Tomorrow I hope to be clinging to a compliment I may receive today. I will hold onto that moment like it was a helium balloon…And in that balloon will be enclosed the not so flattering moments that will no doubt occur, but won’t matter as much as the pure joy that arises from a simple gesture of kindness.
Tomorrow, I will also know that a gesture of good will toward another will have given them a lift, given them a reason to smile, even the midst of an otherwise unremarkable day. I will have shared the truth with them…that they are unique, worthy, and deserving. I will gift them a smile, and ask how the day is treating them, then I will really listen to what they share…and I will either high five them for the success of their efforts, or I will offer them an honest moment of praise and prayer…a verbal hug. It may not change their reality, but it will go far to change their perception of it.
I hope to see a lot of folks clinging to metaphoric and glad helium balloons by week’s end…then I too will share in the simple joy that seeing the assembly of them all will bring. MLL
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Something to hold on to…
Posted in Uncategorized on July 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Come morning…
Posted in inspirational, life lessons, Uncategorized, tagged morning poetry, morning prayer, morning prose, to start the day on July 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Come morning, I will have shed the trials of yesterday.
Come morning, there will be a new dawn and fresh, clean slate to fill.
Come morning, we will have slept on whatever troubled us.
Come morning, things we anticipated and pondered will be ours to enjoy or endure.
Come morning, I will have lived down regret and embraced what one must accept.
Come morning, you will be the first thought on my mind, the reason a smile will have found me, a song will have filled me, and warmth will accompany me wherever I might wander.
Come morning, I will say adieu to the fading stars, hanging moon, and coolness of pre-dawn air.
Come morning…I hope to tote both the Serenity Prayer and courage with me…and to own the day that follows.
And come morning, I will start by thanking God for the day before, and the day ahead.
Matthew Landsman
for today and every day…
Posted in inspirational, life lessons, people, Uncategorized on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »
There is but one opportunity to live a day. One chance to be treated to moments and precious smiles, giggles from a child over some little thing that tickles the fancy. One moment to give your ear to an aged Veteran who helped secure your future many decades before your birth. A single collection of minutes and hours to be embraced with the presence of members of the greatest generation.
Each smile or thought exchanged is a chance to possibly validate the life of another…be the person who makes that difference. It is your chance to help another to feel worthy. Lend your heart for a second…it will be rewarded in kind or greater…Be well…Matthew…
Be grateful for and generous with this day…
Posted in Uncategorized on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Another day to be thankful for. Another chance to change the world, to cause smiles and laughter to break out, to offer a shoulder to a wounded soul, to scatter compliments liberally, to forgive, to recall and celebrate anew.
This is another chance for us all to be effective, and to recognize that the Serenity Prayer is the most healing balm to the soul one might find to take away the twinge of pain that accompanies our daily lives.
It is Monday folks…and any day is worth celebrating here on the green side of the turf that lays beneath our feet. Be well all..
To start a great day…
Posted in Uncategorized on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I will give this day the best I can. I hope it to be better than my yesterday, and leaves me still with inspiration and incentive to continue to maintain a smile and a glad place inside, and in those around me.
Go out there and do the best you can people. Even if only God and you know how you’re trying, it will be more good enough. Have a good day all. MLL
Posted in Uncategorized on July 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The beautiful couple, my nephew Marcos Tapia and his new bride Julie
For Marcos and Julie and little Briella
Posted in Uncategorized on July 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »
For Marcos and Julie on their day…
If one is blessed, fortunate and just plain lucky, the stars may seem to align for you.
If one absorbs the good teaching of their parents, the essence of honor and respect, they will in turn be blessed with the same.
If one has conviction, trust, and good old fashioned faith, they will also attract in kind.
If one has an open mind, and open heart, and a place within for others, they too will find the bounties of a soul worthy of another with such light within.
One might need to look beyond the borders near to you, beyond the urge to find a quick result and the first urges to grasp what they will forever hold.
If one has a song in their heart, and a steady chorus of laughter, of sincerity, and shares it in healthy doses…they will find themselves surrounded with a glad air and a soft place to land.
I met Marcos and this family when I was much younger, as we all were.
Juan and Terry were in the midst of a meager beginning…and their two boys were already hard working young gentlemen…even though they were but kiddos.
Somehow the good Lord brought both of our families to know one another, to grow in each other…and so I represent that bond here today, along with Papa Gordy who is here today…and Grandma Vimy, whose spirit is present in this trinket she wore as her slogan during life.
I talked with Marcos on the phone the other day…about the chances and moments that brought him to know of Julie, somewhere far to the south and east of here over a decade ago. He talked of the calls, the emails, then their first meeting. He shared time with me, and all I could see was a divine fate. I could see one blessed moment after another, where the stars aligned, the odds were narrowed, and the distance between them became but just a number. Became something that would soon disappear.
And I heard Marcos tell me of Julie being a calming presence and truing rudder in the sometimes trouble waters we call his life. Of her being steady, supportive, patient, kind and full of belief in his potential, his love of family, his respect for the women in his life…And a fierce defender of all he loved. She helped him to be the man he was destined to become…
But mostly what I saw in Marcos was the emergence of a fine man, now a fine father, a fine nephew.
And in Julie, I saw simply love, and an ability to do all that is called for to make an ongoing love possible. Her love lives in Marcos’ smile and accompanies him always…And then there came Briella…the first grandchild and the light in both their eyes. The light in the eyes of all of us here to honor this extended family today.
