Some suggestions for battling the heat and COVID

By Bill Fox/Columnist

Triple whammy it seems this week.  So the heat, the air quality and COVID restrictions are impeding my creativity this week. The heat is getting to me, perhaps because I’m overweight. I’ve had asthma now for 65 years, so the air quality sometimes affects me. Finally, like many of you, I’m getting COVID fatigue, but hope to get my second shot in the next few weeks.

Some days, the ideas for columns just comes easily. This is not one of those weeks. Here are few ideas that popped up but I did not feel inspired to write an entire column of 700 words on them.

I thought I might write about those that are anti-vaccine as there are few in my family and my wife’s family. It’s interesting that those same people are the ones that had the greatest difficulty in school. But now they seem to know everything. Another topic has been all over the news this week. I thought I might write about the Indigenous children that died and were buried in mass graves. I found that to be too emotional and disturbing to write about…maybe one day. Finally, I was at Midtown Mall the other day where there are wonderful people distributing food to the homeless. Many of the homeless have set up camp nearby. What do I know about their situations? I felt it would be worthwhile to actually interview some of them…but then again would they want their situations to be publicized in a column?

So, I found these words written (author unknown) that are like the 10 commandments to follow in life every day. Hopefully you will find this as useful as I have, especially in the situations of this week.

 

1. Prayer is not a “spare wheel” that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a “steering wheel” that directs the right path throughout the journey.

 

2. So, why is a car’s windshield so large and the rear view mirror so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So… look ahead and move on!

 

3. Friendship is like a book. It takes a few minutes to burn; but it takes years to write.

 

4. All things in life are temporary.  If going well, enjoy it, they will not last forever.  If going wrong, don’t worry; they can’t last long either.

 

5. Old friends are GOLD!   New friends are “DIAMOND”.  If you get a diamond, don’t forget the gold!  Because to hold a diamond, you always need a base of gold.

 

6. Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, “Relax Sweetheart, it’s just a bend, not the end!”

 

7. When God solves your problems, you have faith in his abilities; when God doesn’t solve your problems, HE has faith in your abilities.

 

8. A blind person asked St. Anthony: “Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?”  He replied: “yes, losing your vision!”

 

9. When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes when, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

 

10. Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles; it takes away today’s peace!

If you really appreciated these 10 suggestions, please pass them on to others.  It may just brighten someone’s day.  And remember to: Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.  Speak kindly.  Leave the rest to God!

I’m at bdfox@rogers.com.