The Aging Monkey Man And The World He Lives In

The Monkey Man was up rather early this morning pondering and discussing with Mrs. Monkey how much the world has changed since he was a young chimp.

As a small chimp, the Monkey Man remembers hearing the elder chimps talk of a simpler time. He didn't really know what that meant, but as he was lay in bed pondering, the meaning became a little clearer. There have been a lot of technological advances during the Monkey Man's life including home computers, video games, cell phones, microwaves, and many other luxuries that today's chimps along with the Monkey Man enjoy. Does the Monkey Man think these inventions, that make our lives easier, have contributed both positively and negatively to society? Absolutely!

While contemplating on how different the world is today, a few thing stood out to the Monkey Man. There are many influences on today's chimps that have seemed to deteriorate the attitudes and quality of life for today's chimps. When the Monkey Man was growing up, the television and movies he watched was full of shows that were less violent, less sexual and less graphic than today's programming. Does the Monkey Man think this has played a role in the attitude of the chimp populace? Absolutely!

Another influence the Monkey Man was contemplating is the lack of involvement between young chimps and their elders. The Monkey Man thought of how involved his parents were in his life.
They knew the chimps he played with.
They knew the parents of the chimps he played with.
They knew what he was doing and how he was doing in school.
They weren't afraid to let the Monkey Man know when he was not behaving appropriately. They taught him how to be a good chimp. This didn't mean the Monkey Man always acted appropriately, in fact he often showed how curious and mischievous he was, but one thing stood out, he didn't want to disappoint the elder chimps.
The Monkey Man started thinking about how today's chimps behave. Many of them have little interaction with their parents. They are left to tend to themselves or rely on other young chimps to care for them while both mother and father chimp are at work, trying to earn the means to pay for all of lives amenities. Trying to keep up with the other chimp families. Trying to survive in a world of economic insecurity, greed, and desire. Does the Monkey Man think the lack of involvement on the part of parent chimps play a role in the deterioration of society? Absolutely

The Monkey Man began to wonder if he was turning into one of the elder chimps of yesterday, always talking of living in a simpler time. The Monkey Man may be getting a bit older, but he is also getting a bit wiser. He knows the world isn't going to go back to a time that is simpler. He does want to make the monkey world a better place. One where he makes a conscious decision to improve the jungle around him and to help the other chimps in the worldwide troop. The Monkey Man would like to share his wisdom with you by encouraging you to make a difference in the life of the chimps around you. He would like you to go out every day and do one act of kindness, whether big or small, that will make the world a better place not only for you, but for all the chimps in the jungle.

Bad Monkey and Learning to Juggling

The monkey man has not been good at posting lately, but with spring time upon us, it is a time for renewal and recommitment! Instead of dwelling on the monkey man being a bad monkey and not updating the blog, let's think about finding balance or something else.....

Today's thought comes from a discussion the monkey man was having with his cousin chimp. The monkey man was talking about how he likes to find balance in things and many times it is hard to find that balance. The wise cousin chimp then reminded the monkey man that "if you can't find balance, learn to juggle."

Isn't it great to have a sage around to share such wise words?

The Monkey Man's Christmas

The Monkey Man had one of the best Christmas Holidays of his life and it was all due to the amazing monkey troop.

One of the older chimps called all the troop together for a brief meeting on Christmas Eve morning. The purpose of the meeting was to see if the troop wanted to pitch in on a gift for the Monkey Man. This special gift was to be something special the Monkey Man has always longed to have, but could never bring himself to get for himself. The older chimp told the other monkeys to contribute what they could, and he would take care of the rest. The youngest monkey said, "but I only have a dollar". The older monkey replied that if that is all they had and could contribute, that would be sufficient. With the monkeys in agreement, Mrs. Monkey Man did the shopping.

Christmas Day arrived and the monkeys in the troop were very excited. There was a lot of chatter as one of the monkeys brought out the main gift.....an electric guitar. The monkeys all giggled as they said, "but there is more...." and another monkey brought out an amplifier. The chatter continued with "but there is more...." and yet another monkey brought out a cord for the guitar. "But there is more..." was the chant repeated again and again as the chimps in the troop brought out additional pieces of the perfect gift, an electronic tuner, picks, a guitar strap, and a guitar book. The Monkey Man was nearly in tears at the thoughtfulness of the troop.

