peace on Earth. Jolly? with financial disaster looming everywhere one looks , and war or conflict a daily offering in newspapers, radio, television, Face Book, ipod, or whatever the names of these new (to old-fashioned, me remembering when the telephone and radio had just come into existence!) inventions are!

Repeating that affirming mantra coincides with my thoughts about making comparisons or constantly iterating if I had only. The former is positive, the latter negative. I am certain no one, no! one! Not Billionaire Buffet, not super-star Cruise, not universally adored Winfrey! They would be the first to admit that there are times when they complained or were equally guilty of saying an "if I had only!".

There is a cliche: "Were we each to throw our troubles into one enormous pot then given the opportunity to select others that appear less loathsome we would end up with our own." Like many cliches, this on's true. Fame, fortune, power, stardom, all are accompanied by pain, suffering and up-to-the-elbows hard work! I know this from reading (a passion of mine) biographies or autobiographies. I know it from having -ever so luckily-contented friends -and family.

Nothing came easily to any of them yet they all are living successful ,on their terms, lives. Of course the word success has different meanings for different people. It need not include national or international acclaim. I have known such scintillating stars and heard their complaints about the painful price accompanying fame, have head them negatively comparing, muttering " if I had onlie" to themselves. They may not have repeated Zen Master Sono's mantra but certainly told themselves something akin to it. (As for my family, I'm going to ask them one day).

Many of these miracle mortals were born with good genes, but then again, think of those we have read about who were born with disastrous physical drawbacks yet with grit and guts attained heights far outdistancing healthier compatriots.

I'm not sure my writing and your reading this helps you or me personally. I woke up this morning in a lot of pain that took my medications longer than usual to work. I lay in bed all grumbling comparisons, and "if I had only-ing" until tears came to my eyes. It's great to read about these individuals who are able to practice what I'm so smugly here preaching . Yet again, as I type these words I know I will begin to practice Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever. What have we got to lose! Remember the play Peter Pan? Remember Mary Martin (at least the version I saw) flying about the room urging "happier thoughts, Michael" so he too could fly?

If we go in for "happier thoughts" we will not figuratively fly but we will fly in our spirits. It is a known medical fact that when we smile whether feeling good or not, the mere physical fact of moving our lips into smile lines good feelings literally trigger something in our brains that brings happy feelings. The same with laughter. The act of laughing in and of itself creates all manner of good feelings. One has no time for complaining or if I had Only-ing. Try it. You may feel silly, but it works.

After ninety years of living I know whereof I speak. And just the fact that despite my having awoken feeling more pain than usual despite the meds, despite my going upstairs to breakfast and seeing how beautiful is the home of my hosts compared to mine, I took the trouble to make myself smile, went to the mirror and faked a laugh, bingo!!! it worked. I felt considerably improved. Then, before beginning this blog I silently said Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever."

Guess what!

WATER

Last night I attended a delicious pre-holiday party. At one point, I went to the bathroom. Our hosts had a toilet with two flushes, infinitesimal and full steam ahead. Would that all toilets were so installed! It should become a national issue.

American’s disregard for precious water should not be tolerated. There is no doubt in my mind, if we continue this way, within twenty or so years, we will have a national drought I guess I am glad to be as old as I am. I am sad that my off spring, all three generations of them will not be that lucky. Several years ago I remember saying, “Remember as little kids we would start ‘digging a hole to China’? Well, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Bush Crowd had already dug such a hole to assure their water supply.” Such precautions, however, will be useless, for the masses, without water who will storm the barricades with their own Bastille Revolution. We can go without everything except water.

Old time Vermonters remember the expression: “Yellow is mellow; brown flush it down!” If we do not have toilets as above, that is the principle every single individual should practice today, right now, and every day thereafter. The same procedure can be established at public toilets. It should not embarrass you if you are leaving the yellow mellow for the next person. Au contraire, you should be proud of yourself for caring for the planet in this small way!

When washing dishes, do not keep the water running! Wash them in a large pan. Then take them out and rinse them using as little water as possible. When you brush your teeth you should follow the same ritual. Wet the brush. Turn off the water. Brush your teeth. Turn on the water and rinse.

As for dishwashers, there could not be a more flagrant waste of water! Those using such a method should make a point of filling the dishwasher to its ultimate capacity. Too many run the machine with only a few dishes. Another tip re energy conservation, you do not need to utilize the drying period. The water is sufficiently hot, as is the inside of the machine, so that the dishes and silverware will dry quite satisfactorily, thank you!

You may have noticed my writing tends to run toward exclamation points. This is so I know because these writings tend to be subjects that demand exclamations. When it comes to conserving water, I feel like filling the entire page with exclamation points. We are careless and arrogant, actually, about our ignorance regarding the water supply. Last year, residents of the South remember well the scarcity, the difficulty, the pain they underwent when water became a mere dribble. I would be interested to know how those same men, women, children are doing now; if their habits have altered.

