The Optimism Cocktail

Yes, my favorite drink out there.

Every person has their own taste and their own mix. The ingredients are fairly simple, but the exact measurements and mixture are quite difficult to perfect.

Mix it too strong or too weak and the outlook just becomes bleak and each person has an individual taste. No one can make a drink for any other person.

So I have determined my perfect mix. I have this everyday first thing when I open my eyes.

It’s made like this…..

A tall clear glass with a lot of ice….add water
Now the tricky part….

3 parts optimism
1 part realism
Just a splash of pessimism

Now it’s shaken…not stirred

Take a sip….smooth….

The optimism is the first on the taste buds….great feelings of hope for what the day holds…accomplishments to be had…goals to be reached..life to be lived

Now comes a small hint of realism…the reality of how to reach those goals and make those accomplishments happen and life to be lived…the planning

Hold on for the kick…pessimism…I leave that for the kick….so that I take a hard look at what I want to do…now it brings to light all the things that “could” potentially go wrong…then the smooth optimism takes over…so you know you can persevere through the difficulties of life

It’s all checks and balances really…getting that mixture right…so that everyday is a great day…and you can do everything you need to do…but if that mixture is wrong…..

Too much optimism…leaves you open to forget the smallest details

Too much realism…leaves your goals short of their full potential

Too much pessimism…and hell…you may as well quit now

So this is my OPTIMISM COCKTAIL

And you know what?

It is never gone, because for me…the glass is always half full

Christine Parmenter

The Keeper

The suns embrace…warms my face…

The cool wind brushes my skin….

A deep breath of the air so fresh…so clean…pristine

The suns light brings the colors to life…a beautiful day in every way…

The Keeper calls to me to come and see…the earth, the wind, the water, the fire….all fuel my hearts desire…to see this earth for all its worth…

Jack Edwards [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Poker the Ace of Hearts

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle…..cut the deck….
The dealer shuffles the cards with the expertise of a surgeon….
Chance…..Odds…..Luck….Skill
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle….
The cards slide across the felt to each player…with a quick flip of the dealers wrist….the dealer’s name tag reads a simple word….LIFE
Each card lands squarely in front of the players….
A sly look at the others….curious how they feel….
Touching just the corner, slowly peeking at the card, then the next, then the next
Chance….Odds….Luck….Skill
Arranging the cards in my hand….I settle in with a smile inside….
This looks promising…this hand that I have been dealt …
I start seeing all the possibilities that lie ahead with this hand….
A full house perhaps….dare I consider going for it???
My stomach quivers…butterflies unleashed….excitement filling the air…
I contemplate my move….consider the other player….yes…I am going for it
All in…..Chance….Odds….Luck….Skill….
I choose the cards to lay down….two of them…to discard….
I take a deep breath….awaiting my cards from LIFE
Slowly they slide to me….I pick one up and dare to look….
I sigh….it is perfect…exactly the card that I needed…..
The next one….I slowly lift it to my hand with the cards….
Disappointment creeps in….let down….again….I try my best to hide
Show no tells for the other player…..LIFE smiles at me…knowing the card I was dealt….
I hide the anger….the disappointment….I wonder how it is that I was dealt this card…..Now I know….the other player was lying….bluffing me…
Deceit runs rampant in the poker tournament of LIFE
How easily we are bluffed into going all in…..again and again…..
I know that I will go all in every time….it is my nature…it is me….
I have no problem risking it all for a reward so great….
I try to bluff my way through this…but ultimately…I fold….toss the cards to the pot….take a deep breath….arise from the table…nod gently to other player….smile at LIFE…..LIFE grins back with a nod…knowing I will be back to see what hand I get dealt next….and the chance the thrill to go all in again….

Christine Parmenter

Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com

Life

These poems are stories of my life.  I have written them at times that were not always good.  The last one, Soul, I was being propositioned by a wealthy man.  To have a comfortable life in exchange for…well…we all get the picture.  This happened many times, as I have been single awhile.  I really had to wonder what this life meant…when I was being propositioned by men when I didn’t ask for that.  I remain true to me.  I have never Sold My Soul to the Devil.  Would life have been easier…of course…but what do you have if you have no faith or belief in yourself?  A shell of a human is what you have…I am glad that I had the knowledge and power to say no to these men.  That I remained a single mom raising 2 boys.  That I even in difficult times knew…what I was worth and it is something money can’t buy.

