Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

Some days are meant for twirling...

Remember when you were a kid and you just went outside and twirled around? Nothing else mattered. You just twirled until you fell to the ground.

 It feels like that kind of day to me...I just want to twirl.

Okay... I don't want to spin in a circle so much that I get goofy...but I am taking time out this weekend to do a few things that seem simple and give me great pleasure.  It's been a long week full of many adult things...this weekend...it's time for a little "retro action".  Going back in time to do a few simple things that give my pleasure. 

What would be on your list of things to do?

What do you bring to the table?

No...silly goose I am not talking about what you bring to the dinner table...though if you are asking about that specific table.... something chocolate always works for me :)!

No...I am taking about what you bring to the table of life.  I am thinking about that this morning as I get ready to head over to the hospital to deal with some health issues for a person I know.  I am also thinking about it because I talked with someone last night who wanted a bit of help with a job application cover letter.

What do you bring to the table?  Well what do you?  There have been many people who never get to the table because they feel they don't deserve a place there.  They have not earned it...whatever that means.  I am of the mindset that anyone has a place.  And what you bring is you.

You are a collection of experiences, hopes and dreams....and so am I.  You are a package deal.  Sometimes you are moving so fast that your package gets a bit squished and you forget everything you already have. 

That was the case with the person I talked with last night.  I easily recounted the experiences she had that would be an asset for the position she is seeking.  She couldn't find the words.  They were there.  She just needed a bit if help bringing them out. She brings more than enough to that table.  Whether it's a match for the position in the mind of the employer is another story.  But she deserves to be there to present what she has.

Today I am bringing to the table concern, years of experience and a genuine caring for the person I will be seeing.  That's what I bring. That... and a couple of bars of chocolate for the waiting room. :)

We are our brother's keeper...and our sisters too.

There are days I would like to live in isolation.  In fact there are days that I do.  I don't know about you but some days I am peopled out.  I just want peace and quiet.

Most of my professional life and my personal life for that matter has been "people intense".  Some days more than others. That's why peace and quiet can be so attractive to me I think. :)

I am a volunteer guardian for people who have disabilities.  I have been a guardian for over ten years.  I think that commitment comes from my years even as a teenager of working with the Association for Retarded Children...which now has a new name...but 30 years ago that's what it was called and that's where I started with my friend Barb.  Then came helping to start Special Olympics in our area and on and on.

My first professional position was as the Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy of North Central Wisconsin.

Over ten years ago I was approached about being a volunteer guardian and I said yes and yes and yes again until I said yes 5 times which is the limit in our state you can have as a volunteer.  Once the county asked if I wanted to go to court so I could have more.  For once in my life I said no. 

I call them my chicklettes.  They call me all sorts of things. :)  I truly hear from some of them almost daily.  When people ask if I have children...I just smile most of the time..because it feels like I do.

This is on my mind today more than normal because one of my chicklettes is sick and could have cancer.  I need to be with him tomorrow.  He will have surgery and then the surgeon will talk with me and I may have some decisions to make.  I have called his family and have had no response.  I will call them again once I talk to the surgeon but my bet is the decisions about his treatment will fall to me. 

I am my brothers keeper.  I do the best I can.  But some days..like tomorrow...that feels like more of a responsibility than I bargained for. But that's the thing about being responsible...most of the time it is.

Somehow I don't think a cat would have waited.

I am a dog person.  I love them and have had them in my life for years.  Cats are okay...but I have never been drawn to them.

Dogs seem to want to be with you.  My boy Frank who died last summer would have been happy if I could have carried him with me everywhere...every day.  Pumpkin, his sister, loves to sit on my lap as I type.  She always looks at me when I type her name...spooky but in a good way.

Cats...well I am allergic to their fur so that's one reason I am not around them.  The other reason is that they appear to be a bit more sneaky than dogs.  Whenever I went to visit my aunt and uncle when I was a child...they would have to put their cats in a bedroom so I would not start sneezing.

Not long after my arrival...I would start sneezing.  I would look around and sure enough there would be a cat sitting right behind me on the top of the couch.  I swear the cat would be smiling...but that may have just been me!

Last night I watched the movie Hachi a dog's tale.  It's a charming little true story that stars Richard Gere and Joan Allen and an amazing dog. I don't think there has been a dog movie made that isn't sad at some point...so be prepared if you watch it. Don't read anymore if you don't want to know more about the movie.

The story is about a dog who waits for his master for ten years at the train station after the master dies.  The movie is about loyalty.  I think it's also about love and staying power.  It makes you cry...and if you are a dog lover...maybe even more so.

I couldn't help thinking though this morning...that somehow a cat would not have waited.  Maybe they have the same attachment to their "people"...I don't know. It doesn't appear so to me.  Maybe I need to spend more time finding out...then maybe again Pumpkin and I will just spend more time watching dog movies.  There has to be one somewhere with a happy ending!

Bulter showed us...there is great honor in the attempt.

I do not have TV so I looked to the internet this morning to see that Butler came ever so close to winning the NCAA title last night...ever so close!

But they did not win. 61-59...so close.  They did it the Butler Way.  No fancy footwork.  No fancy play calls.  They each stepped up according to their coach when they were needed and they had each other's back!  And the players showed with those two things in play...they played their hearts out and almost came away with the national title.  I would venture to say the players from Butler came a way with a lot of other things anyway.

