Some words in our vocabulary…. get pulverized.  They used to mean something good and wholesome.  And all of a sudden…. a perfectly good word like (or name) gets plastered.

Like.. …. awesome.
Or… …  totally.

But on an entirely different plane, is the non-slang.  Take this word, in fact.  Enable.

Now years ago it was a pretty good dang word.
Enable.
Enable the verb.  It meant (and still means)…..  to  give (someone or something) the authority or means to do something.  OR it meant you make something possible.

Now how great is that when you give someone possibilities?

But now… these days… it is almost always associated with addiction, or bad behavior.

“Oh, he enables his son’s drinking.”  Or…. “She enables him to act that way.”  Not so snappy.

So.  I must fess up.  I am a bit of an enabler.  You see…. my 91 year old Mom loves (and I mean LOVES) Lay’s plain potato chips and Diet Coke.  Seriously.  I buy her lots of Lay’s Chips, and Diet Cokes.  In fact, I give her one of each …. everyday.  She doesn’t just remember that she has had one 10 minutes ago.. …. so … somedays she gets two.  And that is just from me.  Heaven only knows how many more she gets in a day, where she lives.

But the way I figure it… at 91 years old… if it makes her happy…. I will enable away.

I’m a bit of a Chip Pusher… the “Guy on the Street”…. the Bagman.  The Supplier.

But we all have our own Lay’s Potato Chips and Diet Cokes… I think.  Some have it with food… like ice cream or chocolate…. or chicken eggs (and Diet Cokes).  Some people have their addictions in other areas… like alcohol, drugs, shopping, or even vanity.  It all depends. I guess.

I think it is okay to enjoy our “things” as long as we can somehow do it in moderation.  Yes.  I think moderation is the key.

As long as those things don’t keep us from reaching our greatest of heights.  Because of all the things we do in life… probably the most important is to reach our highest best.  We can still have the things we love.  It is called enjoying life.  Heck….  it may even make us better people.

And with those highest heights….. I’m not talking about success in the way of jobs, or riches, or fame.  I’m talking about the the success that lies within finding your innermost spark, and taking it all the way.

Singing at the top of your lungs.  Dancing your happy feet left and right, and back across the floor again.  Helping someone find their way.  Feeding a hungry person.  Sharing your wit and intelligence.  Smiling at just the right minute.  WE all have our own sparks in life.

Wave to us all…. from your best height.
AND….. Be ….. uhhhmmmmmm… be Totally Awesome.

Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated. —  Lou Holtz
.
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.  —    Theodore Roosevelt
.
The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.  —  Buddha