I can visually see most of the books in our home on the shelf or displayed with bookends on the top of a piece of furniture and remember something about the enjoyment I received from reading the book. We have several bookcases in our home, and I generally try to sort my books by the author.
Okay, so I can't take full credit for that. The General is the one who had the bright idea. I think her middle name must be Organization. She spent a half a day on Monday reorganizing stuff stored in her office. Some of what she culled out found its way into my workspace by default. She said it was my stuff.
When it comes to stuff, we have too much. Earlier this year, when I couldn't walk upstairs after surgery on my (R) Achilles tendon, I requested she get something for me out of the three filing cabinets stored in our attic. I could only give her a best guess in which filing cabinet where it was located.
That assignment was a catalyst for making her more than a little crazy. In the aftermath, she took a week and brought downstairs the contents of every file in the filing cabinets. She was having nothing to do with the disorganization in my office. Of course, the assignment was for me to identify how I wanted a file labeled. Our home looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Eventually, everything she hauled downstairs got taken back upstairs and organizationally file in the filing cabinets. She even made me a notebook to know where to look to find the file.
Now, if only I had that kind of organization related to the contents of my blogs. I have been writing for over ten years and that represents a volume of information. Sometimes the stories I want to remember make their way into one of my blogs. Thus, I share the following story that was a keeper. The story was entitled: "The Seven Wonders of the World."
A group of junior high school students in Chicago were studying the topic. At the end of the lesson, the students were asked to individually compile their own list and then as a group, they'd collectively decide the top seven. As you could probably predict, the list was pretty uniform and consistent with complied listings from the past. It didn't take a lot of thought. "The great pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, The Grand Canyon in Arizona…"
The teacher noticed that one of the students was particularly quiet. She had not participated in voting or yet turned in her paper. When asked if she was having difficulty making her list, the student responded, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help." The student hesitated a moment and then said, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are: 1) to touch…
2. to taste…
3. to see…
4. to hear… (She hesitated a little, and then added…)
5. to feel…
6. to laugh…
7. and to love.
The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop".
All I can say is, "Wow!"
All My Best! Don
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