Category Archives: enjoying life

Milestones are always a welcome surprise

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I was busy at work today and couldn’t take the time to write anything earlier.  Sad, but true.  My usual routine allows me time in the wee hours of the morning to be creative but this morning my brain put forth zero effort and the page remained blank.  When that situation arises my neurons are ready to fire at lunch and I am able to quickly formulate thoughts and post later in the day.  That was not the case either.

I came home after a tremendously frustrating day of work, poured a glass of wine and opened my laptop to discover two things – this will be my 300th post and, in a few short views, I will have reached 20,000 views on my blog.  Those two things made the horror of my day wash away with the stream of leftover rain cascading across my lawn and made the throbbing in my head ebb ever so slightly.

fireworks

(image credit: en.wikipedia.org)

I am still amazed how words can travel through cyber space and reach people in countries that I have never heard of or knew existed.  The small window of my world opens wider each time a reader chooses to spend the time ingesting the words I long to share.  My words make my existence make sense.  They satisfy me in a way no other passion could and they allow me the freedom to speak from a place of honesty and acceptance.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey through language and life.  I appreciate each and every view, like and comment and look forward to continuing this pilgrimage for a very long time.

Head in the clouds

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These clouds made me happy today.  Spring may actually be here….although the forecast is snow on Saturday.  Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen.

Freedom of expression in the sky.

outside 010

And similar….but never the same.

outside 011

The power of positive thinking

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The power of thought is amazing…..the more positive the thought, the more positive the result.  Feeding your brain with affirming thoughts allows the mind to grow and flourish, while letting your brain gnaw on the bones of negativity could have devastating results.

abundance of the mind

(image credit: walkwithin.com)

Our brain can only act and react to the energy we give to it. Unlike the information we feed into a computer, it cannot calculate results and comprehend a logical solution unless we give it the necessary tools to formulate the equation.

We need to learn how to harness the power of optimism and fuel our brains with a brazen amount of happiness and joy to achieve the desired result of success. And that success is not just a monetary gain.  Success can be defined as happiness in the home, satisfaction on the job and general good health and well-being.

Negativity and stress go hand in hand. We have all been told at one time or another to “think positive” – but do we ever really stop to absorb the meaning of those two words. If we take the time to step back and see the silver lining that dark, ominous cloud no longer holds as much power as it once did.

Positive thinking can change not only your attitude but your demeanor, how you represent yourself and how you physically carry yourself as well.  You can immediately spot a confident person in their stride, shoulders back, chin up, and know that there are no negative thoughts coursing through their mind.

A positive attitude breeds hope that things will be better.  We teach children at a young age to turn that frown upside down.  What we are embedding in their young minds is that a positive attitude will make them feel better.  So why not heed the advice we bestow on the younger generation who may not fully interpret what we are saying?

Too often we let ourselves be consumed by the obstacles life throws into our path.  We feel swallowed in the churning sea of existence.  But we have the power to make every day a day to look forward to by giving ourselves the choice to be happy.  Life may not always be exactly the way we intended it to be but focus on the good things and the rest will fall into place.  Peter Pan could make himself fly by thinking his happy thoughts.  Let yourself feel weightless by thinking those positive thoughts and put on a happy face.

The voices in my head

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The voice in my head has a British accent.  I’ve never questioned it because she has certainly given wise advice over the years, but when I hear the words spoken in my head, she always has the same accent.  She is not the only voice I hear, but she is certainly the most dominant.

I’ve never questioned her intelligence or her integrity.  And though some may say it is my own voice that I’m listening to, I know the voice comes from somewhere beyond my realm of reality.  I believe in spirit guides.  I believe that although a soul is not attached to a physical body, they roam among us and attach themselves to certain earthly lives.  They give us sage advice when we are prepared to listen or they may just keep us company on our journey through life.

spiritguide

(image credit: acelebrationofwomen.com)

Some refer to the feeling as intuition or even divine breath.  Some call it a gut feeling.  Regardless of what we name it, the feeling is the same.  You inherently know that a decision is either right or wrong and whether you have heard that voice in your head or felt the feeling in the pit of your stomach there is an outside force helping to point you in the right direction.

