I went back through some interesting thoughts I had saved from authors of the books I have read recently. In case you are in a thoughtful mood and need something to contemplate, here are some I will share with you today.

Taken from the book Dark Matter by Blake Crouch – First one: When you write something, you focus your full attention on it. It’s almost impossible to write one thing while thinking about another. The act of putting it on paper keeps your thoughts and intentions aligned.

As I see it, this one pertains to more than just something you are writing. Anything we do is like this, where we need to concentrate on the procedure to make sure we do it right. We need to keep our eye on the ball and make sure we do what we intended to do.

Second one: I’m unaware that tonight is the end of all this. The end of everything I know, everything I love. No one tells you it’s all about to change, to be taken away. There’s no proximity alert, no indication that you’re standing on the precipice. And maybe that’s what makes tragedy so tragic. Not just what happens, but how it happens: a sucker punch that comes at you out of nowhere, when you’re least expecting it. No time to flinch or brace.

As I see it, this is exactly what I went through when Gert died so suddenly. I assume there are many of you that have gone through similar times when losing a loved one unexpectedly.

Taken from the book At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon – First one: I had finally decided to take a trip and stay away from home for an extended period of time. Then as the time to leave approached I thought, travel always sounds wonderful when I consider the end, but to consider the means is quite another story.  Then I said to myself, you have a rotten attitude about this trip. Back up and start over!

As I see it, those of us that are “homebodies” understand this feeling more often than those that will take off at the drop of a hat just to go somewhere and get away from home for awhile.

Second one: After telling each other silly jokes and laughing so hard we couldn’t stop for a long time; she said to me, “doesn’t it feel grand to laugh over nothing? Why don’t we laugh more?” I replied, “I think we forget.” That brought a further response from her, “How can we possibly forget to laugh, when it feels so good, and cures so much? How can we possibly?”

As I see it, that is exactly why I try to include some jokes and funny stories in my columns. They are the ones that I found myself laughing out loud (LOL) when reading; and wanted to share with someone else so they could have a good laugh too. The last lines of this column got me to LOL. I hope you don’t take offense from it and just enjoy the humor in it.

A little lead-in to the finish of this column. I am often asked why I don’t join clubs, and organizations, or participate in more social activities. I try to explain about my Meniere’s disease. It is a disorder of the inner ear that is characterized by a constant ringing in the ears (tinnitus); and permanent hearing loss. This results in difficulty understanding or even hearing what people are saying to me, especially in group settings. Sad to say, there is no known remedy or cure. Enough said.

As I see it, that is one of the main reasons I enjoy talking to you through this column. You can hear me, and I don’t need to keep asking you, “What did you say?” I met a guy with the same hearing problems as me. He was able to make a joke about it. On his T-shirt it said,  “I have SELECTIVE HEARING… sorry you weren’t SELECTED!”