People are priceless…and women are the ones that need to know this….I am not a feminist….I am an advocate for the weak…I want them to be strong and that can apply to men too….we are all priceless…we all should know that money can’t buy us …that things don’t give us worth….we are born with our worth…as humans on this great earth.

Christine Parmenter 2019

Soul

Looking in the mirror what is it that I see?
Another version of me…

Contemplating this life and choices to make…
Determining everything at stake….

Searching my eyes for the answers in my soul
Waiting to be told…..

Begging my soul to let me see…just let me see…..

Show me which road to take … lest I make a mistake…..
Please tell me…please show me……………..

Silence….as my eyes stare blankly at me…..

I am pleading to be shown….please let it be known…….
What are you worth….what value do you have here on earth…

Tell me…Tell me please….

Look me in the eye…don’t hide……

Using emotions to cloud my sight…let me see the light….

The answer escapes me…why won’t you help me…..

The answer was lost through the years….
The trials and tribulations let me be overcome with fear….

Fear that has clouded my thoughts and judgement…
Please, I am begging you…please……..just for this moment….

What was that? What was the answer?
Don’t let this fear be my cancer…..

I missed it, please repeat it…I won’t miss it again, I promise….

A quiet whisper in my ear…that removes all my fear…..

A word that I now see in my eyes looking back at me….
How could I have forgotten this valuable word…..how is it…it wasn’t heard…

I knew it all along….it is making me strong…
This word it reminds me…to have faith in me….

Don’t sell out my soul….for treasures tenfold….
Remember to believe…in me….
For there is no price I can put on my soul….It is priceless….I am told

Standing Still…Free Will

Here I stand frozen in a place I have chosen….

The path I am on….is long but I am strong….

Somewhere along the way…..my mind decided I should stay….

Here where my thoughts remain clear….

Here I stand frozen…in a place I have chosen….

The perils in life I have faced….have left space….

Emptiness in my eyes…I can no longer disguise……

Unable and unwilling to leave this feeling….

Peace and Serenity finally found me…….

Here I stand frozen… in a place I have chosen…

I am here by my free will…..standing still….

No chains bind me….No logic will find me…..

No one can touch me…no one can control me….

Here…I am free

Here I stand frozen…in a place I have chosen….

I am not here out of fear…..for fear is no longer near…

I will not remain frozen in this place I have chosen….

There will come a time in my mind…..

When it says I am strong and can move on…..

Until then..I remain…frozen …in a place that I have chosen

Frozen where I have chosen….

 

Christine Parmenter 2019

Time

What is time?

A second is a mere blink of an eye….a miniscule moment..a flash…and yet it can seem to stop …all in one second…one blink of an eye…life

A minute is 60 blinks of an eye… a minute can be an eternity while searching a lovers eyes for the answer you want…or an eternity of devastation of loss….or a brief moment of joy and happiness while in the company of loved ones…or a flash of passion in a kiss…

An hour is 60 moments of 60 blinks of an eye….an hour can feel like forever when your missing your love….or can slip by without you even knowing… while laughing and enjoying life…

A day is 24 of 60 moments of 60 blinks of an eye…. a day can change you forever… a day can mean devastation in your life…or the most joyful event ever…a day can last years in your mind…or a flash of fire if you choose

What is time?

Time is nothing more than an organizational tool…for the mind..Time…is irrelevant in life….it means nothing…your perceptions and thoughts have to be organized in your mind…but your heart and emotions follow no such rules…

Love doesn’t follow which day it is…Hate doesn’t understand a blink of an eye…Compassion has no patience for moments…and anger won’t end because a minute is over

Our emotions don’t and can’t be held accountable to time…our minds are what try to put restrictions on how our emotions behave…but emotions won’t follow the rules of time…

The heart follows no such boundaries…when love is there…it doesn’t care how much time has gone by…or how brief…you can’t time love with a stopwatch…nor would you ever want to…Love is timeless…your heart can never be held to the time that resides in your mind…

When it comes to time…”that” only belongs in the mind…our emotions are free to just be….

