Posted on by BWThomas

What do we know for sure that isn’t true?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

The starting point for a better world is the belief that it is possible. Norman Cousins

My grandson tells me with certainty that lettuce and apples don’t go together. He’s talking about my purple cabbage apple dish on the table for dinner the other night. He doesn’t differentiate between cabbage and lettuce but knows what he knows. Where does this certainty come from, and how many of us suffer from the certainty of things which are not true?

How many of us have been held back by believing things that weren’t true, we didn’t have enough, guts, determination, smarts, luck, education, opportunity, money, looks, courage, etc? Looking back I see so many missed opportunities, why didn’t I see them when there was time to make the most of them? Taking advantage of opportunities is hard work, and sometimes I realize I didn’t work as hard as I should have to make things happen.

I’ve been better at helping my husband in his business than I was at trying to develop one of my own. It is sobering to realize all the things we coulda, shoulda, and woulda done, if only. What was holding us back?

Perhaps life unfolds as it should, and ideas and opportunities find their home with those willing to do what needs to be done. Even the best of us can’t do everything, and take advantage of every opportunity, but it seems some people have vision and some don’t.

What if a good life is learning from our missteps and our accomplishments, but what if we learn the most from our failures? Not wanting to fail or make a mistake leads to a smaller life. Every time we risk failure, we risk success and sometimes we might fear success just as much. What would happen if we took the chance, became a big success, and our lives changed forever? We love our life and worry we might not love our new circumstances as much.

Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives. Tony Robbins

Do we want to stand out and fit in at the same time? Do we have to choose one? Life is about choices, and what we choose to believe might be one of the greatest choices we make. What we believe about ourselves, the world, and what is possible creates our habits, and our habits create our lives. Self-control might be the most important achievement we can attain. Aristotle said, “We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”

Self-control allows us to rule over ourselves, and create habits that work for us instead of against us. What if our habits hold us back the most, and if we develop better habits, we create a better life? What if courage is a habit, hard work is a habit, but it isn’t just working hard, it’s learning what to work hard at?

What if what holds us back the most is our beliefs, habits, comfort zone, and fears? What if a good life is available to all of us if we make the right choices, create the right habits, and take advantage of opportunities in front of us? What if small changes over time create big dividends in our lives? What if not doing the small thing holds us back, we could do the small thing, but we want a big thing, not realizing by refusing to make small changes in the right direction, we never see the big changes it would become.

Life is about choice, and we choose what to believe about ourselves and others. We can believe lettuce and apples don’t go together, or can we expand the boundaries of our beliefs, and perhaps our lives?

We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon. Konrad Adenhauer

In order to gain new experiences, to expand your horizons, to give fate – or serendipity or whatever you want to call it – a chance. And that only happens if we say yes to things. Charlotte Lucas

It is the power of belief that causes things to happen in our lives. Zeenat Merchant Syal

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Posted on by BWThomas

Choices change the trajectory of our lives.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes you do to accomplish it. This will always be far greater value that what you get. Jim Rohn

If we told someone our highest priority is our family, would they think it by looking at us? It makes sense everyone’s priority is their family, what is there to prioritize above family? A lot of us know a better diet and exercise would make us healthier, but we can’t quite integrate it into our lives. We might know we could do something to create a stronger family, but we have to do more than think about changes we need to make, we have to take the chances and opportunities when they present themselves and build on what we already have.

What if we are trying to think too big when a small decision in the right direction is what we need? In Hal Elrod’s book, “The Miracle Equation” he talks about asking his son what do you want to do, we can do anything at all. His son said, “I want you to play with me in my room.”

Someone said if we want happy kids, “Spend half the money, and twice the time on them.” Our little grandson at two-and-a-half wants to go wherever we go. “We go lunch,” he’ll say. We won’t always be able to spend this time with him. My parents didn’t live close so they couldn’t do little things with my kids, and by moving far away from home I robbed them of the chance to know their grandparents well.

Grandparents are a luxury some of us never get, we live far from them, or they’ve already passed. If we are lucky enough to live close to our grandchildren we can play a part in each other’s lives.