Some have the ability to understand the message and heed the advice.  Others choose to ignore the signs and forge ahead, mindless of any consequence.  It is up to you to listen – to understand that the compelling feeling of having some hand from above reaching to help you is not your imagination.

Stealthily they enter our lives and they yearn to give us perspective.  They want to help us think outside of the box we have voluntarily entombed ourselves in.  If we learn to cultivate our intuition we may find ourselves believing more in the helping hands that we cannot see.  Give yourself a moment to listen to that voice.  Let their breath of experience help fill you with the knowledge that your gut feeling is right.

My mother has never been a big believer in my spiritual theories.  But in the last couple of days she has admitted to feeling my father’s presence with her in the hospital watching over her and keeping her safe.  They do walk among us and only sometimes do they truly make their presence known.

Leave the dream door open

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Dream big, dream in color and shroud yourself in the cloak of belief that dreams do sometimes materialize.  How truly boring life with be without holding the hope that dreams can come true.

~

Written for the Trifextra Weekend Challenge

This weekend we’re asking for exactly 33 of your own words inspired by the following quote from the book you could win in the WBN giveaway. Good luck!

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” ― Paulo Coelho, Alchemist

Some walks you have to take alone

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Whether it is a walk of pride or the walk of shame, some walks you have to take alone. Embracing your successes or facing up to the repercussions of decisions you have made is an individual journey.  Only you can face the truth and the consequences that result from something you have been a part of – good or bad.

And perhaps that walk alone provides you the time and solitude you need to focus on the decisions that have been made previously or have yet to be made in your life. Nobody can choose your path or tell you which fork in the road you must follow.  That is a conscious choice that you must decide for yourself.  Forging ahead into that journey, on your own, gives you the focus you need to gather the insight into which path you will follow. Along the way, you select the people with whom you want to participate in that pilgrimage.

Some that you have chosen to accompany you on your journey may agree with your direction and some may deviate from the road that lies before you.  Perhaps they were only meant to keep you company for a short distance.  Others will follow you into the abyss, knowing that the course you have plotted is one akin to a path that they have chosen as well.

Regardless of how many people are willing to follow that road with you, there will always be some walks you have to take unassisted.  Some roads are meant to be navigated by you and you alone. There will always be friends at the end of that road – to wipe your brow and perhaps give you a pat on the back for reaching the end of your quest unscathed, but the passage itself is a solitary journey.

Forge ahead on that secluded route.  Walk strong with your head held high.  Delve deep into the reasons that you have come to this particular fork in the road, and walk alone.  But walk alone knowing that at the end of your journey, you have rewarded yourself with the reclusive time needed to dig deep into what you need for yourself to achieve your ultimate goal.  Your journey never ends.  It only begins with the next step.

Find your wings

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I had a completely different post planned for today, but after talking to a friend that I haven’t seen in a while, my whole mindset changed.

wings(image credit: photo-dictionary.com)

I believe we all begin our journey of life with a full set of wings. I’m not talking about Angel wings, but invisible pinions that give us a chance to rise above ourselves and discover new horizons. Somewhere along our path, our wings may be clipped.  They may mutate from their original form and, although we still embody the same freedom of originality, our chance to soar becomes stifled and we miss some of that ability for latitude.

Life can be a daunting journey, fraught with challenges and roadblocks, but those feathered appendages help us maneuver beyond those obstacles with little effort.  They give us room for movement that may not otherwise be possible allowing us a chance for an alternate illusion.

Our mere existence on this planet can be described as a roller coaster, a flurry of adventure and blurry images that stream through our line of sight at Mach 4.  Somewhere in the blistering speed of that coach car we miss the visions we should be focusing on and get lost in the overwhelming barrage of outside interference.  We are inundated with life.  We become a victim of its vicious nature and forget to allow ourselves the power to fly because we become saturated with apprehension and doubt.

