What Inspires?

I was asked what inspires me. I thought about that all day because inspiration comes in many forms. So for me, I thought about what “inspire” means. So, I looked it up.

Inspire: Verb:

1. Fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: “his enthusiasm inspired them”.
2. Create (a feeling, esp. a positive one) in a person: “inspire confidence”.

To fill me with confidence to do something for me means to inspire me to keep working and fighting in spite of the health issues I have. Some people languish in their ill-health, others use their health to get things and some people inspire and make you want to do more. It is the ones that inspire us to do more we should keep close to us and listen to.

image from http://www.favim.com

And so I realized that the major thing that inspires me is people who are survivors and who really fight and do the very best they can regardless of their problems, tragedies,  health problems or whatever. I have people in my life that inspire me greatly. Some give of their hearts and time to fight for people mistreated like Jueseppi here, some are great advocates for the protection of animals like my friend Jill, some are inspirational and work daily like my friend Sassy does to inspire those with health problems or who suffer with compassion fatigue to take care of themselves and to keep going and some are actual caretakers giving of themselves and are struggling with chronic health issues but keep fighting like a warrior  like my sons or Laura who has MS and struggles to work and who fights daily to create awareness for MS. All of these are people who step up to the plate and do what has to be done and do not depend on others to do it for them. And they are a shining light and keep going without burning out.

image from http://www.funxone.com

People like this inspire me to not let my illnesses or the chronic pain pull me down and just wallow in it. They inspire me and show me that no matter what I am feeling, that I can do and keep going. They are heroes to me.They inspire me to keep dreaming and keep trying. When I want to lay my head down and say “I can not do this anymore”, I look at them and see how hard they work and how they do not let themselves quit or give up.  And I in turn tell myself to keep fighting because of them. We can sit and say “oh, I can not do that. I am not as strong as them”, but the truth of the matter is we are just as strong as we want to be. Just think about it. If it is something you REALLY want….you will put forth the fight and effort. And either you really want to be strong or you choose not to be. It is all about choice.

image from http://www.funxone.com

When I get overwhelmed with all that I have going on physically, I watch shows of people who are suffering with horrible diseases and disabilities and it makes me see that there are always people worse off than I am, who suffer more than I do. And it puts things into perspective for me. And it reminds me to never EVER settle for less than my all. I realize that some people are willing to sit back and not do their all but for me….I can not do that. I want to inspire others. I want people to see that I do my all and maybe one day they will say “you inspired me to keep going”.  I want my sons and my grand baby to see that I give my all for the same reasons.

image from http://www.directyourownlife.wordpress.com

I guess that I just want to live my life so that when I do leave this world, I do not have too many regrets. I do not want to regret my actions after it is too late to change them. I do not want to regret my not acting when I should have after it is too late. I do not want to look back and say I wish I had done things differently. I do not want to do anything that is against what I believe in and not to anything to make it right and sit and wait until it is too late. It is easy to make excuses for why I might have done this or that or why I did not do this or that but if I look within my heart and listen, I will always know the real reason and that is when I have to decide can I live with my behavior or do I need to go back and made amends or change things. And if your heart is one of integrity…you will know the answer.

We are all role models whether we want to be or not…for someone in our lives or someone who sees us and we have never met but they follow what we do. I want to be an inspiring role model. I want to lift people up and help them see that they can make it through with honesty and integrity and that they will get through the rough times. And I thank those who do this daily….those who are working hard and doing for others and inspiring me and others and do not even realize it. It is not just determination and fight that you inspire us to do, it is doing for others, being authentic and filled with integrity and honesty, it is being in pain and yet you do not let that hold you back. It is so many things. And all I can say is:

image by http://www.veeimportant.tumblr.com

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Actions Are Louder Than Words

I have said for years that if your eyes and your mouth did not say the same thing to me, then I did not believe anything you said.  It is like that old saying that you do not just tell someone you love them….you show them you love them. I read this yesterday on a Facebook and loved it.

“Love is shown in your deeds, not your words.”

