The Christianville Spirit: (TCS Series) Happiness...Simplified- Part 1

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 30, 2014-TCS # 399

So, Considering that I am on The Eve Week of My 400th Newsletter, I have been thinking about How do I celebrate this one. I did a good Celebration around My 200th Newsletter (By Thanking My Readers) and My 300th Newsletter was Launching My “I Believe In Love” Campaign. So, The Question is, How do I celebrate the 400th Newsletter? An Update of “I Believe In Love”, I did that a while back. Something Inspirational? Oh Yeah, You Bet! So, How are we going to Celebrate It? With a The Christianville Spirit Series! This Series will be about Happiness. So, Let’s Do It! Without further a Due, This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness..Simplified” So, I have noticed that When You ask someone what Happiness is, They will tell you different things. but, The First Thing that You should Know is How to spell the Word. Some People spell it “Happyness” but, It is actually “Happiness” I learned that from The Movie, The Pursuit of Happiness. But, Here is The Question that boggles people’s minds, What Exactly is Happiness? My View I will tell you Next Week. This Week, however, is How I View Others seeing It. Now, Happiness, One would think anyway, means The Art of Being Happy. Smiling, Laughing, and even Laughing until You Cry. But, Sadly, Ladies and Gents, It can be Faked, like Putting a Smile on Your Face when You are Not Happy. So, How do People Perceive Happiness? To Tell You, The Truth...in Many, Many Different Ways.

For Some People, It is simply the Art of Love, whether that means loving Your Kids, Your Husband/Wife/Partner, Family, or Self Love. Although, Love of Friends or Animals also counts. With so many to name, I am going to list a few.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS TO PEOPLE...

• Some People are Happy with The Love of God. Worshipping God, Talking to God, Loving God!
• For Some, It is Wanting to Change things. There are People who live for Changing things like Changing (and, Rearranging) Furniture every 6 Months.
• It is having Lots of Money! If You don’t have alot of Money, You are Very Sad. Truth be told, There are People with alot of Money that are not Happy. It kind of goes with The “Money Can/Can’t Buy You Happiness” saying.
• It is having Things. In Big Cities, at least, It is said that The Bigger House, The Bigger Car, the Bigger Paycheck You Have; the Happier that You are!
• Some People, like Our Friend Delaware Dave or My Friend with a Trail Name of Bidet, would rather be Outside in Nature. For Both, It is The Art of Hiking Trails like The Appalachian or Pacific Crest. As long as You have a Backpack on Your Back and Smell of What They affectionally refer to as “Hiker Funk”, than You are Happy.
• There are People who are Happy, just relaxing on The Beach, Swaying in The Hammock, watching People and (slowly) Juust Reeellaaxxx.
• Speaking of People Watching, There are People who love to simply watch Other People. Take them to a Mall, an Airport, or A Festival, and They’ll just sit there and watch the Various People with Different Behaviors walk by.
• Some People like My Uncle Craig, love being out with People to Converse about Interesting Topics, from Politics, Life, or Philosophical Things.
• Some People like My Brother, like to do Certain Activities like Rock Climbing or The Art of..well, Art! He Loves Art and doing paintings/drawings/sculptures; the Whole Bit.
• Now, This One is not a Positive Happiness, but There are People who are Happy making and seeing others in Pain. They just love to see you react to whatever Hateful thing, They have to say. In Internet Terms, They call them “Trolls” or “Haters.” 

WHAT I SEE IN PEOPLE ABOUT HAPPINESS

But, What I see too much of is Unhappiness. Too many people who are Sad with Life, Sad about Their Children, Sad about Their Jobs, and Not Really Seeing a Happy thing around them. Being a PTLSer, I see too much sadness and Maybe People should see through My Eyes that Things are Great in My Eyes. The Song from Frozen, “Let It Go” I think is Popular for a Reason. Maybe People are trying to way to “Let It Go.”

So, As You can see, There are alot of Different Ways to Define Happiness. Some of Them are Good and Yes, A Few are Bad, but that is why There is so many definitions of Happiness. All in All, Your Happiness depends majorly on How you define Happiness.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

