Well, of course I’m into me.

I sit here in the morning and write in the glare of the computer screen….drinking my french press’ worth of coffee one cup at a time, and sometimes all I can think of is me.

That’s kind of gross, really….this self absorption….but I’m by myself….I’m in myself….so all I can imagine to write about some mornings is what I’m feeling at the moment..

Sometimes, I write about my family….but that’s kind of hard not to release all the “secret stuff” with my blabbermouth.

I’ve stopped short of listing all the dates of birth and social security numbers, though.

I do have some sense, after all.

I read this article last night….it appeared in the magazine Blue Ridge Outdoors this month….and one of the families that they featured is one that I’ve known for years.

I should re-phrase that.

I’ve known the “momma and poppa” for years.

I don’t know the kids.

Anyway, the family I know is from Birmingham, AL….the Davis family.

It was a great article….and one quote from their daughter jumped out at me.

“Bringing us outside and doing adventures with us was such an escape from an otherwise mundane life,” she says. “It took you out of your box, out of your suburban bubble. [My parents] prepared me to go out into the world and not be so self-focused, so caught up in this small view of the world, and to be more free from it.”

Of course, I don’t have permission to use the quote. I don’t have permission to do anything. I’m sitting here in the dark before “a creature was stirring”….before anyone else gets up….typing away all by my lonesome. Who would I even ask for “permission”?

I am by myself….and in myself.

“My parents prepared me to go out into the world and not be so self-focused….”

I will have to ponder that for a long time….here in my little temporary bubble.

( I’m kidding…..I get it….I don’t need to ponder.)

That’s a great quote.

The quote about the choice to not have a television set was a good one, too.

That’s what it comes down to….and I’ve written about that before…..choices.

That’s the only real power we have….the power of choice.

Of course, I will sit and numb myself with the dumbest stuff on television…..and think about getting outside for a run again sometime….and wondering, while I watch a lady demonstrate a really effective vacuum cleaner, why “sometime” never seems to get here.

Most of the things that I ponder the hardest is the stuff I know I need to change the most.

“Not be so self-focused”

Ah, that’s a great gift to give your kids.

It’s a great gift, too, that your children recognize what you did for them.

Listen for a line in this song about “freedom”….one of my favorite lines from Chris Rice….

“prone to wander” Chris Rice

I know that sometimes, your choices are “made for you”. There’s things that happen that kind of force our hands. Sometimes, things seem to be out of our control.

Sometimes, we’re just responding to events….never making our way towards something good because we’re convinced that maybe we don’t deserve it or something…or never getting a chance to approach good things because we think…or, maybe, KNOW…. that there’s a fire to put out somewhere.

Sometimes that happens….but not all the time.

I guess that “opportunity”…combined with “good choices” can make for a nice life.

Opportunity…..

Hmmmmm…..

I like the part about not being so self-focused a lot.

I am going to really have to work on that.

I can’t stop thinking about how self-focused I am, though.

I need to get my mind on someone else for a while.