They call Texas the lone star state. It occurs to me, that out of all the stars in the sky, of the billions of people here on God’s earth…that somehow these two found each other, and chose to become as one. And it occurs to me, that perhaps Texas might be missing its shining star, because she sits here today at his side. And I know in my heart that in Julie having joined us here in this corner of this State far from her roots in the South…that she not only came North to shine among us all, but also to fill Marcos with a gift that only such a love can bestow…she is his True North and we are all blessed today because of that.
God bless the three of them…Tio Matt
When you walk… (A toast to graduating seniors)
Posted in inspirational, life lessons, nostalgia, people, Uncategorized, tagged cap and gown writing, graduation, graduation day, graduation essy, graduation night, high school graduation writing on June 6, 2013| 4 Comments »
When you assemble in the foyer, look into the eyes of everyone you see.
This will be the last time the lot of you will gather…
When you form those lines, know that others have taken the very same steps. Then they went forward and fed and raised you…
When you hear the music and voices of the crowd, embrace it as sweet harmony…like the same sweet sounds that lifted you over the last four years…After tonight, such a chorus will be but echoes and memories…
Entering the auditorium, you will leave behind the glorious freedom of chains that afforded you the room to grow…gave you chances to falter and still recover. Leaving the moment as a lesson learned without bridges being burned.
As you walk to your assigned chair for the night, look around and feel the pride exuded from friend and family there…embrace that kind breeze.
When you sit down and await the songs and salutes, awards and speeches, retirements of staff and handshakes from teachers…treasure every word, each expression and breath…There will never be a moment quite the same…You will have other such grand glimpses, but just one carries the fruit of at least thirteen years in such a cumulative harvest and grand acknowledgement.
This day is unique, and gives way to your leaving the souls gathered there as one.
Take pictures, take pride, take a moment here and there and hold it inside. For they will later at times sustain you, raise and remind you that much is possible, and that you are loved…Sign the yearbooks. Your words will be looked upon and reflected upon and perhaps even clung to over decades at special moments in time.
Inhale this day or evening as it may be…and know that when you walk away, some will move on, others are to be left behind. Some are to prosper and some to perish. But for at least this moment, appreciate the fact that you will never again be this young, nor as filled with possibility and potential…overflowing with dream and vigor.
And while you wait for your row of chairs to rise and journey to the handshake and presentation…bask in the applause, the love from theirs and yours there in the assembled oneness.
Be aware that whether they be your junior, or seniors, all in the crowd will be living through you vicariously, to dream of what will be, or what has been…regardless, for the magical glimpse in your time, you are giving them all a chance to once again, or somewhere down the road, gather and glow as individuals and as one.
Mark the year, as it will accompany you as no other. Take the time and also give it…place it all in a place of honor…whether it was marked on field or court, behind desk or podium…this is a time like no other…And mostly, give appreciation, share thanks, and immerse yourself in all that surrounds you…This is your time, your day, collectively and as one.
Here are some reflective thoughts I penned some thirty years after I made my walk, gave my speech and held my paper to the sky…For a moment it all returned to me, and again I addressed my class, wherever they may be…
“…I can still hear the echoes down the hallways of that long abandoned school, feel the warmth of your being as we brushed shoulders in a lunch line or rolled eyes at each other in the midst of a boring lecture in some ancient class on even more ancient history. Through the years as I have ventured down as many other halls, sat dutifully at other desks, broke bread with whoever was a part of my days, and toiled at the work put in front of me…And I have felt parts of our years still with me, imagined your faces in a crowd. Longed for the innocence and the unbridled joy that being there with you could bring. While I’ve always lived in the moment, I also find myself clinging to fragments and shreds of tired memories and trinkets of our times together.
Today, I’m here to replenish my supply, to fill my heart and raise my glass to you again before I resume the journey.
When I leave here this time, I will have looked each of you more deeply in the eye, held an embrace longer than in the past, and let your words, your expressions, your collective essence embed a little more meaningfully into my soul…”
Tonight I pray that God blesses and accompanies each of you, now and following your moment and this momentous occasion…
Take care with you as you go. And remember, when you walk, walk on air…
Yours, Matthew Lyle Landsman
After the Storm…
Posted in life lessons, Memorials, people, Uncategorized, tagged moore oklahoma, oklahoma tornado, tornado essay, tornado thoughts on May 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Thoughts on the Boston Marathon attacks…
Posted in 9-11, Boston Marathon Attacks Essay, inspirational, life lessons, Memorials, people, Uncategorized, tagged boston attacks, boston marathon attack essay on April 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Today there is no rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox, the Knicks and Celtics, the Rangers and Bruins, Jets/Giants and Patriots…For today, and forever more, these two grand cities will be forever linked and sadly have terror and profound loss and pain in common.
For today, there may be a lack of criticism and bickering between our citizens, and less finger pointing by our politicians…For today I will pray to my idea of God, and I will also pray to yours…for tolerance and oneness and a collective embrace…
It was not a mixed up boy that killed in Newtown…or a collection of terrorists that came to prey on us on 9-11, and 4-15 in New York City and Boston…It was Satan himself wearing the shoes and hats of many murky souls…
For today, while we are down on our knees to pick up the pieces, to scrub the bloodstains off of sidewalks and our memories…for today and forever more, let’s pray the Devil gets a one way ticket on a hell-bound subway, and that prayers and serenity fill that void…
For today, and the rest of my days, I shall weep for the loss of serenity and life in kind…Matthew Landsman
Matthew Lyle Landsman 