Brazilian author Paulo Coelho once Tweeted: "If you are wasting time and enjoying, you are not wasting time."
Smiling at such a philosophy, I thought about the times just hanging out with friends or family, watching a game or a movie, seemingly doing nothing - even "wasting time" according to some - but enjoying ourselves nonetheless, and I nodded my head in agreement with Paulo.
I was happy to spend Thanksgiving with the family in Arizona. I really do have an incredible family and some great friends back there. It was also nice to go back to some of the incredible eateries that I miss: including Pizzeria Bianco, Popo's, The Habit Burgers, Patsy Grimaldi's, and - since there are none in Austin, TX area - Inn&Out Burger!
Central Phoenix appears to be gaining even more momentum in promoting and establishing small businesses, and that is crucial for revitalizing the downtown area and establishing more pride and personality within and for the city and the state, as well as helping the overall local economy to recover.
Earlier in 2011, the dam at Tempe Town Lake burst and the water drained out from the lake. While repairs were being made, Tempe decided to build a pedestrian bridge upon the dam's already prominent footprints and create another passage over the lake for foot and bicycle traffic without cluttering the waterway with an overabundance of bridges. I was excited to stop by and visit the structure, mostly because I enjoy the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge over Lady Bird Lake (also locally known as "Town Lake") in Austin. It's such a great addition to the area and offers a safe crossing and destination for pedestrians to more fully enjoy the area's attractions. I hope that the Tempe Pedestrian Bridge does the exact same thing for Tempe and the Phoenix area that the Pfluger Bridge does for Austin.
(Pluger Pedestrian Bridge)
(Tempe Pedestrian Bridge)
Like most of us, whenever Thanksgiving rolls around I try to reflect on those things I'm most grateful for and count my blessings. The blessing that has been foremost on my mind this year is often considered the one thing most valuable, most precious, most important: TIME. Time to spend with those I love. Time to recover from ailments, tragedies, setbacks and afflictions. Time to enjoy the beauties of nature and the energy of community. Time to grow, plan, learn, develop, and better oneself. Time to share and love. Time to live.
We are all allotted a certain amount of time in life, and how we choose to use that time really makes us who we are. Recently a movie entitled In Time came out about a futuristic world where time is the currency. It stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. At the time of this writing I have not seen the movie, nor does it really call out to me to see it, but I was intrigued by the premise emphasizing the unparalleled value of time. In the movie the poor spend every moment scrambling to get as much done as they can and frantically working to earn more time before their small amount of life"time" expires.
I also happened upon the music video for Nickelback's "Savin' Me", which - truth be told - the only Nickelback song that I can really stomach. In fact, I'll admit that I like the song, but only after I saw the video. I'm not sure how much the story in the video actually correlates with the lyrics of the song, but it underscores again the importance of the time allotment everyone has in this mortal existence - and that perhaps some die before their time, sometimes perhaps due to the acts of of others; conversely, some are also afforded more time due perhaps in part to the acts of their fellow man(?). One particular scene I liked it where he looks into the reflected glass, and he realizes that he is able to see how much time is left for everyone else's lives, but not his own. Anyway, I found the video interesting and entertaining.
Time back home for Thanksgiving was spent visiting with friends and family, seeing the sights and taking in the beautiful weather and scenery of my home state. We got a great deal on some turkeys at Safeway, and while we were there we secretly attached an "Over the Hill" balloon to Mom while grocery shopping.
I was happy to try my hand at smoking a Thanksgiving turkey in the smoker Mom had bought for me a few years ago, which was too large to take with me to Texas. So I was happy to fire it up and threw some hickory chips in it which produced a tender and delicious bird of plenty for all to enjoy.
Thanksgiving dinner was an incredible feast, and we remembered how grateful we were to have such nice food to eat and enjoy, and to have each other. I thanked God for those special times spent with loved ones, even those times when we just sat around doing nothing. ...Doing nothing? ...Wasting time? Nay, we enjoyed every minute of it. No time wasted at all. Thanks, er... obrigado, Paulo.
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