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2020 a year in hindsight. Triumphs and struggles. Looking forward with great expectations.

Looking forward with great expectations. 2020 a year in hindsight. Triumphs and struggles.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. James Allen

Wow! As we ring in the New Year how will we feel about this year just past? It has been a mixed bag for me. At the end of November, I received my first royalties from my book “Secrets and Silence”. Now I have that to look forward to at the end of every month. I moved some mutual funds into dividend stock and it has been fun watching the dividends come in. I don’t want to get like John D. Rockefeller who said, “Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It’s to see my dividends coming in.” There are so many things that make life worthwhile. I can’t wait until my husband and I can go out for coffee again. We still go out, but sitting in the truck drinking it, just isn’t the same. We will laugh about this time in our lives for years to come.

Yesterday a friend and I went for a walk along a pretty street with pretty stores we couldn’t enter. We still had fun, we laughed and talked, bought peppermint tea, and made plans for our next walk.

If we think we should wait until we have a big enough amount to start saving, investing, or tithing we may never start. Small amounts grow into big amounts. Nothing grows if we don’t start. I hope to have a herd of pigs “passive income generators” over time as I add more novels to my catalogue.

I laugh to myself as I write, “Catalogue” we think things can’t happen but they can. We can plant seeds that grow. It’s all about reaping and sowing but we have to sow before we can hope to reap.

Many of us will look back over 2020 as a year that changed our lives. Many of the changes that took place in mine weren’t started in 2020. Just like any harvest, there was a time of more importance. Harvest time is the evidence of things unseen. Things we put into motion that create a harvest.

Life is an echo. What you sent out comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you. Zig Zigler

One of the most exciting times of the year is spring, watching new life emerging. When we plant seeds we may look every day for signs of growth. Finally, we see a green shoot. We may wonder what people are looking at if they are looking at the bare ground, but we don’t know if they’ve planted something. If we haven’t planted any seeds we don’t look at our bare ground the same way as someone that is waiting to see growth.

We need to build our lives in such a way that we are looking for growth. My daughter is being watched carefully now she has been married for two years. If she doesn’t feel well she gets a phone call. “Are you feeling better?” But, of course, that is not all that is being asked. People are waiting expectantly for news.

If we think of spring we can get through winter. One of the joys of winter on the farm was new calves were born. I remember walking with Dad on bright moonlit nights to check on the cows. There are many little joys in life we may overlook because we are waiting to be hit over the head by bigger things. A healthy calf suckling at their mother was a joy to behold. A litter of new pigs, kittens, or puppies was life-affirming. Birth brings joy but also sometimes heartbreak.

As we enter 2021 are we getting ready to plant new seeds? We can’t expect a harvest without preparing and planting. We can spend winter thinking about what to plant. Paging through seed catalogues is a great pastime. What we plant in our life will grow and we need to choose what that will be. Even our thoughts are seeds and perhaps the most important ones.

As we go into 2021 the choices we make will impact our lives. What we plant will be what we harvest. We may not think we are reaping what we are sowing but what else could we be reaping?

Life is a garden our thoughts are the seeds, we can grow flowers or we can grow weeds. Unknown

In your deeds and in your works, don’t expect to start reaping just as you start sowing. Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Words are seeds they do more than blow around they land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day.  Unknown

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Sowing and Reaping [Annotated, Updated]: Whatever a man sows that shall he also reap. – Galatians 6:7 by [Dwight Lyman Moody]

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Happy New Year! 2021 a year of hope. Interesting times are ahead.

2021, a year of hope. Interesting times are ahead. Happy New Year.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its own wings. Always believe in yourself. Unknown

It is time to take stock of the year that is ending. This hasn’t just been another year of the same old thing. No, this year has brought some of us to our knees. The aftermath of this year will be felt for years to come. We have a war and a war effort has produced vaccines that we hope will stop this pandemic and we can get on with our lives.

Are there gifts we will be left with as we move on to a post-pandemic world? Will we have more home-cooked meals going forward? Will we evaluate our lives and decide that we must put first things first? Have some of our priorities changed? Do we feel an urgency to get on with the important things? Is our list of what is important becoming clearer?

