Saturday, December 28, 2013

Writing a Eulogy is Hard to Do



I was listening to my local Christian radio station today called The Promise when a man with a baritone voice came on and was talking about eulogies. But this was a little different. The wife of his friend asked him to write a eulogy for her husband. Here is the kicker, her husband was still alive and well. She told the speaker, that we all have some nice things said about us when we die, why not tell us those things when we are alive? The speaker then talked about the great pride he took in writing this eulogy for his friend. He didn’t hold anything back, letting him know how much he loved and respected this friend. As I heard this, I got the biggest smile on my face. I loved hearing this and thought what can I do to do the same thing?

If I had to have my greatest wish answered, it would be that I would live my life like a eulogy to everyone I know. Not a sharp word to anyone, not an unkind message said. Just want to give pure love and devotion to all my friends and family. To lift up, not tear down. Some of the hardest times in my life have been when I went to bruise (event if it was gently) and hurt someone I care about. The only few times I have not slept properly is when I have not set things straight with someone I love. I wish I could say that every word that has come out of mouth was in love, but I cannot.
If I could write a eulogy to all of you here is what it would say:

“Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for the love you have given me. Thank you for showing compassion when you did not have to. Thank you for forgiving me when I have hurt you. 

You mean the world to me. I cannot tell you how much I appreciated that talk, or that sit down that we did just to hang out. Please do not discount the importance you have in my life. I would not be the man I am without you.

Thank you for being you.”

Now I am sure I would make it more personal, but this statement really holds true for all the friends I know and are a part of my life. You all are very dear to me. I do not say that enough, but I will do my best to try to say it more to all of you. God has given me that assignment on this Earth. To let everyone know they are special because you were created by God.

And talking about God, I wish I could say I always talked about Him in the best manner. I wish I could say that I have always spoken to Him with respect and dignity. I cannot do that either. There has been more than one occasion where He and I have had words. Well my words, He listened to me. He knows I do not trust Him all the time. I really wish I could say I did. I usually think I know what is best for me, and it ends up like peeing in the wind, it always comes back on me. 

So God, thank you for all you do for me. Thank you for never leaving my side. Thank you for always forgiving me no matter how many times I have hurt you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for your Son. 

I am going to work harder about telling the people in my life how much they mean to me. Is there someone in your life that needs to hear it from you while they are still on this Earth?
Your Eternal Bud,

Chris

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Back In A New Blog State of Mind

I have been writing for Francesca and her blog Plain Vanilla Fitness for almost three months now. It has been an amazing experience to write about my struggles and celebrations of working on taking care of myself better. I have enjoyed the process very much and it has also shown me something else just as important. I like to write.

Now before I begin, I fully acknowledge I am not a skilled writer. I know I have a conversational way of writing and that is sometimes good and sometimes bad. But it is the only way I know how to write, and I need to accept that. But as I have been writing the other blog, I remembered that I did have a blog of my own call Eternal Bud’s Eternal Blog. I checked to see if it was still there, and sure enough it was. And the last time I posted an entry was 2009? Holy cow!! 2009 was my last post? Wow, talk about not keeping up.

Well it is time to dust my old blog spot off. If you read some of the older entries you will see that I love quoting songs and talking about things going on in my life. That is what I envision Blog 2.0 to be as well. I will talk about all things Pop Culture and events that intrigue me. I will also use this forum to talk about the things that mean the world to me, like people realizing their full potential and knowing that God made them special, so that means you are special. Period. End of story.

So my thoughts on my journey to taking care of myself will continue every Tuesday on Plain Vanilla. Please continue to check out that blog to see amazing fitness stories and easy exercises you can do anywhere. Francesca does an amazing job with that blog, and it is an honor to write there for her. But every few days or so I will post some thoughts serious and not serious on this blog here. I am excited to span further than just my fitness journey. It will be exciting to share this with the world and see what happens.

Please leave comments on how I can improve, or if you are enjoying what you are seeing. Just know I will work hard to make this the best blog I can possibly have.

So until next time, I am your Eternal Bud,

Chris