Finishing stuff: a presidential mission

A son died from getting a blister on his toe while playing tennis.
One was caught skinny dipping before going to work.
One would throw a napkin over his wife's face when she would have a seizure during a dinner party.
His wife ran his business after he was permanently disabled by a stroke.
He slept in a pink bedroom.
A son was hit and killed by a train.
His kids brought a pony into the house.

What am I talking about?  I'm talking about the President of the United States.

A few days ago I wrote a post about my quest to "finish stuff."  Well, a number of years ago I began the arduous task of reading a biography about each one of our 44 U.S. Presidents (actually there weren't that many when I started this endeavor).  I don't know how long ago it's been, but it all started because I read "John Adams" by David McCollough which was published in 2002. I think it was a pretty recent book when I read it, so I'll say I started in 2003.  David McCollough is a fabulous writer-- apparently quite inspiring actually!  Not all of the other biographies I've read have been quite that good.

After John Adams (our second President), I went back and read one about George Washington then worked my way forward through presidential biographies which I checked out of our local library.  Oddly enough, they don't have a biography for every president.  Some were missing, so I just read short pieces about those presidents from books that had write-ups on all the presidents.

The trivia I shared at the beginning of the blog is all true.  Calvin Coolidge's 16-year-old son didn't wear socks when playing on the White House tennis courts, developed a blister which got infected and he died because antibiotics were not available then.  The Coolidge's were never the same after that.

Apparently several presidents were known to skinny dip in the Potomac.  There were some embarrassing situations that came about as a result.  John Quincy Adams was the first.

William McKinley's wife, Ida, had epilepsy.  If she had a seizure during state dinners, the president would just drop a napkin over her face and when the seizure subsided, he would remove the napkin and just keep going as though nothing happened.

Woodrow Wilson had a severe stroke while in office, and his wife essentially ran the country while concealing the fact that he was completely incapacitated.  The whole story of Woodrow and his women is fascinating.  And yes, I do read about the history and politics too.  But the human interest stories are very engaging!

Mamie Eisenhower's favorite color was pink, so Ike got to sleep in a pink bedroom, not only at the White House but also at their home in Gettysburg.

Dwight and Mamie's bedroom in Gettysburg

In 1853, Franklin Pierce's last surviving child, 11-year-old Benny, was crushed by a train which rolled down an embankment-- after Pierce was elected but before his inauguration.  Mrs. Pierce became a recluse and President Pierce struggled with the presidency.

The Teddy Roosevelt family had quite a menagerie of children and pets.  The pony, Algonquin was allowed free reign of the children's bedroom and was often brought upstairs on an elevator.

Well, I digress.  You see why I like reading biographies!  Truth is stranger than fiction.  I have digressed quite frequently when reading presidential biographies because sometimes I feel the need to read a biography of the first lady too:  the Adams wives, Dolley Madison, Mary Lincoln, Julia Grant... to name a few.  Fascinating!

I had gotten the whole way from George Washington up to John F. Kennedy.  I never thought I'd bog down in his biography, but I did.  A couple of years ago.  I kept renewing the book at the library and just couldn't finish it.  But now that I'm "finishing stuff," I decided to get back to it.  I chose a JFK biography by a different author and just started over.  There's nothing boring about JFKs life, so I must have gotten stuck on the Cuban Missile Crisis or something before.  But I am going to finish this one.  Then it's on to LBJ!

And by the way, speaking of finishing stuff, isn't it great that God always finishes stuff?  Including the work He's doing on me!

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

Walking Pickett's Charge: Gettysburg Battlefield

Since we live in Gettysburg, we usually don't pay any attention to the historical significance of the landmarks around us.  We drive past amazing monuments and through battlefields that are still visited by military personnel this day to learn from what happened here 150 years ago.

One particular portion of the vast battlefield, which covers a good bit of the country on all sides of town, is famous for being the location of Pickett's Charge.  A last-ditch, all-out effort by the Confederates to defeat Union troops in their own backyard.  Many thousands of lives were lost that day on both sides.

On a day off, we decided to play tourist and do something we have never done before-- walk the famed one-mile of ground covered by the Confederates on July 3, 1863.  This somber day in October was still and quiet, but we felt the effect of what happened here so long ago.  This is what we saw.

Part of the "Lee" monument at the top of Seminary Ridge.

I'm really glad the cannons are empty these days!

The Pennsylvania Monument

The next several pictures were taken from the vantage point of the top of the Pennsylvania monument.