This year many of us may feel diet and exercise will be even more important in our lives. Some of us have not been to the gym in almost a year. Have we managed to stay in shape at home, or are we facing a bigger challenge in our fitness as we go forward into the New Year?

Are we further ahead in our goal setting or are we behind? Have we read more books this year, or less? Do we feel as mentally strong? Are our relationships as good, better, or worse than last year? Are we on track to meet our goals? Is our life filled with gratitude?

This morning as I write this the news is saying we may not get back to normal until September when enough vaccines have been given. Holding on until then may be challenging for many, certain sectors are much more affected than others. We say we are all in this together, but of course, we aren’t all affected in the same way. We can’t possibly all be affected in the same way.

Things money can’t buy, manners, morals, respect, character, common sense, trust, patience, class, integrity, and love. Unknown

Challenging times create opportunities for some, fortunes are made and lost. The Wheel of Fortune has shown up in our lives. For some of us, things will never be the same again. Is life ever really the same from year to year? Don’t we always need to grow, adapt, and change with the circumstances in life? Opportunities may present themselves we never thought possible. Are we willing to grab hold of the opportunities that present themselves? Are we willing to go forward into the unknown?

Do we have a choice? Don’t we always have to move forward and get out of our comfort zone? My parent’s generation didn’t have a comfort zone for a good part of their lives as they went through the depression and then World War ll. I’ve lived my whole life in a comfort zone, and I still do. Has it been too comfortable to take big risks?

People who become great don’t usually live in a comfort zone. Circumstances shape our destiny. We are leaving the year of The Emperor behind and if we look at some world events doesn’t that explain some of what has gone on? The year of the Hierophant is coming and some say this represents organized religion, established entities, methods, and traditions. It would not surprise me if going through a pandemic makes people turn to religion and a higher power.

It is with gratitude for all the abundance in my life that I look forward to 2021 with all its blessings and challenges. May a happy, prosperous, and healthy New Year be yours.

Interesting times are ahead. Happy New Year!

Chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being sought. It always defeats order, because it is better organized. Terry Pratchett

Life has a way of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen at once. Paulo Coelho

It’s your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. Rumi

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Make Lasting Changes: The Science of Sustainable Behavior Change and Reaching Your Goals by [Peter Hollins]

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Peace and joy, glad tidings to all.

Glad tidings to all, peace and joy.

Photo of 2020 Gingerbread house

Frustration is built by unmet expectations. John Lund

Are we filled with peace, joy, and glad tidings?

Christmas Eve dawns and for some of us, this seems like a disappointing Christmas. Our expectations are not being met. A lot of expectations over a lot of lives over the centuries have not been met.

When we read of the birth of Jesus, the expectation was not that he would be born in a manger. The people of the day did not want the savior they got; they wanted a King that would put the Romans in their place.

How often do we not get what we want but instead get what we need? Is such a time upon us? Without all the trappings of Christmas we are used to, the big gatherings, the huge meals, we may find more meaning than we’ve previously had. We may be making an effort to connect with people we’ve been taking for granted. We may be enjoying the little things we’ve overlooked.

We might remember this Christmas more than any other Christmas, it will stand out in our minds partly because we have been going along happily or unhappily but not really taking stock of our lives. This is a year to take stock. For a lot of people, this is the year that will change everything. This might be the year we say “Never again.” Never again will we be in a situation where we are this close to the margins. Never again will we take our relationships for granted. Never again will we be just sleepwalking through life. Never again will we be caught with our proverbial pants down. Never again will we expect someone to do for us what we have to do for ourselves. Never again will we let the little things destroy our relationships. Never again will we be waiting for people to tell us what to do in our life.

We can go forward as people making plans and goals. We can go forward repairing the relationships in our lives. We can say never again will we not talk to people because…

What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be. Unknown

When we hear how some businesses have found ways to manage in this time it is uplifting and empowering to see the resilience they are showing. A fancy restaurant is now a meat shop selling fancy cuts of meat and sides to prepare at home.

Tough resilient people are created and this year will be a defining moment in many people’s lives. It isn’t easy times that create strong people. No one wants to live through hard times, but it is because of the times they lived through that we call the “Greatest Generation,” what we do.

