As I reflect on
the past month and perhaps focus just on the past two weeks, the normally mild
climate I live in got hammered with cold and snow. For not the first time did I
wonder whether or not I had actually left Wisconsin for warmer weather. As I
write this, Emily gleefully texted me that her college in Greensboro cancelled
classes the last two days and started late today.
I’ve seen
pictures of blizzard and whiteout conditions from Texas to Wisconsin that
stretch to the East Coast. Snow drifts and icy patches. Drivers white-knuckling
it as they motor along treacherous patches. Passengers equally concerned and
anxious as they sit rigid, eyes taking it all in whether they want to or not.
And yet, at
least here, it’s getting warmer. Days are getting longer. Hardly any snow, if
any, on the ground. Nature gracefully taking over as she always seems to do.
Which brings me
to today’s thought.
Any seasonal
change, pick one because it doesn’t matter . . . any change from day to night
and back to day . . . brings with it Hope And An Opportunity.
I’ve said this
before in other posts, but isn’t this a wonderful gift? Each of us, whether we
want it or not, need it or not gets a Do Over.
It’s the feeling
that no matter how badly the day (or evening) went, no matter how ugly and put
upon we are, it can and most likely will change the next day (or evening). Even
though it might be a longer period of time (a season), the next one (season) is
coming and with it Hope. With it, An Opportunity.
Hope for a
better tomorrow. Hope for another change. Hope for another Opportunity.
And Hope gives
birth to Opportunity: to do better next time; to right a wrong; to straighten
out a damaged or hurt relationship- with others or with yourself; to Do Over
and Begin Again. Hope gives each of us another chance.
So . . . the
choice is once again up to us . . . you and me.
We can take full
advantage of each Opportunity given to us . . . or we can frit it away, waste
it. We can continue with the same destructive patterns of thought and action
and word choice, or we can change. Worse, we can ignore it all and just settle
for what we’ve always done, what we’ve always thought, what we’ve always said
and what we’ve always expected.
But . . .
If someone was
to come up to you and offer you $10 or even $50 with no strings attached,
wouldn’t you accept it? Wouldn’t that cause you to smile? I mean, folks play
the lottery all the time and most come up empty, so why wouldn’t you accept a
sure thing?
I can’t think of
a better gift than Hope. Without it, we are lost and defeated before we even
step out on the field, before we even jump in the shower, before . . .
Hope is a gift.
And Hope gives birth to Opportunity. Endlessly and on a perpetual basis.
Nonstop. Forever. Why don’t we take full advantage of it? Why is it we squander
it? Why is it we sometimes don’t even recognize it? If this isn’t something to
think about, I don’t know what is . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
I sent the final
edited copy of my fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction Caught in a Web to Black Rose Writing. It will drop in April of 2018. You can check out the cover if you travel to
my author page at https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
I am working with Black Rose on several
publicity campaigns so when the “drop” nears, I’ll keep you posted. There will
be an opportunity for preordering Caught
in a Web, so when the link becomes available, I’ll make sure you know.
Unlike my others, this one will be available in bookstores as well as Amazon.
Good News!
I am actively
seeking agent representation for Spiral Into Darkness. It is more of a
psychological thriller but with an attitude.
Please feel free
to connect with me at:
Twitter
at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook
at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction and are
looking for something to read over the winter, check out my novels:
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven
with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them
are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as
each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis
Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:
Two
thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis
Shattered Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:
Six desperate
and violent men escape. One of them stands in a kitchen facing a 14
year-old-boy with a gun. There are many reasons for the boy to pull the
trigger. Mainly, the man had started it all. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:
A 14 year-old-boy is willing to make the
ultimate sacrifice. High up on an Arizona mesa, he faces three desperate and
dangerous men in hopes of saving his father and his brothers. http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis