Sometimes we have to remember to keep on keeping on.
August 2024
Keep on Keeping On
Last year my August blog began with the acknowledgment of my 31st wedding anniversary to Sheryl. So, keeping with tradition, I will begin this blog with acknowledgment and deep, heartfelt love for my wife of 32 years. Sheryl and I are relearning how to do life since I have retired…once again. It is a fun adventure and I cannot begin to imagine I would do this life without Sheryl as my wife.
Some of you may have read the title of the blog, the first paragraph, and then thought, “Hmmm keep on keeping on. It kind of sounds like if a person plodding through deep mud just keeps on keeping on, they will eventually make it through. Or someone may think that it is a way to encourage someone to keep on keeping on when they are stuck in a routine and are waiting for a change. Striving to keep on keeping on, your patience will pay off and things will change.
Neither of those interpretations is found in my intent to choose this blog post title.
Many people use the phrase Keep on Keeping on in a way that may be an expression of piety or their way of saying that if they keep struggling through, they will reach the gold at the end of the rainbow. In 1971 Curtis Mayfield released his Roots album with the tune, Keep on Keeping on, as one of the great charts included.
Check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me. (I have tried to incorporate the link. If it doesn’t work, you can simply watch him on YouTube) Be sure you read the lyrics. They are amazing and part of the inspiration for this blog.
Sheryl and I Keep on Keeping on in our love for one another, desire to be Christlike, and encourage others. We have many other aspirations, but, I am learning to not be as wordy as well as keeping myself from exposing too much information. Exposing too much through word vomit can be very messy and tends to shoo people away.
When someone keeps on keeping on their desire to spread happiness and encourages others to be their best, have a good day, and look on the bright side of life, keep on keeping on becomes a positive and wonderful thing to do.
For our 32nd anniversary, we decided to spend a few days at Disney World. The theming of Disney's resorts is amazing. Our favorite resort we have stayed in so far is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. However, we decided to stay in a resort that would allow us to keep more money in our savings and checking accounts. our two-night stay was at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort.
While at Disney I will admit that I am more of a, “Let’s go to the parks and only use the room for the brief times we will sleep,” type of person. However, I will admit the pools, grounds, and cast members made it tempting to spend more time at the resort.
One cast member in particular stood out to us.
By the way, if you ever visit Disney and experience a magical moment or kind gesture, have a cast member go out of their way to accommodate you, and or witness a cast member go above and beyond their call of duty, be sure to give them accolades. This can be accomplished by using the Disney app or by going to guest services and passing along the accolades.
We encountered Julia while we ate breakfast in the All-Star Music resort’s food court.
Julia pushed a cart around, cleaned tables, and restocked items the guests used for their morning meals. She greeted us after she had cleaned a table by ours. Unfortunately, my wife, son, or I cannot remember her greeting, but, her greeting brightened our already happy morning. She greeted other guests with the same greeting, but, each greeting was sincere.
My wife asked another cast member for Julia’s name. We didn’t get a chance to see her name tag earlier because she was busy working and did not have time to stand still.
The other cast member said her name was Julia and she has been a Disney cast member for 2 years. She had always dreamed of working at Disney World and after her parents retired they moved to Florida so she could fulfill her dream. The other cast member, I wish I could remember her name too because she was very nice too, told us that working for Disney had been Julia’s dream and she is always happy to be at work. She also told us Julia calls her parents every day after work and tells them how wonderful her day had been. The other cast member said, “We all need to take a lesson on how to be happy and greet other people from Julia.”
What do Curtis Mayfield and Julia have to do with my 32nd wedding anniversary and my monthly music blog that typically emphasizes trumpet playing?
The tie that binds is the phrase Keep on Keeping on.
I still have the desire to play trumpet for Disney in one way or another. We live too far away for me to audition for the Mainstreet Philharmonic or to put a band together to land a gig a Disney Springs. But, I could still audition for and play in special events. My end goal is not to play for Disney, but, playing for Disney would be a pretty cool gig.
I have stated before that I enjoy playing my trumpet and when I play, I help people forget about life for a while. It is fun to watch people dance and see them smile and sing to the tunes tooted triumphantly through my trumpet. I keep on keeping on with playing music. Playing different genres, getting calls to sit in with different groups, and expanding my options with playing opportunities had been a part of my retirement trumpet-playing dream.
When I play my horn I hope to give people a similar feeling of happiness that Julia gave us with her greeting. Being able to do that is part of my trumpet-playing dream too. The best part about my trumpet-playing dream is, it never ends. I have no end result for the dream.
By the way, another keep on keeping on situation that is happening in my life has to do with my Honda CRV. As of today, the odometer reads 199,903 miles. Within a couple of days, it will be over 200,000 miles with the potential of 200,000 more. The high miles are a testament to the quality of Honda and how the vehicle was maintained.
To keep on keeping on we have to remember that it should not feel like it is a burden to keep on keeping on.
Just like Curtis Mayfield sang:
Most of your life can be out of sight Withdraw from the darkness and look to the light Where everyone's free At least that's the way it's supposed to be We just keep on keeping on We just keep on keeping on
Spread the happiness in the best way you know how. Spread it by writing lyrics and singing them, cleaning tables and greeting people, playing trumpet and helping people forget about life for a while, or spread it the best way you can.
It isn’t a burden to keep on keeping on, it is a gift.
So, keep on keeping on!