Have we come through “The dark night of the soul” phase? Do we still have lessons to learn? We are on a hero’s journey and we are the hero of our own life. We are told that all we have is all we need. Are we grateful for all we have?

There are many disappointments and my nephew was to have his fiftieth birthday celebration. He is still turning fifty today, but the celebration will be different than he hoped for. I hope his birthday is filled with peace, joy, and glad tidings. Is it our choice to feel blessed, at peace with ourselves and the world regardless of circumstances? Even though we don’t get to choose the circumstances in our life is the power in our attitude and mindset?

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas full of peace, joy, and glad tidings to all.

Unmet expectations are tough when it’s your wife or your husband, but it’s really tough when it’s God. And yet, it can be a time of growth and a time of faith, a time of understanding who God is. Max Lucado

When you release expectations, you are free to enjoy things for what they are instead of what you think they should be. Mandy Hale

And then it happens… One day you wake up and you’re in this place. You’re in this place where everything feels right. Your heart is calm. Your soul is lit. Your thoughts are positive. Your vision is clear. You’re at peace, at peace with where you’ve been, at peace with what you’ve been through and at peace with where you’re headed. Unknown

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Finding Christmas Paperback – Picture Book, Oct. 1 2017

by Robert Munsch  (Author), Michael Martchenko (Illustrator)4.8 out of 5 stars 183 ratings

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Polite and powerful. Is this asking for what we want in a direct polite manner?

Polite and powerful. This is asking for what we want in a direct polite manner?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Treat everyone with politeness and kindness, not because they are nice, but because you are. Roy Bennett

Can we learn to be polite and powerful, and if we do will it make all our relationships better?

One of the areas in our lives we struggle with is our relationships. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all got along, understood each other, communicated directly and honestly? In the book, “The Power of Positive Confrontation” author Barbara Pachter tells us we can be polite and powerfully change our communication pattern.  She tells us we must learn to WAC’em. What does WAC’em mean?

W is what is bothering us. We need to be very clear that what we think is bothering us is really what is bothering us.

A is what do we want the other person to do or change?

C is we must check in with the other person by asking something like, okay?

One of the ways we feel bad about ourselves is when we haven’t confronted people we believe we should. We didn’t stand up for ourselves, ask for what we wanted, or communicate directly about something important.

Barbara Pachter tells us that polite confrontation can change our life because when we ask for what we want, we have to know what that is. When we tell someone what is bothering us we have to have figured out exactly what that is. Part of the problem in our lives is we don’t know and haven’t acknowledged what the problem is, and we don’t know what we want the other person to do. We often don’t know what we think we should do.

One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat him at politeness. Josh Billings

When we get clear about what we want, and clear about what we think should be done by the other person, then asking for what we want politely and powerfully is the next step. Often people would give us what we want if they knew what it was. They would do their best to make us happy if they knew how. If we figure out what we want we can do our best to make our own lives better, and the lives of those around us.

Are there any downsides to being polite? One of the biggest problems we have plaguing relationships is people feel disrespected and this means they feel that people in their lives are not polite enough. I am guilty of this. I don’t always give my husband my undivided attention when he is speaking to me. I have to stop myself from multi-tasking and continuing to work as he talks to me. I need to give him my undivided attention and listen to what he says because when I don’t, he feels he isn’t as important to me as what I am doing. Of course, that isn’t true. He should know I am just trying to be efficient. But, do I really get that much more done? Wouldn’t it be better if I just stop what I am doing and give him my undivided attention?

Radically respectful and politely powerful are behaviors we can cultivate in ourselves to make our relationships better. We are the only people who can change the things we want to be changed. We need to treat others the way we want to be treated and even if it doesn’t work the way we wanted we have taken the high road.

The high road isn’t an easy road, but I believe it leads to easy relationships with others. The art of tact and diplomacy is being polite and courteous. One of the problems we have with our “Political Correctness” is that it is often not polite. We have always had disagreements on how society should be run, and instead of being a polite society, we have become a politically correct and often rude society. I think we should get back to politely talking about our differences and agreeing to disagree. Is there power in politeness and should we be using it more in our lives? Are we powerfully polite and radically respectful?