Unfortunately, with the world gone cyber, we do not always see the other person’s eyes to look into and know the truth and so we do have to go by what they do and do not do.

Being authentic and ethical is not in just about what you do but also in what you fail to do. If you are dishonest and fail to go back and correct that, then you are not being authentic. If you say you believe in equality for all but fail to stand up for it when someone is being treated wrong, you are not being authentic or honest. If you say you believe that animal cruelty should stop and yet you do nothing to help stop it, you are not being authentic or honest.  People pick up after a while that you are not what you pretend to be. So, it is not just what you do but what you do not do, too.

image from image from the160acrewoods.com

Living in a cyber world, we can often be duped. This is an example from a group I was in a while back. A woman joined the group and like everyone else, fixed a photo album of her, her husband, doggies, home, etc.  One day, she started in crying that they had no money and had bills to pay, utilities to pay. People being like they are chipped in to help her. It soon became a “we are so poor and have no money saga”.

A short time after that, she posted that she is sitting at home and just utterly down because her computer monitor just went out. This was before the day of using cell phones with applications. There was something about the woman that had raised my suspicions from the beginning as her pictures showed a very nice house with very nice furniture and a husband playing with the dogs and her playing with the dogs and yet as her time in the group progressed, she began saying that they both were so disabled they could not walk or take care of themselves and had been for years. These were recent pictures she posted by the dates stamped on the pictures. But, I did not say anything. I just watched and paid attention.

image from personaldevelopmentmaster.com

Everyone started wanting to donate money to her to get a new monitor. People were so caught up in helping that no one caught something she said. She said “I am sitting here at my computer and the monitor just died and I do not know what I am going to do”.  I looked at my son and said…read this and tell me what you see. He read it and looked at me and said “if her monitor just died…how is she posting?”  I said exactly. So, before the group once again got conned, I told her I had a monitor and son was on the way to the post office to ship it to her. Everyone was thanking me for sending the monitor and this woman blew up on the page telling us “NO!  Don’t send that monitor.”  And her anger at getting caught at her game took over and she exposed herself. People eventually get caught when they are frauds.

But the point of this story is, we can not always see what others are really like or what con they are pulling on us in the cyber world and so many people get taken advantage of. And some people become so duped by the con and caught up in it that they will not believe it even when it is shown to them.

image from tinatruelove.hubpages.com

My son’s will tell you that I have “lie-dar” and can spot a lie at fifty paces. I wish that were totally true but I do have that extra sense that seems to read body language, facial expressions and how people write and know when they are conning. I do not know if that is a gift or not for it makes me one that will say I think you are pulling my leg on this and that will make some people mad. But, I would rather have an honest friend who disagrees with me than one who just says they agree.

image from robert.foo.my

If I have to be untrue to myself to have a bunch of friends, then something is wrong.  It will depend on the type of friends I want and since I prefer honest friends over ones that are not authentic, then my actions will be someone of honesty and authenticity.

image from facebook.com/destructionoflove

No matter what we do in life, it would seem that our actions should match our inner selves and be authentic. We can not just talk the talk. We must also walk the walk and make our words and our actions match. One of my favorite quotes says “to thine own self be true” and you will know if you are not because that little conscience guy will keep bugging you.

image from danamallach.blogspot.com

Boxing In Dreams

We all have dreams but the question is….do we box our dreams in and make them unattainable because of fear?  Have you ever noticed the parents who will not let their kids do many things because they are afraid for them to. I do not mean let children run wild but I have seen parents who force kids to color in the lines or not color purple dogs. Are we boxing in their dreams?  Do we Box in our own dreams by squelching the desire to try?  Do we box in our dreams by not working for them ethically or honestly?