I’m thinking these thoughts as this week would have been Mom’s one-hundredth birthday, I lost her but gained a granddaughter this year.

If we are part of a family we will experience the pain of loss, but if we don’t build a family we face empty years. If we are the architects of our lives, we don’t have complete control, and many would have liked to build a family that never could.

Wherever we are in our lives, we have choices to make, and those choices will change the trajectory of our lives. A small change can make a big difference. If we don’t have enough people in our life we can join groups of like-minded people, or people who aren’t like us we want to learn from.

The world we live in – the life we perceive – is a perfect reflection, a mirror image, of our internal reality. Patrick Connor

We can take a class or even a one-night workshop, learn something new, or get back into something we did years ago. Our lives contract and expand, we need to figure out what cycle we are in and make the best of it.

Is it time to bring some form of creativity into our lives, or time for a new companion to walk with, perhaps a four-legged friend, or connecting with a neighbor who also would like a walking partner? Maybe we have too many activities and need to cut back. Life is about choices at every age and every stage. We need to be willing to widen our horizons if we want change in our lives, to get out of our comfort zone even if it is just an overture of friendship to someone we meet.

Is there a change we know we should make, and could make without upending everything in our lives to make it better?

Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream. Peter McWilliams

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. James Allen

It’s a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself. Muhammad Ali

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Posted on by BWThomas

Siblings are the greatest gift we are given after, life itself.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

The bond between a sister and a brother is sometimes tightly woven, sometimes loosely held but never broken. Unknown

Today my heart is filled with gratitude. My daughter went into early labor and delivered a healthy baby girl. She’s a tiny five pounds fourteen ounces, Mommy and baby are doing well. When things start happening before term we worry and every precious day is a blessing but she decided she was getting out of there, and came with a force.

Today our grandson will visit his new sister. At two-and-a-half, he is missing his mommy and this morning he asked me to make her coffee. He saved her popcorn the first night, and yesterday he saved her part of a gummy and licorice. He was very stoic yesterday and I thought he was waiting for his Daddy to come home standing at the window, but when I went to see what he was up to he ripped the wallpaper in the office. He did this when he was much younger and ripping it yesterday is a sign of how hard he was trying to be good, but he needed an outlet for his frustration.

I can’t remember when my brother next to me was born, but I think I can remember when my youngest brother was born and Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. How do we process a new baby coming into the family, is it the best gift ever, or do we feel a loss in status we never recover from?

When I had my daughter I saw it from the mother’s point of view, now I am watching it from my grandson’s point of view, and it is interesting to watch and hear what he is saying as he takes in this momentous event.

Sister and brother friendship is the rainbow between two hearts sharing seven colors: feelings, love, sadness, happiness, truth, faith, secrets, and respect. Unknown

The first night he slept alone and when his grandpa asked if he had a good sleep, he said, “No, I miss my mommy.” Last night he woke up not long after going to bed and didn’t want to go back to bed, so when he went back to sleep I stayed with him and all night a little hand reached out to see if I was still there. This morning, Grandpa asked if he slept well, and he said, “Yes, Grandma slept with me.”

Meeting our new sister or brother has to be one of the biggest days in our lives, even if we don’t remember it, as most of us don’t. Does sibling rivalry start now, and if it does, how do we create a supportive sibling relationship instead of the rivalry that sometimes exists?

Having siblings is one of the great joys in life, and those who don’t have siblings might think they know what they are missing but truly they can’t understand the depth of the sibling relationship. Siblings fight, and we pick on each other, but woe to anyone who thinks they can treat our brother or sister unfairly.

If we have siblings we know we have a port in any storm, and is the greatest gift we can give our first child, a brother, or a sister?

Siblings are like branches of a tree. We grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one. Unknown

Your parents leave you too soon and your kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are in your most chaotic form. Unknown

Brothers and sisters are special. They fight. They make up. They laugh. They cry. They’re far from perfect. But when you really need them, they have your back. Unknown

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Posted on by BWThomas

Taking the long view, time can heal a lot of hurts.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Most evil comes from the belief that one is a victim, or one’s group is a victim. Dennis Prager

I watched a YouTube video with a U.S. Marine convicted of something he didn’t do and he said he came out of prison a better man. He learned how to get along in prison, the other prisoners, Warden, and guards believed he was innocent, and he helped other prisoners with their legal problems – with the Warden’s blessing.

