Category Archives: enjoying life

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor”

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The subject line of this post is a quote by Truman Capote.  I have always believed that not achieving instant gratification is a necessity.  Failure is life’s way of moving you in another direction and truly allowing you to appreciate eventually achieving that success you have been striving towards.

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“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
―     Thomas A. Edison

(image credit: enchantedlearning.com)

I think of myself as a success because I have failed.  My failures have given me a true sense of self and pushed me to want to attain that success that I covet.  Failure is not an end, it is only a beginning.  That defeat makes me rethink my original plan and construct a new plan, pushing me in a direction I may have not originally intended.

My failures do not define me, they strengthen me.   I can accept falling short of a goal but I could never live with myself if I gave up trying.  Just one line in the sand on the success side of my life is worth all of those hash marks in the failure column.  A few dashes of inadequacy and a sprinkling of botched attempts make that main course of success that much tastier!

100 Word Song – Route 66

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(image credit: outpostusa.org)

I have to admit, I am loving the 100-Word Song Challenge at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  This week, after experiencing some unexpected snowfall, Lance and Leeroy have chosen “Route 66” as this week’s song.  Here is my 100 word interpretation.

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There was something charming in the way he pursued me.  If my soul were a road map he would have traveled from one coast to the other exploring every nuance of the highway that led through the heart of my existence.

He stopped to admire the things he would see only on this road.  He fondly recalled the route that brought him to me, it was the road less traveled but the road that was meant for him to follow.

It is now a direction we pursue together, an open avenue to our future.  It winds us into our reality.

Showing signs of happiness

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A few days ago I attended a business meeting and encountered a woman I haven’t seen since I left my old job last May.  Our hotel properties used to be side by side so we had a fairly regular occasion to bump into each other but I haven’t seen her since I began my new job.  We exchanged the usual pleasantries, took our seats and the meeting began.  After an hour of brainstorming, the session adjourned and we were able to chat a little more and catch up.

We, of course, commiserated with each other about the roller coaster of weather we have been experiencing this year.  We talked briefly about how the hospitality business has been for each of us this season and then the conversation changed completely.

She looked at me quizzically and said, “I’m not sure if this will come out the way I mean it to, but your face looks so much lighter.”

It was an odd statement, certainly, but one I have been hearing more frequently.  It wasn’t in reference to my pallid winter flesh color nor was it meant to infer anything about weight loss.  She simply observed my happiness.

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(image credit: myvintagejewelbox.com)

When she had seen me last, I was working at a job that I no longer enjoyed.  The stress that I faced each day was etching itself into my face and I looked, and felt, like a different person.  It was a tough decision leaving that job because it had once been a place I considered to be a second home and my fellow employees were like family.  When that home was bought by a corporation, the feel of my job evolved into something foreign. It was no longer a warm and inviting place to be and, although I had to leave some great people behind, I made the tough choice to get happy again.

I was fortunate enough to be able to make the decision to be happy, and if my face is any indication, I made the right choice.

A Word a Week Photo Challenge

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I haven’t participated in this challenge for a while but A Word In Your Ear has a great challenge where she opens a page of the dictionary and chooses a word.  You can opt to submit a photo, a poem or story, whatever genre you choose to help you describe the word.

This week the word is undulate.  As soon as I read the word, I was taken back to one specific moment in my youth that I have never been able to do justice with words.

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(image credit: ecopedia.com)

We lay on our backs on the dock at our cottage staring into the beauty of the night sky.  The world seemed to stop to allow every bit of life’s energy to be absorbed by the Aurora Borealis.  The lake was a sheet of glass and, while the ground lay breathless, the green hues undulated against the backdrop of the atmosphere and reflected off the water.  Although we were perfectly still, our bodies felt like we were surfing on the movement of the Northern Lights.

This photo, although beautiful, does not do justice to that night sky so many years ago but it does give you a glimpse into the beauty that we had the chance to absorb.

Greeting the morning

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Snuggled in my bed at home,

the blankets pulled up tight.

Morning sun begins to rise,

the Earth is bathed in light.

Shimmering snow blankets the trees,

the sun caresses each flake.

The new day yawns to shake off the night,

The Man in the Moon takes a break.

From under the warmth of my duvet I emerge,

ready to start anew.

Adventures and new memories laying in wait,

and dreams I am anxious to pursue.

I open the door to welcome the morn,

the beginning of the day to unfold.

The hesitation of my dog confirms my suspicion,

Holy Shit-balls, it’s cold!!

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Starting over – 100 Word Song

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She watched his slender frame exit through the doorway for the last time.  Her shoulders were so tense she could feel the pain radiating at the base of her skull.   He opened the car door, waved goodbye and he was gone.

She opened the bottle of wine and fell into the couch.  For the first time in years the house had a serene quality to it.  It was a feeling she hadn’t noticed even missing but now that it was back she allowed that tranquility to bathe her in its warmth.  He was now a memory.  Time to start over.

~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  The song is “Starting Over”, by John Lennon.

Sorry Harry, men and women CAN be friends

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(image credit: Bill Watterson)

I am a tomboy.  I always have been and I’m sure, short of a lobotomy, I always will be.  I grew up with a brother four years my senior and I idolized him.  I wore his clothes, I brushed my hair in the same horrific fashion that he did (pictures from the 70’s are NEVER flattering!!) and I customized my mannerisms to be as close to his as possible. His friends became my friends.

