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    Life’s Little Lessons Forever:: The Rhythm and Reason for Life
    Life’s Little Lessons Forever:: The Rhythm and Reason for Life
    Life’s Little Lessons Forever:: The Rhythm and Reason for Life
    Ebook207 pages1 hour

    Life’s Little Lessons Forever:: The Rhythm and Reason for Life

    By James E. Smith Ph. D.

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    Life’s Little Lessons Forever:
    The Rhythm and Reason for Life
    James E. Smith, Ph. D.

    This book is the third in a series of the lessons learned during my life. The first volume, Life’s Little Lessons - with some not so little was primarily situated during the adolescent years up until college. That book was about those experiences that we all most likely encounter in our own way during those developmental years. The second book, Life’s Little Lessons, too - A Proper Life with a Career, starts off where the first one ended extending those life lessons learned while developing and executing a professional career. As in both volumes, it is the individuals you interact with all around you, plus the social, physical, and clearly professional environments you live in that impact who you are now and who you will become in the future.

    While these lessons, collectively, are all unique influences in your personal development, it turns out these factors are only part of a set of what I refer to as lessons that everyone is exposed to and allowed to integrate into their personality, at their choosing. Together they essentially become the building blocks of your existence and help to determine how well you will, and can, participate in your ever-changing social, personal, and professional environments.

    It is in the responses and reactions created through our experienced stories where we learn to understand who we really are and how best we are to live and work in the complex and interwoven environments that we exist in. This book consists of a series of prepared thoughts on what I think are life’s most important issues: love, spirituality, leadership, family and friends, passion and intimacy, plus some thoughts less specific. It also includes several quotes and sayings used to reinforce ideas for my friends, family members, and students. It is hoped that reading this book will help the reader realize the importance of these lessons and how attention to their details in your own life will enhance and encourage your continued professional, personal, and social development.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchway Publishing
    Release dateAug 22, 2023
    ISBN9781665745970
    Life’s Little Lessons Forever:: The Rhythm and Reason for Life
    Author

    James E. Smith Ph. D.

    James E. Smith, PhD is a retired university professor with forty-five-plus years of career experience as a practicing engineer and educator. This career, an easily recognizable façade, is overshadowed by his seven decades of living and experiencing life, often outside of his control or choice, which is the subject of this latest book in the Life’s Little Lessons series. It is the interactions with others and the environment we all live in coupled with the many choices that we are required, or choose, to make that establish who we are and who we will become as we walk this path through life. During his professional career, he has taken on the roles of engineer, corporate consultant, research center director, and professor. While these professional roles have satisfied his need to stay connected to his engineering profession, it is the maturing nature of experience where life takes on meaningful expression. Thus, the acts associated with living allow us to learn in a more meaningful way and to provide to others the results of those experiences. The contents of this book reflect some of those experiences. Some were used in classroom situations and others were prepared for friends and colleagues. Many more were written as an aid in understanding life’s little mysteries. Currently, during his infrequent downtimes, he is especially active in chasing after grandchildren and the operation of a “gentleman’s” farm where he and his wife look after deer and wild turkey plus an occasional meandering bear. Their four children visit at will but are particularly attentive when they need to borrow something or wish to leave their offspring to their parents’ designs. The four children he and his wife raised survived and flourished, so it is assumed that as grandparents they can handle the next generation hopefully as well, as inexpensive babysitters. This, again, may become part of another Life’s Little Lessons for the future, if we the older generation survive the energetic set of munchkins left to our designs. Grandkids are such a blessing, and grandparents frequently look forward to their visits, but they often feel the same way with their departures.

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      Book preview

      Life’s Little Lessons Forever: - James E. Smith Ph. D.

      1333_c.jpg

      LIFE’S LITTLE

      LESSONS FOREVER:

      The Rhythm and Reason for Life

      JAMES E. SMITH, PH. D.

      Copyright © 2023 James E. Smith, Ph. D.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

      graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

      any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

      except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

      and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

      the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

      people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

      Archway Publishing

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.archwaypublishing.com

      844-669-3957

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

      links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

      may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

      of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

      and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

      models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      ISBN: 978-1-6657-4598-7 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-6657-4597-0 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2023911559

      Archway Publishing rev. date: 07/13/2023

      CONTENTS

      Acknowledgements

      Preface

      Introduction

      Background

      Specific Topics

      Importance

      Chapter 1: Love

      Genesis

      From the Heart

      Ultimate Joy

      The Creation of Love

      Life’s Timely Adventure

      The Lost Isle

      Selflessness and Abundance

      The Essence of Forever Love

      The Required Portion that Made Us

      Essential Play

      Love Preserved

      The Tapestry of a Life Well-Traveled

      The Only Path

      My Life Partner

      Your Silent Vigil

      My Forever Little Girl

      Chapter 2: Spirituality

      Genesis

      To Know

      The Known and Unknown

      Our Gift to Us

      The Gift of Light

      Realities

      Spoken from Clouds

      The Healing

      A Lifetime Request

      True Reality

      Three Stages of Bliss (Physical · Emotional · Spiritual)

