A Positive Post

Some people have asked me to write something positive. It seems that I always write about negative things, they say. So today I'm writing about the positive things. First let me say that I am so happy to be a Texan and an American. I am so thankful for the freedoms we enjoy in America. I am so thankful that in Texas more people seem to be aware of their freedoms and that our government is slowly taking our freedoms away.

I am so happy to live in a land where we are still free to express ourselves in speech, writing, public demonstration, and free to choose our own religion. I am glad to see that over the past few decades this nation has adjusted to and accepted the rights of others to practice religions that are strange to us.

I am so glad that we all live in a land where we can travel freely, where we are free to do the things we choose (as long as they do not hurt others), and where we are free to believe the things we want to believe and to express our opinions freely.

Okay I think you get the point that we are free as citizens in this great nation. But on a personal level there are many positives as well. I am thankful for my lovely bride and my two beautiful children. I am thankful for the brief few hours that I got to hold and love my little boy, Bryan. I am thankful that after 30 years my wife still loves me. I am thankful that I lived long enough to see my two children grow to be a fine young man and young lady. I am thankful for all my relatives and my dear friends that have made life such a pleasure over the years.

Another thing I'm thankful for is the fact that I served as a Texas peace officer for over a decade. My career as a police officer was very rewarding and exciting. It is a profession that few are called to serve and even fewer answer the call. I enjoyed the eight years I served as a child welfare investigator for the state. I have to say that working for for Children Protective Services was many times very disheartening yet was so rewarding on many occasions. Even more so than a police officer, being a child protective investigator is a thankless job. Yet I can look back on a few children that I was able to serve and protect, and I can look back on a few families that benefited from my services. I'm also thankful for the exciting three years that I worked as a private investigator. While there were many boring hours of surveillance there were also several moments of great excitement as well.

I can honestly say that life with a loving and supporting wife is a positive thing. It is a reward in and of itself. My lovely bride has had to put up with numerous strange actions and lots of quirkiness on my part over the years. Through it all she has stood by me and encouraged me and loved me. She and I have gone through the child raising years together and are now in the empty nest years together. How lonely life would be without her. I can only imagine how my dear children would've turned out if they had lived with only me while they were growing up.

Another positive is my health.  I am thankful for my health and that even at age 50-something I am still able to get around and do most of the things I could do as a young man. No, I can't run a six minute mile anymore but other than that things still work pretty much as they should. I enjoy my hobbies such as writing, reading, and treasure hunting. Yes it's true, I am now one of those men you see walking around the park digging up pennies. I have done this many a time while my lovely bride sat quietly on a park bench as I scratched around in the sand below the swing sets. She was just happy that I was out doing something instead of sitting on the couch.

I am so proud and blessed and happy to have been born a Texan and a citizen of this great nation. I am even happy to have this nice little computer with which I can blog away to anyone who will listen, I mean read. Actually this list could go on and on. In fact I, like many people, take so many positives for granted. So I am happy that someone mentioned to me that many of my blogs were negative in tone because this constructive criticism allowed me to stop and count all my blessings as they say, to see the positive. I can honestly say that even though there have been some bad times, the happy times, the pleasures of life, the good things, outweigh the bad 1 million fold.

As I continue to blog on the pages of Desert Hot Air and and write about the things that are on my heart, I know there will be some negativity. But I will strive to balance the negativity with the positive things that are going on in my life and in this great nation of ours. One more thing I'm thankful for is all the people who take time from their day to read my blog. There are so many things people can do and only a limited time in which to do these things. Therefore I acknowledged to myself the time and effort people give to me when they read my blog, and I am most thankful for this.

Thank you all and may you have a blessed day.  May you take time to notice and appreciate the positive in your life.