“Family is the answer”
I’ve had an epiphany.
It came to me writing an earlier post entitled ‘Family Man’.
https://bigun.locals.com/upost/7681006/family-man
Our issue with western birth rates cannot be solved with incentives of tax breaks or direct monetary enumeration.
It’s propaganda.
We’ve done our children a disservice. We’ve led them to believe that there are things more important in life than ‘family’.
I will state it plainly;
There is not now, nor ever has been anything in human history more important than family. No job, no possession is more fulfilling, more satisfying than family. You may not always agree or like them, but you will always have them. Family is our sole purpose on this planet. When we do not fulfill this obligation, we feel empty. Whether it was a choice, or the inability to accomplish, we have a hole in our souls.
When I see people showering love and attention on pets, I know it is the innate need to ‘parent’. Regardless if we have children or not, we need to care for another living being. We need the love or the imagined love given to us by another living being. We want to believe that our pets ‘love’ us back, regardless of their ability to feel love.
Some have the belief “I’m from a dysfunctional family, I’m breaking the cycle by not procreating.”
This is a lie we wish to tell ourselves in order to excuse the emptiness in our lives. The real way to ‘break the cycle’ is to be a better parent, to be a better spouse, to be a better person than the examples we’ve been given. Even if you believe that your parents or grand parents were ‘perfect’, you can still strive to be better.
As the great Vince Lombardi once told his team;
“We will chase perfection relentlessly, knowing we will never catch it.
But in the meantime, we will catch excellence.”
You may not ever be the perfect father, mother, husband or wife. You will inspire those around you to attempt to be as good, or better by your example.
We’ve convinced our children that the way to happiness and fulfillment are the outward expressions success in careers and conspicuous consumption.
It’s a lie.
True fulfillment is to be surrounded by the love and warmth of a home filled with your children, grandchildren and if you are so blessed, great grandchildren.
I’ve found that the happiest most fulfilling moments in my life are not ‘unboxing’ or purchasing the latest gadget.
They are found, surrounded by my children, grandchildren and even my siblings.
Love, from family, the belonging to someone, is the answer, to the hole, in your soul.
It’s shoot day! This is about all I can show you of Greg’s new show What Did I Miss?
Will this be my only update? We will see what happens when I get to the green room.
Thank you for reminding me. I wanted to talk about our post-show hangout in Memphis and here it is:
“Blisters!”
A new dice game (new to us), taught to us by @The_CINC ‘s Mama.
It’s a blast and can be played anywhere. You just need 3 sets of different colored dice, and a score sheet.
The game;
Blisters is a fun, simple dice game invented in 1987 by Tim Novak during a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail (hence the name—his feet were covered in blisters!). It’s designed for 2+ players and uses exactly six dice (ideally in three pairs of different colors, like red, white, and blue, though any distinct pairs work).
The theme is “hiking” a trail by accumulating points (miles), often set to a real trail length like the Appalachian Trail’s ~2,145 miles. The first player to reach or exceed the goal wins.
How to Play Blisters
Setup
- 6 standard six-sided dice (three pairs of different colors recommended).
- Agree on a goal score (e.g., 2,000+ “miles” for a long game, or lower for shorter play).
- Players take turns in order.
On Your Turn
1. Roll all six dice.
2. Scoring dice = any dice showing the same ...
“Gypsies, tramps, and thieves”
La Hacienda de Hombre Grande (The estate of the ‘big man’) as I used to call our ‘Palatial Estate’…
It was a 30 year old 3900 sq ft brick rambler, with a full basement, on 7 wooded acres. Built personally by the original owner (poorly).
It had a 1/5 of a mile long, paved asphalt driveway.
When we took possession, there was the beginning of a pothole near the entrance. Later, When we replaced our shallow well, and had ‘City water’ hooked up, they of course had to cut a strip of it up in order to connect the water to the main.
It was a bit of a mess. I had purchased several 5 gal buckets of ‘cold patch’ to repair it.
Then one day I came back from a work trip to discover my double garage full of my Sister in laws household goods for storage. I would not see the interior of my garage for 3 years. (Yes, I’m still a little miffed about it)
I finally found those buckets of cold patch, a decade later, out in the woods, behind our storage shed.
But, I digress.
In the mean time, one day, while I was home, a truck with two ...