Learning to be Happy

I learned something new:  "happiness" can be learned and acquired through effort and discipline.  Now, I know that as Christians we are told that happiness is different than the deep, abiding joy we can know with the certainty of our salvation. So let's just say that being outwardly and inwardly happy (contented, joyful, relaxed, cheerful, lighthearted) is something that should be much easier for Christians than non-Christians because we have God as our strength, our Rock, our salvation, our friend, our helper and our adviser.  Christians should be the happiest people on earth.  The problem is that I know a LOT of Christians who aren't very joyful or even happy.  What's the deal?

Well, a few weeks ago I checked a book out of the library after hearing a friend talk about it and reading some magazine articles by the author:  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I didn't have high expectations when I started it because I thought it would be another silly self-help book with no real substance.  What I found was a thoughtful, intelligent, well-researched, well-documented, fun-to-read and actually quite helpful book!  Now Gretchen is not a Christian (she identified herself as an agnostic in the book) but so many of the "happiness" principles she talked about are backed up by scripture.  And as a person, I found a "kindred spirit" in Gretchen.  We both love to read and write, are extreme list-makers, tend to be critical in nature, and have a natural bent toward being-- shall we say-- less than happy.

I'm just going to share some nuggets I gleaned from her writing.  I don't really care if you agree, I have merely found that they make sense to me and have actually turned me to a deeper dependence and trust in Jesus as the source of my true happiness.

1.  Acting happy and being happy can be learned skills even if that's not your natural personality bent.

2.  Goals are something you reach.  Resolutions are something you keep (they don't end).  The author constantly keeps a list of current resolutions she's working on that will contribute to her happiness.  Things like "cutting people slack."

3.  What's fun for other people may not be fun for you, and vice versa.

4.  "Happiness comes not from having more, not from having less, but from wanting what you have."  (Sounds like scriptures I've read about being content in all circumstances.)

5.  You'll be happier if you just be yourself.  Acknowledge what makes you happy, not what you wish made you happy.  Many times we don't approve of our own preferences or "likes."  Sometimes I may wish I liked working out or watching sports or decorating cakes or planning large parties, but I don't.  I do like watching old movies, reading lots of books, photography, writing and taking long walks.

6.  When you're pursuing your passion, don't worry about getting results.  That's what keeps a passion enjoyable.  You see, I like photography and I like writing.  This means that blogging is perfect for me.  If I get bogged down in how many people are reading my blog or whether I'm saying stunningly original things, I'll never post anything.  I blog because I enjoy it.  Period.

7.  Realize that many people don't want to be happy or even to seem to be happy.  There's probably nothing you can do about them and their refusal to be happy, but you don't have to let their moods take over yours.

8.  Some people say they don't have a right to be happy because there is so much suffering around.  But being unhappy doesn't relieve any suffering, and if you are cheerful perhaps you're more likely to actually improve the atmosphere around you and be more of a mind to help suffering people.

9.  Some people use their own unhappiness to gain pity or attention or to inspire guilt.  Don't get sucked in.

10.  It's actually more selfless to act happy than unhappy.  It takes discipline, energy, generosity, humility and tremendous effort.

11.  It  takes discipline, energy, generosity, humility and tremendous effort to appear happy and indeed to be happy.  This bears repeating.  As many times as possible.

12.  Be willing to be pleased about things rather than looking for opportunities to critique things.  Train yourself to "give positive reviews" rather than negative critiques.

13.  If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly  (This sounds bad out of context.  It refers to not letting perfectionism or fear of failure keep you from pursuing a passion).

14.  If you can do it in less than a minute, do it now.  (Procrastination and clutter are the source of much unhappiness for many people).

15.  Do what ought to be done.

16.  Cut people slack.  Realize that you don't know what's going on in that rude salesperson's life.  Cut them some slack and don't get so bent out of shape.  Same goes for annoyances brought on by family members.  Just cut them some slack for a change.

17.  Be a satisficer:  don't examine every single option before making a decision.  Be happy when you find something (a purchase, a vacation destination...you get the idea) that meets your requirements, then look no further.  A "maximizer" drives themselves crazy by checking out every possible option before making a choice, then often continues searching after a choice is made just to make sure they did the right thing!  Maybe good enough is good enough.

So, those are some of the concepts that were helpful to me.  Please just read the book for yourself if you're interested in the topic.  I skimmed some sections that I wasn't interested in, but most of it was fascinating and enlightening.

Be happy today!

Or maybe I should say bee happy.  I like puns.