Even if we are convicted, there is dignity in innocence, which is evident in real-life stories and movies. When we accept hard things in life and become better, not bitter we might see situations and people in a new light, one we could not have gained any other way.

With all that is going on in the world, there is a lot that has made people bitter and hardened to the other’s story. So much injustice has been done on all sides are we best to see it as a fact of life? Some of us hate to hear that wrong has been done on all sides, and also hate to hear meddling in other country’s politics has created situations we don’t know how to solve.

We can take a smaller view and look at meddling in other people’s relationships – that doesn’t work well either. Is it possible to live in a live and let live world, to agree to disagree? Have we ever lived in that world? Catholics and Protestants fought to the death but now we live side by side. There was a time not too long ago when a Catholic president of the United States was a big thing.

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. Arthur Schopenhauer

Are we expecting groups in parts of the world to live beside others with different ideologies and beliefs that took the West hundreds of years to come to terms with? A thousand years ago The Hundred Years War between England and France was waging, it started in 1337 and ended in 1453, and England and France both survived.

We might be expecting instant results that can only come with time. We in the West have carved out our place and might think we have the right to meddle in disputes that aren’t our business. Jockeying for position in the world is messy and everyone has a view that makes sense to them, and few acknowledge they are in the wrong even if they are, and often meddlers make things worse, not better.

Why can’t we all just get along? We can’t do it in our families, or our communities, why do we think it is so easy to do it in countries? We don’t only want everyone to get along, we want them to get along so we benefit, and this is the real problem. Dwight Eisenhower warned against establishing a “Military-industrial complex” but the warning wasn’t heeded. So here we are and I for one am trying to take the long view that in a thousand years, the Middle East will live in peace.

For a thousand years in your sight, are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. Psalm 90:4

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they shall never sit. Greek Proverb

Perspective is the way we see things when we look at them from a certain distance and it allows us to appreciate their true value. Rafael E. Pino

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Posted on by BWThomas

Inspiration, perspiration, and determination shape our society.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

What you do today can improve all of your tomorrows. Ralph Marston

The world wasn’t simple during my childhood, we had the Cold War going on but it seemed like a wonderful safe place. Living in this world is safe where I am, but listening to the horror other people are going through I wonder what is it for? What is the end game, I understand some of it, but some of it I don’t understand. But, perhaps war to some is an economic driver and not the horror others see it as. Do we have competing interests, some wanting peace, and others wanting war, and we can’t always understand who is who?

We say our people are our strength, and people from other countries are giving us strength, but what are the people leaving their countries doing to their home country? Who will build and rebuild Haiti with so many people leaving?

Even in my household, we don’t agree on what is going on in the world, who is best to lead America, and what policies will heal our society. But, even if we don’t know how to heal the world, (and who does) we get along building our life.

What a job it would be to run a country. Knowing what policies to bring in and what the consequences down the road will be. There are always unintended consequences it seems. Things we mean for good don’t always work out that way because the hardest thing to figure out is what help that heals looks like.

Yesterday I was listening to a YouTube talk and someone had money they were giving to help a community and someone representing a church group spoke up asking if the money had been allocated. People erupted in anger because they didn’t like how religious charities operated in their communities.

You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it requires people to make the dream a reality. Walt Disney

We need to talk about what is happening in our societies and what we want to happen in them. But, we have such diverse views, that we think help should look different. We think some help is enabling, some is too harsh, and some gets gobbled up by those who don’t need help.

I’ve wondered for a long time what real help looks like, and how to build a good society. How were cities, towns, and communities built? How did we manage to have towns that worked? What principles are behind building them, and were the people different? Could we build the National Railroad now, and why not? If we built a good society, we should be able to sustain a good society, and if we can’t, why can’t we?