“What would life be if we had not courage to attempt anything?”  Van Gogh

I remember my sons outside when they were little, building a ramp and putting on their capes and riding their bicycles off the ramp thinking they would fly.  Or the two by four air plane my son built and threw off the big hill because he thought he knew the way to make a plane fly. Dreams that they had and worked on. I also remember one of my sons when a young teen that dreamed of owning this particular book and he let some boys talk him into stealing it. The book came to haunt him for he knew he was wrong taking it. I had him go back, return the book and apologize to the man he stole it from and to volunteer to clean the parking lot for a month to make up for doing something like that. That lesson on honesty stuck with him. We can mess up our dreams horribly if we are not totally honest and ethical.

 ”Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” Dale Carnegie

Following your dreams does not always mean that they happen instantly. It took us a year to get to Colorado and it took us five years to reach the destination that we wanted. There were times we felt it was hopeless and times we came close to giving up but something inside just would not let us.

image from www.friendship-thru-music.blogspot.com

Sometimes we box our dreams in with “I can’t do that” or “It will never happen” or “it is too hard” or “that is not how it is done”.  I think that is one reason I admire Julia Child so much. She never gave up and there were times she felt defeated and wanted to. But, what she did was to find a different route to get her dream.  Dreams often take stepping outside the box to reach.

“The worst thing one can do is not to try, to be aware of what one wants and not give in to it, to spend years in silent hurt wondering if something could have materialized-and never knowing.”

David Viscott

How many times have you said “I wish I had tried this or that….or done this or that”?   Said it, but never tried to do it. What makes us hold back?  Worried about failing? Worried about doing something new?  Afraid of the change?  Afraid others will think we are odd or strange? Just pessimistic by nature?  Do we box ourselves in by limitations such as “if we do not do it in a year, we will quit”?  Or, we will only do it if blah blah goes with it?  Or, it cost too much? Or, there is no sense in trying, so and so did it and it did not work?

Shake off the fear and step out and try your dream whether it is dancing, singing, artistic endeavors, traveling, building this or that, running a business, writing a book, doing photography, buying a house or land, remodeling your house, having children…whatever the dream is…step out and try. You will never know until you try.

“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.”

Beverly Sills

I just remind myself that no matter what I try, to always do it with honor and integrity for if I do not do it with honor and integrity, the result will not mean the same to us when we are done.

image from dailyquotes2u.tumblr.com

I have learned to listen to my conscience and when it makes me feel like maybe I should not do this…then I should listen.  Even when we try to ignore our conscience, it will keep shouting to us as time goes on and what we think we accomplished, we will realize is not really what our hearts want….if we are true to our hearts. I believe in dreaming big and reaching for the stars and doing it in an honest and ethical way. If I cheat to get my dream, then I am teaching others to cheat.

image from image from thezars.com

Brought A Smile To My Face

This made me smile all over. Would you just look at this four year old kid play and sing.

video by runerask123

Physical Therapy in Small Town America

This is physical therapy in small town America. It is a very small place….might be as big as my bedroom and livingroom and dining room.

The area to the right with the plants is actually a mirrored wall.

This is also part of the Veteran’s Hospital here and so we all use this PT department. The only thing I am letting her do is the ultrasound and heat packs.

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A Covert Affair

I was so excited to get this book because I love learning about Julia Child. I admire her resiliency and determination to keep going in spite of the odds. I admire that she set a goal and kept working towards that goal even when it seemed she may never reach it. And I just love the relationship she and her husband Paul had. They were a true love story to me. They adored each other and supported each other in what they did. It is just such a beautiful story and when she became so entrenched in the cooking, he became part of it.

But, I have found that I just am having a hard time reading A Covert Affair. It is a time in our history where there was so much paranoia, sadness, accusations and ruination of people’s reputation that is makes me feel really sad to read it.

The write-up about the book on Amazon said:

“Bestselling author Jennet Conant brings us a stunning account of Julia and Paul Child’s experiences as members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the Far East during World War II and the tumultuous years when they were caught up in the McCarthy Red spy hunt in the 1950s and behaved with bravery and honor. It is the fascinating portrait of a group of idealistic men and women who were recruited by the citizen spy service, slapped into uniform, and dispatched to wage political warfare in remote outposts in Ceylon, India, and China.”