The Christianville Spirit: Regrets in Life

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 16, 2014-TCS # 398

So, My Readers, This Week’s Newsletter has to do with Regrets. We all know that as much as We don’t want to admit that There are things in Our Life and Different Outcomes that We wish We could have done. Now, I’m not saying that We should live in The Past and As My Grandma Honey says, “It happened 5 Minutes Ago” whether it happened 5 Minutes, Hours, Days, Months, or Years ago, The Statement still applies. But, There are some things both Personal and Embarrassing, that I wished either I had done, not done, or said. I’m sure that Everyone has regrets and The Following are a few of Mine. There was a Time in My Life when My Speech was not The Clearest and I didn’t know how to Convey how I felt into Words about Certain Things. Now, This, believe it or not, Is a Common Problem with us PTLSers. You See, We know what is going on (You would be surprised to know, How Much We Know!) and How We feel about those Situations, However, We don’t know how to Convey How We feel about It. For Instance, In My Family, My Mom is the More Responsible Parent and My Dad is more of The Fun Parent but Not as Responsible. Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I have been to Some Interesting Places with both My Mom and My Dad. But, The Problem was My Dad took me to Places that were Overstimulating to Me, but I had a problem trying to convey that I was Overwhelmed or Overstimulated. Or I didn’t like whatever We were doing or The Things that My Dad (and, Family) was saying. But, I wish I could have told My Mom (and, Dad, if He understood) in a Clear Voice and Could say, “Mommy or Daddy, I didn’t like X-Y-Z.” If that did happen, It would have been a Different Result. The Next Thing that I regret (I hate using that word, because You should Live Life with No Regrets) and Still bugs me a little bit, is Something that happened in My Personal Life when I was starting out writing This Newsletter, TCS (The Christianville Spirit) Veterans will remember this. You See, I have a Friend, who is actually My Best Friend, that I have known since High School. Well, in June 2006, Just after Her Dad died, I decided to Date Someone that We will refer to as “My Best Friend’s Mortal Enemy”. Now, My Best Friend has told me about Her many times and So has My Brother and His Friends. But, Apparently, This Girl (Madison) took a liking to Me. Now, Not to sound un-Humble here but, I am a Handsome Guy! Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I loved having a Girlfriend and That taught me a lot, as well as Showed Me that going to The Homecoming Dance could be Fun! Homecoming, By The Way, Is Very Big in Texas! In Fact, It is like Prom, only a Bit Smaller and The Homecoming “Mums”, that is Another Story for Another Time. ANYWAY, The Time that I started dating Madison was went My Best Friend needed me to be there for Her but, I was Obsessed about Dating Madison and Madison did not want me talking to My Best Friend. It’s Effect was that I almost killed Our Friendship and To This Day, Our Friendship is not as Awesome as It used to be. We talked one time Online for 7 Hours. It was Notorious! Now, I probably would have never came up with My Dream Girl or Bridgett, for that matter but, I wish I could have been there for Her. Another Thing that happened in My Personal Life that I should have done differently. At The Time, I was in 9th Grade and was 15 Years Old.  One Day I was sitting in an Aqua Science Class and the Teacher did The Daily Role Call. When The Teacher said Everyone’s Name, The Person would say, “Here” or “Present.” About halfway through The List, The Teacher said, “Lynee Watson”. After that, I thought, “Lynee Watson?! I know that Name!” I turn around as She said, “Here” and The Memory of Her flashed in My Head. The Last Time I saw her, I was in Elementary School. By The Way, When I was in Elementary School, I had the Biggest Crush on Her and Needless to Say, I crushed on Her Again. It took me about a Week to get up The Nerve to talk to Her, after all, it had been many years since I saw her. After I reintroduced myself, She remembered me! Everyday I would see her, I say, Hey Lynee! and, Then, One Day I saw that Her and Another Childhood Friend were talking and I went up to them to see what They were doing. I Believe that Lynee said, “Will You Go Out with Me?” I was shocked! But, I didn’t know how to handle it or what to say. But, I said, “You Know, I could ask My Mom” and The exchange went on. She told me that She really liked me and Asked if I had Her Number and I said that I did because I remembered the Street where She lived. Anyway, It didn’t happen and She moved away shortly after. I never heard from Her since. By the time I found her again, It was too late and I learned that She past away a few years earlier. I do wish that I had been Mature Enough to Say, “Yes!” and Ask for Her Number. Now, This Wish of What I Regret, I will make up for because I believe that Lynee’s Spirit will return into My Life in the form of Someone very Special; The Women of My Dreams, Bridgett. The Final Regret is A Thought that still makes me Cringe when I think about it. You See, In High School, When I was in 10th Grade, I was in an English Class and We had to do a Romeo and Juliet Play. We all got our parts. I was Romeo, but The Question was, “Who was Juliet”. Juliet happened to be This Girl named Tamika. I knew it because I heard from across the room, “I HAVE TO KISS CHRISTIAN?!” and I thought, “Wait a Minute, What?!” I looked on The Script that was given to us and There it was, “Romeo (Me) kisses Juliet (Tamika)” and I blurted out, “I HAVE TO KISS TAMIKA?!” and She looked at Me like, “Seriously, Dude?!”. Now, The Thought of Kissing a Girl got me Very Nervous and I was Nervous that day and The Next Day too. I was Nervous because I have never kissed a Girl and I thought that I literally had to Kiss the Girl. When The Part finally came, Tamika and I just looked at each other, waved at each other, and that was it. But, The Thought of Me blurting that out and The Look on Her Face still plays in My Head from time to time. Every time I think, “Ugh! Why did I do that?!” If It was Different, I would have never blurted that out, in front of The Whole Class. 