Rudeness is the weak person’s imitation of strength. Eric Hoffer

A polite enemy is just as difficult to discredit, as a rude friend is to protect. Bryant McGill

Courteousness is consideration for others; politeness is the method used to deliver such considerations. Bryant H. Mcgill

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The Power of Positive Confrontation: The Skills You Need to Handle Conflicts at Work, at Home, Online, and in Life, completely revised and updated edition Paperback – July 1 2014

by Barbara Pachter  (Author)4.3 out of 5 stars 42 ratings

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Are we all hypocrites? Is it impossible to live up to our own expectations?

Is it impossible to live up to our own expectations? Are we all hypocrites?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest. Mahatma Gandhi

Perseverance is the key to success. We need to persevere as we find our way through hard times, build a career, business, and family. Most long marriages are an example of perseverance, of not giving up on each other or themselves as they navigated through whatever life threw at them.

I found a quote the other day that went something like this. Tough times create tough people, tough people create good times, good times create soft people, and soft people create tough times. Is there a balance or are we always cycling between cycles?

Already in my lifetime, we have cycled through a few cycles. I was reminded of this when a Writers Group buddy posted on Facebook about the Christmas she was six and her family had moved into a house they later lost when interest rates skyrocketed in 1979.

Many industries face cycles of crisis, the weather creates havoc and pandemics can involve the whole world. We are putting our faith in a vaccine to stem the pandemic and I bet even those of us who said, “Not me,” might have had enough of this, and if it gets our life back to normal, and we can travel to see loved ones. We will step up for, “Our shot in the arm.” This is where I am at least.

Even though we believe in persevering we still need to heed knowing when to hold-em,  fold-em, and when to run. Do we hold onto that job because it’s a job instead of building that business? There are marriages that should be left. There are times when persevering is a way of not facing the future’s reality. Knowing when we have hit that crossroad and redirection is needed instead of persevering in what we’ve been doing, is a hard call.

Sometimes never giving up can make us look foolish. It might not always be clear to outsiders why someone continues on against all odds. What is it that they see, believe, and think can happen why they don’t do what everyone else feels is the right and honorable thing to do?

Avoid the base hypocrisy of condemning in one man what you pass over in silence when committed by another. Theodore Roosevelt

We don’t know what goes on in other people’s heads and sometimes it seems we don’t even know what is going on in our own mind. We wrestle with ourselves on what direction to take, how to spend our time, and what we make important in our life. Our choices become the sum of our life. If we aren’t happy with the life we have we probably have to look at our choices.

It is so easy to look at someone else and say, “My life would be so much better if you would…” It might be true, but that isn’t what we get to control. We get to control our reactions, our decisions, where we put our energy and resources. Often the more we try and control other people the worse it gets. They dig in their heels because to do what we want them to do, is to be controlled. When we release control they can choose to do what is the best thing to do out of their own free will and voila, a win for everyone.

There is a big difference between trying to control someone and enabling them. If we have situations in our lives that need to change we need to figure out if we are trying to control someone, we are enabling them, or if the one that needs to change is ourselves.

We may think we know the direction someone should take but we should heed what Jesus said, “Or how wilt thou say to thy brother. Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and, behold a beam is in thine own eye.” It is so easy to see what changes and improvements someone else should make, but not so easy to see the improvements we should make in our own lives.

Are we hypocrites seeing how someone else should act and change, instead of looking at ourselves?

If we don’t keep trying, we’re Latter-Day sinners. If we don’t persevere, we’re Latter-Day quitters. If we don’t allow others to try, we’re Latter-Day hypocrites. LDS quote

If you define hypocrite as someone who fails to perfectly live up to what he or she believes. We’re all hypocrites. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to him, but he deals with it. So should we. Jeffrey R. Holland

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Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind by [Robert Kurzban]

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Dignity and self-respect. Are we Leading humble lives in truth and dignity?

Are we leading humble lives in truth and dignity? Dignity and self-respect.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Dignity is about showing self-respect and having quiet self-esteem. Unknown

Yesterday someone left a lovely gift on our doorstep. But, it isn’t for us, we don’t know who left it, and we don’t know Kate the intended recipient. This might be one of the problems with just leaving a gift on a doorstep as a nice surprise. Will the young woman who left it even know which house she mistakenly dropped it off at?

