Bowling Mad!

The last day of the Thanksgiving weekend came so quickly. I have done my very best to make each day last and this is why I went without running all weekend long. This morning was a very relaxing time with the family. We remained in bed watching the CBS Sunday Morning Program and it was quite fascinating. The focus was on good news and this was so refreshing because the news seems to be inherently bad most of the time and especially in these times. There was horrible news out of India as innocent people died for no apparent reason. I do believe that everything happens for a reason but tell that to 172 families who lost loved ones. In the randomness of life comes catastrophe and in this there is a reason but I am not about to get into that discussion. This morning it was so nice to watch a program about people who are doing well as opposed to those who are doing badly.

I have often thought that there should be a medium for sharing good news and I don’t mean this in a religious sense; I mean this in the literal sense. I still view this as a good idea but it is apparent people will pay to watch bad news and may not like to focus on good news. Anyhow there were three inspiring stories of people helping other people. Isn’t this what life is meant to be all about? The crux of the Gamblers Anonymous Program is people helping people and it would be great if society could focus on this in a more spiritual way. There seems to be the emphasis on people hurting people like they have done in India and little focus on the many people who helped in such a horrendous situation.

There are so many good people in the world and I believe there are more good people than bad people, thankfully!! I also believe people are inherently good and sometimes life’s events take people (such as me) in places where they never thought they would be. Thankfully in my case I have found a program of recovery which emphasizes the good in life over the bad. The morning was filled with goodness and my intention had me going outside to try and fix the Christmas lights but this was not to be today. Instead we had a very relaxing morning and I helped my son with his school project.

The school project had my son picking a country of his heritage. My son is very fortunate because he has a plethora of countries to choose from which include, Italy, Poland, Ireland, Russian, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Yes, my son is a mutt and although he has a very Italian sounding last night the blonde hair and blue eyes really doesn’t jive!! My son has selected Poland for that list and mostly because his sister chose this same country three years ago when she did her second grade project; why create the wheel?? It was my duty this morning to help with the research on this project and I ended up writing most of the report. I did share with my son the research and Poland is a very fascinating country in so many different ways. It is a country steeped in tradition and culture. Of course Poland gets a bad “rap” and from what I researched none of that bad reputation makes any sense.

It was fun helping my son with the report and really the internet makes it so easy. My goodness I remember doing these reports with an encyclopedia Britannica and nothing else. Now with a few key strokes I can show my son the topography and climate of Poland along with traditional dress. The internet is a powerful tool and does make learning so much more fun and easy. The report was done in no time and with that so was most of my son’s project. He does need to make a cutout of himself in traditional Polish dress which his mother is helping him with. Since I am “artistically challenged” he is much better off with mom’s help!!

This afternoon we headed over to the bowling alley with our dear friends. A few months ago our two families purchased a basket from the school which had a coupon for two hours of bowling for both our families. We took advantage of this today and for the most part we had a fun time. I had to cut the afternoon short because I went to the Sunday Gamblers Anonymous meeting and thankfully my wife is so accepting and let me cut the bowling session short. My son had an episode at the bowling alley and it was one of those things where there wasn’t much my wife or I could do. Of course it had to do with food and my son’s want for food. It was interesting because the angrier he got the better he bowled. I guess there is something to be said for bowling mad!! He did get through this and was getting back to normal as I headed off to the meeting.