      The Sounds of Creation

      Choosing Now

      Chapter 3: Leadership

      Genesis

      Leadership Tips

      The Future Landscape

      Progress

      Social Expediencies

      Leadership and Innovation

      The Two-sided Coin

      Responsible Leadership

      A Reality of Maturing

      Sum of the Parts

      Concession Versus Leadership

      All Lives Matter

      Chapter 4: Family and Friends

      Background

      Friends and Family in Remembrance

      The Student, The Teacher, The Friend

      My Childhood Best Friend

      A Man with a Heart of Gold

      The Neighborhood Auctioneer

      A Passing

      Chapter 5: Passion and Intimacy

      The Discussion

      The Needed Contact

      Shared Exchange

      Moments of Intimacy

      A Touch of Grace

      Chance Fulfillment

      The Anticipated Moment

      Sharing the Essence

      Passion, Intimacy, and Commitment

      Love Presence

      Grace and Touch

      Chapter 6: Thoughts Less Specific

      Description

      Who is Listening

      Your Story to Tell (The Universe Listens)

      The Second Sight

      Tension Related Stress and Strain

      Becoming Wise

      The Best Way

      Intended Outcome

      Three Rules When Handling Guns

      As for Science and Technology

      Decisions

      Social Roles

      Lost and Alone

      The Pool of Reflections

      Gifts

      Fixing Stupid

      The Stages of Life

      My Admission

      Harmony

      Chapter 7: Sayings Used and Taught

      Genesis

      Adages in Use

      Willful Action

      Choices

      Intentions

      Coincidences

      The Impression

      Thrive to Survive

      Abundance

      Tomorrow’s Best Way

      The Future’s Best Way

      Scarcity

      You Can

      Create the Future

      Integrity

      Real Progress

      The Correct Path

      Energy Specks

      Decisions

      Tomorrow’s Yesterday

      Your Future

      The Unknown

      The Fundamental Need

      Advancements

      Leadership Within

      Progress

      Energy

      Decision-Making

      Society Progress

      Patience

      Excuses

      Intentional Action

      The Art of Silence

      Beauty and the Beast

      Prosperity

      Prosperity, Too

      Populating the Future

      Great Leadership

      Sound Leadership

      Charisma

      Competition

      Goal Seekers

      The Science of Fiction

      Choose Leadership

      Why Hurt

      Truths Versus Facts

      Good Employees

      Synergy and Compromise

      Opinions

      Epilogue

      Author Bio

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      It should go without saying that the contents of any written work are a combination of the authors’ personal contributions and the contributions provided directly or indirectly by the individuals around them and the environment they live it. Interestingly, the personal make-up of the writer is clearly a compilation of the life events participated in and the ones that are visited on them, where some are gladly received, while others may be rejected out of hand. For either of these cases those events still have an impact on us, even when not completely accepted or acknowledged. Effectively this means we are all part of this messy series of events called life and unless we bury ourselves under a rock, peeking out only occasionally, we will be influenced and impacted by everything that occurs to and around us, in some form or another and to some level of impact.

      So, if I wanted to properly acknowledge those individuals that made contributions to this book, I would have to notice everyone and everything around me. Having said this I therefore acknowledge all things, whatever they are currently and were in the past, for the contributions that were made to, for, or against me that allowed this book to be written. At first this may seem a little ridiculous but if you reflect on your existence, you may take note of the many seemingly small events that have occurred in your life that when added together affected you and the directions you have chosen for your life’s quest.

      Once we get past being grateful for, or at least acknowledging, those many influencers from and part of our environment, we get down to the individuals that were most likely the primary contributors to our thoughts and beliefs and the directions we have selected for our passage through this lifetime. Most likely you should start with your early childhood family and friends and as you grew you received even more input from teachers and associates and even more from chance encounters, if you believe in coincidences.

      As part of the development process the reality is that most of your personal growth will occur not from the receiving end but rather on the giving end. How you teach others and more importantly how you impact the current generation - and possibly the next few more - reinforces and magnifies your growth and awareness. It solidifies who you are and helps to mold the personality that you wear in your day-to-day encounters. From this part of the maturation process comes our beliefs and opinions which is even more emphasized when demonstrated for those individuals around us who are often dependent on us for what we say and do.

      In this small group are specifically my wife, Sheri, and my four children Steffanie, Jimmy, Justin, and Jonathan. They have provided the forum to practice what I had learned earlier in life and then from their reactions to the same, to then provide the counter-point balance to what I have learned and then taught to my next group of contacts; my students, colleagues and, most importantly, my grandchildren.

      If there is a purpose to my life that is more than life itself, it is in helping the next generation become more successful than the last. It is in helping to provide them with the tools for their survival and to help them accept the needed reflections on life that will assist them through the more troubling times that we all will inevitably encounter. It is also my desire to teach what I have learned about living a meaningful life, which I have tried to express in written form in the words in this text.

      I can only hope everyone knows how much I appreciate their being an integral and influential part of my life. I love each of my family members along with the many others in my life that made, and continue to make, it all worth living. Please read on and thanks for your often unknowing contributions.

      PREFACE

      Life is not performed in a vacuum. The individuals around you and the environment you live in all impact who you are and who you will become, in some measure, and often in unexpected ways. It is in these interactions where we learn to understand who we really are

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