Tag: dailyprompt

Interests change over time

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?

I haven’t outgrown any activities or hobbies, but I have abandoned a couple due to waning interest. Last year, I gave up a hobby I enjoyed because it became too risky for me.

Many years ago, my husband and I bought bowling balls and bowling shoes. Bowling was going to be a fun activity to do together. The last time we bowled, I was frustrated with myself. I complained about not being good at it. My husband recalls suggesting that I take lessons. I got mad at him, then he got mad at me and it wasn’t fun anymore. Today, the balls and shoes sit abandoned in a closet.

A few years ago, I was interested in buying a ping pong table because we enjoy playing ping pong, and we have the space in our basement. Indecision about which table to buy eventually turned into lost interest. Sometimes waiting to buy something is a good thing. Now, we have plans to downsize.

For years, I enjoyed trail running. Last year, I fell and fractured my shoulder. It was a bad injury. Knowing that I’m likely to fall again and thinking, what if the next time I hit my head as hard as I hit my shoulder, led to my decision to give up trail running. Though I have to admit that my resolve was not strong enough. I tried trail running just a little bit a few months after my shoulder injury and tweaked my knee running on uneven ground. Okay, now I get it.

People give up hobbies because they outgrow them or lose interest. Sometimes, we become more interested in pursuing something else. Sometimes, giving something up is in the best interest of our relationships. Sometimes, it’s in our own best interest.

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I skipped the daily prompt yesterday: What’s your favorite candy? I read some interesting posts about one of my favorites, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and was reminded of the ad campaign from the 1970s. When I was a kid in the 70s, I usually chose Cherry Mash. I haven’t had one in years.

A permanent break

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

Do you need a break? From what?

I need a permanent break from being tied to my desk. I need a permanent break from the deadlines and demands that come with my job as an accountant. Federal information returns (1099s) are due at the end of January. A major regulatory filing deadline is March 1st. State tax filings are due between March 15th and April 15th. Meanwhile, the annual audit begins.

This is the last year I have to go through this stressful time of year. This is my last busy season! I have considered retiring before, but this year, I’m finally doing it. Woo hoo!

Yesterday, I got the good news that my replacement has been found. She will start in a couple of weeks, which leaves four weeks of training time.

The next several weeks will be busy and stressful. I will get through it just as I have before.

Thank you, God!

Personal computers

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

The most important invention in your lifetime is…

In the early 1980s, I took two computer programming classes for my business degree, including COBOL. We used old-fashioned punch cards to edit and run the programs. I remember visiting a computer lab that had personal computers, but access was restricted. In another class, I was introduced to an early Microsoft spreadsheet program called Multiplan.

Accountants did not use personal computers at my first job at a public accounting firm. Instead, we wrote the information needed to produce an income tax return on a form, and someone else would enter the data for the mainframe to process.

At my next job a few years later, personal computers were indispensable to my work as an accountant. Instead of writing transactions by hand on ledger paper or in ledger books as bookkeepers have done for centuries, we directly entered transactions into the general ledger system.

In the early days, I used the spreadsheet program Lotus 1-2-3. Eventually, we switched to Microsoft Excel. Spreadsheet software enables accountants to produce much better workpapers and to analyze huge volumes of data.

13 columns!
Samples of ledger paper

It’s hard for me to imagine what my career would have been like without personal computers. The work would have been tedious! I have been sitting in front of a PC for thirty-five plus years!

An ideal day

by Innermost Being, posted in Pursuing God, Word Prompts

Describe your most ideal day from beginning to end.

Can a single day hold all my dreams?
An ideal day exists only in my mind...
It holds time with family far and wide...
It holds time with friends new and old...
A day filled with laughter, joy and gratitude.

The day begins with the Word,
The One who is and was and always will be.
Quietly, I sit in the presence of my Maker.
Being  still and knowing Him.
Giving thanks,  seeking the Spirit's  guidance.

What I do this day matters not one bit.
In being, I engage my body, my mind, my spirit.
In being, I savor sights and sounds and tastes.
In speaking, I use my words wisely.
In doing, I love others as myself.

In all the moments in between
He is with me, watching over me.
I pray to Him throughout the day...
to the One who loves me like no other.
I am His and He is mine.

At the end of my day, ideal or not
I thank my  Father for this day.
I lay my life's worries at His feet.
I present my requests to Him.
And I lay me down to 😴.

Don’t be a stranger

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?

I went on a business trip last week and had interesting interactions with strangers. My relative ease at talking with them made me realize how much I have changed with the passage of time. I was painfully shy as a child. At sixty, I’m becoming like my grandfather, who chatted easily with everyone.

On my first flight, I sat next to two women who were within a year or two of my age. We quickly connected over shared interests and exchanged phone numbers. It felt like a serendipitous encounter.

In Phoenix, I went for a walk alone one morning on a path next to the canal. I was listening to birds as I walked. I saw a woman tossing seeds next to some shrubs, so I asked her what she was feeding. Quail, she said. Then she showed me a picture of a bobcat she had taken one day in the shrubs. At the end of my walk, I spotted a bunch of quail myself.

I chatted with the taxi driver who took me to the airport for my return flight. I initiated the conversation. He had such a philosophical outlook on life.

I spent the night in Denver because my flight was canceled due to the weather. This morning, I had a great conversation with the young Lyft driver from Tennessee, who picked me up at 5 am. He said I was one of the most talkative people he had driven that early in the morning.

And there was the woman I talked to last night as we waited to talk to an airline agent. We both felt invisible when a man ignored our place in line.

And there was the young man from North Dakota I spoke to this morning as we waited by the customer service gate. He recognized me from the Phoenix flight.

And there were two people at my gate who looked familiar to me. Both go to my church.

With the passage of time, I can see that life is short. I have something in common with many people I don’t know. What do I have to lose by being friendly? I hope I brightened someone’s day by not being a stranger.