Affirmations

  I’m quite certain that there is at least one person in your world to whom you feel an emotional attachment.  This might be in the form of romantic love, as between spouses, or a deep reverence for someone who is a friend or “chosen” family member.  Do you tell this person how you feel?  When it’s romantic love, it’s (hopefully) easy to communicate that message.  But love between friends may be a bit more awkward to express. Several years ago, I had a medical scare that reminded me that a time will come when I no longer have the opportunity to tell others how I feel about them.  So, I decided that I need to be more open about sharing this feeling.  I found that there are a few very close friends to whom it is now easy to end a conversation with “I love you” and we all understand that it isn’t a sappy, romantic notion.  Rather it is love born of friendship and shared characteristics.  Letting one another know that we care is just one more way...

I took this pic on the trail that leads from Lake Thomas A.Edison to Devil’s Bathtub.  This hillside sits within the Ansel Adams Wilderness, one of several protected regions within the Sierra Nevada mountain range.  I won’t bore you with a lecture about the term wilderness.  If you’re interested in learning more, please take some time to research the importance of dedicated wilderness spaces on your own.   The wilderness is one of my two ‘happy places.’  I think it’s okay to have more than one happy place.  What do you think?  My first happy place is when I am surrounded by my family. Sometimes it is ridiculously loud, and not everyone gets along with each other at any given time, but it still makes my heart smile when we can all be together in the same space. Rambunctious, noisy, chaotic, funny, sarcastic, supportive, enthusiastic, grumpy…one of our gatherings can hit all of these and more.  As the photo demonstrates, I am also captivated by the ...

“I wish I had…”. You can fill in the blank.  We have all uttered these words at least once, if not more often.  Like me, perhaps there is a hobby you wanted to try.  Or perhaps there’s a relationship you hoped to repair, but never got around to or couldn’t find the right words.  Maybe you just wanted to travel to a bucket-list site and never took the trip. So let’s try something together.  On three, I want you to take in a nice deep breath.  One, two, three, breathe in!  Hold it there, and now, slowly release it, through your nostrils, over a count of ten.  Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one.  Are you still with me?  Still taking in other breaths?  Great!  That means, it isn’t too late!!!  You are here, you are breathing, and you have a desire to do something, make a change, go somewhere, or otherwise fulfill that need that you still hold near your heart. I recently learned that a friend is finis...

“Be diligent…”  “Don’t give up…”  “Hang in there…”  No matter, how you say it, the message remains clear. It’s important to finish what we start. Even in the face of challenges, when we have a goal or a task to complete, we have to find a way to do it. The irony is that people who do stick to their task or maintain a belief are labeled as being stubborn. How is it that our words can so quickly move from having a positive to a negative connotation and impact?   Have you ever been called stubborn?  How did it make you feel? I’ve certainly been the poster child for that moniker many times in my life. I’m here to tell you that I am proud of the title STUBBORN. To me, it means that no matter how difficult the situation, I didn’t give up. I remained true to myself as I continued to work for what I believed in. If you find yourself being labeled as stubborn, take a moment and decide which connotation you want to embrace. Do you hear others’ condemnation and backtrack t...

  Today’s message is short and sweet:  Make a lis of 10 things that make you smile.  Then, go out and do/see/find at least two of them today.

  I’ll admit it…I don’t like asking for, and even accepting, help.  As far back as I can recall, I have wanted to solve my own problems and pull myself through difficult situations.  Once I married Jim, I did allow him into my attempts at self-support, but I have never relished the idea of adding too many others to that private club.  Perhaps some of you can relate? The reality is that there have been, and continue to be, times when I/we have needed support from others.  Often, it has taken some begging on the part of others before I could accept what they offered.  Some strong-willed, determined folks didn’t offer…they simply came and gave of themselves without listening to my pleas for them to “let me do it.”  I’m always amazed by those people:  I think that I’m stubborn, but it takes an entirely different level of mulishness to fight back.  Well-played, all of you! Interestingly enough, while I struggle with receiving help from others, I ...