Which brings me round to lawns: I have friends in Utah where water is customarily in short supply. Their beautiful plot of ground is handsomely landscaped with bushes, plants, trees that do not demand watering whereas neighbors seem to believe a large grassy lawn is more chic, more attractive. Utter nonsense! I visit these friends yearly. I have been there when drought warnings are issued regularly on radio and television, yet we walk the neighborhood to find sprinklers going all over. Shame, shame! Yet they feel no shame, believing the green lawn is a sign of elegance. It is a sign of opulent disregard for Mother Nature and her –so far- generous gift of water! Mark my words, not much longer!

The same disregard for water occurs in restaurants and bars. It would be a great idea if the employees thought about the water they use when wiping up or dispensing ice. I remember long ago, when we went to restaurants water was not automatically produced on the table. We certainly need to drink it regularly as do we need to wash our hands. However, we can pour only as much as we will drink. We can wash our hands, as with the dishes, without letting the water run. Wash without running the water, then rinse after washing, exclamation point!

Americans are obsessed with cleanliness. If each of us diligently takes that one small step, just like the importance of just one vote, the results may literally be your, our survival or your, our demise. I’m not just whistling Dixie, kids. I could not be more deadly serious. Think about it.

Let's hear it for the railroads!

My View From Ninety today, raises an outcry at our United States Public (so-called) Transportation System, or all too accurately, lack thereof! For decades car manufacturers and oil cartels, slowly and seditiously have taken over public transportation with arrogant disregard for the welfare of either our citizenry or our planet. Almost entirely disregarding the environmentally sound, quieter, safer, certainly more reliable railroads that once made travel a total pleasure. Not only could we get from state to state, city to city, but small town to even smaller one. All now gone. Did nobody notice? We became so obsessed with the automobile and airplane that we failed to heed the steady, subtle erosion of more comfortable, affordable, ecologically sensible railroad, once part and parcel of life in these United States.

How come it is different in Europe, Asia, Africa! Why haven't the citizenry taken arms against this problem? As a child I remember the guileless delight I had as I boarded the train from our home in the village of Tarrytown, New York heading for that mighty metropolis, Manhattan! I remember the peace of the gentle-rocking in a parlor car as I slept safe and sound while we sped to Portland, Maine. Nor did it stop there. Chicago, San Francisco! Oh the joy of riding cross country on the 20th Century Limited! Is there anyone any longer who even remembers the 20th Century Limited, or for that matter the trains that chugged from Newport to Orleans, Vermont!

What has become of our free and independent nation that we have permitted these rights to vanish without rising in tempestuous protest! How Alemming@ have we become to allow such disintegration to subsume the quality of our lives!

Granted, our largest cities maintain reliable public transportation. But what about smaller ones such as Burlington! Submissive lambs-to-slaughter, we grudgingly accommodate ourselves to air travel despite it's growing more and more costly with increasing disregard for passenger comfort. Isn't it time for us to straighten up and fly right! But no, the airlines do not straighten up nor fly right! We are shunted into bigger, more crowded planes at higher prices while schedules grow more unreliable, with unapologetic delays and even occasional bumping.

Why do we permit this! What has turned our spunky selves into submissive sheep! There was a time in Vermont when trains chugged from town to town once a day. Less than twenty years past buses, at least, ran between Newport and Burlington. Aren=t Vermonters humiliated that they cannot get from Montpelier, our State Capitol for heavens sake, to Burlington, our biggest city except by car or one bus a day!

But back to the railroad!. Why can I not see friends in Portland, Maine (much less Portland, Oregon) unless I fly? Why, for that matter, can I not even get to Oregon except by airplane instead of the long-ago civilized train complete with dining service and comfortable sleeping arrangements! Even the bus service from Burlington to Manhattan has not only been curtailed and re-routed to include the smallest of towns making it an interminably long drive, yet the price has increased. When are we going to join the rest of the world by reinstating train travel!

Over a year ago France inaugurated a super speed train from Paris to Marseilles that makes the trip in less time than it takes The Vermonter to reach Manhattan from Essex Junction. In Europe there are trains, boats, all manner of clean, comfortable, reliable ways to reach remote villages no matter how hidden, high or sparsely populated. In Japan it is national policy that if a train is more than 20 minutes late the traveler retrieves the cost of the ticket!

Isn't it time we demand improved public transportation? We know the environmental disaster cars cause. We know we want our green state to remain, yea grow, greener. And here's an idea whose time should come: expand the ferry system to include water travel to Canada and Lake Champlain ports! Talk about seducing tourists! Wow! And Holy Cow! Allow your mind to run over the bonanza benefits accrued were we to establish eco-friendly train, boat, and bus service in this glorious state. Already I see the masses of leaf peepers, snow boarders, lilac lovers, fisher people in frenzied fury fighting for entry into our singular countryside Electrifying is the beauty in our state, sometimes beauty beyond bearing. We want to keep that beauty? Am I an impossible 90 dreamer! Can I not manifest a multitude to stamp feet, pound tables in such effective numbers that trains abound! Vermont is the place to start. Here where, in the main, we are almost smug about our congressional legislators with intelligence, courage and farsightedness. Legislators who give us hope. Can we not rally them round to reestablishing a state-wide, at least, railroad system!

Let's hear it for the railroads!

If you wish to learn more about my philosophy check out my book Yoga In The Morning, Martini at Night or The First Three-Score and Ten are the Hardest, available at Amazon.com.