One of the problems we have is looking at everything we’ve done, and everything we’ve built through a negative lens. I don’t think the Canada we’ve built is perfect, but it’s pretty good, maybe we can make it better, but we know we can make it worse.

Personal responsibility was one of the things that built Canada, America, and probably everywhere that is good. Are people responsible for the lives and societies they build? If not, why not?

It is necessary for us to learn from other’s mistakes. You will not live long enough to make them all yourself. Admiral H.G. Rickover

The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation – a force for construction and destruction. Jonathan Haidt

Brick by brick, stone by stone, every great thing was built by those who believed they could. Tom Mitchell

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Thank you for reading my books, and a special thank you to those who leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon. If you click on the Amazon link and purchase an item I receive a small percentage of the purchase price through the Amazon affiliate program.

Posted on by BWThomas

Staying positive, choosing a good attitude, and being the person we were created to be.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. William Shakespeare

Do we have faith we can deal with the challenges ahead of us? No one knows what is ahead, but we all know it will be different than it is now. We see the changes coming and many of them we don’t like, but what if changes weren’t coming? Would life be better? Better for whom?

In the game of life, there are winners and losers and no one minds being on the winning side, but when we think we might not be on the winning side, we’d like to see no more change.

My parents lived through a lot of change, some good, some not so good, but they rode the roller coaster of life to the end. My parents lived through one world war, and my grandparents lived through two. We will live through the changes coming, some we may fear but never face, some we don’t worry about but they will hit us.

Is faith what will get us through? Faith in ourselves, our countries, our fellow citizens, and our governments, and what helps most of all in my opinion is faith in a higher power. We often don’t know what the ignition point of a powder keg will be, and we feel a powder keg building up with inflation, immigration, the rich getting richer, wars, and rumors of wars.

Is it possible to live in a precarious world with faith to deal with what comes? Hasn’t it always been a precarious world? What can we do in our own lives to make our lives less precarious? Being part of a strong family is a safe harbor in times of trouble. If we are resilient and able to see what is still possible and make the best of what is, life will be better than if we feel we are victims of circumstances.

A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart. Johann Wolfgang

Victimhood does not build a good life, what is the difference between facing hard challenges and feeling like a victim? When we face hard challenges do we have to find the courage to deal with what is, and when we feel we are victims, do we not take advantage of what we can do to make our lives better?

We are told we always have a choice, sometimes the only choice is our attitude, sometimes our choice is between two goods, and sometimes we have to choose the best of the bad. Sometimes our choices are for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Is what we stand up for, rail against, and support, for the greatest good? Do we even know what the greatest good would be? We always come up against the unexpected consequences of our decisions. Sometimes we get good consequences from bad policies and bad outcomes from what we thought would be good policies.

Policies are in place and many were made with the best of intentions. When we see those policies not working, do our governments have the strength to turn things around? Will there be unexpected consequences for every change we try to make?

We might think we know the obvious direction we need to go in. But we don’t know, we can’t know what the unintended consequences of our best intentions are. For instance, won’t it be great when everyone is driving an electric car, and we don’t have gas emissions anymore, but we need the infrastructure to support the electric grid, with all the challenges that entails?

We’ve often heard to be careful what we wish for, and one of the things we’ve all wished for was to be richer, but we didn’t know when we got here, we wouldn’t feel any richer, because life is harder than ever affording our rich lifestyle.

What changes do we hope for, and can we think of unexpected consequences if we get it?

Never let a bad situation bring out the worst in you. Choose to stay positive and be the strong person that God created you to be! Unknown

No one else can choose your attitude for you. Your perspective and choice of attitude gives you the power to be in control. Irene Dunlap

Choose the positive. You have choices, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success. Bruce lee

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Thank you for reading my books, and a special thank you to those who leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon. If you click on the Amazon link and purchase an item I receive a small percentage of the sale through the Amazon affiliate program.

