Hearing is a Gift

 I sat and contemplated a title for this blog post for quite some time.  I wanted it to JUMP OUT and GRAB your attention so I could share something with you.  Something that will remind you how important it is to not take your hearing for granted.  My words cannot do justice to the feelings I had when I watched this video.  I hope it does the same for you.

  

My Soapbox:    I feel bad for some of our youth of today.  They devalue this wonderful gift  by filling their ears with the negative sounds of this generation.  They fill their ears with angry sentences in rhythm to the strum of their instruments.  Words that are hostile, juvenile, and down-right disrespectable to each other, as well as degrading to themselves because they listen to it.  I can't even call them songs as they do not deserve the title.

Life is hard enough, we should be building each other up and making this a better place to live, instead of tearing each other down which only causes anger to grow amongst all God's children.

More Contentment

As I was doing some research on the internet looking for tips on how to become more content, I came across a great article called:  "8 Tips to Minimize Stress and Be More Content In Your Life".  

This article talks about unrealistic expectations being one of the causes that leads us on a crazy mental roller-coaster ride. Below are a summary of the tips it gives to improve your life and my thoughts.  

1.   Focus on actions rather than reactions   (focus on things you can control)
Thinking in terms of reactions is a hard one to handle because in many ways it may be out of your control.   I've since learned to always give 100% and I never have to second guess myself to figure out if I gave enough or if I could have done better.  I know that I did my best and sometimes my best might just not be good enough.   If that happens, I chalk it up to a learning experience and  just move on.


2.  Have fun; don't take things too seriously   (make everything you do fun)
This is me, too serious at times.   After my divorce, I only had myself to rely on to provide for my two children.  I became really focused and became too serious with life.   This can really wreak havoc on your soul over time.  I'm now trying to slow down, not worry so much, and trying to find the simple joy in everything I do on a day to day basis.

3.  Don't compare yourself with others   (look for feedback, but don't compare yourself)  Go ahead and admire those friends, but instead of comparing yourself, look to them for suggestions and advice.   If it is meant for you, it will become so.  if not, it wasn't meant to be.  As they say:  Let go and let be !

4.  Focus on being what you love rather than being loved   (don't worry what other people will say about you)     If people don't love you for who you are, then they may never love you,  so why try to change yourself.  Focus on being true to you and being the type of person you want to be, for you.  Develop passions that matter to you and you alone.   Love yourself because in life that is all you really are ever guaranteed to have.

5.  Cultivate abundance mentality  (remember, someone else's gain is not your loss, there is enough for everyone to prosper).    There is more than enough to go around for everyone.  I sometimes wonder why things are harder for me to achieve  them, or at least that is how I perceive it.  I need to remember that it will be there for me when the time is right.  I need to trust in God's timing.  A work in progress for me ! 


6.  Make failure your friend   (failure is a normal part of life at times)   Sometimes we will fail and we need to learn to get up, brush ourselves off, and get right back into the game of life.   Things aren't always going to be easy and sometimes through these failures we learn our best lessons. 


7.  Look back and not just look ahead   ( look back to see how far you have come and all  your successes to date)    This is my hardest one.  I think of all the things I need to do and/or achieve for my work, family, retirement, etc...  Instead, I need to focus on how far I've come to stay motivated and not get so overwhelmed.  


8. Cultivate your enthusiasm   (enthusiasm makes you excited about life, and energizes you to always do your best).    Enthusiasm is the best gift you can give yourself.  Your enthusiasm for life is a direct impact on how happy you will become.    Life is a gift and we need to treat it as so.  Be grateful ! 

Life is meant to be enjoyed !  

Age & Season of Life

As I've previously mentioned, I am currently reading a book called, "The Resolution for Women".  The chapter I'm reading about today is called, Contentment:  Every Bite Counts.

In the Author's words, "I'm the type of person, you see, who rushes ahead, who often just goes through the motions of any current activity on my way to the next one", spoke volumes for me.  This is something that I do from time to time.  Then I wonder why things don't bring me as much joy as I thought they would.

Priscilla Shirer, Author, goes on to mention "My heart, and body too , haven't always been good about sharing the same space. Instead of relishing each moment, each year, each opportunity, each step on the journey, I'm constantly overeager to get to the next thing, which always looks more enticing that what's currently before me.  I'm rarely satisfied in full with my present station".      These words really hit home for me.   How about you?

Priscilla goes on to mention how she, too, hasn't really been in attendance for a large portion of her life.  "As teenagers, most of us impatiently rush toward young adulthood full throttle.  Then as a single college student, we couldn't wait to be in a committed relationship and out of college so that life could "really begin".  Then with a loving mate promised for life, we enjoyed the first years of marriage, but during some of them we secretly harbored discontentment that we do not have children.  As the kids starting coming, the nights were long and the days even longer. We'd find ourselves praying through each of these days that bedtime would come sooner than the day before."      This was certainly the story of my life, how about yours?   As a single Mom, the bedtime theme was very near and dear to my heart because I was absolutely exhausted having a child with ADHD and working full time.