So, All in all, Ohh The Regrets we have in Life, but Life keeps going on and as Grandma Honey says, “That was 5 Minutes Ago!”

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t Live with Regrets!

The Christianville Spirit: My Brother's Climb

My Brother Rock Climbing


The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 9, 2014-TCS #397

So, I feel like I have not had a Chance to Brag a little bit. Now, I normally wouldn’t Brag but, This Time Only, I feel it is Necessary. You See, My Mom and I went to an Exciting Event over The Weekend that I really want to share with You. So, My Brother, Michael, is for lack of a better word, Fascinated by Rock Climbing. I mean, Whenever He has free time (Considering He goes to School at UNT and Works down here in Plano, He doesn’t have a lot of Free Time) He goes Rock Climbing. Well, Recently, He has found out about Rock Climbing Competitions that UNT holds every now and then. So, Early Saturday Morning (and, I do mean Early) My Mom and I drove out to Denton to go watch him and support him. Now, Again Considering that I sleep in Late, I got up early (at 7AM) on This Day to See My Brother Rock Climb; That is What I call “Brotherly Love.” The Last Time that I saw My Brother Rock Climb wasn’t that great of an experience, A Girl that He Dated, Dropped Him 15 Feet.  But, This Time, He did Awesome! The Basis of This Competition is that You Climb as Many Routes as You Can, Ranging in Difficulty and Racking up Points for The Harder Routes, as well as Not Falling and It is all done in 3 Hours. Yes, 3 Hours of Climbing! That can really wear on The Body! Anyway, When We first walked in, We met this nice girl named Sarah, She was a Funny and Sweet Girl as well as The Fact that She knew who My Brother was. After They read all the rules (which there were Alot of Them!), They had to Recite a “Climbers Creed.” It was pretty funny to listen to them yell out this “Climbers Creed.” One of the Most Funniest Ones They said was The Following, “Partner! Don’t Freakin‘ Drop Me!”. Another One was, “Partner! There are Alot of Good Looking Climbers This Year! Stay Focused!” With Each Creed that They had to Recite, They yelled “Partner!” because They had to Climb with a Partner, who also functioned as The Spotter for Michael and Vice Versa. The Final Creed in their loudest voice was, “Partner! Let’s Climb! But, DON’T FREAKIN‘ DROP ME!” and Then, they counted it down and Started Climbing. So, They rated each route by Difficulty, so a 15 was Relatively Easy and Something like 36 is Very Hard. So, My Brother started off Slow and Then, started to mix it up a bit. One of The “Proud-Bragging Moments” of Me watching My Brother was that He climbed an Entire 30! Now, Luckily, He had a few people cheering for Him and One Person who yelled out to Him to Stop and Rest for a second in The Middle of The Course. According to The Rules, You can Rest for a Few Minutes if You are Tired. After My Brother rested for a Minute, He continued on and Completed The 30! And, It was all in front of My Mom and I! After that, He took it easy with a Few Challenges, that is until Michael saw The 31, which included a Very Hard indentation in The Wall (Not from My Brother). I know, He probably looked at It, Thinking like Barney from How I Met Your Mother, “Challenge Accepted!”. And Boy, did He accept that Challenge! He tried 4 Times on This Route and The 3rd Time was The Closest One where He nearly got past that Indentation after Hanging Slightly Upside Down. And, Another Proud Brother Moment, My Brother had Pretty Much The Whole Room of Audience and Competition supervisors cheering him on! To Me, As Michael’s Big Brother, that Literally made me burst with Joy and Proudness that a Whole Room would Cheer for My Brother. It just amazed me! One Thing I noticed that is People in Denton, call Michael, “Mikey” where as People in Plano called him, “Mike.” So, After all those Routes, He was pretty tired so He took a little 20 or 30 Minute Break and then, tried the 27 and a few others. I’ll tell you, I didn’t hear of Anyone who had completed The 31 or The 30 for that matter. One Person who was Climbing the 30, said, “I don’t hear anyone cheering for Me!”. After all that, The Competition was Over and My Brother did so Awesome. I’m pretty sure that My Brother is going to Read This and Laugh to Himself, thinking, “Oh Geez!” After we watched the Competition, We went to Lunch at where His Roommate works and told them all about it. After Lunch, My Mom and I drove home and took a Nice Saturday Nap after getting up so early. All in all, It was a Great Time watching My Brother rock climb and for My Mom, It was her First Time watching him Rock Climb. I am Very Proud of My Brother!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Life is all about The Climb, Even if It is watching Your Brother.

