Affirmations

Good afternoon!  This is sure to be a busy week for most of us.  Thanksgiving dinner:  the holiday meal that takes hours to prepare and moments to consume.  Does anyone else ever feel that way?  If that’s you, let’s try something new this year.  Instead of focusing on the eating of the meal, take some time to feel the joy of preparation.  Cooking for others is a great way to share ourselves.  Cooking a huge feast like the ones we generally have on Thanksgiving provides us with ample opportunity to share our love of others through food.  So, enjoy the process as much as the actual event.   This  is my favorite new 10-minute meditation.  The creator meant for it to be a morning / wake-up meditation, but I’ve found that it’s great for helping to refocus at any time of day.  Keep the link handy as you work through this week and prepare for your Thursday extravaganzas.   My wish for you this week:  Stay happy and enjo...

“Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.” ~Mignon McLaughlin What an interesting perspective on hope.  I had to read this a few times before internalizing its message.  What I decided is that the heart of this argument is that hope is our weapon against anxiety.  We all feel anxious at times.  We worry about so many things, most of which will never come to fruition.  But at the height of anxiety, it is often hard to take a step back and think logically about our situation.  It takes extreme focus and introspection to look past the fear and recognize it for what it is.  It takes practice (and age) to be able to do so effectively.  I’m not always good at it.  Sometimes, I can recognize that I’m feeling anxious and still am unable to pull myself out. I’ll admit that the occasions on which I cave in to my anxiety usually end in ugly crying.  Does it help? Nope. So, after self-imposed dehydration, I have to do s...

“Surprise yourself with goodness.”  ~Two Good Yogurt Company Where does inspiration come from?  For today’s post, mine came from the quote printed inside the foil lid of my morning yogurt (Black Cherry flavor, in case you were wondering 😉).  There’s always something uplifting or inspiring printed on their labels. It’s just one of the things I love about the Two Good products. They provide a healthy breakfast along with a hearty dose of encouragement.  Today, I have the joy of sharing their words with you. So what have you done that’s been a surprise to you?  Perhaps you sponsor a child’s basic needs through monetary donations.  Or maybe you volunteer with a philanthropic organization.  Or you might be a foster parent or work in an industry that supports others.  I think all of those acts are filled with goodness.  But can we find ways to spread goodness without throwing loads of money at an organization or activity?  Are there ways to s...

There’s a popular song that repeatedly says “Because I’m Happy…”. It’s a fun little ditty, and it gives us a reminder to just enjoy our happiness.  Do you ever take a moment to just stop and feel the happiness coursing through you?  Today, don’t overlook that feeling.  Stop, embrace it, clap your hands, smile, do a little dance, give someone a hug, wish strangers a good day, or some other small celebration that no one knows about but you.  Then, try to figure out what triggered your happiness in that moment. If you can, recreate that event, lesson, or activity in the future.  Identifying the source of your happiness is really important.  It gives your appreciation a focus and it provides structure to set up future moments of happiness.   Thinking of each of you with a smile on your face makes me happy.  Enjoy your Tuesday!

Good morning!  Most of you are probably enjoying a break from work today.  Today’s message is just my reminder to you that it is okay to allow yourself to relax.  It isn’t always easy to embrace relaxation, is it?  We all have responsibilities that keep us busy.  We need to remember that one of our responsibilities is to ourselves.  Self-care was not high on my list of priorities in the past.  These days, I still struggle to embrace it, but I’m getting better at it.  Today, my wish is for each of you to do the same.  Take a little time for yourself this weekend - you have an extra day!!!  Here are some suggestions:  Find time to meditate, concentrating on all of the positives in your life;  take a bubble bath; enjoy a cup of your favorite beverage; get a massage!; go for a walk in nature; read a book or watch a movie of your choice; go for a drive with no destination in mind.  Can you think of any others?  

Patience is a virtue, or so I’ve been told.  😉. Like gracefulness and a soft, melodious voice, patience as a virtue eluded me for much of my early life.  Today, it is much easier, but at times I still struggle with it.  I think acting with patience is definitely a skill that is learned over time.  For many young adults, that skill has not yet been learned.  I often tease my sons because they want instant gratification of their desires.  But I could probably extend that teasing to most of the people I know.  We all like our wishes granted  as soon as possible, don’t we? The reality is that being patient is difficult.  It’s something with which everyone struggles.  Just consider all of the platitudes we know about patience:  “Good things come to those who wait” and “the two most powerful warriors are patience and time” (Leo Tolstoy) come to mind.  I even remember a children’s song from a record we owned that directed “Have patie...