Last night when I put my dog, Lulu, out for the last time, a skunk was ambling toward the corner of our yard, and then it slowly meandered along the back fence and disappeared from view. He didn’t hurry, didn’t seem afraid, just doing his own thing. Not bothering anything but prepared if anything bothered him.

Is the skunk the symbol of humbleness, he minds his own business mostly. We had them get into the chicken coop at home and then they had gone too far and were no longer minding their own business.

Jordan Peterson defines a humble man as one with a sheathed sword who knows how to use it, but only uses it when he has to. Humble doesn’t mean you get walked on or can’t take care of yourself. It means you can take care of yourself but don’t inflict your power on others.

Quiet dignity, self-respect, confidence, bravery, and fearlessness are these qualities we aspire to as we make our way in the world? We might not think of the skunk as an animal to admire. We think of eagles, lions, and tigers we would like to emulate. Who thinks of the skunk and his don’t mess with me demeanor as he quietly goes about life, as an example of how to live our own?

Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying. Saint Vincent de Paul

Do skunks ever think about being better skunks? We seem to spend a lot of our time trying to be better people. Better than what? When we see a skunk we know it is a skunk, when we see a rat we know it is a rat, and when we see a wolf we know it’s a wolf. Many of us pretend we are something we are not. We hear the saying he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Shouldn’t we be okay with who we are? Can we be at peace with our talents, accomplishments, and choices as we navigate through life? We have strengths, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and we are who we are. How can we be anyone else but who we are?

Do we need to embrace ourselves and know we will deal with whatever comes? Just like that skunk ambling in the dark prepared for whatever.  Even pussy cats, all fluffy and soft have claws and teeth and many a dog ends up the worst in a fight with a cat.

Do we need to walk in this world knowing we are not to be messed with?  Can we live in quiet dignity knowing we have power and we know how to use it? We can learn a lot from animals and of all the animals I see in my back yard the squirrel, always getting ready for winter, and the skunk with his quiet dignity might teach me the most.

Often the most powerful statement is your dignified silence. Unknown

To be able to live each day with honor, respect and dignity is the greatest achievement of all. Dr. Roopleen

Respect yourself and others will respect you. Confucius

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Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict Paperback – Jan. 29 2013

by Donna Hicks Ph.D (Author), Desmond Tutu (Foreword)4.8 out of 5 stars 139 ratings

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Secrets and Silence: What if your biggest secret became public? Paperback – Large Print, Aug. 29 2020

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The dark night of the soul and the hero’s journey.

The hero's journey and the dark night of the soul.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Only those willing to walk through the dark night will be able to see the beauty of the moon and the brilliance of the stars. Archbishop Socrates Villegas

Many of us don’t think of ourselves as heroes and we don’t consider our journey a hero’s journey. We are all the hero of our own story. There can be no other hero for our story, how could there be? There can be other heroic people in our story but we are the hero. Our story is about us and everyone else plays a lesser role. We are the only person that is in every moment of our story from beginning to end. 

Does everyone have a dark night of the soul where we know we cannot go on as we are, things have to change, we have to change, and things will never be the same again? Hasn’t 2020 seemed like that year? For some people especially those whose businesses have been locked down, whose jobs disappeared, or those that lost loved ones, this year is the year they are looking to celebrate the end of. We now have an approved vaccine for covid and no matter how quick we might think we want to line up to get it. This is a good omen; it is helping people to get their breath and to see light at the end of the tunnel.

We don’t know if we are at the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning but we’ve been thrown a lifeline. It is a lifeline to small and large businesses that may have seen a drop in sales. A lifeline to nursing homes that have been hit the hardest. It is a lifeline to parents who worry about their children, a lifeline to children that worry about their parents. We all have someone we are worried about even if we think we would probably be okay if we got sick.

