The four food groups fuel my soul

A common adage among my 12-step friends that’s drilled into our heads immediately:

What others think of me is none of my business.

And, boy, never is that truer than in writing this blog.

The political season is off and running. I’ll break down campaign contributions on Monday; the four candidates for County Commission Districts 2 and 4 are all well into their campaigns.

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We are going to talk A LOT about these candidates and races. And that means hard feelings here and there. With those shifting political winds, it’s fair for readers to wonder where the blog’s motivation comes from.

It’s really my outline for life. Suggested to me years ago by my friend Popeye, these priorities, taken in order, provide all the direction I desire.

I call them the “four food groups.” They are, in order:

— Relationship with God. Number one for a reason. I must have a daily relationship with God, or the whole thing falls apart fast. What does that look like for me?

I usually read something out of the Bible each day. Right now, it's Acts. Shortly before Easter, it was Deuteronomy. I'm in Psalms quite often. I have two Bibles in my house open to specific passages. I now own Deb's car; in the console is her pocket Bible that she dog-eared to her favorite passages.

I pray first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I take walks throughout the day with Bunny in a quiet, peaceful setting. I feel truly blessed, and I let God know it. And when the emotional storms hit, as they have occasionally since Oct. 24, the prayers grow more intense, and I'm left exhausted with a feeling of love like never before. 

I hope this doesn’t sound preachy. It’s simply my experience. So many good things have happened since I gave my life to God. It’s a decision I return to every morning. This relationship must always go ahead of all others.

— Relationship with myself, so when I’m alone, I’m in good company. 

This is, without a doubt, challenging. I’m alone a lot. It’s at least partially a nature of my chosen career.

Many years ago, I did something particularly dumb. I'll skip the details, but I recall the boss called me into his office, shut the door, hit the “do not disturb” button on his phone, and then told me to shut up while he gave me the facts of life. One of those facts is that some people were my friend only so long as I wrote what helped their agenda.

That was a hard truth. And, man, am I reminded of it at Just Wright Citrus. Geez, the number of people who no longer speak with me because of something I wrote is a little surprising. I haven’t walked away from a single person. I’ll have a Cattle Dog chat with anyone.

Since pleasing people is impossible, it boils down to being sincere in my writing. Fortunately, I don't seem to have trouble expressing my thoughts. 

(And I’m grateful for all those who stick with me regardless of what I write, especially political types who never know what to expect.)

— U-B-U. Try not to hurt myself or anyone else today. Try to do the next right thing. Otherwise, participate in life.

This one is fairly easy if Nos. 1 and 2 are falling in line. Have fun. See the brighter side of life. Help others. Be kind to people who aren’t kind to me. Take risks. Give freely of my time and resources. Say what I mean, but don’t say it mean.

(And take great drives. Care to guess the location of today’s photo?)

— Finally, the last one: Allow others to be who they are. They’re also children of their Creator and are exactly where they're supposed to be. 

It’s the most difficult of the four if I skip the first three. I need to feel right with God and me before I feel right about you.

When I'm following these four priorities in order, the result is serenity and peace. I achieve the blog's goals without going down rabbit holes. I focus on what we're trying to achieve, which is conversation about issues that matter most. The "four food groups" keeps me balanced.

We’re going to have some very pointed chats this election season about our county and its future. I pledge to keep the blog's motivation focused on my five words for the year: unafraid, courage, tenacity, kindness, and community.

I often suggest to candidates that they go with their gut, to pay attention to the same inner nudge that reminds them their campaigns have purpose. Candidates never want to wake up the morning after losing an election thinking, "I should have..."

I'm approaching this year's County Commission races the same way. I'll go with my gut. We'll see how that lands.

Have a truly awesome weekend, friends.

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