My Beliefs and Philosophy of Life

My most important belief is in God. I ask God to walk beside me every day. He is my best friend. I can tell Him everything; I believe in Him and try to remember to thank Him for all He has bestowed on my family and me. Without Him, I am nothing. With Him, all things are possible. I can see His miracles all around me.  One of my favorite sayings are in a couple rooms of my home, they are, “As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord”. The other one I love is; “This Is the Day the Lord Has Made, Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad.”

 I learned most of my philosophy from my parents. One is the art of giving. They were always feeding neighbors, the neighbors knew what time my parents had dinner, and it was so ironic that is when they came to visit. If my mom was counting on leftovers for the next day’s meal, and someone came over, she generously fed them. That meant that she would have to make a complete new meal the next day. If a person was sick, or just got out of the hospital, there she was making a complete meal to take to them. I try to follow their example.

When my mother or both my parents baked, they would send me with a full dish of goodies to give to the different neighbors. I would not have to knock, because everyone’s door was unlocked back in the day.  In today’s world, the neighbors keep their doors locked. I am lucky if I see a neighbor, sometimes I think I live on a block where all of the houses are facades, (empty). I never see my next-door neighbors. If I would need a ride somewhere, and it was not an emergency, I can honestly say I would feel uncomfortable in calling a neighbor. Moreover, I would not even think about borrowing a cup or sugar or an egg, I would do without until I was able to go to the store. This is just how it is where I live.

 The street I live on was strange from the get-go. It had only six houses at the time, plus ours. We moved from a neighborhood where people were very friendly, and mostly always outside talking and stopping in for coffee, to a new development that was just starting to build up.

When we built our home and moved in, I heard that no one had coffee breaks together. That was depressing to hear, but in a few months. I became good friends with a woman who lived two doors away. My two younger children and hers played constantly together and my older two were able to make playmates.

My mother was very generous in gifting. If she were to buy a gift for someone, it had to be of the best quality. My Dad would give the shirt off his back if someone needed it. I do not know where they got the money, my mom stayed at home and my dad worked in the foundry, but they always seemed to be able to do what they needed to. I always admired them for that.

I learned friendliness from both my mom and dad. They had more friends than Carter had little liver pills. They had true friends, not just one or two, but many. Their home was always filled with family or friends. Family was very important to them. They kept in touch by phone or seeing them on the weekend.

That is where my love of family comes from. I would do anything for them.

 I try to live by “The Golden Rule”. Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you, and I always try to “Take Time to Smell the Flowers”.

 I know “This Is Not a Dress Rehearsal”; you only get one shot at life and “Time Waits for No One”

Those are just a few that I thought of when starting to write this.

I have learned a lot in my life so far, and every day it seems that I learn something new.

I have always been a good listener. I found that out on my own.  I noticed that when I was speaking, that some people, whether family or friends, did not listen, or else they would interrupt while I was speaking. It made me feel as if what I had to say was of no interest, or that I was not important enough for them to take the time to listen to what I was saying.

From that, I learned to listen when someone is talking to me. I give my undivided attention. I might be the only one that person might speak to that day. Maybe they live by themselves, with no one that calls to talk to them.  On the other hand, maybe like me, they could tell when no one listened.

My assignment for phase 3

Dee