Ale for the Soul

To follow on the heels of my top ten favorite books, here are my top ten favorite sites to go camping and hiking.  They are as follows: 1)  New Mexico Bluewater Lake Canyonside 2)  Arizona Grand Canyon National Forest 3)  Utah Bryce Canyon National Park 4)  New Mexico Hyde Memorial State Park 5)  New Mexico Gila National Forest 6)  Texas   Lake Mineral Wells State Park 7)  Texas Buescher State Park 8)  New Mexico Carson National Forest 9)  Texas Possum Kingdom State Park 10)  Texas Sam Houston National Forest If you have ever been to one of these, please feel free to comment your thoughts on the blog.

     Without the ability and freedom to express myself, I lose the inalienable right to freedom of speech.  In listening to people when they speak, I am sorrowful at the inability of the person involved to adequately express his or her soul's yearning and desire.  Could this be from a poor vocabulary?  Or maybe the individual does not have the life experience in which to frame what the person is trying to describe and relay to his or her audience.      Earlier this year an acquaintance asked what it took to become a great writer.  Before answering his inquiry, I responded with a question of my own.  It was, "Do you like to read?"  His answer, much to my disappointment, was "No!  I can't stand to read."  In order to become a great writer, one must love to read.  And to learn how to exponentially maximize one's ability to express him- or her-self, one must love to read and write.  Both are expressions of the...

A friend recently challenged me to list my top ten favorite books of all time.  Here it is: 1)  Alexandre Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo 2)  Mario Puzo The Godfather 3)  Philip Yancey Rumors of Another World 4)  Charles Dickens David Copperfield 5)  Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby 6)  Milton Paradise Lost 7)  Leo Tolstoy Anna Karenina 8)  Saint Augustine Confessions 9)  Patrick O'Brian The Master and Commander Series (All 21 Books) 10)  Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Cost of Discipleship I would become flattered if you read any or all of these books.  Upon reading these books, please comment your thoughts on the blog.

Getting stuck in a rut and becoming stagnant is very unpleasant.  Sometimes God will make me very uncomfortable in the routine of simply going through the motions.  Life is tough enough, but even more painful when in a place I'm not supposed to be.  Living in Fort Worth has served its purpose, but time has been long overdue for me to move on.  It isn't as if I haven't tried, my plans simply unraveled by not falling into place or working out as planned.  Over the course of the last few months I have been barely hanging on to the last vestiges of what I call normalcy.  However, too much energy and effort has been expended in trying to make things work.  Attending school didn't work out.  Now the job I somewhat liked and enjoyed is a chore to report too because of all the drama.  My emotional and psychological well-being have been severely compromised as a result of seeing residency in Fort Worth degrade to a level of miserable existence.  ...

As much as I proclaim my strong dislike for where I am living, I do have the ability to make the best of a perceived bad situation.  Fort Worth does have its moments that truly make me say this is not a bad place to live.  This statement is said in view of external factors I have not discussed, but given the overall picture I must make peace with myself concerning my present circumstances.  A geographic change of my physical location will not solve anything unless I have begun making peace with myself.  As my accountability groups continually reminds me, it is an inside job.  Everything begins with me.  All this said to lead up to my present resolve to carry on living here with the mindset to pursue the many personal projects I want to accomplish regardless of where I live.  By no means will this take the form of escapism, but maybe I can take my mind off the feelings of being stuck and unsettled until life unfolds as it should.  Again, a personal...

Many goals and plans have been made, but very few, if any of them, seem to be coming to fruition.  In other words, nothing is going as planned or the way I would like it.  Therefore, I feel stuck.  Forward progression has stopped and I am stagnating.  In addition, the sense of peace and contentment I desire and would like to achieve has been very elusive.  Another translation...I feel unsettled.  Stuck and unsettled.  Wow!  Not a good place.  Momentarily living in limbo is at odds with good mental and emotional health.  In trying to keep my wits about me, I certainly don't want to make any knee-jerk reactions.  The proper course is in always thinking and responding to each and every day as it presents itself.  This is in view with a faith in God which believes His Almighty plan will unfold as He sees fit.  However, for the time being, I'm right here...stuck and unsettled.  In the meantime, maybe I can find r...