Someday we will look back on this and see a bigger picture but while we are in the midst of it everyone is trying to do the best they can. Even if we don’t think they are. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. We may think “They” should be making different decisions but “They” are the ones that get to make them. Wouldn’t that be a horrible place to be in? Your decision may save people and kill business, or save businesses and kill people, or save neither. When our leaders say they can’t sleep at night, I believe them. This is their dark night of the soul and we will judge them even after their death for decisions that have been made.

Make the most of yourself for that is all there is of you. Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Will a shot in the arm save us? Is this the Christmas present we hoped for? We are all hoping that it is and by this time next year we are looking back with grateful hearts. This I think will be a life-changing year for many of us. We were bobbing up and down in our life and bam. Our life changed in ways we hadn’t anticipated and weren’t prepared for. We weren’t like the squirrel prepared for winter. Some of us were caught with our proverbial pants down. We’ve had time to think about what we want going forward.

Many of us could only tread water while we waited for this to unfold. If the end is nigh and we get out of this unscathed we will have to look at ourselves in the mirror and decide since we have a life going forward how do we want it to unfold. What changes does our life call out for? How can we be of more service to people in our lives and outside of our life? What gifts do we have that we are not giving? Do we have something we know we should do we are not doing? When would be a good time to start?

Good things come out of bad situations. It would be terrible to let a good crisis go to waste. I’m sure we’ve all been thinking about what we’ll do when this is over? If we are lucky and it almost is over and 2021 is a fabulous year full of hope and promise what changes will we make in our life? How will our trajectory on our hero’s journey change? What have we learned from this dark night of the soul?

The dark night of the soul is a journey into light, a journey from your darkness into the strength and hidden resources of your soul. Caroline Myss

The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed. Joseph Campbell

Our greatest treasure is that which is hidden deep within our own subconscious, it is the dark unused part of our self that is in fact light that is unconscious of itself. Carl Jung

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

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Hard Times Create Strong Men: Why the World Craves Leadership and How You Can Step Up to Fill the Need Paperback – April 1 2019

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Secrets and Silence: What if your biggest secret became public? Paperback – Large Print, Aug. 29 2020

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Passion and purpose. The kindness of strangers and making a difference.

The kindness of strangers and making a difference. Passion and purpose.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. Maya Angelou

Don’t we love it when we meet people who are passionate about their work? We spend so much of our time doing whatever it is that gives us our daily bread we should enjoy it. We might be a hairdresser, lawyer, plumber, mechanic, supermarket clerk, or counter person at a coffee shop.

Our interactions with people impact those we interact with, and they impact us. We short change ourselves when we don’t bring passion and purpose to our work because we still need to do it, why not enjoy it, and do it cheerfully. We don’t know the impact we can have on someone’s life or that they can have on ours.

This morning I have a comment on my blog from an Indy author I met on Good Reads from England. She read my book and left a lovely review on Good Reads. She wasn’t able to leave one on Amazon because Amazon doesn’t want authors trading reviews. They want reviews from readers who are just readers. I get what they are trying to do. If you want a thought-provoking good read look up her book “Fairytales Don’t Come True” by Laura Lyndhurst available on Amazon. For some reason, you need to type in her name first, and then the title for it to show up.

Yesterday I was listening to Church of the Rock out of Winnipeg pastored by Mark Hughes and he was talking about passion and how the people who have passion in their work prosper. We are attracted to people with passion. Is it easier to have a passion for our work when… What is the when? If we can’t find passion in our work, the when may never happen.

On FaceBook my brother posted a photo of the house of the year in Japan for 2017 that he helped build. No one gets to help build “House of the Year” without putting passion into all the other houses they helped build. We don’t get to say “I’ll really put everything into this one because it’s important.” We don’t know who we meet that will be important in our life. Who we meet that can help us further up the ladder of life, or who we may be able to help on their journey.

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives knowledge of the world and experiences of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination. Elizabeth Hardwick

At our Toastmasters International Speech Contest on Thursday one of the contestants spoke about the kindness of strangers and how they helped her in her life and how she pays it forward by helping others. We can all help others in small and big ways. They say the more we give the more we get. Give kindness, to get kindness, give encouragement to get encouragement, and give money so we will get more money. I must say the last one is tough for me. Some people are extremely generous but I don’t put myself in that category. It is something I am working on. Many books I have read on money and finances tell us if we can’t give when we make a little, we will not be able to give when we make a lot. It makes sense to me.