This morning, I found myself thinking about goals.  Not in the way you might imagine.  I wasn’t considering the goals I had set for my day.  Instead, I was thinking about the idea of goals.  Allow me to explain. From the time we are young, hopefully, goal setting is being modeled for us.  For example, the other night, my granddaughter really wanted a piece of chocolate. No surprise there, right?  4-year-olds love candy.  Of course this had to happen during dinner.  So, I told her that if she could eat all of her fruit and four big bites (not toddler nibbles) of her Mac-and-cheese, I would give her a piece of chocolate.  Goal setting for a little one.  Another example of goal setting can be seen in elementary classrooms across the nation.  Each morning, the teacher tells the students what they need to complete that morning in order to enjoy their full recess.  If they don’t finish, they lose recess in order to do so.  Goal...

“ Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” ~ Abigail Adams Quick!  Name three  new things that you have learned in the past week.  I’m waiting…  Some weeks, we can respond to this query at a second’s notice.  At other times, it might not be such a easy task.  Where are you on this spectrum today?   My professional life has been spent in education.  I have always loved to read and to learn. As a young adult it simply made sense to embrace those characteristics when choosing my career path.  As I matured, I came to the realization that my role in the life of young people was so much greater than simply “teaching” them the content of a class.  Encouraging curiosity, and providing students with the tools to seek out new, relevant information for themselves, could empower them to pursue learning on their own.  My childhood librarian, Carrie, knew this.  It’s what led her to hand six-year-...

If you are reading this, I’m fairly certain that you know that I will never be mistaken for a “morning person.”  Point in fact, most people post their blog messages early in the day so that their followers can read upon waking.  Mine can only be considered early posts for folks that live on some island at the far eastern reaches of the Pacific Ocean. 😂 The battle over my preferred hours has been life-long.  I’m 52 years old, and have even recently been subjected to a lecture by each of my parents about why I should wake up early enough to watch the sunrise.  For the two of them, witnessing that phenomena is one of the most important parts of their day.  They cannot fathom the idea that I have no interest in waking up that early.  The exception would be when I was leaving on a vacation somewhere and had a very early departure.  Then, I would gladly arise with the roosters! I enjoy a beautiful sunset, and I enjoy the hours that follow one.  I even ...

Did you set New Year’s Resolutions for 2024?  I set a few.  One was promptly broken just days after the new year began.  I feel bad about that, but isn’t that the case with many of these things?  They are usually lofty goals that require large expenditures of time, energy, and sometimes even money, to accomplish.  That’s not to say that all resolutions will fall by the wayside.   Resolutions don’t have to fail.  We just have to be very willing to work on them.  Today, I challenge you to take one definitive step towards accomplishing a resolution that you have made.  You don’t have to finish it today.  You simply have to put in at least one focused piece of work that moves you closer to accomplishing the goal you have set.   I don’t know what goals you have set for yourself.  Sometimes goals are meant to be shared and occasionally they need to remain private.  What I do know is that you have all of the knowledge and skills ...

I didn’t have any idea what to write about this morning.  While I waited for inspiration to hit, I sat and took stock of my state of mental well-being, my health, and my plans for the day.  Somewhere along the way, I realized that what I need to say is directly related to that introspective journey.   Some of you have seen my personal health blog.  It is titled “The Next Mountain to Climb.”  This title actually holds two meanings for me.  First is the obvious nod to my love of hiking and desire to reach the summit of as many mountains as possible.  The deeper, metaphoric meaning speaks to the challenges of life.  Everyone faces adversity, some of which is easily dealt with and disposed of. But other challenges, from the struggle to find employment, to interpersonal issues and even illness, stay with us and require our attention far beyond a few minutes’ time.  This morning, as I considered my situation, I noted that I wasn’t feeling very well...

How did you start your morning?  Are you one of those “morning people” that hops out of bed, ready to take on the day?  Or perhaps you are more like me…you need a bit of time to ease into each new day? I was thinking about that this morning.  I don’t think the manner in which we greet a new day is as important as the fact that we ARE greeting a new day.  What a miracle!  What a blessing!   As we go through the motions of getting ready for our day, whatever it may hold, let’s all take time to celebrate that WE ARE HERE! Blessings, appreciation for, and love to all of you!  💝