The Christianville Spirit: Birthday Party in Central Texas

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 2, 2014-TCS # 396

So, This past Weekend was a Fun Weekend because My Mom and I took a Nice little Drive somewhere. I’m writing about this as sort of An Honorable Mention that Someone requested me to do. So, A Couple Weeks Ago, PTLS Family Member (And, Great Friend), Mary invited us to down to Killeen/Ft. Hood to Her Daughter’s Birthday Party. Her Daughter who has PTLS, This Year wanted a “Rainbow Party.” So, My Mom and I took a drive down to Go see them and Go to Her “Rainbow Party.” One Thing I noticed, before I get into The Party itself, is that There is ALOT of Construction along I-35 between Hillsboro and Temple! They are Widening The Highway to 3 Lanes each way, where when I was growing up, it was Two Lanes Each Way. Anyway, on to The Party! The Party was Really Fun and Well Worth driving down there. I figured that It had been long enough since I saw Mary, because It was a Year Ago at The PTLS-Dallas Gathering. One Thing that was different this time was That I got to see Mary’s Mom, Valerie from Upstate New York (actually, North of The Adirondack Area). Valerie, By The Way, is The Honorable Mention that I talked about before. I got to talk to her about Different Things like The Sochi Olympics and Lake Placid, Where She is from, What The Weather is like there, How Pretty it is There, Among Other Things. She also got to hear a little bit about PTLS from Me talking to Mary and My Mom. I do wish that I could have talked to her in a bit more of a Quiet Setting, because with a Bouncy Castle and Lots of Kids, it is not easy to keep concentration. At One Point, Mary and I hopped into The Bouncy Castle with some of The Kids. Mary and I even had a Race back and forth bouncing on Our Knees. It was Fun! It actually felt comfortable sitting in “The Castle” because It was cool while it was pretty warm outside. It also had two little openings on the roof of it and You could look up at The Sky (or at Night, The Stars). Another Fun Part was that Another Family, Chris and Cindy with Their Kids came to The Party too! Cindy along with Myself and Mary, hopped into The Bouncy Castle, so We sat and Hung Out with them while the Kids were jumping around us. Cindy said that She liked The Shirt I was wearing, My “Christianville Spirit Shirt.” Chris got their daughter to jump in The Bouncy Castle which I was Very Proud of Her for. I’ll say that The Meal we had at Mary’s House was really good. She made Pulled Pork Sandwiches and They were Awesome! Now, I have to tell you a Funny Story about The Drive back Home. You See, At The Time, It was Dinner Time but, I wasn’t really that Hungry but, I knew I wanted a Small Dinner, so we stopped in Temple to get Gas and stopped at McDonalds to get me something. Well, as We were pulling out of The McDonalds Parking Lot, My Mom all of a sudden said, “Wait! Is That a Chicken!?” I thought, “Did she just say a Chicken?!” Well, It turned out that There was a Live Chicken pecking away at the Brush behind The Drive-Thru. So, My Mom and I sat there for a Few Minutes, just wondering Why There was a Chicken near a Drive-Thru and In the Middle of The City. I mean, Picture This for Me, We are behind a Drive-Thru with a Street behind us, on the other side on The Building AND The Highway not far either! My Mind went quickly to The Fact that My Brother has Chickens in His Backyard in Denton and Thought, “It would be Nice to have a 3rd Chicken for Michael!” My Mom, luckily, because She didn’t know how to catch a Chicken, She called Animal Control (which was Closed for The Night) and then, called The Police. Police came and were shocked at the fact that There was This Chicken in This Busy Area. Before We left and The Police hopefully took care of it, I saw it flap it’s wings and fly from The Ground to a Tree, with a Barbed Wire Fence separating it. It left us with Quite the Funny Story. If My Mom knew how to catch it and had a Crate, We could have taken it to Denton and Michael could have it roam in His Backyard, but It is a long way unfortunately from Temple to Denton. I think, though, That God sent us to stop for Gas and Food in Temple for The Reason of at least trying to Save This Chicken. Otherwise It would have either been ran over or picked up by The Nearby Restaurants and turned into Dinner. After That, We drove back and saw the skyline of Downtown Dallas dark (There were No Lights on The Buildings) , little did We know that It was “Earth Hour.” Honestly, I love seeing The Front of The Dallas Skyline both during The Day or At Night. But, Considering that We live on The Northern Side of The City, You don’t get to see the Front of The Skyline (from The South) very often. All in all, It was a Great drive both To Central Texas and back.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Take a drive, You might just save a Chicken!