They say when we give our children their allowance we should let them know some of it is to be given to others. We must give it cheerfully and whether we give it and people know we gave, or we give anonymously we gave out of our abundance which means we have an abundance, and isn’t that something to celebrate?

Are we making a difference in our own lives by making a difference in someone else’s? Are we living with passion and purpose?

Enjoy the journey and try to get better every day. And don’t lose the passion and the love for what you do. Nadia Comaneci

If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it. Wanda Sykes

Our lack of forgiveness makes us hate, and our lack of compassion makes us hard-hearted. Pride in our hearts makes us resentful and keeps our memory in a constant whirlwind of passion and self-pity. Mother Angelica

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

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A Greater Passion: Lessons on Living Large in Life and Love by [Mark Hughes]

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Secrets and Silence: What if your biggest secret became public? Paperback – Large Print, Aug. 29 2020

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Sowing and reaping. Is there no getting without giving? Are we reaping what we sow?

Is there no getting without giving? Are we reaping what we sow? Sowing and reaping?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson

Yesterday morning we woke up to no electricity. No coffee, no writing, but by 8:00 am it was back on. How blessed we are when power outages last for such a short time. We were having a new furnace and hot water tank installed yesterday and if there was no power there would be no installation. Our furnace hadn’t quit completely but it had not come on a few times until my husband went downstairs and shut it off and turned it back on. Then it would start running a couple of hours after that. We are lucky we didn’t spend a few days in the cold and dark.

We don’t see everything behind the scenes that make our life work so seamlessly. Everybody finding a need and filling it makes life work wonderfully. If we want to send a package someone is willing to deliver it. If we want to eat out someone is willing to cook it and someone is willing to deliver it to us. If we want to go somewhere we can get someone to pick us up and take us there.

Ingenuity is everywhere. Wouldn’t life be better if? Someone came up with an idea and made it happen. If we want to do well in life we have to find a way to make life better for someone. If we impact enough people’s life it can make a huge difference in our own.

Everything in our life is a series of everyone doing their part to make it all work. Shopping local is a term being batted about. The more we keep our money moving within our communities the better our communities are.

With Christmas coming – the biggest shopping time of the year, how can we help our local communities? This is a big question that is coming to the forefront in many areas as non-essential businesses are shut down to in-store traffic. Is there a way to shop local without in-store shopping?

Talk unbelief, and you will have unbelief, but talk faith, and you will have faith. According to the seed sown will be the harvest. Ellen G. White

I don’t know who I’m buying for in our Secret Santa gift-giving. This is our third year of doing Secret Santa. As families grow cutting the number of gifts to buy and still being able to have a fun Christmas without breaking the bank is the goal. Where to buy that gift may be a challenge and it’s time to put my thinking cap on. I hope I get my name soon.

The small gift I am going to buy will not make a difference to anyone’s bottom line, but if enough of us make an effort to support small retailers this Christmas we can help them through these tough times.

Even buying on Amazon is helping many small businesses. We don’t think of Amazon as helping small businesses but many of the products are put there by individuals who have created a virtual store on Amazon with their own creations or products they’ve found to sell.

I’ve received my first royalties for my book Secrets and Silence. My own little passive income generator, hopefully, sales will increase and continue over the years as I add more books. We don’t know where something will go when we start, but it won’t become anything if we don’t start. We need to plant a seed and watch it grow. If we eat all our seeds we can’t plant them and if we plant sparingly we will reap sparingly.

What are the seeds in our life? What are we doing with them? Are we expecting a harvest without planting the seeds? Are we waiting for our ship to come in that we never sent out?

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. Og Mandino

You must give to get. You must sow the seed, before you can reap the harvest. Scott Reed

I inherited that calm from my father, who was a farmer. You sow, you wait for good or bad weather, you harvest, but working is something you always need to do. Miguel Indurain

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

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Sowing and Reaping by [Booker T. Washington]

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Secrets and Silence: What if your biggest secret became public? Paperback – Large Print, Aug. 29 2020

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