Maybe not today or maybe not tomorrow...but soon I hope the Butler players remember...

There is satisfaction when you do the very best you can.  There is satisfaction when you don't give up.  There is satisfaction when you can look your teammate in the face and say, "I had your back".

I hope there is also great satisfaction is knowing that folks across the country were inspired by their play...and took note of the lesson they taught us in the end...you have no control over the outcome of whatever game you play...but if you play it with all you have...that's where the honor is. That's what people will remember.

Preparing for a summer of content.

Have you ever heard the expression..."summer of discontent"?  That expression was on my mind yesterday for some reason...

Towards the end of the day in my quiet time I started thinking about having a summer of content.  Having a summer where life just is and things flow.  I think I would appreciate that for awhile.  So I am starting to prepare for that.

How does one prepare to be content?  Well I think you have to continue to "clear the deck" of anything that is cluttering up your space.  If you have been a reader of this blog you know that is an ongoing process for me.

I think you have to also be clear about what you want in your life.  That helps you decide where your focus should be. You will have discontent if you are not clear.

Then be prepared to be present.  Show up this summer every day and see what there is to see.   You cannot show up if you are exhausted or scattered or frantic.

Live each day this summer as a new adventure to be experienced.  Heh..you can get a jump start on your "summer of content" by starting to live life like that today :) 

Today is a day for quiet.

It is the season for observing holidays (Passover and Easter) and if that includes you...may your celebrating be what it needs to be...and may you find joy with family and friends.

Me.  I am tired and having a quiet day. I do not have to be anywhere today and that feels good.

I shall leave it at that. 

May you find some space today to be quiet with your thoughts. And in that quiet may you experience some delightful surprises...

You know love when you see it.

I had the opportunity to listen to a man talk about his partner last night.  They haves been married 25 years and they will be celebrating with a party today.

I saw him last night and he talked about her.  I was simply delighted to witness what he said.  He said he adores her.  He loves her more today than he did when they married.  It was not all gushy and hallmark card like...it was real and just wonderful. No offense to Hallmark..your hoops and yo cards are the best :)

In a world where the media is focused on betrayal and infidelity is was wonderful to witness two lives that are not that.  Oh I know there are millions of couples like that but quite honestly I don';t hear people talk about the partners very often in the same light as the man last night.  Maybe life is moving too fast, maybe people think those are private thoughts and feelings they don't need to share.

I say SHARE THEM!  In a world where we hear about folks not standing by each other...I think the other side deserves as much press. If life is fair and balanced...how about some balance?! Now some may say that is not news worthy but I stood there last night with a huge smile on my face as I listened to him recount their first date and how life just keeps getting better.

It may not be news worthy to some...but I would much rather walk away with a wistful feeling for that relationship than the disbelief I continue to feel when I hear those other stories day after day.

 

We are spring cleaning...our head! :)

I am a clutter bug.  I am.  I love stuff.  I have so much stuff ... well it is simply amazing.

I have come to the point in my life where I truly want to let go of some of it.  Never thought I would arrive at such a place.  But I am here.  I read about a guy who pared everything down in his life so it fit in a suitcase!  Wow...impressive but a bit out my reach.  But I am a work in "clutter free" progress.

That's why I am starting my spring cleaning with the clutter in my head.  Things that I simply keep thinking about...but for some reason do not do anything about.  They surface every once in a while but yet I don't take action.  I cannot be alone in this!!!

I have a committee I am going to resign from.  Cards to send to old friends...bought...sitting here...un-mailed. I have my power for health care still unfinished.  I have relationships that I mull over and over that have long since ceased but I revisit them.  I could go on but you get the picture.

When you have unfinished business..clutter that takes up mental space and energy you are less likely to be focused forward.  And that my friends is where the action is.  So...what to do?

Sometimes this holiday weekend sit with a pad and paper and write down what is cluttering up your mind.  A simple list...write until you cannot write anymore.  A good question to ask yourself is..."anything else?"

Then look at what you have written. I am a big fan of card stock and markers.  I plan to highlight things I can take care of and give myself a deadline.  For things like those relationships I mull over I am going to try to figure out what the attraction there is...why the revisiting?  If I discover the answer to that :) you'll be the first to know!

So here's to spring cleaning and less clutter & more action...space to breathe and create.  It's through those doors that we will reach the life we want vs. continuing being in a "room" with the past.

Time for spring house cleaning? Let's start with our head!

The weather is shifting...it's warm out here.  I, however, will NOT be fooled!  I shall keep my boots and shovel handy.  I live in Wisconsin and know all too well the last minute tricks Mother Nature likes to pull...

With that said still a lot of people start throwing open the windows and start spring cleaning!  I am all for that this year..and I say let's start with our head!

Over the next couple of days I will give you a few steps I am using to "spring clean" my head...get stuff out that serves no purpose.  Get refocused and make this a spring/summer to remember.

It's kind of like looking at your closet...what fits and what doesn't.  What have you used and what have you just held to too for years because you feel you should?

It's about creating a void so there is wiggle room for more ideas to grow.  If you are feeling so cluttered...how can you possibly focus on one thing and how do you think you will find room to cultivate anything new?  Simply won't happen...simply cannot happen.

Tomorrow we will be looking at how you sort things out.