It was a time of people serving their country and then being removed from their positions because over eager, power-hungry people were determined to prove that they were part of the communist movement. It was a time when so many people suffered because of this paranoia. Paul was called back stateside and questioned on everything from his friends to his sexuality. They even told him to drop his pants. This all made me so sad to read about our country doing this. I understand the paranoia during this time and I would hope that we as a country had grown beyond that but 9-11 brought out this same paranoia again.

So, I have not finished the book. I read a little and find myself feeling almost teary because it was such a horrible time for so many. Maybe one day I will get the book finished. Could be I am just a Pollyanna who does not want to read about ugly things. Or, maybe I just am living up to the boundaries I set of keeping things out of my life that increase my pain and stress. We will see. If you have read this book, I would love to know what you thought of it.

If anyone would like to read this book, message me and I will ship it to you.

Silent Signals

There are a lot of silent signals in the world that are a universal language such as the hand to the ear meaning I can not hear you. Or the hand motion to come closer or even the I love you signal. And these hand signals help us when we don’t know a language.

image from zazzle.ca

image from boardgamegeek.com

image from mid-day.com

I have found for me and those that are close to me that certain silent signals help when you just do not want to have to keep repeating what it is you are trying to say. For example, this is a silent signal to my loved ones and my son that I am struggling very hard and having a hard day. I do not have to say I feel bad or I am tired or my pain is high. They know when they see me wearing this headband that I am in really high pain and not feeling good at all and that to just hug me is painful.

This is when my son will say “hugging thoughts” to me instead of hugging me for he knows that when I wear this headband I am in high pain in spite of the meds. I am wearing it today. It is just one of those days that comes with my health but not such a pleasant one. As my friend sassy says, it is a shame we can put people on the moon but we can not help the chronic pain people have. But, anyway, that is a topic for another blog.

Son and I have other hand signals that help a lot. I am hearing impaired. Usually what people do is talk too loud if they think someone is hearing impaired or too low. So I do a hand signal holding my hand out like palm up or palm down.

Now these pictures are showing my holding my arm out. I do not do that when we make this signal. I just lift my hand a little from my lap and motion up or down depending on what I need him to do. Saves me from saying I can not hear you or you are too loud.

Over the years son and I have learned a lot of hand signals and can communicate from a distance. It is our own sign language I guess you could call it. The most important ones to me are the ones that save me from having to repeat things like answering “how are you?” or “what is wrong” or telling someone who I can’t hear them. They are my silent signals from the world of chronic illness and disability. Son can look in my eyes and know when I feel really bad but some people can not. So, the headband is their silent signal.  Do you have silent signals you use?

What Takes You Home Again?

As I lay here watching the Walton’s on TV, one of the characters, a neighbor wanted to go to the sea to celebrate her 55th anniversary. Her  husband was deceased and she wanted to go to all the places they went and John Boy took her to see the sea. As they stood there looking out to sea, she said “across the water is my home where I was born and raised” and you could see the yearning she had at 81 to go home again.

video by vossmeister

I thought about how “home” means different things to each of us. To some, like the woman above, home was where she had come from…across the ocean. A journey she made many years before and never saw her homeland again. To others, it is returning to the mountains or to their home town or back to the house they lived in, or the house they first set up housekeeping in or where their loved ones are buried or were born, or if they had their family heirlooms around them. For some, it was returning to a more peaceful and love filled time of childhood. And for some, it means going to heaven. Everyone has a different idea of what home is and there is no standard or right or wrong..

I thought about home for me and I realized that what is home to me is anywhere my loved ones are. It did not matter what house we were in, if we were in the motel like last year for 7 weeks waiting on this house or what. As long as my loved ones were around, that was and is home. I have realized that home for me centers around those I love and not the structure or the possessions in the house.I may be a little strange in that respect for home does seem to signify a dwelling and a place. The mountains may hold my heart but if my son were not here, it would not be home.

video by BRichards

As the woman was watching in the show, staring out to sea….she saw the ship that brought her and her husband to this country.  I think we all see in our minds eye a place of home and whatever home is to us….there deep in our hearts and minds.