Christine Parmenter 2019

The Book of Life

The book is big….heavy…covered in stains…dust…smudges

Faded from so much use….the pages are yellow….it is old and brittle

I approach the book pensive….curious…thoughtful…will it provide the knowledge that I seek….the answers I can’t find?

I reach for it….gingerly open the cover…its heavy….I can hear the strain on the old fabric as it opens….it smells musty and old….like any good old book would…imagine the hands that have touched this precious book

It’s the book of answers to life…..the actual manual…if you will

I have been searching for this book, and can’t wait to find the answers that have caused such quandries in my mind….tortured my soul…

The first page….has just a few small words on it….”The answers lie within”

Giddy….I glance around…no one else is near….my hands are shaking in anticipation of what I am going to find….

I turn to the next page, I see the Chapters laid out….outlined….holding my breath….my finger runs down the list….it’s all here

One chapter called “What to do if….” then it breaks it down to subheadings…just to check…I flip to “What to do if….you fall down”….I giggle as I read…exactly what I thought I would read…”Get Up”….so simple…so logical…this book is real…genius….now I am really getting anxious….I want the answers…how easy would this be….just carry it around and look up what ever you need…right when you need the answers….the power…sigh….

I turn the page….quickly now….I am looking for something with meaning….

I turn the page…and two words are printed in large print…the rest of the page is white….I can’t believe what it says…this can’t be…I start to panic….my heart races….the one word…..”Believe”…I turn page after page they are all blank….wait a minute? what happened here?

I drop to my knees and bury my head in my hands….I sob….I had one chance to have the book of answers…instead of asking the most important question…I dared to question the book….I didn’t believe….I didn’t trust….now I have lost the most important piece of knowledge….or have I?

Maybe the book gave me the most important answer of all…..that in order to have everything in life….we must be open to believe and we must be open to trust….

I got the answer I needed to my most important questions…it is the answer to most everything in life….BELIEVE

So simple….why did I make it hard for so long?

I sigh a deep sigh…take a deep breath…close my eyes…and feel a complete peace come over me….
Now I BELIEVE…in this life….in others….now…I BELIEVE in me….

Christine Parmenter 2019

Remember When…

I remember when…
We played army men…built forts in the sand with armies to command…
You taught me how to climb a tree and skin my knee

We played kick the can…we ran and ran
Ollie Ollie Oxen free…as we hid behind trees
We had adventures and fun…all in the sun
Canoeing and fishing…and wishing
Yes, I still remember when…you let me win

You sank my battleship….there were times we were joined at the hip…

The birthdays came and went…along with the time we spent…
The games changed from cars to cards…and then life became hard…
Everything changes and nothing stays the same..but the feelings remained…
I remember when…I had my Best Friend

For my brother 2/25/68 – 2/20/95 EWM

…IF

If Only

The “if only” day….we all have it

It’s the day for no reason…your sad, morose, reflective

It’s the day you wake up….and remember all the “if only’s” in your life

It’s not that you regret things…surely you have learned from those experiences….it’s that “if only” I had…..

Some are simple…if only I hadn’t eaten that donut…

Some are complex…if only I had listened more….

Some are from pain…if only I was stronger…fought harder…wasn’t naive…

Some are from competition…if only I were faster…smarter…

“IF”……for two letters…it is one amazingly complex word….

Our entire lives are based on “ifs” you can pair it with “then” and it gets really complicated…because “if” this condition exists “then” this condition happens..that can be your goals and your dreams….or a simple decision to apply the brakes to avoid an accident….

All about a simple choice and what the outcome may be.

You pair it with “only” and it becomes a destructive tool…wears you down…it reflects past decisions… if only I had …..

By itself…..”if” can reflect your present desires, dreams, wishes…”if” I had….

If is the biggest question of all…because no outcome is predictable….there is too much chance….too many variables….”If” is unpredictable

IF is a question…IF is fate…IF will tear you apart…IF will fulfill your goals….IF you believe…

IF… IF…IF

“IF” is that small powerful word in your mind..that causes all kinds of chaos “IF” you let it…..

Christine Parmenter 2019