When Priscilla wrote about being present for all those years of life as a student, a wife, a mom -- a woman - and yet there was so little she could really remember, few emotions she could recall that accompanied some of these events in her life. Why?  Because she'd been there, but she hadn't really been there.      I felt like she had been observing my life and writing about me.  Does every women struggle with such things?  Is it as hard to admit this for you as it was for me?

As she talks about her 35th year of life coming to a close, it occurred to her that she hadn't engaged fully in that 35th year either.  She enjoyed it but never really soaked it in, relished it, cherished it, celebrated it, appreciating it for what it is -- the only 35th year she will ever know.    Like an arrow to the heart, I came across her words at the exact moment I needed to hear them.   You see, I am in the process of enjoying my 49th year of life and I feel the exact same way.  Luckily for me, I came upon her words so I can re-navigate my journey for the last 9 months of this amazing year of life.  The only 49th year I will ever have.  My chance to fully be the person I am meant to be at this age and in this season.  Thank You , Priscilla ! 

"Another thing to remember during this journey is this is the only time my husband will be exactly like this.  Only for a fleeting moment will my children and grand-children talk , look, and act exactly like this.  And if I choose to hurry through these moments in an attempt to avoid the parts I don't like, I'd simultaneously miss all the things I did like about this season".  Priscilla talks about how rushing through life, we are subtly devaluing those around us and the experiences we are involved in, not appreciating the importance or significant they bring to our life at this very moment, not grasping our responsibilities for holding dear and treating well these gifts God has entrusted to us.   

By not embracing who they are, we are quietly communicating that we want them to change and speed up, to get busy being somebody else, someone who's more in line with what we want and need, to hurry along to a place where they could make us happier than they currently do.  Always looking toward the next moment, the next month, the next event, rarely allowing myself the privilege of fully participating and embracing the happenings that were right before me for that day.  

In this blog you will see that I use many of the authors own words to share with you.   They are written so eloquently that I wouldn't want to do them injustice by paraphrasing.   This book, The Resolution for Women", is really changing my life for the better and I highly recommend it.  

What an amazing gift this has been for me.  I'm going to make every attempt to appreciate this season of my life and be present in the moment.   

Light, Health, Happiness, and Love to all, 

    MsPhotoShooter xoxo 

The Boxes

I'm currently reading a book called, "The Resolution for Women" and I have to admit it is changing my life.

The chapter titled, Boxes, really spoke to me.  Have you ever had a time when a life lesson appeared at the most perfect moment?  Well, that is exactly how I feel about this specific chapter.   I had been feeling a bit overwhelmed given all my responsibilities.  I've been such an overachiever most of my life and now I find that keeping a perfect balance is an overwhelming task.  Too many balls in the air at one time and I'm trying to keep them all from coming crashing down.  

In this chapter, the author, Priscilla Shirer,  talks about how she was feeling a bit strained in this season of life.  Feeling out of sorts and out of balance.  She too, like me, try to surround ourselves with people who live life the way it's supposed to be lived, capturing the opportunities to snag one or two scraps of wisdom from their conversations.    Her words, "I've been expecting nothing in particular but everything at the same time", rang so true for me.  

The author met with a wise women and she told her about, The Boxes.   She didn't physically show her, but she was able to paint them into her imagination and she could visually see them set out before her, one after another. 

The boxes were made of clear glass, each with a lid on top that opened and closed from a hinge fastened to the side.  They were all exactly the same size, and each was filled to the same level with a clear, bluish, water-like substance.  

She explained that these boxes are symbolic of the activities of one's life, and the various undertakings into which we must invest our time, talent, and energy.  Our tendency is to try keeping them just this way - equally filled with identical amounts of ourselves and our effort.  This, we think is what balance looks like.  '

But in reality, this is the picture of a women overworked, frustrated, and exhausted.  A life out of balance .  

The way we achieve balance, is to consider prayerfully God's priorities for us in the current season of life and then rearrange the boxes accordingly - pushing some of them into the background, bringing others to the front.  Into these primary boxes we place the best of ourselves and our efforts, while perhaps totally emptying some of the others - at least temporarily - not because they're of less overall significance but because they're not where we need to be allocating the best of our abilities and attention for the time being.  

Balance is not when the boxes are equally filled, but when we are free to fill only those that are important now, without feeling guilty over the ones that we've left for another time and place.  This is BALANCE.   

Moving forward, I will focus on filling those boxes that are in alignment with God's priorities and those that are important in this season of my life.  

Light, Happiness and Love
   MsPhotoShooter