Posted on by BWThomas

Thank you for your service, what if thanking people for what they’ve done instead of reviling them for what they haven’t done, works better?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. Albert Schweitzer

What if we made thank you a bigger part of our lives? Do we thank people enough who make a difference? My sister-in-law hosted a birthday party for her granddaughter and she invited extended family my husband and I haven’t seen in a while. If no one hosts these events we lose touch and years can go by without seeing people we love and care about.

How thankful are we for our politicians who we love to revile, criticize, and condemn? Of course, they have clay feet, we all do. We don’t always make the best decision, we don’t always put other’s interests ahead of our own, and they don’t know what the unintended consequences will be for their hard choices.

It surprises me people are willing to run for public office, it seems a thankless job, and all the skeletons in their closet get trotted out for public ridicule. None of us have led a perfect life, and as we armchair quarterback elections and argue with loved ones over the shortcomings of our preferred candidate and policies, are we missing the big picture? Democracy is messy, capitalism has inherent faults and the rich do seem to get richer, we hope the poor get richer also but the pace is so slow and the rich are so rich it feels like three steps back to every forward one. Throw in the fallout from covid, rising prices, environmental concerns, and people across the globe migrating to countries they feel are more successful, safe, and secure than their own, without asking if they can come, and you have what we have in countries across the globe.

Gratitude is, however, more than just an emotion. It is also a disposition that can be chosen and cultivated, an outlook toward life that manifests itself in actions – it is an ethic. Diana Butler Bass

We are the lucky ones if people want to migrate to our shores, it means we are one of the prosperous, safe, and secure countries. We are victims of our success, and hard decisions must be made. If we had to choose between being the people looking for somewhere to go, or living in a country with opportunity, safety, and security I think we’d all choose opportunity, safety, and security.

Being a good steward of what we have, and choosing our leadership is one of the big responsibilities. No leader is perfect; each leader will be better in one area, and worse in another. We will be impressed by some things they’ve done in their lives and maybe even horrified by other parts.

Life is not about perfection, there are unintended consequences to our best intentions, and nowhere is this more apparent than in politics. Mistakes will be made by those we least expect to make them, and trying to help others, and make things better is our biggest challenge, but also where we find the most unintended consequences.

Experts are often only experts when their expertise is an idea, when the idea is put into operation we see the weaknesses, and the unintended consequences. Some of the greatest governments we never had loom large in our imagination, because reality didn’t tarnish their vision. Some ideas are looming large that have been tried and failed, but the vision still lives on. The thinking is that they didn’t do it right, but if we do it, we’ll do it right, and we’ll end up with a fairer and more just society.

Can we be thankful for the visionaries, those who talk and write books about what should be done, and those who have to try to run our countries the best way they know how?

Anyone who is a parent knows there are theories, but once we have children the theories go out the window. If we’ve run a business we can scheme and plan and be millionaires on paper but real life often doesn’t work out that way. My parents always said, “Anyone can be a millionaire on paper.” I’m pretty sure it works the same in politics.

Are we thankful for those willing to dedicate their lives to public service, those who build a life to be envied, and willingly set it aside for public service? If we get the politicians we deserve, then we all have to work together to create the society we want, and we can’t blame the society we end up with only on the leaders at the top. We are the ones who choose them, and if we don’t choose, we live with the choices others make. We need to decide whose vision most aligns with our own, what vision will create the best outcome, and who can deal with the biggest issues of our time.

What if, thank you for your service, should be how we think of everyone that makes our society work, from the great to the small?

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude. Ralph Waldo Emerson

If lack is the root of injustice, then gratitude is at the root of justice. John Pattison

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

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Posted on by BWThomas

A can-do attitude and enthusiasm keep us going in the face of adversity.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill

School is starting soon and children will once again walk past my door with their mothers, fathers, grandmas, and grandpas on their way to school. Going back to school is always the catalyst that makes me think about changes I need to make. New Year’s resolutions are not the same, as that seems more like a time of hopes and wishes instead of real change.

Fall has been the change agent in our lives. It was when we started afresh, took on new challenges, learned new things, and met new friends. Our lives flow with the seasons and if we are in sync with the seasons our life flows better.