If you allow it, life will over-stimulate your senses and it will swallow you whole.  It will envelop you and wrap your waking moments, keeping you mummified until you surrender your power at the end of a tumultuous and exhausting day.

Find your wings.  Give yourself permission to feel that freedom again and take your life back.  If the path you are on does not feel like the path you chose – fly.  Rise high above it and give yourself a new perspective of your life.  You may find that you still had those wings all along but you just forgot how to use them.

The well has run dry

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dry well

(image credit: gamertherapist.com)

I have been writing this blog since August 1st and in that time I have had, it seems, quite a bit to say.  But lately I find myself running out of steam when it comes to the verbosity I have enjoyed and I am struggling for ideas to write about.  The well of idioms has run dry.

I have really cherished the hours spent putting my thoughts into written form and receiving feedback from all of you that are faithful readers, those who have become friends and those that happen by every now and then.  It is with a bit of a heavy heart that I have decided to no longer continue this journey.  With the busy season fast approaching at work, I don’t want to put mediocre words to a page just to fill a space.

If the urge strikes me to write, I may put something on Facebook every now and then, but the challenge of coming up with ideas is becoming a little too much.  Thank you all for following me through this journey and I want to leave you with one last thought from the creative vault:

April Fool’s.

See you tomorrow!!

Hoarding gives me the Heebie-jeebies

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The Daily Prompt asks this question today:

Does a messy home (or office) make you anxious and cranky, or is cleaning something you just do before company comes over?

coffee_table

(image credit: accentondesign.net)

The items on my coffee table do not have to be positioned at precise angles at varying degrees, but things do have a certain place in my house.  I am not fanatical about cleaning, but I am stringent about being organized.  I don’t get many surprise visitors because I live in a very rural area, but if people drove off the beaten path and arrived at my home, I would not be frantically searching for the Swiffer or tossing newspapers or wrappers under the couch cushions.

The same goes for my desk at work.  Sure there are piles of paper and file folders, but they are organized piles that I strategically am able to work through because everything has its place.

Having said that, the entrance way into my house could potentially negate anything I’ve mentioned about seeming organized, but that will be rectified soon.  My entrance way is the only spot for me to store my patio cushions and other outdoor items that are longing to be freed from their winter incarceration.  It’s nothing close to being a Hoarder’s episode, but it does make me a bit anxious when I see everything piled in one spot.  Hazmat suits are not required, but until I win the lottery I will have to deal with the negative aspects of living in a house that is only 650 square feet.  At least the rest of it is organized!

Here is what some others had to say:

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Pieces of Me

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Taking the day off yesterday was just what the doctor ordered.   I had put my faith in Mother Nature to provide some sun for my entertainment, but she must have been busy shining elsewhere.  Left to my own devices, I decided to delve into the creative aspects of my life that I have shelved for too many years.  Writing is a cathartic and brilliant way to release the thoughts in my head, but getting back into a tactile artistic passion that seems to have been forgotten was a great way to spend the afternoon.

I used to love calligraphy when I was in high school and I was always doing one form of craft or another, so a cloudy afternoon was spent indoors with some paint, some brushes and a piece of wood.  I had been trying for a while to set aside some time to create a new sign for the end of my driveway and yesterday inspiration struck and creativity flowed.  This is the beginning of the sign that I hope to finish today.

new sign

In getting back into the crafty aspect of myself, I found a piece of me that had been missing.  I began to realize how many of those small enjoyments I have been ignoring over the years because I was letting work and the needs of others take priority.  I vowed to myself that I will start to put my needs first and make time to do the things that I enjoy.  I only get to live this life once and I don’t want to look back with regret wondering why I let my life pass me by and I didn’t participate as much as I could.  I don’t want to be on the sidelines doing things for other people and not be in the game.

Today is a beautiful, sunny day and I will be on my deck wrapped in a warm sweater with a paint brush in my hand.  Today I’m back in the game.