LIFE'S OBSERVATIONS

By David Mosdal Guest Columnist

“Be the reason someone smiles today” is our theme for this issue of the Alliance Senior News. The deadline on submitting these articles for publication is a full five weeks before they come out in print. That is long enough in the instant world of Social Media for an idea to be floated out there to be either “liked” and forwarded a zillion times, or to be plunked in that on-screen garbage can, never to be heard from again. (This makes me wonder who has the chore of sweeping up behind this gargantuan elephant full of worthless ideas... Now that's a rabbit hole with a badger at the bottom that isn't worth entering. But I digress). Back to this notion of a five-week gestation from keystroke to print; who thinks in those terms anyway? Well, farmers and ranchers do. Gardeners do. Pregnant mothers certainly do. Maybe our world hasn't really become as immediate as it seems right now. thousand words. Sometimes a picture on our phone is worthy of an instant “thumbs up”, but occasionally that same picture is worth a hundred considerations and the “thousand words” put to paper. Then it should be signed and folded and placed in an envelope with an address and a stamp to be mailed to your intended receiver. Mailing a letter is a commitment of sorts. It says to your receiver, “You reached out to me and shared a little bit of who you are, now I am returning that favor by thanking you and sharing a little more about me”. Thinking leads to understanding. Understanding leads to action. Through the act of sharing a letter with someone, the real-time world slows down to the speed of human understanding, if only briefly, where we

Sometimes a picture on our can fix a moment in time and return to it as often phone is worthy of an instant as we may like or need. “thumbs up”, but occasionally If you've stayed with that same picture is worth a me to this point then hundred considerations and the you know my goal is for you is to “Be the reason “thousand words” put to paper. someone smiles today”. — David Mosdal Writing a letter is just one suggestion. You should practice your own best method of bringing a smile to someone's face. However, if you want to write a letter and don't know where to send it, send it to me at PO Box 6, Broadview, MT 59105. I have stamps. I’ll write back.

Isn’t a thought worth sharing worth the effort of thinking about it for a while before shared with our circle of family and friends? It is said that a picture is worth a