Holidays always make us think of home and earlier holiday times. Sometimes we try to recapture that but you can’t ever go back and have it be the same.  People change as time goes by.  So many songs about holidays and home.  I can remember singing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”  and tears on my face as I thought about all those overseas in the military who could not be home for the holidays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYOvd2PZoPU

video by ChristmasTimeTV

We become nostalgic when we think about home and good memories and of course the memories are always romanticized and made even better than they really were because that is our memory of them and memories are not always accurate but oh can be so beautiful. We tend to filter out things that happened that were not pleasant in our memories…the fussing that might have happened or the sharp words because people were tired or any disappointments. That is the beauty of memories.

It makes me think of Shirley on Laverne and Shirley. She always saw things much more beautiful than it was and Laverne always accused her of being up in the sky with the balloons. But, that is how she chose to view the world and things that happened and it made her happy. We all have our own view of life, home and the world and it is how we cope with life.

video by Fallenshit

No matter what we see home as, it is some place special to us. It is a place we hold dear in our hearts and sometimes it is a place we can never return to except in our minds. What do you call home?  What do you carry in your heart and mind as home?  Do you ever wish you could go home again?

video by djpeC

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Saying No-Can You Do It?

The word ‘No” is such a small word and yet so powerful. I see parents who think it is so cute when their toddlers learn to say no and yet it is from us that they learn it. Parents find it not so cute when they get just a little bigger and it sounds like disrespect to their parents as they refuse to do what they are being asked.

image from www.whattoexpect.com

We see all sorts of things today about saying no and signs posted everywhere and we seem to have no problem saying no to drugs and other things that don’t affect us personally. The problem for adults seems to be as we grow up, we become more reluctant to say no to things that involve us. We can be great champions for saying no to drugs, animal abuse, and things that affect the environment but things that affect us….we feel guilty if we say no.

image from www.realbollywood.comimage from www.fortyredbangles.wordpress.com

image from www.behance.net

The beauty is that children don’t carry the guilt around that we do about saying no. They do not seem to worry that they will make some one mad if they say no. They say what their hearts feel. We as adults worry we will make people mad, feel guilty, feel like we think we are the only ones that can do the job. And that is what people will tell us when they try to get us to do things.  And we say yes and then come home angry with ourselves for agreeing because we really did not want to do it to begin with.

image from www.theteachick.com

I can think of one woman, who really put the plea on to have someone do this booth over the weekend during her time. She made it sound like she had no one to help and she could not do it alone. Come to find out…..she was going out-of-town and did not want to do it all and the person that said yes cancelled their plans to go and “assist” this woman in the booth. The woman that cancelled her plans ended up doing the booth alone.  I have learned that someone will always take the job if you say no. We are not indispensable like the person asking us tries to make us feel like we are. Oh you have heard it…. “no one can do this like you can”.  Truth is…yes they can.

I can remember being asked to help with this or help with that, with church events asking me to help serve or help in this program or that program and I would say yes because it made me feel guilty to say no. It also made me feel needed that people asked me to help. And while I did not mind helping with some things, there were many times I just did not feel up to doing it, had other plans, did not have the time…and I still said ok.  I had to learn to say no and believe it or not…I practiced in the mirror. I found that saying yes all the time was keeping me in a constant state of stress.

What I learned was that when we say no….those people who make it sound like you are their only hope will either do it themselves or will ask someone else. It is not the end of the world for them. Yes, they may get mad at you but the peace you will feel inside when you say no when you really don’t want to do something is worth it all. The first time I said no, I came home and I felt at peace. I did not feel the resentment, the anger, the remorse that I would feel when I said yes when I really wanted to say no. And the next time that I DID say yes, I did it because I really wanted to and really enjoyed helping.

image from www.whitcoulls.co.nz

This is not to say you should never say yes. It means only say it when you REALLY want to do it. If you are reluctant….if your head is saying “I do not want to do this”….if you feel anger and resentment about saying yes….then that is all for the wrong reasons. I love what this book above says…”Breaking the Chains of Self Sacrifice”.   Have you ever thought about it in that way?  When you say yes and you really do not want to…..you are sacrificing yourself and your wants.