It is easy to lose hope and see the negatives instead of the positives, but I think we have to take hard, long looks at how things are going in our lives, our country, and the world. We shouldn’t pull the sheet over our face instead of facing the changes that must be made.

Sometimes we do things hoping for one result and getting another. We didn’t understand the unintended consequences. Many good-hearted people want to help but sometimes help doesn’t do what we thought it would – safe injection sites come to mind.

One thing that rolls around my mind often is what help looks like. When are we helping and when are we enabling? When are we creating more chaos instead of self-reliance, independence, and order?

We are very good at fixing things, we know how to repair roads, bridges, and houses, and we know when something is beyond fixing and needs to be rebuilt from scratch instead of patching up what is already there.

For success, attitude is equally as important as ability. Walter Scott

Building society is different because we never get to scrap the old for the new, and where it has been tried, it hasn’t worked out well.  We have to balance the needs of everyone in society; we need to provide education for the brightest among us and those with special needs.  Perfection is the enemy of the good, but when is more help detrimental? George Bush talked about the bigotry of low expectations.

Do low expectations of ourselves and others affect our lives in negative ways? I remember a conversation years ago about easier math classes in high school. She said, “The math is about twenty percent easier, but the environment, is one hundred percent worse. Why would she say that? Is she writing the kids off in the easy math or is it the attitude they bring, an attitude of I can’t instead of I can? An attitude of embracing trouble instead of expecting a great life they will work hard for. Do we need to guard against learned helplessness with ourselves, our families, and our society? I can because I think I can, is a great attitude.

If we look back on our lives there was so much opportunity we didn’t see. It’s why if we had a do-over we often think we could build a better life by taking the opportunities that were there we didn’t see. But we don’t get a do-over and opportunities we missed were perhaps a lesson not to miss them when they present themselves again, or new opportunities we don’t recognize because opportunities often look like hard work without a guaranteed payoff. Is it looking for easy and the guarantees in life, that catch us up?

I think it is Jim Rohn who said, “Don’t ask for easy, ask to be better.” What would it mean if we took that advice to heart?

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Winnie the Pooh

The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude. Oprah Winfrey

It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome. William James

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Posted on by BWThomas

The challenges of life can make us better or bitter, is patience bitter, but its fruit is sweet?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Either your troubles make you better, or they make you bitter. We must always examine what’s going on in our hearts. T. D. Jakes

I’m looking at my garden and the squirrels are eating the beans. My neighbor’s beans look untouched from my vantage point. A duck has set up her nest in our backyard. We’d never seen a duck in our backyard until Saturday when she stood on the fence for a long time, yesterday the dog chased her, and then my husband noticed a nest. Our daughter is thinking how cute ducklings will be, and we are wondering how big of a headache is this going to be.

Nature in all its glory is around us and as we take over animal’s habitats they learn to live among us, to our delight and dread depending on the animal. Even in small gardens, we find surprises, a nest of bunnies, or a plant we bought that never bloomed, and when it does it is spectacular.

A red peony blooms in my garden. Years ago I bought peonies on sale and they didn’t do anything but stay alive. One that was struggling I moved and it is finally thriving and blooming huge red blooms. Our garden can disappoint us when we don’t get the expected blooms and delight us with the unexpected.

Our gardens teem with life and my grandson was excited to see earthworms. He loves the rabbits, birds, and squirrels. Watching him I think how much fun it was growing up on the farm, and how much he would have loved it. Is it my age or is it the personality he has that reminds me of a little farm boy with a shovel, rake or watering can in his hand?

He is quick to say, “I do it, I help you, and it’s your turn.”

We can worry about the things we cannot change, and listening to the news makes us wonder what kind of future a wonderful little boy or girl has. If we look back over the years there has always been something looming in the distance, some things materialized and some didn’t, but we have moved on as a society.

Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy. Aristotle

If we can continue to think life will be good for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren it is better than if we get disillusioned with the future. The future is coming and if we can face it with hope and optimism we will be better off than if we get disillusioned.

