Monday, January 13, 2014

898 NGUOUY Part 62 TWO WEEKS IN PARADISE

August 2013
Once we've returned home after telling our sons
Once I've made all the calls to loved ones, near and far
Once we've imparted distressing news at lunches or dinners
Once we've established a compassionate support system
What then?
Well, luckily, our week at our timeshare on the coast is approaching
And as usual, we ask our closest friends, Angie and Mark, to join us
As you can imagine, our annual getaway, overlooking the Pacific Ocean
Could not have come at a better time
And guess what?
This year, our week of family fun and relaxation has
Expanded into two weeks, because we'd agreed to
Listen to a pitch, offering us a deal that
Sounded too good to be true—but
Thank goodness, we chose to listen, anyway, because
This plan actually proved too good to pass up
So once again, I absorb the importance of
Opening a closed mindset at least enough to
Listen to what opportunity wants to say, because
It's not always true that
If it sounds too good to be true then it's probably not
You see, here's the thing:
Will and I really wanted more time to delight in
Our ocean getaway, but
The cost of an additional week had seemed prohibitive, what with
Retirement directly ahead, so
Originally, Will's mindset and mine had been closed to
The idea of enjoying additional time in this idyllic setting without
Paying the piper too stiff a price
Thank goodness, Will listened with an open ear when I, who've learned
To practice what I preach (concerning the fact that listening skills are
Every bit as important as speaking skills) suggested that
Opening our minds to listening makes sense for this reason:
What if we hear something that would delight us both …
Whereas, by refusing to open the door to listening
We'd most definitely dismiss a plan, which might expand
Our sense of joy, year after year ...
As my line of reasoning made sense to Will
He chose to open his mind and take a seat
Next to mine in the sales office where
We had the good fortune to listen to a plan that sounded
Too good to be true, except for this fact:
It was true, through and through!  :)
And as Will and I agreed to buy into this mutually enriching plan
Which listening skills had offered up to us
We'll continue to delight in expanding our mutual sense of joy from
One week to two, year after year
Had we turned a deaf ear to that which opportunity
Had to say, we'd have closed the door
To doubling our mutual sense of pleasure, unnecessarily
And at this stage of life, where
Irretrievable loss is bound to increase …
Doubling our pleasure without paying the piper
Makes sense to us both
So the moral to today's post suggests that
Exceptions to every rule exist for good reason—for example:
Good reason exists to separate one addiction from
Those substances which close our minds to
Creating change for the better—for instance:
The substance to which I'm addicted is commonly known as
HOPE :)

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