Tim Pepper Archives - NowTHINK!AboutIt

Thanksgiving: One Of Many Ways To Say Thanks

November 24, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

There Are As Many Ways To Show Gratitude
As There Are Reasons
To Be Grateful

Everyone should be thankful. The Bible not only teaches this it also plainly commands us to be thankful.

Give thanks in all circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

And that verse finishes by saying “for this is the WILL OF GOD for you in Christ Jesus.”

If that were the only verse mentioning gratitude you might have an excuse for whinging but there are many additional verses that make the same point.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, WITH THANKSGIVING, let your requests be known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

That’s just a sample. There’s plenty more where that came from.

More importantly, what we learn from the Thessalonian command is that gratitude is more a mental exercise than an emotional response.

Instead of being momentarily grateful for some unexpected benefit on the odd occasion, it’s to be a constant state of mind, even when there is nothing happening in the moment that tickles our Thank You button.

That means it is the byproduct of an intentional mental exercise more than a passing response to things as they happen.

In fact, if gratitude is exercised properly you’ll find yourself expressing appreciation for many things and to a great variety of people often, not just one day a year.

Don’t misunderstand. My one-day-a-year comment is not intended to diminish the significance of this important day. The celebration offers a unique opportunity to really give muscle to the idea of giving thanks.

It’s a great way to mark the end of one year and the beginning of the next but there is no end to things for which we can be thankful and the ways in which gratitude can be expressed. It’s an everyday attitude and an all-year-long experience.

We all know these things intuitively to be true but I was pleasantly reminded of that fact when I received the following email from my son, Timothy. [Read more…] about Thanksgiving: One Of Many Ways To Say Thanks

The Thing Getting In The Way Of Your Happiness Might Be Your Search For Happiness

April 16, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Guest Post By Tim Pepper
Find Tim’s Music At TimPepperMusic.com

It occurred to me in the parking lot of Kroger. Listening to a podcast of another celebrity talk about their life and the reality that getting the things they thought they wanted never made them happy, it hit me. We don’t know what happiness feels like. None of us do. How are we supposed to recognize the thing we are striving for if we don’t know what it actually is?

Happiness, and searching for it, and the lack thereof, and the fleeting experiences we’ve had with it, is something we all have in common as humans. It’s an intangible feeling that we are consciously, or subconsciously, or maybe even unconsciously searching for. But we don’t know what it really is. We don’t know where it comes from. We don’t know how to manufacture it. All we really know is that we want it.

Let me be totally clear. We’ve all had happy experiences. We’ve felt it. We know happiness exists. Further, we all think we know what will make us happy. We all think we know how to find it. We all think we know what it is. But we don’t. If we did, we wouldn’t still be chasing it. It comes along, and we either can’t recognize it, or it fills us with anxiety that it might vanish as suddenly as it appeared.

It’s usually in retrospect that we can look at various phases of our lives and say, “Yes! I was happy in those days.”

What accompanied my parking lot epiphany was the idea that we are all under the wrong notion that a life that is a happy one, is all happy. Life is ups and downs. A happy life is no exception. Even in the midst of happiness, there is disappointment, anger, fear, rage, sadness, harsh realities, burdens, and all the other things that are a part of real life. Maybe one of the reasons we find happiness so elusive is that our idea of it is completely and utterly wrong. Maybe our expectations have set us all up for failure.

I’m a newly-wed. We tied the knot 18 months ago and before that, I’d been in very few serious relationships and most of them I’d approached with some level of detachment. The beautiful thing about detachment is that nothing matters. [Read more…] about The Thing Getting In The Way Of Your Happiness Might Be Your Search For Happiness

Tim Pepper Music – The Good Fight

August 19, 2016 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

It’s Not Tuesday
But There’s Plenty Of Soul

Side by side, Tim Pepper’s songs create a kaleidoscope of sound. A rainbow of genres that are rarely the same. The pattern doesn’t repeat, but after a hundred plus songs – and you thought there were no new rhythms to feature – he surprises us with something new. A Spanish Flamenco feel, with both clapping and foot stomping.

Not to worry. You don’t need frilly attire or long flowing skirts to feel the vibe. For those stuck in the rock mode, like me, there’s a bit of that too. It’s soft and dynamic, quiet and loud, meek and assertive.

Thought provoking!

You can book Tim Pepper for house shows and more.

Lyrics

Tim Pepper Music – Soulful Tuesday – Sunshine

August 9, 2016 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Sunshine

If it’s true that novelists write themselves, then it seems logical to think singer/songwriters sing themselves. And if that’s the case, then what does Sunshine say about Tim Pepper.

Tim is known for being thoughtful, which can be interpreted in many different ways. Some positive. Some not so positive, but that may be an accurate descriptor. Sunshine reflects both sides of the coin.

In Sunshine, Tim thinks and feels. He reflects and fumes. There’s nothing static. He isn’t eternally pessimistic or optomistic.

But I wouldn’t dismiss the song as just another boring dose of realism. It isn’t flat. It’s a little up and a little down, and it ends on an upbeat note. It moves honestly.

The song isn’t long, but it’s lots of fun and the tune is really catchy too. Enjoy!

Book Tim Pepper for house shows and more.

Lyrics

Tim Pepper Music – Soulful Tuesday – Darker Side

July 26, 2016 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Darker Side

Long before Star Wars popularized the concept, rock stars were making The Dark Side fashionable. Jim Morrison comes to mind. Others followed suit.

Morrison, of course, was a great, or at least interesting poet to many and an anathema to some. It was his fascination with the dark side that made people flinch.

Tim Pepper’s song focused on the dark side too, but it came from a different angle. It made me think the reality is bigger but maybe less threatening than we imagine. The lyrics have an entertaining rhythm and a playful sound but from the title to the last chorus it’s thought provoking.

The Darker Side is not a place we hold dear. We avoid it or think we do. The effort we make to not talk about it is obvious. But it’s there. It’s not so far away. It’s closer than we think and brushes with it are inevitable. [Read more…] about Tim Pepper Music – Soulful Tuesday – Darker Side