Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

Today's word is time-out.

Today's word is time-out...no not take-out which is really quite lovely. :)  It's time-out.

Time-outs have gotten a bad rap.  Kids get punishments that are called time-outs.  I think Hockey players get them too. :)

But for me a time-out can be heaven.

Today I am taking a time-out day.  I have been working very hard.  Long hours on my feet and today I need to stop and regroup.  My body aches and my dog Pumpkin has spent a lot of time in her kennel over the past four days.  Today we stop. 

Time-out.  A break.  A chance to renew.  A fine, fine concept I shall embrace with both hands.

 

Of course we are changed.

I read several news reports about Sugarland, the country duo, this past weekend. Jennifer Nettles was quoted as saying they were all changed by the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair.  Of course they were...

We all are changed ... at least a little by most things that happen to us.  The good, the bad and the very ugly.  We get to decide how much of that change we let in. 

Some people block it all.  Shut it out.  "This bad thing happened and I will ignore it."  Or something sooooo good happened that they block that too.  "This is too good to be true."

Either way I think you lose.  I want to think as I grow older and so much better :)  that I am living my life more and more with my arms wide open.  I will embrace it all...then see what I want to keep. I will then toss out the rest. 

But I will feel it.  I will learn from it.  I will let go of some of it.  And some I will hold to my heart.

 I will be changed by it.  That is actually the point of living isn't it?  Take this lump of clay called life and see what we can form with it?

Take a deep breath and dive!

Okay that is my mantra for the weekend.  Until midnight Sunday I have an incredible work schedule.  I could sit here and bemoan it...or take a deep breath and dive in!  I am choosing to dive.

Part of bemoaning what you need to do before you do it is that all that bemoaning can wear you out!  I say use your force for good little grasshopper and dive, dive, dive right in!

What are you bemoaning about having to do? Would it be done already of you just dived in and did it?  :)  Just askin'

Today's word is slow.

In a world that seems to pick up steam...today my word is slow.  To go easy. Not to stop but to go slow.

My theory is that every day cannot be lived flat-out at top speed.  Well maybe it can be if you have all the pieces in place.  I am still working on that giant puzzle so it's important that I listen to my body and today that body is saying...go slow.  And my response...okay then. :)

Today's word is spoon.

Yup spoon.  I need a bigger one.  I love Lucky Charms. LOVE EM! But I realized this morning I need a bigger spoon.  I have a normal spoon but no spoon soup and certainly no spoon designed for Lucky Charms.

Is there such a thing as a cereal soup?  Soup has it's own spoon...hm-mm.

Here what my need for a bigger spoon made me think...you have to have the right tools when you want to do something.  You can get away with not having them some times...I certainly ate my lovely Lucky Charms without a large spoon...but a large spoon would have been better.

So what job or task or you attempting that would be easier if you had the "right size spoon"?  Just asking :)

You are loved. All is well.

I love that message.  It comes to me as part of the "header" in a email from Abraham-Hicks every morning...seven days a week.

I find comfort in that and it makes me smile.

You are loved. It can change your mood.  It can change your life.  But I know there are people who don't feel that way.  They feel cut off and alone.  That feeling can literally drain the color from your life.

Here is the best way to get connected to "love"...genuine love.  Volunteer.  Get involved with people or with animals.  You do things for them but you get things in return.  One of the things over time you may get is love...genuine affection for who you are. No not match.com kind of love.  But the love that comes from reaching out to others in a way of support and caring and having that recognized.

It feels good...then great :)  And the color that may have been draining away will come full circle and you will like they use to say on TV years ago...live your life in living color! 

Challenge or gift?

Challenge or gift?  You get to decide.  Everything that happens to you...every situation that presents itself to you is either a challenge or a gift.

How you view "it" determines it's challenge or gift status. And then your actions follow that decision.

 I had three things happen yesterday.  Three. "Because one simply would not be enough.  Each one made me pause and say .."holy crap!"

My next step is/was the most important one.  I am viewing each thing as a gift. I will deal with it with as much grace and understanding as I can.  I am NOT spinning.  I am NOT saying why me.  I am simply turning my attention to action...doing what I can and then letting it go.

I am resisting the urge to worry and fret.  They do nothing but make me eat ice cream.  And eating ice cream should be done out of joy not frustration :)

Remember not every gift comes wrapped in shiny paper...but it can still be accepted with grace and end up something special.

 

I am a disco ball. Yes, I am.

I worked a very long weekend.  Right now one of the places I work needs me to do that.  I can and so I do.

I have an incredible work ethic that comes from my parents. You do what needs to be done until its done.  Simple.  I have done that all my life.

Twice on Sunday night co-workers said I wasn't myself.  Hm-mm.  So you know me...I gave what they said some thought.

Here's what I know.  I can only be myself.  Never had any luck being someone else.  I am the round peg that simply does not fit in a square hole. Can't. It does not work. I have tried. Doesn't work.

I am not one thing.  Just like you I have many sides...so many sides I decided yesterday that I am a disco ball!!!!  Oh yes I am.  :)

I am funny and smart and caring and sarcastic and hurt and tired and loving and sexy and I have your back if you need it and I am quiet.

I have many, many sides...some more shiny then others.  And if you expect only to see one side you have missed the whole disco ball.  And that my friend is something to see :)

Today's word is vision.

I love this definition of vision...the power of seeing.  Cool.  Very cool.

Have you ever thought about how you see things?  How we see things is influenced by a lot more than just our eyes.  It is about the physical seeing with our eyes..but also how we are feeling about the things we see. Our state of mind. 

One person can "see" a beautiful day unfolding and another  person can "see" another day simply to make it through.

If it's true that vision is the power of seeing... how are you going to use that power today little grasshopper?

Today's word is transition.

Transition...it is a noun and I believe it should be a verb too!  Transition is defined as passage from one stage to another. 

Sounds simple.  Hm-mm passage...like on the Orient Express with a lovely beverage? 

Ah no!  Transition can be painful and scary and make one fear full.  Hell yes...full to the brim with fear.

Any passage can feel like that.  Especially if the passage is into the unknown. 

But here is a thought to embrace like a cupcake...transition can also be a great adventure into a new world.  A passage into something different. Taking the train not full of fear but of wide eyed anticipation.  Like that Disney commercial where the little kids and their dad are too excited to sleep.  :)

It's up to you what train you board...and bringing along a beverage is of course optional!