There’s a lot going on right now…. Have you ever found yourself telling that to someone?  It seems to me that we could start every conversation, at any time, with that phrase.  It’s true, isn’t it?  There is ALWAYS a lot going on.  Some of it good, some of it great, and some of it far less pleasant than we could hope for.  It’s for this reason that I don’t usually begin conversations with the aforementioned phrase.   Worse than redundancy is the fact that in so saying we are focusing on the negative aspects of our life.  Yes, we need to vent sometimes, and venting is usually about the negative.  It’s alright to talk all of that out.  Doing so is a healthy response to stressors and difficulties.  But even in the context of addressing difficulties, this phrase continues to bother me.  I feel like it drags us into the middle of pain, drama, confusion, etc.  That’s not the plane in which I want to exist. So, when I feel like there ...

  Do you have a nickname?  What about the people you care about?  If so, did you give it to them?  I’ve had a few nicknames over the years.  When we were younger, my brother and I used to call each other by our names pronounced backwards.  So, Nodnarb always called me Itsirk and vice versa.  Since then, I’ve been called a variety of other nicknames.  One that many have thrown at me over the years is Nerd.  If we could choose our nicknames, I wouldn’t mind being called Bookworm.  One of my bucket list dreams would be to earn the moniker “Doctor” for my signature line.  My favorite by far, and the one that makes my heart sing, is “Dear.”  Of course, that’s because it’s the one Jim most often directs at me. Nicknames are an interesting phenomenon.  Someone, usually but not always a parent, names us at birth.  Then, at later dates, others choose names that they find most fitting for us.  Do you ever stop to consider ...

 “My decisions today will define my tomorrow.”  This powerful statement is one you will hear when you complete today’s meditation (link below).  We know that every action we take has consequences.  Our job, as humans who are striving to evolve into our most beautiful self, is to take action in such a way that the consequences impact our world in positive, helpful ways.  Starting the week in contemplation helps us focus our mind and energy in preparation for these acts.  What can you do today that will help you achieve your goals ‘tomorrow?’   In reality, we may not reach a given goal until next week, next month, or even next year.  That timeline should not stop us from beginning our journey today.  After completing the meditation, I encourage you to focus on one specific goal.  Consider the steps it will take to make your goal a reality.  Think about the roadblocks you might face.  What can you do to avoid them?  If they c...

 “Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better.”  ~ Flannery O’Connor Good morning!  This quote was part of a daily “inspirational quotes” email that I received this morning.  It really resonated with me when I read it.  I am fully aware of my flaws, and work to improve upon them, all the time.  I know that I fall far short of the goal on any given day, but I really am making efforts to become better in the areas that need the most work.   Usually, those include being hotheaded, strongly disliking being wrong, speaking without thinking, and a host of others.  I don’t even expect you to contain your eye rolls - you know this is all true!  Yet, as unpleasant as it is to face our flaws, I think that its important to do so.  We have a responsibility to ourselves and those we care about to make improvements in ourselves.  Hopefully, every small improvement we make works like the ripples when a rock is dropped into a po...

 Wednesday, November 1, 2023 Good morning.  Do you ever find yourself faced with the day, but not really feeling the energy it will take to get through all of your responsibilities?  I am sure most of you can relate to that feeling.  Today is one of those days, at least for me.  I seem to have “hit the wall” early, so I’ve decided that the best thing to do is to concentrate on the small things.  I feel chilly today, so I’m sitting in the sun and enjoying the warmth it brings. Enjoying a moment in the sun, with a cup of hot coffee in hand, feels quite leisurely, as you can imagine.  Having a good book (or three!) to read also makes the day seem brighter.  Some small things that I focus on are not actually “small” though:  the memory of a good morning hug and kiss, the knowledge that I have amazing family and friends, the fact that we are all together on this journey.  Each of these is actually a huge blessing.  Concentrating on them ...