Tag: Love

Longfellow Quote

Is More Better?
Is More Better?

“Give what you have.  To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This Longfellow quote came to me in a most unusual way. A piece of mail from Senior’s First, a Central Florida charity to help seniors who can not help themselves.

But what is so powerful is recently, I was talking to someone about what happened on Christmas day, while we where doing our 11th annual Christmas day tradition – delivering Food for Families.

The month before doing the same thing on Thanksgiving day, we had a van full of food, and got lost, spending several hours making deliveries.

But on Christmas morning, as we pulled away from Ocoee High School, Cheryl said all the deliveries were on the same street.  We found the street in about 15 minutes, delivered the food and were done.

Cheryl asked if we should go back and do more.

And I said, “No. We shouldn’t let the amount of time determine the value of our efforts. We should feel good about what we did to help.”

And so it goes, the constant battle to listen to society’s stereotypes and what’s in our hearts.

Rocky Mountain High

That image of those three bicyclists at 8,000 feet, with the Colorado Rocky Mountains above and below them,  was permanently etched on my brain.

I had just turned 13.  And yet, I was thinking and dreaming as if I were an adult.

Their summit, the Continental Divide, was still potentially a few hours away for them, at 10,000-plus feet elevation.

Our bus would reach the summit in just ten more minutes.

Have you ever dreamed of doing something uncommonly care-free and ultra-adventurous?

Why?

What is that voice inside all of us that speaks to our desire to go on an adventure that is far beyond our present understanding and capabilities?

And wouldn’t it be nice if we could still tap into that now, and make the adventure of being a responsible adult, exciting and even, “fashionable”?

jeff noel Aggressively Unfancy?

Is jeff noel aggressively unfancy?  Well, one thing for certain, I’m certainly not too funny when I blog.  But I sure do try to be aggressively unfancy.

And the concept of being unfancy is one most of us have never heard of. We have, but not in those exact words.

Aggressively unfancy means, to me, a person who is not focused on looking smart or sexy.  Sort of an ordinary person who deep down inside understands that they are blessed beyond measure simply by being alive.  And that that is more than enough.

Having a roof over your head, food on your plate, someone to love and someone to love you back.  Ya with me?  (this one’s for you MDJ)

Having a car that starts every time, someone in your life who is more important than you, a clean shirt and indoor plumbing – these things make us rich.  And potentially, aggressively unfancy. But certainly not funny.  Ya with me?  (this one’s for everyone)