Most of us oldies on here were brought up to put ourselves last and everyone else first. Mothers were taught to put the needs and wants of their husbands and children over themselves. We were taught that sacrificing your own needs and wants was the way we should be. Now, this is not to say that you never put others needs over yourself because we all will in life. But, when you do it all the time…the balance scale is way out of whack. And what happens is people who say yes when they really want to say no start to feel anger about doing things, resentment at doing things, anger at the person(s) that asked them and derive no pleasure from helping others.

“When you sacrifice yourself and your priorities to others, you lose that part of yourself that would make others appreciate, love and respect you. This doesn’t mean that you should be selfish and never help others.”

Catherine Pratt

When we say yes to everyone, we,  in reality, are doing it because of fear. I am sure you are saying “fear of what?..I am not afraid”.  It is fear. Fear that others will get angry, fear that we will not be seen as valuable, fear of being told you are selfish. Sometimes we can equate our self-esteem with how much we do and not with the person we are inside. That makes us fear others will not love us just for ourselves but only for how much we do. Sometimes we say yes because we really want to but we know it is beyond what our limits physically, time wise, financially that we can do. Never say yes right off the bat unless you really know this is what you want to do. If you say “let me get back to you” it gives you time to analyze why you are saying yes or not and decide the best thing for you.

As I was working on learning to say no myself, I realized that part of the problem is we are taught to be self-sacrificing and we don’t respect our own selves enough to say no.  We don’t respect our own limits of what we can and can not do, what we want to do and don’t want to do. It is like we are saying that we are not worthy. And by treating ourselves like we are not worthy….we in turn teach others to treat us that way.

Setting boundaries helps us retain a calmer life and feel peace of heart. The hardest ones to set boundaries with are our children and our parents. If we never set boundaries with our children, who are learning what we show them, then they will expect the world to cater to them always as they grow up. Setting boundaries with our parents is harder for we find ourselves going back to the little child and parent feelings even though we are adults. I had to set a boundary with my parents and made them mad. The boundary was I lived too far away to come running to help all the times they wanted me to. I did go help but I could not do as much as they wanted. Did they get mad? Oh yes but I was at peace within myself and they got over being mad.

“The purpose of having boundaries is to protect and take care of ourselves.  We need to be able to tell other people when they are acting in ways that are not acceptable to us.  A first step is starting to know that we have a right to protect and defend ourselves.  That we have not only the right, but the duty to take responsibility for how we allow others to treat us. 

Robert Burney

Saying no…such a hard thing to do. It is ok to say no. It is ok to say yes. We just have to make sure we are saying it for the right reasons and to know that when we feel angry, resentful, etc…then we said yes for the wrong reason. We have to be in touch with our inner selves and recognize when we are doing what is best for us.

image from www.consciousconnectioncoach.com

Someone asked me once shouldn’t we help all those that ask us. My response is multi-fold…..Are you feeling angry and resentful about saying yes? Are you saying yes because you are afraid?  (afraid the person will get angry..afraid people will think bad of you, afraid you will not be seen as worthy?)  Are you saying yes when you know physically, emotionally, financially it is more than you can handle right now? Are you saying yes because the person made you feel like you are the only one that can do the job?  Are you saying yes because you feel guilty?  If you are saying yes to any of these questions…you are saying yes for the wrong reasons. When we help,  it should be because we really want to invest the time, energy and cost,  either emotionally, physically or financially…to do so and for no other reasons.  If we are doing it to look good, to make ourselves feel better, out of guilt, fear or whatever, then we are doing it for the wrong reasons. Helping others should be a joyous thing not a burden, not something that weighs us down and makes us angry about doing it.