We don’t know what hard times we might face in our lives, we might not even know how hard they were until they are over and we look back and wonder how we managed. Our job is to deal with what is, keep life in perspective, and give our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren the strength to know they can deal with what comes.

Life is a garden our thoughts are the seeds, we can plant flowers or we can plant weeds. Just like weeds will choke out what we want in our garden, negative thoughts can choke out what is good in our lives. When does negative thinking meet realism and realism meet optimism, and how do we keep a balance? Where we make a mistake in my opinion is when we focus on what we have no control over, and we don’t take control of what we can. 

When I listened to Mom talk about the hard times, some people made the best of what there was, and some made things worse than they had to be. Can we make what we control better, or do we let the things we can’t control make us bitter? It’s our choice, and no one gets to control everything in their lives, but we can control our attitude, and that is what will make the difference in whether we become bitter or better. Is it anger without action that makes us bitter?

Events in life will make you bitter or better. That one letter difference is up to you. A. Dodd

Bitterness is a result of clinging to negative experiences. It serves you no good and closes the door to your future. Leon Brown

You either get bitter or you get better. You either take what’s been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you. Josh Shipp

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Posted on by BWThomas

If we think we can’t, we can’t, if we want to do anything we must move in the direction of our dreams.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe. Gail Devers

Yesterday, I went to Value Village and looked through the books – if you buy four you get the fifth one free, and I had six books. As I looked through the books wondering which one to put back, I looked at the smallest book costing $1.79, so I thought, I’ll just take it too.

As I was cashing out the attendant took an interest in the books I was buying, but when he came to the smallest book, “The Ten Secrets of Abundant Wealth,” by Adam Jackson he said, “I wouldn’t read that.”

It seemed like an odd reaction to the little book, that might have something in it that would help a young man build a life. When I got home I took a good look at the book, wondering if he found something offensive in it as he perused the chapters. The chapters: The Power of Subconscious Belief, The Power of a Burning Desire, The Power of Definite Purpose, The Power of an Organized Plan of Action, The Power of Specialized Knowledge, The Power of Persistence, The Power of Controlled Expenditure, The Power of Integrity, The Power of Faith, and The Power of Charity.

It is written as a parable, a young man is walking in the early morning bemoaning his fate of never having enough when he meets an old man who starts talking to him and tells him, “If you don’t believe something is possible it is unlikely it will ever come true.”

They walk a bit and the old man continues, “In my country we believe that every problem brings with it a gift, every adversity contains within it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”

“Hmmmf!” says the young man.

“It applies to everything… even money problems,” said the old man. “Money problems open the path to abundant wealth – riches beyond your dreams.”

There is a lot of work between an idea and bringing that idea to fruition, but doesn’t it all start with an idea? How many people have started a business because of disappointment where they work, or disappointment because they couldn’t do something for their family and they decided I’m not living like this anymore, something has to change?

Be miserable, or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice. Wayne Dyer

The old man also tells him that he lives in abundance that people in the past weren’t privileged to live, and many people in the world don’t get to live like this now.

It takes a lot of hard work, determination, and perseverance, to get ahead in life, but it is the adventure before us and is what will give our life meaning and purpose and pride in what we accomplish.

I was talking yesterday to a lady who lost everything in late midlife, but she has a great attitude and is pouring her passion into writing. She has written her memoir about marrying a professor when she was sixteen and living on four continents before ending up in Canada, “The Other I” by Zohra Zoberi.

The choices we make determine our life, and when we think we can’t do something our life goes in a different direction than when we say, “I think I can, I think I can.” The more we do the more we find we are capable of.

How many of us have thought of something we wanted to do and only when we see someone else has done it do we realize we could have done it too. If it wasn’t beyond them, why do we think it is beyond us?

Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives. Tony Robbins

In faith, there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t. Blaise Pascal

There is no man living that cannot do more than he thinks he can. Henry Ford

Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read some more, and have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

To subscribe, comment, and see archives or categories of posts click on the picture and scroll to the end.

Thank you to everyone who reads my books, and a special thank you to those who leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon. If you click on the Amazon link and purchase an item I receive a small percentage of the sale through the Amazon affiliate program.