The Monkey Man now has the challenge of learning how to play this wonderful gift. That is his New Years Resolution!

The Monkey Man thanks the Monkey Troop for their love and giving nature! You all are truly the best!

Time passes so quickly!!!

The Monkey Man can't believe how quickly time passes by.
He remembers as a young chimp how it seemed like holidays, birthdays and other major events seemed to take forever to arrive. But as the Monkey Man has advanced in his age the days, weeks, months and years just seem to fly by so quickly. He has heard so many primates query "Where has the past year gone?"
This has got the Monkey Man to thinking....Why does time seem to go by so much quicker as we get older?

Is it because we don't anticipate events like young chimps do? Is it because we get so busy with our day to day living that we forget to take some time to enjoy the anticipation of an event?

The Monkey Man does not know why time flies by quickly for you, but he does know that he needs to take some time to enjoy the anticipation.

The Monkey Man would also like to take this time to wish all of you a very merry Christmas! He also wishes you the best for the coming year!

The Monkey Man Votes!

The Monkey Man has been limited on his computer access lately and deeply apologizes for the lack of new content. Please stay tuned for more stories, they are on the way.

The Monkey Man took some time out of his schedule today to vote early. He was very pleased to see so many people voting. Although he got to the polling location as they opened, he still had to wait in line for 45 minutes to cast his vote. The Monkey Man knows the political process is different all over the world, but he wants to encourage everyone to get involved with the political process where ever they live.

Enjoy the Journey

The Monkey Man was chatting with a co-worker this week, discussing this journey called life. He had an epiphany of sorts.

The Monkey Man thought back to his young chimphood. His parents would take the Monkey Man to visit his grandparents numerous times each year. This was no small journey for a young chimp. Driving a couple hours each way to his grandparents home seemed like an eternity at times. As the Monkey Man reminisced about these journeys, he tried to remember the visits with his grandparents. Some of the activities and discussions he could recall, many he could not.

What surprised the Monkey Man was how many of the events of the journey he could remember while he could only recall a few events that occurred at the end of the road. The Monkey Man can remember the games the fellow monkeys played while traveling in the back of the car. He can remember having contests counting how many deer they could find as they drove through the mountains. He can remember his mother noticing a "really big cow" that turned out to be a moose. He remembers his father hitchhiking back to get help after the car broke down. He remembers the mudslide that made it impossible to travel the normal route, extending the trip. He remembers watching for Rudolf's red nose as they drove on Christmas Eve.

The Monkey Man does remember some of the fond memories spent with his grandparents, but he realizes even more-so that the final destination was only part of the prize. There are so many joys and memories we can and should remember from the journey itself.

Too many times, we speed through life with our eyes only set on that final destination, be it the career of our choice, the home or car we want to purchase, the person we want to date/marry. The Monkey Man would encourage you to take a moment and enjoy the journey. Take the time to enjoy the ride. It will make the final destination that much sweeter.

Monkey Matters

The Monkey Man was thinking about a recent outing to one of his favorite restaurants. A couple of the monkeys from the troop along with Mrs. Monkey Man went with him. They were enjoying one of his favorite meals when the waitress came over and asked how things were with the meal. As the Monkey Man raged on about how marvelous the meal was, one of the chimps noticed the waitress had spilled a small container of butter on the floor. He was very animated in making sure it got cleaned up very quickly.
The Monkey Man and the Mrs. was thinking how nice it was that this young chimp wanted the mess cleaned up so nobody would slip on the butter. The Monkey Man grabbed a napkin that was nearby and handed it to the chimp. He then proceeded to clean off the butter, not on the floor, but on his brand new shoe. The entire dinner party thought it was very humorous that the young chimp was more concerned with the butter on his shoe than the butter on the floor. We had all assumed he was worried about the butter on the floor.
This experience got the Monkey Man thinking. How many times, do we think we know what is behind someones intent, without really knowing or trying to understand what is important to them or what their intent really is?
Was the Monkey Man any less impressed with this chimp? Not at all. The Monkey Man was impressed that the chimp would take care of his belongings. He also had pointed out the butter had fallen, when none of the older monkeys had even paid attention to it. Two problems solved, butter cleaned up on the floor and on the shoe. Way to go little chimp!