And this is not just in volunteering that it is important to ask yourself these questions. It is also in donating to things and charities. If you are in a position where it is financially bad to donate, but you feel like you should because the ones asking make you feel guilty for not donating or they use things to prey upon your emotions and make it sound like you are the only one that can help save something or help build something..then you should say NO.  Charities/evangelists can prey upon your emotions to get you to donate and then after you do it, you get angry because you knew you just donated part of your grocery money or your gas money. Always step back and ask yourself why you are saying yes to anything. Give yourself time to analyze and remember…it is ok to say no.

Looking Back–Accomplishments

image from gadel.info

If someone asked you what all you accomplished through your life what would you list?  Most people would list success at their job, bigger home, fancier cars and material things. I truly believe part of the rat race comes in trying to  acquire all of these things and once we get them, they do not  seem to bring the peace and contentment that everyone thought they would so they continue to look for newer, bigger conquests.

To me, the things I feel that I accomplished during my lifetime have to do with what is inside me and how I deal with life. I have accomplished learning how to accept myself, how to talk to others, how to love and not be afraid to love, how to give from the heart without expectations, how to express my emotions, how to show my love for others….and how to live simply and be happy. To me, those are HUGE accomplishments for all the materials things don’t bring me any of these things.

image from gadel.info

Remember years ago when the most important thing to people was having a home and family. It didn’t have to be a luxury home or big fancy car. It was a home filled with love and family time. I am not sure when the world became so materialistic but as a whole, it has. What I find funny is that friends I have overseas…..their culture is not as materialistic as Americans are. Does that say something about us? Not sure. I just know when they share pictures, a big wide-screen tv is not hanging on their wall. They don’t sit focused on the TV all day and many have their TV’s sitting over in a corner and they pull it out and plug it in when they want to see something. Reminds me of Laverne and Shirley shows.

image from quotes-daily.com

The meaning of life is the meaning we choose to put on it. We can make possessions and acquisitions the most important thing or we can make people the most important thing or we can make what is inside us the most important thing. It is our choice. I love that word  “Choice”  for there have been times I had no choice in life.

Being able to choose sometimes can be overwhelming if you did not have a lot of choice in life and we often make bad choices. That is part of learning. But, for me, the biggest part is learning to accept that I have made bad choices and learning from them so I do not repeat the bad choice.

Whatever we set our minds to accomplish, be it walking a little further than we think we can, studying harder, reading more, spending more time with family, controlling our temper, working harder, learning how to talk to someone…no matter what….starts first with trying. If we never try….we will never know if we can or not.

image from laurajul.dk

Son and I made a choice to downsize, to move to a smaller town and to get out of the rat race. Yes, it took us two years of hard work and sweat and worrying. If we had listened to those that said “you might as well give up and face it, you will never get there” then we would not be here today. We knew we had to try.  and we are so thankful we did.  And this is a huge accomplishment to both of us. Most people would not think downsizing and getting rid of a lot of the materialistic things in life an accomplishment but it is to us. We have learned to enjoy life at a slower pace, to talk to each other and recognize that we each have different ways of talking, to work in harmony for the same goal….those are accomplishments to me.

I loved hearing my other son and his wife talk about downsizing and moving to the country and having a more simple life and it made my heart sing for I knew that they had found the most important things in life…each other and Sweetpea. Possessions can be replaced. People can not.

image from trulygraphics.com

Life is a constant journey and constant learning. Our values change as we get older and we often come to realize as we get older is that what we think is important are just things and really not that valuable. They say you can not take it with you when you die. Well, I think that if your accomplishments are of the heart and character, you can pack your bag with those things and take with you on the next journey of life.

I use this video often because I believe that when we come to learn that life will always have mountains to climb and that it is not the prize but the climb that makes us who we are….then we have found the secret of life and happiness. It is about how we deal with life and the climbing we do on the journey of life.

Happiness is not some elusive dream that you keep trying to find in possessions. It is a place within that you claim peace of mind and joy and can smile even when there is nothing to smile about. I learned a long time ago that possessions can be taken away…so can people…but what I keep within my heart…is mine forever.  And that is one of my greatest accomplishments.

image from http://www.zimbio.com

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