During those formidable years as a young girl growing into adolescence I was always more comfortable around boys.  I never felt the inkling to have tea parties – I always wanted to be rough-housing and tossing the pigskin with the guys.  It was where I felt most comfortable and, to this day, it still is where I find my true self.  Don’t misunderstand, I do enjoy putting on a dress and feeling “pretty” every now and then but if I had my choice I would be shroud in a football jersey, a baseball cap and a comfy pair of jeans playing poker in a room full of dudes. That to me is home.

I have never thought of my platonic friendship with the opposite sex to be an oddity.   I have always been “one of the guys”.   It’s where I feel like I fit in.  The male friends I have had throughout my life have never made me feel like an outsider.  I am in NO way discounting the many women in my life that I have the good fortune call friends.  There is an inherent connection with those strong and vivacious women that I hold dear to my heart and there is no comparison to the depth of friendship I have with them.  Women will always have a strong bond with their female friends, as will men with their male friends.  The point of this post is to celebrate the friendships between men and women.

Television and movies have only perpetuated the impossibility of men and women just being friends by turning every story line into an eventual romance.  Modern day relationships based in reality can dispel that myth rather quickly.  Platonic love does exist between men and women and true friends are hard to come by.  So why should our friendships be defined by our gender?  Friendship isn’t about body parts.  It is about finding people also roaming on this planet who share a common thread.  They have the same likes and dislikes and understand how you work.

The archaic history of male and female relationships was based on a man and woman only relating to each other in their matrimonial home.  Times have changed.  Men and women can be friends….and very good friends.  Don’t let other’s interject their opinions into your friendships.  Break down the barriers, chisel through the ancient beliefs and regardless of the x or y, keep your friends close!

Motivation in my nation

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I’ve finally realized what has been missing this year, apart from a clean bill of health – I need a mantra – a string of words that I can repeat to myself to keep motivated while passing through this adventure called life. It’s interesting to take some time to think of what would be appropriate – what is going to inspire me on a daily basis.

After thinking about what could be my own personal mantra I finally settled on something that resonated with me: “Feed your mind, nourish your body”.

After all of the changes I’ve made in my life over the last two years this one really strikes a chord with me. From losing weight and learning how to properly feed my body, ending relationships that were toxic to me to starting this blog, it all seemed to fall into place. My body was craving the proper nourishment I was depriving it of and my mind was craving the attention of a myriad of words and ideas. Solved – feed your mind, nourish your body.

It’s such a simple run of words but something I can repeat to myself that will keep me focused on what has become most important to me as an individual. I now have it written on my fridge so if I feel I’m getting off my course it is there to remind me of where I was 24 months ago and where I am now.

Maybe you’ve always had your own mantra or maybe you’ve never even thought of the idea but it’s a simple thing to do, it costs no money and could potentially drive you to accomplish more that you thought possible.

If you already have one, I’d love to know what it is – and if you’ve never thought about it, give it a try. It may make a big difference in your daily life.

The sun will come out – tomorrow??

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After dealing with the “polar vortex”, the unending snow and a delightful case of Pneumonia, I needed something to cheer me up so I went through the archives and found this pictures to help warm me up!

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This was a sunset in the Caribbean.  I can almost feel the warmth.

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The sun began to settle into the blanket of the clouds.

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The sky just looks so animated and inviting.

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It seemed like the sun’s journey had ended.

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But it poked through the clouds before disappearing into the horizon.

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There will be no ringing, merely a silent welcome

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The end of the year is nigh. As the clock slowly discards the seconds and minutes of 2013 the mad preparations begin for those who want to ring in the New Year with a bang. Parties are planned, the guest lists are set and the decorations are waiting to be boldly displayed. The party hats are silently waiting in a corner soon to adorn the heads of the anticipated drunken guests and the blowers will soon be filled with alcohol saturated saliva. The song Auld Lang Syne will be warbled, some syllables will inevitably be missed by the inebriated choir, and some words will be hysterically incomprehensible.

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This year, once again, I am following a beloved tradition that I started a few years ago – I will welcome the new year at home with no loud music and no intoxicated visitors. Like Valentine’s Day, for me New Year’s Eve is a holiday that I cannot seem to celebrate with the same enthusiasm as others. January 1st is certainly a new beginning but it really is just another day. It does not wipe the slate clean going into that New Year but brings with it all of the memories and experiences from the previous year. I do enjoy embracing a new calendar year and do think about the potential that the year ahead may embody but I choose not to begin that new calendar year with my arms wrapped around a porcelain vessel while popping Alleve like Tic Tacs and drinking more water than a camel that bypassed every pond in the desert.

My New Year’s Eve is quiet, contemplative and subdued. My New Year’s Eve is filled with twinkling lights, rich harmonic voices and the company of my four-legged fur child.

The beef tenderloin is in the fridge, the extra-large uncooked shrimp are in the freezer and an aged Shiraz Cabernet blend that I have been saving is awaiting the countdown on December 31st. This is my perfect New Year’s Eve. This small piece of solitude and reflection before the beginning of a new year is my favorite way to welcome January 1st. There are no noise makers, there are no obscenely drunk people pin-balling from random pieces of furniture and there is no making excuses for leaving early before the big countdown. This is bliss.

After setting up the candles and starting The Tenors ‘Lead With Your Heart DVD’, I will open up the wine and remove the crystals. I will graciously let it breathe on its own for about 20 minutes before I assist in the process and begin giving it mouth to mouth for about three hours. I will let all of the bad moments of this past year remind me of the lessons I learned and I will let the good moments bathe me in a euphoric feeling that I will carry with me into 2014.

Happy New Year to you all and may 2014 be the best year yet!!